Two New Books...

I had two manuscripts that were accepted and the books will be released sometime in 2009.

Bearing Fruit is an interracial contemporary erotic romance with an older woman, younger man.

Dancing with your Heart is a fantasy male/male erotic romance.

More info coming soon...

Anika's Books

Now Available: Reclaiming Nicola

Nicola Bourdeaux is Victor’s ultimate woman. She’s smart, beautiful, and the sweetest person he’s ever met. But when a rival firm gets a hold of confidential information and Victor loses a major lawsuit, he accuses Nicola of betraying him. His mistake leads to a major blow-up and break-up.

Victor Weise is Nicola’s ultimate man. He’s intelligent, handsome, and the most arrogant man she’s ever met. But when Victor accuses her of betrayal, Nicola is determined to a make a fresh start. She accepts an offer for a teaching position out of state, convinced she needed to get as far away as quickly as possible.

But before she leaves, she gets a request to visit the Weise residence. Hoping to gain some closure, Nicola accepts. But Victor has some tricks up his sleeve.

Will one afternoon be enough for Victor to reclaim Nicola?

To read an excerpt and pick up your very own copy, click Reclaiming Nicola.

The Storm has passed . . .

Tropical Storm Fay came, dumped tons of water, brought some tornadoes, shut off the light for over 5,000 residents, downed some trees, shut off some traffic lights, and moved on. The county is still under a flood watch, although the tornado watch should have been lifted at 4 pm. We have been having sporadic rainfall and a lot of wind.

I haven't heard of any injuries and deaths related to the storm. So as far as I'm concerned, she really didn't cause a lot of damage to Broward County. It is still wreaking havoc in other parts of the state, however, and forecasters are saying the storm is strengthening.

All Broward County operations will resume tomorrow, Wednesday in the morning. Businesses were in operation today though as no one really toke the storm seriously.

The airports didn't close either, but certain flights were delayed. My parents landed safely in Jamaica this morning and will begin the first part of the preparations today. My brother and I will be leaving in the morning at 8 am and various other family members will be arriving in Jamaica over the next few days for the service on Saturday.

I will be returning to South Florida on August 26, the day before the release of Reclaiming Nicola.

The 100 Days Challenge . . .

One of my publishers is conducting a 500 words per day, 100 days challenge. The challenge began today and should end sometime in November. I'm going to do my best to stick to this challenge and not let writer's block or stress stop me. Especially since this is in line with the personal goal I have set for myself. You know write every day, so my goal per day is going to 500 words.

The interesting thing about this challenge is the competitive nature of the other authors. Some of them are already very proficient in writing epics, of which I'm not ready to attempt right now, probably never will be. Anyway, it will be interesting to track the progress of everyone.

So what's my point? I actually don't have one. I just find it exceedingly interesting to see people competing so viciously for some visible or invisible goal. Are you a very competitive person? Why?

Anyway, I'm going to try this thing, so wish me luck.

P.S. and one more thing: today is the implementation day for the hard work I put in for the library. Shorter hours, scared and pissed-off employees, angry customers, grandstanding commissioners, let the (not-so-fun) games begin.

New Cover for Reclaiming Nicola

I just received the cover for Reclaiming Nicola, an interracial contemporary romance, from Siren-BookStrand. This book will be released in August.

Blurb: Victor Weise accuses Nicola Bourdeaux of leaking confidential information to a rival firm. The betrayal cost him the lawsuit. But the accusation cost him his heart. To correct his mistake, Victor enlists some help, but will one afternoon be enough time to reclaim his heart?

Excerpts coming soon . . .

Dessert Box . . .

. . . released today from Siren-BookStrand. Woo Hoo.

So my second book is being presented to the world today. To read an excerpt and pick up your copy of Dessert Box, click the cover:

Also, my cyber-friend, Amarinda Jones, is having a little get-to-know Anika on her blog today. So don't miss it.

Dessert Box

BLURB

Carmella Simone and Sandra Tucker have been together for the past ten years. Every year for Valentine’s Day, one or the other is tasked with creating a memorable and passionate experience.

This is Sandra’s year and she has planned the ultimate Valentine’s Day treat. She has commissioned a specially designed box, locking herself inside. Now Carmella must figure out the clues that will unlock her gifts: Sandra and chocolate.

Join them on their erotic journey of a sweet treat and body heat.

Genre: African-American Lesbian Romance, Light BDSM

"Dessert Box was created to show you that a loving relationship can have passion, and that passion can be as wicked as you want it to be. Remember, you can have boundless love and risqué loving." ~ Anika ~

EXCERPT

Sandra lay in a box that was the size of a coffin but had jail-like bars made of wood and steel. The box rested on top of the dining room table. She lay on a comforter that was neatly folded under her obviously to protect her skin. Her arms were secured above her head and a gag ball hindered conversation, the restraints adding to the erotic picture.

The opening between each bar not wide enough for Carmella to reach in to swipe up some of the chocolate, but she tried snagging some anyway to no avail. This whole scenario was designed to torture her.

Shaking her head, Carmella remembered the questions she and Sandra had gotten about why two people needed a table that seated twelve. The current situation proved that it did come in handy sometimes.

Licking her lips, Carmella stared at the feast laid out for her pleasure. And obviously her pain. Sandra had finally outdone herself this time. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The dining room table was set and she would eat pretty tonight. Once she got through that damn box.

“Where to start?” Carmella wondered aloud, staring at the contraption on their dining room table. “How do I get to my prize?” she asked, not really expecting an answer from the woman on the table. Her companion was gagged after all, and wouldn’t be able to add anything to the conversation.

For now.

This was part of their game though, exposing their thought processes to each other. Carmella would explain her emotions as she felt them; as many and varied and in as vivid a detail as she experienced them. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—keep them to herself. Reaching over, she retrieved the note affixed to the top of the box, right next to the big red bow. It revealed the instructions necessary to enjoy her ultimate feast.

Turning her attention to the note, she read aloud:

Five questions to enjoy your feast;
Five answers to receive your treat;
Five pieces to create one tool;
Five components to achieve one goal;
Five reasons to set me free;
Five flavors of chocolate on me.

Circling the box, Carmella examined the setup of the box and inspected her girl more closely. Five flavors covering five erotic points on Sandra’s body: toes, navel, lips, breasts; and clit. This should be fun. Turning the note over, Carmella discovered her first inquiry.

Membership Drive, June 28, 2008

Join us at Siren-BookStrand, click below:


There will be prizes and scavenger hunts...

Romantic Dialogue Author Interview . . .

My first book, Lust Bites: Good For Something, will be released from Total-E-Bound on June 30.

To celebrate the Romantic Dialogue Crew, Aleka Nakis, Catherine Chernow, Tia Fanning, and Maddie James, has invited me to participate in an author interview. This will be a fun night which begins at 9:00 p.m.

So stop by and say hi: Call the show at (310) 984-7600 and enter Show ID 245692. Or, visit the show at: http://www.nowlive.com/show/AlekaNakis.

Hope to see (talk to) you there.

What was my weekend like?

Well. On Friday, my niece graduated from kindergarten. She and her class (all 17 of them) were so cute. They wore their Sunday's best and a graduation cap. They said the pledge, sang a few songs, and collected their achievement awards.

On Saturday, I met author Sedonia Guillone for coffee. That was a lot of fun. We spoke of our upcoming projects and skimmed the topics of our current life situations. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Sunday was a blur of writing and watching television. The writing was fun. My story is developing nicely. I am working on the second book in my Pro Union series.

Today, I received the edits for my short story Dessert Box that will be published by BookStrand, and a note that said Great Descriptive Writing! Woo Hoo. Anyway, I finally have a release date for Dessert Box of July 15.

How was your weekend?

I sometimes wonder if there will come a time when I run out of material to write about . . .

And then it occured to me. There is inspiration everywhere.

Good For Something, to be released by Total-E-Bound Publishing, began with the title. I was watching a movie, I forget which at the moment, when the female protagnist said "well, at least I'm good for something." The statement seemed so negative, the woman seemed so dejected, I decided to use it in a positive light. And that is how Good For Something was born.

Dessert Box came about because a publisher was doing a call for submissions. They wanted short stories that centered around chocolate and power tools. Dessert Box is going to be released by a different publisher, BookStrand, but it still came to be because of the call.

Reclaiming Nicola was born because of some questions that kept ping-ponging in my mind: What would you do if you lost the one you loved above all? What would you do if it was because of your own stupidity? How would you handle it? Now this short story is also to be released by BookStrand.

So with these examples, and the most recent story that I began writing on Monday because of a news article released on that same day, I realized I can always find a story in anything and everything.

This is an exciting time, as one of my friend tells me all the time when referring to my being published. And my response is to bounce on the balls of my feet and say, yes, it is. Woo Hoo!

Hi all:

The cover for my book Dessert Box is complete. :-) I love it.

Dessert Box is an African-American Lesbian Romance with Light BDSM.

Story Blurb: It’s Valentine’s Day and Sandra has set the scene. Carmella will have a delicious feast filled with everything she loves. By the end of the night, Carmella will discover which is sweeter: her woman or her chocolate.

Welcome to my blog...

My name is Anika. I'm a Jamaican, living in South Florida. And I'm an author.

Since blogging is a relatively foreign concept for me, it will take me awhile to grow comfortable enough to start talking . . . typing. But when I do finally open up, watch out.

Over the next few months, you should hopefully be seeing more from me. By then, I should have gotten over all my phobias about being open with others . . . I hope.

I'll also be finished with school by the end of April (woohoo). This will free up a lot of time for me to write again. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to dedicate to work, school, and my passion (bummer).

Anyway, shortly after school ends, my first book, a lesbian contemporary called Lust Bites: Good For Something will be published by Total-e-Bound Publishing (Yippee). The scheduled date is June 2008. Then two short stories will released by BookStrand, Inc.: Dessert Box in July 2008 and Reclaiming Nicola in August 2008 (big dreamy sigh).

I'm also currently working on a number of other books that should be ready for submission soon. But all that must wait until after school is done.

Stay tuned for more in the writing world of Anika. Until next time....Imagine