Welcome to the Laced with Desire cross-blog. 

This is our second ‘corset’ anthology together and we had such a blast with the Unlaced cross-blog, we decided to do it again.

This time, Jaci Burton, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill and I are talking about clothes - what they do (and don’t do!) for us. Yes, fashion disasters, unwise addictions, sex-kitten outfits - all is revealed. There are even a couple of pictures. Woot! (Possibly.)

Four authors, four blogs - four chances for free books. And it’s easy, just leave a comment. (Photographic evidence not required. heh heh) What’s not to love? Winners announced 9am EST (USA) Wednesday 3rd February.

Visit each of the blogs in turn to check out the giveaways from each author.I’m giving away a set - Unlaced AND Laced with Desire. If you happen to own them both already, I’m sure we can find something else.

I’ve put an easy link for you under each of our responses to the questions about clothes.

Here are the four questions  - 

1. What’s your most appalling shopping weakness, especially when it comes to clothes? Go to Jaci Burton’s blog. Giveaway - an advance review copy of her March release, Bound, Branded and Brazen.

2. What’s your most comfortable outfit and what do you enjoy doing most to relax? Go

to Jasmine Haynes’ blog. Giveaway - autographed copy of Yours for the Night.

 3. What’s your most sexy/naughty-feeling outfit? Go to Joey W. Hill’s blog. Giveaway - a signed copy of Laced with Desire.

4. What’s the outfit that gives you the most confidence? Read on! Giveaway - the set, Unlaced AND Laced with Desire.

Jaci Burton:

I have this sleeveless black dress that I adore. I can dress it up or down, wear a shirt under it if it’s cold outside or put a sweater over it. It’s multifunctional, looks great on me, I can wear heels or boots or flats with it, punk it up or class it up and it still looks great. Everyone should have a basic black dress they can do so many things with. It’ll make you feel great about yourself.

Visit Jaci’s blog for the shopping disasters and Jaci’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Jaci’s story, No Strings Attached.

Jasmine Haynes:

For confidence, I like a suit, feminine lines with a short tailored, form-fitting jacket and a skirt, either calf-length or well above the knee, never knee-length.  Under the suit, of course, very feminine lacy bra and barely there thong panties.  Thigh high stockings top it off.  Professional, feminine, and naughty all rolled into one.

Visit Jasmine’s blog for comfy clothes and Jasmine’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Jasmine’s story, La Petit Mort.

 Joey W. Hill:

That would be this dress. I wore it at the 2009 Romantic Times for the Jungle Party. Typical of an OCD personality type with body image issues, I don’t often feel gorgeous in anything, but I loved this dress. It had sexy lines, and flowed when I walked like I was a romance heroine come out of her chrysalis. It flattered hip line, maximized my minimal cleavage (grin), and had a whimsical flirtiness to it I adored. I found some great Wal-mart White Stag jewelry to go with it for almost nothing, and my mom, who went with me to RT, took this lovely near sunset picture. She was probably trying to commemorate the one time her daughter didn’t look like a bag lady!Of course, on the flip side, sometimes when I’m wearing my most comfortable outfit (see the question on Jasmine’s blog), that’s also when I feel most confident. That’s because it’s the outfit that says “this is the real me”, and there’s always a reassurance to that…as long as I don’t end up in the wrong environment for it. I remember one conference, I brought too many “comfortable clothes”, and when I went to one of the more formal events, I felt far from confident! So matching the setting to the outfit helps. However, when I’m at home and around town, I always feel quite confident in my comfy clothes. Though I think the sexy zebra dress would work anywhere (I plan to wear it to Wal-mart one day for fun – laughter).

Visit Joey’s blog for naughty/sexy outfits and Joey’s giveaway!

Excerpt from Joey’s story, Honor Bound.

Denise Rossetti:

I don’t mind admitting it - clothes are really important to my self-confidence. Feeling over or under dressed, badly groomed or untidy disconcerts me dreadfully. I suspect it’s shallow, but there you go.If I think my day at the Evil Day Job is going to be challenging, I’ll make a point of dressing from the skin out to bolster my confidence.

Matching undies first. Beyond that, I absolutely have to feel ‘put together’. I’m not a frilly or froufrou dresser, I like well-cut classics and a close fit. So it might be belted tailored trousers and shirt, with a jacket and discreet jewelry. I combine rich bright colours with neutrals because they give my skin a lift. Anything beige, dusty or muted and I could get work as an extra on Night of the Living Dead. LOL

I always wear my charm bracelet – I have a charm for every book I’ve written – because it reminds me of who I am and what I can do if I put my mind to it. (If you were wondering why the two silver inkpot/quill charms, they’re my Passionate Plume Awards.)

Excerpt from my story, Rhio’s Dancer.

Tell us about the outfit that makes you feel a million dollars. What’s so special about it?

You know how people quip that they’d forget their heads if they weren’t screwed on? I say that a lot. Because it’s true. I’ve always been a trifle absent-minded, but OMG - is it getting worse, or what?

Last year, My Beloved and I hid the spare car keys before we left for the USA and Canada. We can both recall the stepladder was involved, but can we remember where those damn keys are? Nope, of course not. We still haven’t found them.

A couple of days ago, I hid all my rings - that’s right, all of them, the ones I wear every day because I’m too scared to leave them at home for a burglar to find. But it’s been hot here, and very humid. Some days it’s too uncomfortable to wear rings, especially if I’m going for a healthful (hah!) walk or to the gym. So, this particular day, I decided to pop them somewhere out of sight. I remember thinking to myself that it wasn’t the most original hiding place, but at least I wasn’t making it too easy for a would-be thief.

The weekend went by. Come Monday, I reached for my rings and they weren’t in the usual place. WTF? Oh yes, I’d hidden them somewhere in the bedroom. No problem.

Do you think I could remember where?

And guess what? I was too scared to search, in case I couldn’t find them.  How sad and twisted is that?

Thankfully, when I came to do the laundry, there they were - shining up at me from the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper.  I still have absolutely no recollection of putting them there. None. I’m losing my marbles due to galloping senility, I swear.

Please tell me you’ve done something similar. I’m scared. *sigh*

Does reading romance improve your romantic life?  Does reading erotic romance improve your sex life? 

Interesting questions, hmm?  Even more interesting, I often receive mail from readers who tell me that their partners thank me too. Isn’t that lovely? Always makes me grin.

Ellora’s Cave’s is having an official 10th birthday and as part of the celebrations, they’re asking readers pick the winner from the two finalists in the video category of the How Has Ellora’s Cave Improved Your Sex Life contest. Check out the two very different but totally wonderful videos - HERE! They’re up for a month to give everyone plenty of time to vote. Tell all your friends to vote too!

You can talk about it here too, of course! (But not TMI, all right? I’m a delicate flower.) Did you have a stand-out favourite video? Why?

I thought that you folks Over There might like to experience the flavour of an Aussie Christmas, so here’s a ’seasonal’ poem. High literature it ain’t - enjoy!

BTW, as I write this, I’m sitting at my desk in a sarong, looking out the window at the mangoes beginning to blush on our big old tree. Meanwhile, it’s raining - steady subtropical wet stuff, with a sauna to follow when the sun comes out and sucks all the moisture out of the ground. I’m finally considering air conditioning. *sigh*

‘Twas the night before Christmas; there wasn’t a sound.
Not a possum was stirring; no-one was around.
We’d left on the table some tucker and beer,
Hoping that Santa Claus soon would be here;
We children were snuggled up safe in our beds,
While dreams of pavlova danced ’round in our heads;

And Mum in her nightie, and Dad in his shorts,
Had just settled down to watch TV sports.
When outside the house a mad ruckus arose;
Loud squeaking and banging woke us from our doze.

We ran to the screen door, peeked cautiously out,
snuck onto the deck, then let out a shout.
Guess what had woken us up from our snooze,
But a rusty old Ute pulled by eight mighty ‘roos.
The cheerful man driving was giggling with glee,
And we both knew at once who this plump bloke must be.

Now, I’m telling the truth it’s all dinki-di,
Those eight kangaroos fairly soared through the sky.
Santa leaned out the window to pull at the reins,
And encouraged the ‘roos, by calling their names.

‘ Now , Kylie ! Now, Kirsty! Now, Shazza and Shane !
On Kipper! On, Skipper! On, Bazza and Wayne !
Park up on that water tank. Grab a quick drink,
I’ll scoot down the gum tree. Be back in a wink!’

So up to the tank those eight kangaroos flew,
With the Ute full of toys, and Santa Claus too.
He slid down the gum tree and jumped to the ground,
Then in through the window he sprang with a bound.

He had bright sunburned cheeks and a milky white beard.
A jolly old joker was how he appeared.
He wore red stubby shorts and old thongs on his feet,
And a hat of deep crimson as shade from the heat.
His eyes - bright as opals - Oh! How they twinkled!
And, like a goanna, his skin was quite wrinkled!
His shirt was stretched over a round bulging belly
Which shook when he moved, like a plate full of jelly.

A fat stack of prezzies he flung from his back,
And he looked like a swaggie unfastening his pack.
He spoke not a word, but bent down on one knee,
To position our goodies beneath the yule tree.

Surfboard and footy-ball shapes for us two.
And for Dad, tongs to use on the new barbeque.
A mysterious package he left for our Mum,

Then he turned and he winked and he held up his thumb;
He strolled out on deck and his ‘roos came on cue;
Flung his sack in the back and prepared to shoot through.

He bellowed out loud as they swooped past the gates -

‘MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and goodonya, MATES!’

Let me know if there’s something you’re curious about.For example, Shazza and Bazza are the nicknames for Sharon and Barry, respectively. Not something a foreigner might intuit!

Hope your Christmas was simply wonderful, full of love and ease. Mine wasn’t too damn bad at all! I know I’m blessed and I’m infinitely grateful.

I’ve never been an outdoor girl. Give me a bed and a book and a cuppa tea.

Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing animals in the wild and Nature’s beauty restores my soul. But the … ah… logistics really bother me. Okay, okay, I confess - the main issue is going to the toilet.  Not having convenient plumbing on the outside like a guy makes it a tad difficult. When you squat, inquisitive vegetation wants to get personal with your nether regions. And it’s always prickly. Then there’s the whole issue of the pants hooked around your knees - slap bang in the way. Not to mention the rest of it - digging holes, balancing while you wipe etc etc

Let’s not forget the wild life either. When DD was about six, she had to go while we were on a rainforest walk. (I swear her bladder is the size of a pea.) She collected a leech in a VERY bad place. The sight of her capering about and screaming with the leech dangling is graven in my memory.*shudder*

Probably ruined the poor kid for life. Speaking of which..

I imagine this poor woman is about to be ruined for life too. Oh dear.

Are you better at the outdoor stuff than me? (No details, BTW!) The rest of camping escapes me too. I’m just not very practical, I guess. Do you enjoy camping? Why?

I’m terminating Yahoo with EXTREME PREJUDICE.

BOOOOOM!!!

It might be free, but hell - you get what you pay for! I’ve been using Yahoo for my monthly newsletter since the very first issue (in May 2006) and I have finally had EEEENOUGH!

From this moment on, I’ve shifted my newsletter - that is, my whole newsletter ‘family’ - to another service. One that’s professional. Sure, it costs, but dammit, it actually works!

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

There are free gifts on joining. *hint, hint*  *cackle*

(NOTE: Existing subscribers should have come along for the ride. If you’re worried about anything, email me and I’ll sort it out.)

I love these folk, they really are ‘family’ to me, and I try to offer them special stuff that you can’t get elsewhere - exclusive excerpts, free books, regular contests, glimpses of my life. Then of course, there’s the ongoing saga of Rackety Kate and the Pirates.  *grin*

So what does Yahell do???

Hah! It stops sending the newsletter to bunches of my faithful subscribers.  And it’s totally random - differs from one month to the next. If I send the newsletter a second time in a month, it doesn’t help, the same people miss out and the rest are irritated by getting it twice.

Either I look like a slack tart who doesn’t care and can’t be bothered, or an overanxious pest who floods your inbox.   Grrr…

Right. *settles feathers* Rant over. Thanks for listening. I’ve changed all the links on my website and this blog to point to the new service.  If you’re not already a member of my ‘family’, give it a try. Sheesh, sounds like a serial killers’ commune, doesn’t it? I’m harmless. Honest. Heh heh.

Anyone else have something they’d like to get off their chest about Yahell? *snort*

It’s almost beyond me to imagine a life without the pleasure of books - fiction, non-fiction, whatever. But there’s someone who is very dear to me who doesn’t read - AT ALL!  Never has and doesn’t intend to start.

Yeah, I know - the mind absolutely boggles.

I swear black and blue, I’m going to get her reading, make her One of Us. Imagine me burning with missionary zeal.

Every year at Christmas, I buy the young people in my life books. So what will I get for Ms Twenty-One, who doesn’t read? So far, I’ve ordered a copy of the first Stephanie Plum. I reckon that will  help.

But what else? What do you all think?

It has to have “instant grab” or she’ll put it down. It also has to appeal to her age group. What do you all think of manga? An anthology? An audio book? Even Twilight? *shudder*

Do you have one book in particular that turned you on to reading? Puhleeese, your recommendations?

I squibbed on the blog upgrade. What can I say? I took one look at all those truly hideous geeky instructions and I just…well, I just felt tired, all right? I can do it another day.

In the meantime, I thought we might discuss hair lice.

OMG!, I hear you scream, why hair lice? Here’s what got me thinking of them again -

Isn’t it a hoot? I laughed out loud when I saw it - which is my general gauge of blog-worthiness. It’s from  Longmire does Romance Novels. Go  have a look and a giggle.

But it took me right back too, to the - shudder - days of head lice. DD has the most beautiful hair, really thick. She’s also one of the most determined people I know and nothing would do but for her to grow it long. When she was seven, the head lice adored it so much, they set up Louse Town on her scalp. I hit the little buggers with natural remedies first. Nope. So I held our noses and tried something that smelled like undiluted DDT. Nope.

In desperation, I took her out to the back verandah with a ruler and my big sewing scissors and I cut it. Unfortunately, as a hairdresser I make a great romance writer and the back came out at the strangest angle. Gave me vertigo. So I evened it out. *snip, snip, snip*  From being halfway down her back, she ended up with a pageboy around her ears.

Poor little darling. She went into her room, took one look in the mirror and came over all weak and strange. She had to go to bed and lie down for a while to get over the shock. I felt like Delilah - and not in a good way either.

OTOH, with her hair shorter, I was able to get rid of the damn things. I guess it was poetic justice that a few of the little horrors transferred themselves to me. *shudder* I had absolutely no problem bathing in the DDT stuff. It was orange from memory. Probably accounts for a few things now.

Please don’t tell me I’m the only one….

Okay, I’m baaack! I’ve been promo-ho-ing my socks off for Thief of Light. *bwg* It was released on 3rd November - as if you didn’t know. heh heh 

Read the first chapter at: http://www.deniserossetti.com/thief.html
Buy from Amazon http://tinyurl.com/mw3bdb

I just wanted to warn you I’m about to upgrade the software for this blog. I’ve been putting it off for absolutely ages. This stuff isn’t exactly my best thang, you know? Hopefully, it will work, but just in case - you’ll know what’s happened if Under and Over suddenly evaporates.

Goddess help me… *gulp*

Strange things happen sometimes. Two lost dogs on the same day - who’d have thought it? Weird! I’m sure it’s deeply significant, something to do with cosmic synchronicity, but I can’t quite work how it fits.

Dog #1.

A kelpie cross, belonging to the folk over the road. A perfectly nice dog, but more than a bit silly,  downright skittish in fact. I’d just pulled out of the driveway and there she was - trotting happily down the middle of the road. When I called her she ran. Hmm… So I whipped out my shiny new iPhone and rang. “Hello?” said a male voice, very cautiously. It was my neighbour all right, but he was in Malaysia. Malaysia? Never mind, he said, he’d contact his wife and take care of it, so I drove off to work, pondering the wonders of modern technology.

This isn’t her, but she looks very much like this.

Dog #2.

I heard My Beloved drive into the garage the same night. Then his voice, talking to someone - protesting. Then yelling my name at the front door. When I opened up, there he was, with his arms full of parcels he’d picked up from the post office, accompanied by an enormous German Shepherd. The dog was perfectly self-possessed and extremely friendly. In no uncertain terms, it wanted to come in, so it did, shoving past both of us like a big furry bear. I was laughing too hard to stop it and My Beloved had his hands full. Puss leaped to the top of the table with his eyes like saucers and every whisker quivering. Thankfully, Visitor Dog didn’t see him and our own dog was happily oblivious, playing in the backyard.

Yes, I know this is Inspector Rex (he’s a German police doggy detective, in case you didn’t know), but our visitor looked like she could have been his sister, with the same intelligent handsome face. She was certainly just as self-possessed.

Eventually, we got a lead on her and took her home - or rather she took me. I was pulled along behind like a kite on a string. She lives down the road in  the other direction, and her people were very glad to see her.

Strange though, I’m still trying to work out what it all means. Any ideas? Oh, and remind me to to tell you all about the return of Snakey.