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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest – Zombies!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

October is the month of being scary, right? But I’m a romance author, so I found a way to combine the two. Loving Among the Dead is the answer that I found. A mix of erotic romance and scary zombie adventure, it’s sure to get your blood racing in one way or the other. Here’s a blurb.

A survivor of a zombie apocalypse that’s ripped her world apart….

Nothing in her graduate history courses prepared Judith Graham for the monotony of her existence in the weeks following a zombie apocalypse. Hiding from the rotted world in her makeshift fortress, she subsists on dehydrated food and lonely thought.

When she gives up and decides to satisfy her need for a break in routine, she crosses paths with Sky Beckett, a high school physics teacher making his way to his Southern childhood home. Several passionate encounters coupled with Sky’s assertion that things are only going to get worse not better, spark Judith’s doubts about the isolated life she’s chosen.

But can an ever-cautious Judith find the strength to leave the false security of her past behind to create a new future with Sky in an uncertain world?

Click the book cover below to purchase:
Please note, this is an erotic romance with a heat level of 4.

Here’s an excerpt:

Judith Graham buried her parents on a Sunday. After a brief prayer, she placed her mother’s favorite plant at the head of her grave, and her father’s pipe—still full of tobacco ashes—at the head of his.

She brushed the dirt from her jeans, tucked the work gloves in her back pocket, and sat on the back deck sipping from a can of warm soda, watching the sun set. There were no tears. Her mother’s pistol was at her side, the gunmetal gleaming in the fading orange light.

Would it have made a difference if she had gotten home sooner?

The letter, written on her mother’s heavy monogrammed stationery, had been propped on the mantel, addressed to “Judith” in even, no-nonsense script. A marked contrast to the pale lavender paper, the black words indicated her father brought home the infection. She shot him in the back of his head when he started making gurgling, groaning sounds at the static on the television. Then she dug their graves, dragged him into his, and shot herself.

Stay hidden. Don’t trust anyone. Her mother’s final words to her. Jude was alone.

Her brother was south, somewhere, Alabama, the last she’d heard. Marcus did what he wanted, when he wanted. She was the good daughter who minded what her parents told her.

It wasn’t so bad at first. Between the initial shock of her parents’ deaths, and making defensive alterations to the house, there was no time or energy to think or feel much of anything.

Once the house was safe, the dehydrated food, water bottles, and toiletries arranged in the first floor den, the camp shower with its battery pump working and the lanterns loaded, there was lots of time to be lonely. Rereading favorite novels, patrolling the inside of the house, and searching for elusive ham broadcasts on the shortwave radio only filled up so much time.

She stopped looking at family photos because they made her cry, leaving her exhausted and listless, lying on the bed or the sofa or the floor for hours until the urge to pee roused her enough to move.

Her neighborhood was deserted. No walking dead bodies roamed the streets. Either her neighbors had gotten out or had been zombified in the confines of their homes, unable to juice up the physical memory necessary to open a door and escape. For that she was grateful. She’d had to smash too many zombie heads on her way back home from Philadelphia for her to revisit it with people she once knew.


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Movies--Books--Music--Television, Uncategorized Tagged: blogtoberfest, erotic romance, horror, loving among the dead, romance, the walking dead, zombies

Recipe Wednesday – Chicken Kiev

Photo courtesy of AllRecipes.com

On occasion, this geek gal likes to try her hand at new recipes in the kitchen. I’m not a great cook, but I know what tastes good and how to alter a recipe.

Unfortunately, I also like to pick complicated recipes that try my patience. (Don’t ask why, it’s just the way I’m built – I like a challenge.)

¼ cup butter, softened
1 tbs. chopped fresh chives or parsley
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic OR 2 tbs. chopped garlic from the jar
6 boneless, skinned chicken breast halves
12 toothpicks
3 cups cornflakes, crushed to 1 ½ cups
2 tbs. fresh chopped parsley
½ tsp paprika
¼ buttermilk or milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix softened butter, chives and garlic. Shape the mixture into a rectangle, like a stick of butter, then freeze for about 30 min. You will be slicing this later.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 pan. WITH BUTTER

Pound the chicken breast halves until they are as flat as possible – ½ – ¼” thick. I salt and pepper the meat, but that’s up to you.

Get your butter mixture. Slice it into six pieces. Place one piece on the center of chicken breast half. Fold the long ends of the chicken breast over the butter, then the short sides. Secure with toothpick.

Mix cornflakes, parsley and paprika. Dip chicken into buttermilk then coat evenly in the mixtures. Place the chicken in the pan, seam sides down.
Bake for about 35 min, uncovered. Remove toothpicks.

Like what you read?  Hop on over to The Sultry Scribe and sign up for my newsletter!


Filed Under: Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged: author, bleek, blerd, chicken kiev, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, interracial romance, mulitcultural romance, recipe

Featured Author: Eden Royce – Open All Hours (Carnival Magic 2)

This is fresh off the press, new release this very day!  I have had the distinct pleasure of beta reading this author’s work and I am eager to read her newest story.  Yes, I have tendency to prattle on and on, but I’m going to – barely – restrain myself and let the work speak for itself.

Title:  Open All Hours (Carnival Magic 2)

Author:  Eden Royce

Publisher:  Changeling Press

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Theme: Interracial/MultiCultural, Shapeshifters (Other), Magic, Big Beautiful Women

Series: Carnival Magic (#2)

Length: Novella

Page Count: 72

Blurb: Leesa Cobb has been cursed to shift form into a black cat. Can Vol, the owner of a nearby diner and a grizzly bear shifter himself, help her reverse the spell?

If not, can he convince Leesa that he wants her — no matter what her species?

Excerpt: 

“Aw, darlin’, how’d you get in here?”

The small black cat let Vol reach down and slide his huge hand under her fuzzy belly. Once he made contact, it seemed to startle her into movement.

“No, you don’t.” He caught her mid-leap and brought her to his massive chest. “I’m not going to hurt you, little one.”

The cat trembled in his grip and looked down, then back up, giving a forlorn cry. He rubbed under its furry neck and was rewarded with a short rumbling purr. No collar, and while its body was light, it was sleek and muscular. So, it wasn’t a stray. He’d keep an eye out for whoever the little beauty belonged to. There was no way he was going to leave it to the October night. The temperature was plummeting and people had a suspicion of black cats. He knew as well as anyone that people tend to destroy what they didn’t understand. As he looked into the kitten’s frightened eyes and gently loosened her tiny claws from his T-shirt, he knew he wouldn’t let that happen to her.

Her? He hadn’t checked the little cat to find out her gender, but something just felt right to refer to her as a female. What was he going to do about keeping her until he could find her a home? He lived over the diner and health inspectors tended to drop in at any moment. Vol felt a tremor in the cat’s hollow belly and gave a chuckle. “Well, at least I can find you something to eat. The special’s tuna.”

Inside the restaurant was warm and well lit, the décor a fifties theme, complete with turquoise vinyl bar stools and a functioning jukebox. Earth Angel played from the speakers, the classic song covered quite well by a modern band. The wait staff was also modern in their choice to mix tattoos and piercings with biker and rockabilly clothing. A server came by with a full face of pinup girl makeup and a bald, tattooed skull. The low hum of chatter mixed with the sizzle from the flat-top grill, and the scent of seared meat made the kitten wail again.

“Two Tone!” Vol yelled from the back doorway.

A black man turned from the grill at the sound of his name. A large irregularly shaped mark covered one side of his cheek and descended to part of his neck in pale, white skin. “Yo, Vol. You been out there sleeping or something?” Tone looked around the wall that separated the kitchen from the back door.

“No, man. Something else entirely.” He pulled the struggling kitten closer to his chest. “We got any more tuna?”

The cat hissed, pushing away from the Vol’s chest with its front paws.

“Yeah, we got some.” He gestured toward the animal. “But I don’t think he’s cool with fish.”

“She,” Vol corrected, unsure of why he did so.

Buy links:  Open All Hours – Buy Now!

*Will be updated when other buy links come out – right now it’s exclusive to Changeling Press!


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: carnival magic, changeling press, dark carnival, eden royce, erotic romance, shifters

Movie Quotes of the Seventies – My Picks

You all know that I go on kicks, and right now is the movie quote kick.  So, in order not to leave you out of my musings, here’s some seventies movie quotes that are near and dear to me.  Of course, feel free to use them, share them, tweet them or simply read them and laugh, then go find the movie they’re from, cuz some of those movies were pretty good.

Either way, enjoy!

The Godfather – The best thing about this line is not only was it practical, it was also improvised.  Why go through all the trouble of buy cannoli, then leave it in the car with a dead man?

Godfather - Cannoli

 

Superman – Christopher Reeve, the one, the only Superman.  And when he catches Lois Lane?  She’s not all calm, cool and collected…who would be?  This man is ….flying!!!

Superman

 

Anyone who has been following me the past couple of years, knows that the Dirty Harry movies are some of my favorite movies to watch.  Clint Eastwood ain’t too hard on the eyes either. This is quite a long quote, but I know it by heart.

Dirty Harry

 

I was introduced to Animal House by my husband, late in life, but I must say…it’s a pretty funny movie. Add that to a young Kevin Bacon getting paddled and you’ve got a hit.

Animal House

 

And finally, if you have not seen Network, you are missing out on a gem of a film.  It’s not a fun film, it’ll make you think, but it’s interesting to see a movie made so long ago that actually speaks to the nature of television today.

Network

 

I hope you enjoyed this little stroll down memory lane!

Dahlia


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: Contemporary Romance, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, interracial romance, movie quotations, quotations, romance, writing

Music Monday: Favorite Frank Sinatra Song Quotes

Sinatra SongsI’m not sure if I’ve done this before, but I was going through some old playlist and got to remembering.  Yes, I love Fuel, The Police, Imagine Dragons, Hozier and some new/old stuff, but some of the time I switch to the old 1940-1960s song book of The Chairman of the Board, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Mr. Francis Sinatra.  I am from New Jersey, so, yeah, natch, right?

As a romance writer, it helps me get in the mood to write love scenes and the interaction  of people becoming lovers when I listen to some of the great lyricists of the American Songbook.  Those writers had a way of turning a phrase and of creating metaphors and similies that evoke the feeling of love, falling in love and being in love.  I wanted to share a few of my faves with you and who better to demonstrate than Sinatra himself?

 

How Little We Know

Quote:

“Who cares with your lips on mine…..How ignorant bliss is…
So long as you kiss me ……and the world around us shatters….”

Video:

All the Things You Are

Quote:

“You are the angel glow that lights the star
The dearest things that I know are what you are…”

Video:

 

Fly Me to the Moon

Quote:

“Fill my heart with song…..
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore…”

 

Video

 

Come Fly with Me

Quote:

“Once I get you up there
I’ll be holding you so near
You may hear
Angels cheer, ’cause we’re together…”

Video

 

The Best is Yet to Come

Quote

“Come the day you’re mine
I’m gonna teach you to fly
We’ve only tasted the wine
We’re gonna drain the cup dry…”

Video:

 

So there you go, my blasts from the romantic past for Music Monday. I hope you enjoyed!

 

D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: American songbook, author, black geek girls, black girl geeks, blerds, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, female geek bloggers, frank sinatra, quirky romance, romantic songs, sinatra, songs from the 40s, writer

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