Wikkid.Sexy.Cool.

So . . . I finally linked the GIF I’d created for RUSH to a free excerpt page. Instead of putting up the same GIF on this post, I’m linking it to the new photos of Aaliyah and Aiden that I’ve edited:

My breasts are like new buds on a tree, yet men continue to stare, wondering aloud what delights I hide from them under my hijab. I have two arms and two legs like other girls, but sometimes my classmates taunt us, saying we have horns and tails and no one stops them, not even my teachers. Students join in the laughter, making me think that high school will be hard, even harder than the refugee camp. There I knew what I faced each day. I knew when my stomach spoke, only food would quiet it. But here, there is always something new to learn. And each day I must choose between what is haraam – forbidden, unlawful – and halaal.

 – Aaliyah, from the ebook RUSH

Over at Dear Author, Jane is taking requests from readers (and authors) on What’s Not Being Published that You Want to Read

There are a number a really good suggestions, and for any author who wonders where the idea for their next great novel might come from (not just in the romance genre) this wish list may be just the thing. I had fun matching up what I’m either currently working on or have already released with many of the requests.

I got pretty close with RUSH. But perhaps other novels like QUEENSREALM, Gaijin, and Valerius Rex might be of interest for those who requested more Scifi and historical romance with diverse characters.

Oops! I can’t forget JUKEBOX Volume One, since its set during the racial upheaval of the 60s, and features a male lead who goes from being a Rockabilly singer to a Blue Eyed Soul Man. Eli Burr pairs with the daughter of rights activist, and they  become the first interracial male/female duo in Pop music. While Eli has to hide his sexual orientation once he becomes a teen idol, the female lead ends up getting death threats and has the pressure of representing her race in a positive light, because that was VERY important back then.

Dare to go There:

I’ve put up a couple of brief excerpts tonight, where the stories start with uncomfortable scenes.  I don’t want to say much more than that, but the excerpts are from the ebook novellas The Player and Love and Baseball.

Both ebooks are contemporary romances. Here’s how Love and Baseball starts:

They called it a Ghetto Blast, and the frat house hosts were wearing afro wigs, holding beer and giving each other fake gang signals. Some were  even posing for pictures, calling out to one another and those entering the house with “fo shizzle, my nizzle.”