I first discovered e books way back in about 1999. Back then there were only a few publishers selling in digital format and the product wasn’t exactly high tech. I remember saving the ebooks I bought onto a floppy disk (ha!), they were word documents that had not been edited as well as they should have. While I enjoyed discovering this new range of stories, finding a gem amongst the rough was as time consuming as… well, finding a gem amongst rocks. I kind of dismissed this new book format as a fad. No way would it ever be as popular as good old fashioned paper books.

That was before technology took off in ways I hadn’t expected. In the old milenium, I would never have guessed by 2012 personal reading devices would be small enough to fit in the average handbag, or that you’d be able to download books direct to the device without the middle man of the hard drive to slow things up. Did I envisage the ipad? No way. But Steve Jobs did and now everyone is in love with all things i… technology that can, amongst other things, enable people to carry their entire bookshelf around with them wherever they go.

In 2006 I has a baby at home who slept a couple of hours a day (oh, those where the days), and I decided to check out this e publishing thing again. I had a book that hadn’t found a home anywhere else because of a variety of reasons. Hero not alpha enough (aka not rich or Greek enough :)), setting not urban, and my personal favorite NOT SUITABLE FOR ANY OF OUR LINES. So that took traditional print publishing this book right off the table. And you know what? I’m glad because it made me take another look at e publishing, and boy had it changed. Publishers were looking a lot more professional, the product was professionally edited, it was easier than ever to download and save the stories. In short, I fell in love with the idea and when I went to Samhain Publishing’s site I fell in love with them too. Their tagline “It’s all about the story” gave me hope that my hero, my setting, my voice, might get a fair hearing. So I revised Born Again Virgin once again and sent it in.

The rest, as they say, is history. I love being part of the e publishing revolution and the freedom it has given me to try different storylines and character types has made my writing expand as I never would have dreamed. This week is e book appreciation week in the Samhain Cafe and I’m heading over there now to celebrate with readers who love e books as much as I do.

For nostalgia’s sake, here’s an excerpt from my first ever e published novel, Born Again Virgin:

She turned as he entered the kitchen. His expression taut, his shoulders tense with restraint, he asked, “Have you ever heard the expression, might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Well, I figure this is one of those situations.” He took a few, seemingly casual steps. But there was nothing casual in his heated expression as he drew near. Kelsey’s knees weakened and she clutched the solid steel of the kitchen sink for support. “You hate me enough to slap me right about now, so making you hate me a little bit more isn’t gonna make much difference, is it?”

She recognized the intent in his eyes a moment before he acted. It wasn’t enough time to stop him. Before she could even gasp, KD hauled her into his arms, crushing her already aching breasts against the hard wall of his chest and covering her mouth with his.

The first few moments were pure shock, adrenaline coursing through her. She had a too-fleeting thought of resisting, but couldn’t for the life of her remember all her sensible reasons for doing so. His lips, after taking their initial, indelicate, possession of hers, softened, turning warm and persuasive. Kelsey found herself sighing involuntarily and, darn it, letting him kiss her.

His tongue brushed across her bottom lip with a feathery caress. Heat erupted with a volcanic rush from the pit of her stomach, bursting through her blood and turning her to liquid fire. There was no possible way she could extract herself from the tender prison formed by the arm that moved to draw her closer to his body and the hand that splayed, gently massaging, through the hair at her nape. Her mind wouldn’t let her think of how to do it.

Might as well be hung for a sheep, Kelsey thought in capitulation and stood on tiptoes so she could wind her arms around KD’s neck and leaned into the kiss.

He made a deep, guttural sound that sent a vibration through her. His arm tightened around her, his hand moving to the small of her back. It slipped beneath the cotton of her tank top, the warmth of his palm searing her skin.

Their tongues moved to greet each other. He tasted faintly like pepper and Chardonnay—or was that her? Kelsey felt drunk again, her head swimming with the all-consuming awareness of being kissed like she’d never been kissed, by a man who knew just how to do it.

His fingers found their way to the back hook of her bra and toyed with it almost absently, alternatively slipping beneath the strap and moving away, as though he were of two minds about what to do with the so easily attained access to her underclothes. Kelsey felt the imprint of KD’s arousal against the softness of her stomach and knew his hesitation had nothing to do with a lack of desire. The knowledge of his state of need had Kelsey pressing against him, her breasts crushed to his chest, their peaks firm and tingling as she whimpered into his mouth.

Abruptly KD pulled back, drawing in great gulps of air as he looked down. The look of bright amazement in his eyes seemed to hold a mirror to her feelings. “Kelsey,” he said. Just that, just her name, but the thick emotion of his voice seemed to say a thousand things that every cell in her body understood implicitly.

 “…emotionally intense, light-hearted action which was attention-grabbing and sensual at the same time. Her main characters were so real it was as if I knew them personally… I could not put the book down.”

4.5 hearts, Brenda, TRS, for Born Again Virgin

Cheers,

Sami