Saturday, May 29, 2010

My Creative Truths -- and winner of MBaM GC

Okay, here are the answers. Remember, you didn't have to get them right to be considered for the gift certificate (or just to have fun)!

7. Biting Nixie is about a punk rock musician named Betsy
FALSE - Her name is Nixie


6. Bite My Fire was a finalist in the 2009 Australian Romance Reader Awards for Favourite Historical

FALSE - this one was tricky, the category for Fire was Favourite Erotic Romance

5. My books are steamy hot lion shifter romances
FALSE - My older boy (the English major) won't let me write them. He wants me to do steampunk fairy tales but right now I do hot humorous vampire romances


4. My children are named Caesar and Aahz
FALSE - But these are my tear-up-the-house grandcats

3. I am secretly a bar stripper at night
FALSE - I wish!


2. My husband works in a cave
KINDA TRUE - He's a computer systems guy, and they always put them in the basement. So no, not a
cave, but he doesn't have windows, either. Well, he does have Windows because they use Microsoft stuff, but...well, you know what I mean.

1. I soloed on bass drum in Germany.
TRUE! Points to Vivi for getting it! Our college wind ensemble toured Europe and we were short on percussion. I played flute except for one march, with a two-beat bass drum solo. My director took great delight in cuing me, dah-dah-dah *point* boom boom!

The winner of the $5 MBaM Gift Certificate, chosen at random, is *flchen1*! Please drop me an email at mary@maryhughesbooks.com and I'll send it out.


Thanks to everyone who played!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Fiona Vance is calling me a Liar...I mean, a "Creative Writer"!!

Thanks to Fiona Vance for nominating me for Lesa's Bald Face Liar "Creative Writer" Blogger Award!

See if you can catch me out in my lies creativity! One statement below is true. Post your guess as to which for a chance to win $5 MBaM Gift Certificate! (You don't have to get it right to be eligible!)

And because this is too much fun to keep to myself, check out my creative friends! Post one of their book titles here for a second chance!

My Liars Creative Friends

Vivi Andrews, smoldering hot Serengeti shifters and quirky upbeat Karmic consultants
Kaye Chambers, surprises, laughter and steamy romantic magic
Marianna Lauren, dark, dangerous bad boys in erotic vampire romance
Honey Jans, erotic romance painted with a vivid, kinky imagination
Fiona Vance, pirates and highwaymen in erotic Regencies

1. I soloed on bass drum in Germany.
2. My husband works in a cave
3. I am secretly a bar stripper at night
4. My children are named Caesar and Aahz
5. My books are steamy hot lion shifter romances
6. Bite My Fire was a finalist in the 2009 Australian Romance Reader Awards for Favourite Historical
7. Biting Nixie is about a punk rock musician named Betsy

Careful, some of these are partially true!

Again, post your guess as to my single full truth for a chance to win!
Post one of my friends' book titles for a second chance!
CONTEST OPEN UNTIL MAY 27!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Biting Me Softly FAR April Recommended Read!

I adore Hayley's writing! Who else could use empyrean in a review?

Five Angels! Recommended Read! "I love, love, love Mary Hughes' writing style. It revs me up and keeps me going from the sheer excitement of the merry chase her heroines lead their men on in hopes of winning their love.  I do believe that each time Ms Hughes delivers a new hero to her voracious fans they become hotter and sexier. I know that I certainly feel that way. Each time I think that I can love no other character as much as the previous one she gives birth to a new empyrean delight to torture and beguile the reader." ~ Reviewed by Hayley for Fallen Angel Reviews

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Awesome Vivi Andrews -- The Abs-olute Truth Interview!

My guest today is a multipublished best-selling author, a multitalented woman who’s traveled the world. Applause and warm welcome to the Awesome Vivi Andrews!
Thank you, Mary!  I’m thrilled to be here.
Your new book, The Sexorcist, looks like another incredible ride of romance, excitement, and laugh-out-loud fun. Can you tell us a little about Brittany and Luis?
Brittany is the single most optimistic person on the planet.  Not even demonic harassment can get her down.  Luis is the oh-so-sexy exorcist paired with her when a mischief demon starts wreaking havoc on the wedding she’s planning for one of the Karmic Consultants.  And hilarity ensues… along with a dose of True Love.
(Oh, my. Fun, true love and those abs? Yum!)

You write both the wonderful Karmic Consultant series and the popular Serengeti Shifter series. Is one easier to write? Any special challenges or joys?
I flat out love the Karmic Consultants books.  I love writing them.  The biggest challenge there is living up to the hype inside my own mind.  I always have this image in my head that the book is going to be beyond awesome.  And then I have to actually write it. 
But I also love the Shifter books.  When I’m burned out on humor, they give me a chance to explore sensuality and emotional depth without the veil of comedy.  And the big, muscle-packed Alpha males in that series certainly don’t hurt. 
I need the variety.  It helps make every new book feel fresh to me.
(Pictured: Serengeti Storm)

You write in many different genres. Any stories you particularly want to see soon in a publisher’s queue?
I’m always excited by shiny new ideas, but for now I’m mostly attracted to contemporary romances and various flavors of paranormal.  A few years ago, I said “I’ll never write paranormal.  I’m too lazy for all the world-building.”  And now I’m writing two paranormal series. Then I said, “I’ll never write category contemporary” but I’ve recently submitted one of those.  It seems like whichever book I say “I’ll never write (fill in the blank)” turns out to be the next one I find myself writing.  (Anyone want to fill in the next blank for me?)
(Pictured: Serengeti Heat)

You say in your bio that you’re a movie buff. What are your favorites? Any of them life-changing? Any that your friends groan about when they see you barreling down the hallway toward them with your Special Edition Copy and conversion mania on your face?
If you have not seen The Philadelphia Story and you do not want to be strapped to a chair with duct tape and forced to watch it, you should run when you see me coming.  If you admit to ignorance of The Princess Bride, His Girl Friday, How to Murder Your Wife, Bull Durham, To Catch a Thief, or Noises Off, I am not to be blamed for forcing you into a marathon for your own good.  You’ll thank me later.  After I remove the duct tape…
(Pictured: Tickle My Fantasy)

Is there an untapped corner of your life that would bring on a new story? (My husband really wants to see one based on your minor in mathematic theory.)
Nerd lovin!  One of the next books on my To-Be-Written list has a molecular physicist heroine – which delves into my perverse fascination with quarks.  That’s about as close to linear algebra and chaos theory as I’m likely to go in my books.  I learned a long time ago that most people don’t love math like I do. I’ve watched their eyes glaze over when I start to wax poetic about how you can write computer code to use a series of finite iterations to mimic infinite repetitions to approach solutions for unsolvable differential equations… yeah.  You’re all bored.  This is why I don’t write about math geeks.
(Pictured: Shifting Dreams)

How do you choose a topic to blog on? Are your amazing posts stream-of-consciousness brilliance or incredible writing/editing talent?
LOL.  Dude.  You just called my blog posts amazing. You are so good for my ego.  The Truth About the Blog: Usually I just braindump all my crankiness or glee over a certain topic and hit “post.”  I try to rein in my natural tendency to swear like a drunken dockworker and once or twice a week I’ll actually hit spellcheck before posting, but more often than not, what you are seeing is unedited me.  Once in a blue moon, I’ll save a post for later and look back at it to make sure I’m not saying anything too inappropriate – but those saved posts tend to get sucked into the internet ether, never to be posted or seen from again.  I don’t have the patience to edit my blog posts. That’s just where I play.
(Pictured: The Ghost Exterminator)

Well, I love the brilliant way you handle some very nuanced topics. And the fun. Oh, and the contests. Vivi's highly enjoyable, thought-provoking, and always-entertaining blog is Ramblings from the Road. And visit Vivi at her website ViviAndrews.com.

Enormous thanks to Vivi for celebrating her fabulous new release, The Sexorcist, with me today!


Everything that can go wrong, will…especially when a demon helps things along.
Karmic Consultants, Book 3

When a mischief demon threatens a wedding, who’s a Karmic Consultant gonna call? Brittany Hylton-VanDeere. Brittany’s never planned a wedding before, but how hard could averting demon-induced matrimonial disasters be? Her particular brand of cockeyed optimism has always carried her through—but this time there’s a complication. A tattooed, badass exorcist who’s tempting her to break the no-office-dating rule.

Luis Rodriguez isn’t sure what to make of bright-eyed, somewhat illogical Brittany, but he’ll take any job that gives him a break from exorcising demons for pampered, lusting housewives. Helping pull off a wedding is not exactly his idea of a break, but who knew that Brittany’s infectious enthusiasm would be so, so seductive?

As the demon keeps finding ways to throw Brittany and Rodriguez together, they find themselves sliding deeper into a forbidden romance. But distractions are something they can’t afford. The demon’s aggression is rising, and it plans to stop the wedding. Even if it means stopping Brittany…permanently.

Product Warnings
This book contains a hero guaranteed to heat things up, a heroine bound to tug your heartstrings, and enough demonic mischief to keep you smiling all the way to the chapel.

Read an excerpt at Samhain Publishing