The ARCs are HERE!!

Damien ARCs just arrived. Yummy yum yum! Everyone who won one in my chat last Saturday I am going to try and get them all out to you by wednesday of next week! (That goes for all prizes won from me lately....I know, I am slow...but I was also SWAMPED!)

In other news, I passed my driver's test (20 years between tests and it is STILL just as hard and scary as the first time...and just as thrilling to beat it!) I am now officially licensed in the State of NC. Ahhh.... Now if I could only find the damn title to my car!!!

And further news, Saturday from 9pm to 10pm I am holding a chat at the SMUT SLUTS website. I am giving away what I like to call the TRIFECTA. Signed copies of all three released books. But I am so delighted to have the ARCS I may just...well, we'll see. Hehe. How can you win the trifecta? Well, it won't be easy...and I'll just say one thing: TREASURE HUNT.

'Nuff said.

I was battling the blues today, but managed to make it through without pizza or chocolate. Imagine that! I have hopes that it gets better from here, though. All my deadlines are achieved for the moment and now I can relax and do some free-thinking writing...where I go wherever the mind takes me. You never know what that will bring. The Shadowdwellers came about this way. Once we get into that series you will see a significant change in my writing. I loosen up, heat up and my plots thicken. Kensington frees me to write however I like, heh, and I just may make them regret that! Just the same, as my reading tastes evolve, as I age, everything I write tends to change in a likewise manner. I don't ever want to become predictable or stuck in a rut. I've seen it happen to some of my favorite writers. I don't believe in "If the formula works, use it again...and again...and again!" Obviously some things will never change. I will always have a HEA. (Happily Ever After) and I will always center my stories around the journey my H and H take to get there. It is romance, after all. Paranormal, fantasy, Sci-fi...yes...but romance just the same.

I want to give a shout to all my favorite soldiers who are out there doing a really tough job for a paycheck. They've really taken to the series, and they've been really gracious and kind to me as well.

Also, feel free to write to me and tell me what you thought of Elijah. I can always use the feedback.

Let's have a contest. Heh. For an ARC of Damien. Comment to this blog to enter a chance to win...by telling me which is your favorite Nightwalker race and why. Short answers are frowned on and may be disqualified. Put some thought into it...like I know you have. Epress yourself as if I might write a romance, and a Nightwalker, JUST for you!

The WINNER of Patrice Michelle's ALPHA HEROES blog post IS...

Christine! (picked randomly by a family member)

Christine, email me at patrice AT patricemichelle.net and tell me what format you want your download of SUSANNA'S SEDUCTION in and I'll send it on.

I also wanted to thank everyone who participated in the ALPHA HEROES discussion. I had a blast hanging and chatting with you. I hope you enjoyed the conversation, too.

And thanks again, Jacki, for inviting me to your blog! :)

All the best,

Patrice
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Always a sexy, heart-tugging read!

Website | Blog

Bad in Boots: Hunger and Temptation now available
Susanna's Seduction now available
Anticipation coming October 2007
Harlequin Nocturne - Scions: Resurrection coming January 2008

What's in a name...oh, you sexy ALPHA MALE!

Thank you, Jacki, for asking me to come play on your blog for a day.

What is it about the alpha male that we love so much? I’ve been a fan of alpha heroes from my very first Johanna Lindsey novel. Since then, I’ve read as many books as I could get my hands on that featured strong alpha males: Julie Garwood, Linda Howard, Christine Feehan to name a few. When I started to write my own books, I created the kind of heroes I liked to read—dedicated heroes with very alpha traits.
Alphas are bigger than life, take charges kind of guys. They’re the kind of men who stick to their convictions and who will go out of their way to support family or friends in need. While they’ll fight tooth and nail for the ones they love, these men also live by a strong code of honor.

Writing an alpha male that doesn’t come across as a jerk can be tricky. I personally believe it all comes down to striking a fine balance between making him “very confident and strong” and giving him the right “chinks in his armor” (at least one is usually related to the heroine *g*).
Yes, alpha heroes can be arrogant and strong-minded, even pigheaded at times, but these very same qualities are what gives the alpha hero that “extra edge” we slurp up with a spoon as we watch him fight for his woman. Whether that “fight” is against a villain or his own internal issues keeping him from accepting how much she means to him, nothing melts our hearts more than to see a very strong Alpha male brought to his knees by the love of woman.

So how do we present this strong, dominant Alpha male’s loyalty and dedication to the heroine? How do we show his emotion and just how deep his love runs? We convey it through dialogue, yes, and also through finer, more subtle ways via the hero’s actions, making it crystal clear to the reader how very much this Alpha cares for the heroine.

If you’d like to read excerpts featuring alpha heroes paired with heroines to match them, I hope you’ll check out my website. Whether they are seductive vampires or werewolves, or sexy, rugged cowboys, all my heroes have one thing in common--they’re very Alpha and very dedicated to their women. :o)

Question: What are some traits you feel qualify a hero for “Alpha” status?

Join in the discussion and at the end I’ll pick a winner to send a download of my latest eBook, SUSANNA’S SEDUCTION!

Now let's chat!

Patrice Michelle

Patrice’s Upcoming Books:

Anticipation – October 2007, Samhain
Scions: Resurrection (book 1) – January 2008, Harlequin Nocturne

Places to find more information about Patrice:

Patrice's Website
Patrice's Blog
Patrice's MySpace