Barbarian Lover(68)

I moan, because it feels like I’m about to start coming again. “All yours, Aehako.”

“And then we will move back to the main cave so you can be near the healer—“

I shake my head even as he presses his thumb on the other side of my clit, sending ripples of pleasure through me. “I don’t want to.”

“No?” He sounds surprised.

“No,” I say, and I’m confident. For some reason, I trust my khui. “I won’t need the healer. Things will be fine. And this is where we’re meant to be.” I gaze up at the painted walls of my cave and feel a surge of joy. “We’re home.”

“My home is wherever you are,” Aehako tells me.

I touch his face gently. “I feel the same way.”





Note to Readers




Dear Readers,

Thank goodness for self-publishing!

I have wanted to write science fiction romance for the longest time. It’s a genre I adore, but I write for New York under another name, and contracts tend to keep me busy. Still, back in 2010 or so, I started a manuscript called ‘The Symbiont’ about a race of people that had crash-landed on a planet and had to have a native parasite to live. It sounds terribly romantic, right? Nothing says sexy quite like a parasite. The book never really got off the ground, because I had to keep putting it aside. In between contracts, however, I kept returning to the story and poking at it, hoping for a miracle.

Then, earlier this year, I felt burned out by writing. It was a job, and one that I love, but my creative fuel gauge was on ‘empty’. A friend dared me to write something new and exciting just for myself. All right, then. I immediately picked up my symbiont story. I’d left off with my heroine Georgie deciding to stage a break-out from the alien ship. I made it crash, I introduced Vektal, and I fell in love with the story – and writing – all over again.

And I discovered that I love my big blue aliens.

Ice Planet Barbarians was an utter labor of love from start to finish. I was sure that it was weird and out of the box, but it was the kind of story I’d been wanting to read – and write – for so long that I loved every moment of it. I’d also wanted to try a serial, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was a creative stretching of the mind, and I was shocked (and pleased!) when it took off. I didn’t expect to write a sequel.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I already had Raahosh and Liz paired up in my mind, along with Aehako and Kira, but as a writer, you hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I’ve killed a series mid-stream before, and it hurts, so I prepared myself for this to fail. If it was one book, it’d just be one book. Reviewers asked if there would be a series, and I answered honestly: only if there was demand for it.

But there’s been demand! In fact, the demand has been so incredibly exciting. So exciting that I jumped right into book two, and then into book three between my contracted obligations. My schedule for the latter half of the year is filling up rapidly, but I’m hoping to publish book four, BARBARIAN MINE, before Christmas. Hopefully earlier! I know it’s not super speedy, but I want to deliver a good story. If it takes a bit longer…then I’ll just have to figure out how to write faster.

A note about borrows: I’m really sorry that the books are no longer available for borrows. I really had fun with the serial format, and I liked the idea of readers borrowing each portion every week to see the new adventures. But once KU changed the payout, it no longer became financially smart for me (no matter how much I love writing the books) to continue forward with their program. So I’ve made the books available everywhere, and going forward, I anticipate continuing that. In addition, I don’t feel that the serial format works when it forces readers to pay $6 for the full book instead of the regular price, so I’m going to just do complete novels from now on and I’m taking down the individual portions.

I did the serial format as a way to stretch my wings, but it’s clear that readers just want a fun story. So on we go! That’s the great thing about self publishing – if it’s not working, you can change it.

The next book I am calling BARBARIAN MINE (at least in my head) and will be about Harlow and her mysterious captor. I hope you’re excited to read about them! We’ll also see more about the pregnancies, the human women, and how everyone’s settling into their new lives. There’s been a lot of chatter about the babies and I LOVE the feedback. If you want to see a particular story piece hit on, don’t be afraid to speak up! Your feedback is invaluable to me as an author.

Lastly, if you enjoy the books, please, please leave a review. Tell me what you think and who you’re hoping to see in future books. Tell me if you want more about Georgie and Vektal or if you want stories about new characters only! I want to know your thoughts and leaving reviews helps me as an author in so many ways.