Happy Valentine's Day month! My second favorite holiday. I should have known I was going to be a romance author when my love of this holiday flourished, not because my own teen love life was that spectacular (a hideous understatement, lol), but because I loved how people express romantic love for one another. And one of the ways I celebrate that is by reading a love story, as this graphic I did for last year's V-Day shows.

THE BARBECUE: A NEW FREE NOVELLA

As promised, I have released a new FREE vignette revisit with my Knights and Mistresses of the Board Room characters. "The Barbecue" is now available on the Cantrips page on my website, with a convenient BookFunnel link to download it in your preferred format. You can see the pretty cover in the sidebar, courtesy of my husband's very appreciated graphic design talents.

A reminder of what this vignette is about: If you've read At Her Command, the first book in my Mistresses of the Board Room series, you know at the end there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home (hero/heroine of Unrestrained). The vignette IS that barbecue. In this short, you'll get a couple nice foreshadowing scenes between Neil and Abby. Theirs is the next book to be written in the MBR series, Fall 2021. You'll also be on the front row for an emotional re-connect between Rachel of Afterlife and Lawrence, since he was her late son's childhood friend.

GUEST AUTHOR DAY - DESIREE HOLT / SAMANTHA COLE

So in January, we launched our monthly Guest of the Day Author series at the JWHMembersOnly Facebook group. I had asked our 1100+ members for suggestions on who they wanted to visit the group, and they provided me 80 names! So who was our first guest? The fabulous Desiree Holt, author of 271 romantic suspense and erotic romance books to date (yes, that is not a misprint). She kicked off the series January 30, offering several entertaining posts throughout the day, followed by a one-hour FB Live with us that evening.

During that hour, she treated us to SO many lively anecdotes about how her heroes came to be. Were you aware that Marc, her hero from Joy Ride, was inspired by real life rocker Jackie Joyride, when she saw him play The Viper Room in Chicago? Desiree was there with her publisher, and when Desiree said she wanted to turn him into one of her book heroes, her publisher invited him back to the hotel so Desiree could talk to him!

Her Navy SEALs have been heavily inspired by Jack Carr, a retired Navy SEAL who has not only been an invaluable research source, but writes his own fiction books now as well. And her Rawhide club series, which just had a new release, is inspired by a BDSM venue in the San Antonio area. One of the Doms offered a workshop at the first Wild Wicked Weekend conference and was an ongoing vital information source to Desiree to enrich her BDSM romances.

Want to hear all these stories and more? You can see the one-hour FB Live she did with us here, and if you search on "Desiree" on the group site, you should also pull up all the posts she did on January 30.

So who's next? In February, our Guest Author of the Day is going to be the amazing Samantha Cole! Samantha is a retired police officer and paramedic who writes BDSM romance under the tagline "suspenseful seduction," which includes the popular Trident Security series, plus Doms of the Covenant, Master Key, the Malone Brothers series, and the list goes on.

Come join us Saturday, February 27, 8-9pm ET to spend some time with Samantha, and be sure to check in with the group earlier in the day to see if she posts any additional information about herself, or her current and upcoming works.

GOODREADS - BLOGGERS AND READERS

The BDSM GoodReads group is doing a month-long "Kinkaversary!" If you're a READER, over 150 books are being awarded and fun stuff is happening, like a "Getting to Know an Author" scavenger hunt, a Flash Fiction contest and other BDSM-related games. I can't wait to see the comments/posts!

If you're a BLOGGER, be sure and check out the Blog Tour item on the event page for the giveaways and content specifically for YOU. For instance, in my tour content offering, I've prepared an EXCLUSIVE teaser scene from my upcoming book Vampire Guardian! If you sign up for it, send me a heads up on the date you're going to post it. The first three bloggers who let me know, I'll alert my readers so they can come check it AND your site out!

Want to see the amazing list of authors participating (and with whom I'm fortunate enough to be rubbing elbows)?

A.E. Lister, Amelia Danver, Annabel Joseph, Blakely Bennett, Cecilia Tan, C.P. Mandara, Candace Blevins, Golden Angel, H. Dean, Jeffe Kennedy, Karen Nappa, Lee Savino, Rachel Loewen, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Skye Warren and Siena Noble

Here's the direct link to all the Kinkaversary specific stuff again. Hope you drop in to enjoy the month-long party!

WANT TO KNOW THE TITLE OF MY NEXT BOOK?

As you may remember, the current work-in-process is the next Vampire Queen series book. I had a tentative title, The Vampire and the Fae, and that just didn't feel right. Then I shared the draft blurb/summary on the various social media platforms:

*****

Fae and vampires never fall in love. Except when they do...

Adan arrives at Club Atlantis to help with a job. The BDSM club is to become part of the portal network for magic users. A born vampire with the blood of a Cherokee shaman and a Irish Seer, Adan is apprenticed to a Light Guardian, helping him hone his skills to become a full sorcerer. Perhaps even a Guardian himself one day.

But there’s more at Club Atlantis than a job. It’s a haven for a Fae female. Despite the history of long animosity between vampires and Fae, wary strides have been made toward co-existence. But there’s a big difference between co-existing and what Adan finds himself wanting from Catriona.

Catriona is a Fae with a unique problem. Not at home in her own world, not physiologically suited to be in the human world without extraordinary protections in place, she can’t put down roots anywhere. Since she’s a tree nymph, it’s a serious problem. One that calls for a solution that will appall her world, even her loving and powerful protector, the Fae Lord Keldwyn.

The history of their two species is filled with tragic stories of what happens to a vampire and a Fae who want to bind to one another. But love has a way of refusing to be ignored. No matter the consequences...

*****

After mentioning that I was just "okay" with my proposed title, a reader suggested one that incorporated the word "Guardian" in it. And yes, though it seems pretty much like a "Duh-huh" moment now, Vampire Guardian suddenly made a lot of sense. Not only because of Adan's magical aspirations, but for what he will become to Catriona. So we have a title and a blurb!

Just as a reminder, Catriona is the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Adan is the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct. I have all fingers and toes crossed for a late spring/early summer release. I'll keep you posted. If I stay on schedule, preorder links should happen in April.

Here's a fun graphic for the book. When Adan and Catriona first meet, he has no great love for the Fae (that's putting it mildly). But Catriona has an answer for that, as you can see.

LAST FULL MONTH OF SALE

Don't forget, Submissive Angel, my expanded M/m Christmas story, will return to a $2.99 price around mid-March. Get your $0.99 cent copy now, which includes the original 2012 story PLUS 180 pages of "the rest of the story." Here are all the buy links:

Amazon / Amazon Worldwide / Amazon Print

Nook (code BNPJOEY66 for sale price - also at top of blurb at Nook)

iBooks

Kobo

Google

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - SASS 2021

Have you registered and made your hotel reservations for the next SASS conference? I hope so. I can't wait to see you all! Click on the link here or in the sidebar to find out more.

---

CONTACTING/FOLLOWING ME

Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Twitter and Facebook (Author Page), and regularly stop in at the JWHMembersOnly fan group. I'm also on MeWe, if you prefer that platform to Facebook. If you'd like to see the pics that inspire my books, visit me on Pinterest, or check out my handful of videos on YouTube.

Finally, I'd love it if you followed me on Bookbub, Amazon or both, since that helps my books get increased visibility and recommendations on the site. And in return, you get heads up about releases and sales!

• BookBub
• Amazon

DIDN'T GET A RESPONSE? Responding to my readers, and doing so in a very timely manner (within 24-48 hours), is extremely important to me. So if you have sent a communication to me in any medium noted above and have not received a response, a technical glitch has occurred. Either your communication did not get through to me, or my response did not reach you. If you suspect that's the case, use one of the alternative methods to send me a "Hey, Joey, I sent you a note through email (or social media platform, etc). Did you get it?" message, and we'll make sure we sort it out. I will never intentionally ignore my readers!

HAVING PROBLEMS GETTING MY NEWSLETTER PAST YOUR SPAM FILTER? - Whenever I issue a newsletter, I will post about it on the social media platforms mentioned above, to ensure it reaches the widest number of people possible. So if you're following me on any of them, you'll get a heads up. Or you can put https://storywitch.com/newsletter/?latest as one of your Favorite links. You can click on it anytime to see if a new newsletter has been released. I try to get a new issue out during the first 7 days of every month.

Thank you so much for your support of my work!