A SOUNDTRACK FOR MY NEW RELEASE

Many people can't listen to any kind of music while writing, especially if it features vocals and lyrics. I'm one of those authors who finds the atmosphere outside, the weather, and the music I'm listening to a real inspiration for my work. Fog and rain and gloomy actually inspire me as much or more than sunshine. Go figure. :) In fact, on my iTunes there is a playlist called LOVE AND DANGER. That's right. The music is set up just to inspire me when I need it and give the story in my head a soundtrack. Just recently I found some intriguing music watching Moonlight on CBS. I hunted and hunted to find out what some of the music was...believe me that took some serious Google time. I was delighted! In fact, I hunted for a long time to locate Evanescence (at the time I didn't know they were a gothic band) with lead singer Amy Lee's song My Immortal. I'd heard it during the end of the first episode of Moonlight and it haunted me. When I found it I knew I'd be able to use it as a background for other things I am writing. Ahem. But I digress.

November 9 is the reissue of a book of my heart, BRIDGE THROUGH THE MIST. I lived in England while I was writing the first drafts of this book, and although the setting for the book is 1318 Scotland, the misty English countryside where I loved was a genuine inspiration. The book came out in 2001. When I submitted to a new publisher in 2006, I went through another round of edits and listened to quite a bit of Braveheart and some Rob Roy music to inspire me. So when you're reading BRIDGE THROUGH THE MIST, I hope you can feel a little of that mystical magic yourself, and allow some Celtic inspired music to serve as a background. Here's the blurb and a snippet excerpt. For more, be sure to stop by Ellora's Cave at www.ellorascave.com and my website at www.deniseagnew.com

When Alenna Carstairs is hurled through time into 1318, Scotland's medieval world brings her face to face with hot, sexy Tynan of MacBrahin. Infuriated with his barbaric manners, and yet sensing vulnerability within him, she vows to discover the heartbreak that has scarred his soul.
World-weary knight, Tynan of MacBrahin lost two loves to the brutality of other men. He can't forgive himself for failing to protect the women who depended on him. When Alenna saves his life, her independent spirit stirs desires so strong within him he can't resist her. A depraved baron soon wants Alenna for his own, and Tynan must find a way to conquer this powerful man to save her. Alenna struggles with soul-staggering desire for Tynan, but most of all, she must convince Tynan his love is not lethal, and she is the one who can bring shine to his armor again.

* *
Most women would run in fear from him. A few inches over six feet, his sheer size swallowed the small room. Did a man this outrageously feral have a concept of tenderness? Of restraint? He looked ready to spring, to dominate. His brutishly handsome face arrested her. Time slowed, and all the fantasies she’d harbored about gorgeous men over the years dissolved, overwhelmed by the sheer male animal presence in front of her.
Unfastening the broach at his shoulder, he allowed his heavy brown cloak to fall open. Under the cloak, he wore a dark shirt of rough material open at the throat. The gap revealed a bit of muscled chest sprinkled with dark hair. Broad of shoulder, his powerful frame demanded attention. His black trousers revealed just enough with their cut to suggest strong thighs and calves. She licked her lips involuntarily. His gaze landed on her mouth and stayed for one stomach-dropping second, then glided over her body with a mix between curiosity and pure male appreciation. His hungry appraisal sent a coil of heat deep into her loins, and a blush to her cheeks. She couldn’t speak and she almost couldn’t breathe.
Taking off the cloak, he settled it over a chair. Crossing the room, he stood next to her makeshift pallet. “Are ye deaf, then, lass? Or mayhap a mute?”
“No,” she said softly, her throat feeling as parched as if she’d crossed the Sahara. His strange questions threw her, and she couldn’t think of a first-class retort.
His brow crinkled, and she noted a deep scar ran down the right side of his forehead, as if he’d suffered a severe blow at one time and never had it stitched properly. He shoved a hand through his inky black hair, and it fell about the top of his shoulders in thick waves.
Turning to the skinny boy, he said, “Clandon, ye had best get back to yer duties. And visit yer sister at the donjon to see how she fares.”
Continuing to look at her as if she might decide to bite him, the boy nodded. He scrambled up from his chair and started for the door.
“She must be a witch, sir,” the boy said, his voice squeaking in his excitement.
The man smiled slightly, a twinkle leaping into his eyes. Before the boy could open the door, the man clasped his arm. “Tell not a soul about the woman.”
Tell not a soul about the woman.
A curl of apprehension wandered along her body.
“Aye, sir,” the boy said in a whisper, and rushed out the door as if the devil were on his heels and fast closing.
Maybe the boy knew something she didn’t. She looked at the door with longing. It really wasn’t far, and Alenna wasn’t that ill. She could dash by this big man and make a run for it.
No. The man had planted his solid bulk in her way. If he caught her, she knew she wouldn’t be a match for him. He possessed a sheer, brutal power she knew could overpower if provoked.
“Why did you send him away?” she asked.
The man turned back to her. “His sister worries about him.”
As he stared at her, Alenna shivered and realized that although her stomach no longer lurched like a drunken sailor a heat wave invaded her. She pushed the pungent fur off her shoulders. Again his eyes traced over her, penetrating and searching. He didn’t guard his emotions well, she realized. She saw unadulterated sexual interest overlaid by curiosity.
Sexual interest? Another warm wave settled over her and then she shivered. God, since when did extraordinary men like this enter her life?
Never.

**
Denise A. Agnew

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!

I'll admit it, I don't have much to say today on my blog. I've had a terribly busy week in a half where everything just sort of piled on and today I've GOTTA get some R&R for my sanity. :) But, there's always a bit left in me for celebrating!

Today I’m celebrating some things all writers sometimes forget and take for granted. Many unpublished authors may find it amazing that a published author could ever take for granted the excitement of a new release coming out. It can happen, believe me. Today I’m dropping a little whoot for the new cover I just received for UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER, the next book in my HOT ZONE series. UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER comes out October 9 at Samhain Publishing www.samhainpublishing.com. Here’s a blurb and an tiny excerpt to get your blood pumpin’!!!

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER (Book 2 in the HOT ZONE series)
By Denise A. Agnew
Available October 9 at Samhain Publishing www.samhainpublishing.com

She’s archaeology, he’s Special Ops, and both of them teeter on the edge of stepping into the HOT ZONE. She wants the adventure of a lifetime and isn’t willing to sacrifice it for any man…
Archaeologist Fredricka “Freddie” Bodine returns to her hometown for her twentieth high school reunion, unaware that her old crush, Keith Wallace, has blown back into town. A single memory is etched deeply on her brain—the high school prom where she shared an emotionally revealing dance with him. They’d both left town after graduation, feelings unresolved and teen angst firmly in place. All he wants is to keep the girl he loved and lost safe, even if she hates him for it…Keith doesn’t want her to travel to Los Diablos, an area near ancient ruins where his sister was killed years ago. As they grapple with family pressures and the exploding passion between them, their battle of wills may just lead them to the truth living in both their hearts.

Excerpt: Warning...contents may be a little hot to the touch.

“Freddie?”

She almost came out of her skin. She whirled to the left. Standing at the very end of the aisle, Keith Wallace stared at her with a furrowed brow.

“Oh—um, hi.” Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “I didn’t know you were here. Or even in town.”

“I didn’t know you were in town.” His voice, deep and overlaid with a sexy huskiness, had always melted her insides like the most delicious combination of peanut butter and chocolate and stirred feelings she didn’t want to have.

As he sauntered toward her, she sighed. The gods could not be so cruel. Or maybe they could. The changes in him had only increased his attractiveness. Boy, oh boy, howdy, he’d matured like a fine Merlot, rich with nuances that made her mouth go dry and her heart do a silly two-step. At thirty-eight he defined disgustingly gorgeous man with a capital G.
When she’d left this town twenty years ago, she’d never considered that he’d still have this effect on her. She recalled his attractiveness at eighteen, mature for his age, brooding and intense. At eighteen she’d wanted to date happy-go-lucky guys with uncomplicated backgrounds. Sure couldn’t say that about Keith. Still, nature had matured his physique in all the right ways.

At six feet and probably two inches, he made her five feet five inches feel small. The navy blue T-shirt stretched over his broad chest and wide shoulders. Muscles rippled in his biceps and forearms. Jeans defined his hips and muscular thighs and made his legs look miles longer. His work boots looked well used and scuffed. Always rugged, his face had matured into angles and planes that screamed danger and forbidden sensuality. His mahogany hair wasn’t the tousled boy anymore, but clipped military short. Without strands flopping over his face, nothing hid the thoroughly masculine lines that screamed the proverbial dark and dangerous.
Her heart did a flop, a flip, and started thumping away so hard she felt the pulse in her ears.

Okay. So that reaction hadn’t changed in twenty years either.

When Keith hovered over her, staring down with those dark chocolate eyes, his frown showed genuine concern.

“What brings you here?” she asked.

“Came to pick up a book for my mom. Ernestine said you were here.” He crossed his arms, and then nodded at her huge book. “I heard you cursing. What’s wrong?”

Embarrassment heated her face. “It’s nothing significant.”

He came closer. “Oh yeah?” His lips quirked, and rare humor danced in his eyes. He glanced at the book lying open on the desk. “Sure it’s nothing?”

Freddie frowned. “I never was good at lying to you. This is—was—my favorite book in the library.”

“Was?”

“I used to check it out every once in a while when I was a kid.”

He moved nearer yet, leaning his hand on the side panel of the desk to look at the book. “A ripped page?”

She closed the book cover so he could see the photo on the front. “Archaeological sites in Mexico. Tikal. Or what my archaeology professor at Western used to say, Chicken Itza.”

He laughed, the low, rumbling sound sending vibrations through her stomach. She clenched her legs together in reaction. Holy, holy crap. A hot pulsing gathered in her loins. Talk about a record time to get turned on. Her mouth watered as her gaze traveled quickly over his chest.

**
Until next time, enjoy your day. :)

Denise A. Agnew

TWENTY FAVORITE THINGS!

I'll admit this hasn't been a banner blog week for me because I couldn't think of anything new today to say. So I borrowed from another blog I did yesterday. :) That's okay. I had a heck of a time thinking of a topic yesterday, so when I did think of a topic, I decided it was a good day for a Wednesday twenty. Not a Thursday thirteen or a Friday ten. Okay, so there isn’t a Friday ten…that I know of. Do you know how difficult it was to come up with twenty favorite things? Not because I couldn’t think of twenty things, but because I couldn’t narrow it down to twenty without some serious hair pulling. So here’s the raggety list The first item is a no brainer I didn’t have a bit of trouble putting as my top pick.

1. Spending time with my husband.

2. Have several hours to write completely without interruption of any kind human or mechanical.

3. Reading a fantastic book without interruption for several hours.

4. Eating at my favorite Italian restaurant in Arizona.

5. Eating at my favorite Southwest cuisine restaurant in Arizona.

6. Eating popcorn.

7. Eating pizza.

8. Enjoying a glass of Columbia Crest Merlot and having that glass last for hours.

9. Watching a spectacular action flick on the big screen.

10. Visiting with my little nieces, nephews, and grandbabies.

11. Feeling younger than I did when I was twenty-five on my fourty-fifth birthday.

12. Hearing a string of favorite tunes from the seventies and eighties.

13. Thinking about my three years in England and all the lovely castles I visited throughout the UK.

14. Having a luxury weekend at a resort with my hubby.

15. Discovering a super new author to read that really absorbs me in his or her story so I don’t want to put down their book.

16. Hearing a favorite author has a new book for me to read.

17. Getting royalty checks from my publishers.

18. Realizing I actually get paid to write!

19. Having a peak experience of peace.

20. Last, but not least, being the luckiest woman in the world. In my humble opinion.

So name what some of your very favorite things in the world and share them with me!

Denise A. Agnew

INSTINCT IS OUT NOW!

Today is my birthday. Confetti! Champagne! Well, okay, I plan on having a little champagne. I haven’t had any champagne since New Year’s Eve. I have my favorite, Martini and Rossi Asti Spumanti (okay, it’s sparkling wine…not champagne).

In the meantime, my latest Special Investigations Agency (SIA) story, INSTINCT, is out today as well.

Who or what is the SIA? Is it a secret society? A new government agency? If you said government agency, you’d be right. The SIA stands for Special Investigations Agency and it’s the fictional organization created when Rosemary Laurey, Tracy Cooper Posey and I wrote the WINTER WARRIORS anthology for Ellora’s Cave. All three stories featured heroines who are agents.

In the fictional world, the SIA formed twenty years ago to stamp out threats to the world at large, especially those of a supernatural bent. The SIA is an international organization. Although my stories often originate at the SIA main headquarters for the U.S., which is situated at a top secret facility in Colorado, I wanted my stories to include plenty of adventure in other places.

In my story MANEATER featured in the WINTER WARRIORS anthology, the heroine and the hero, both agents for SIA, don’t have supernatural powers themselves. Yet they use their brains and brawn to bring down the genetically mutated creature stalking a high mountain lab. This story had its tongue-in-cheek moments. When I wrote it I wanted the reader to get a laugh along with the adventure.

After the success of the anthology, and major idea brainstorming, I decided to carry the SIA one step farther and shaped full length novels featuring more characters from this premier agency. PRIMORDIAL combines my love for archaeology with a desire to write a story set in a jungle. It is hard to define this book other than to say it is romantic suspense/thriller/and paranormal all wrapped into one. I created Puerto Azul, a fictional Central American country as my setting, then featured an archaeologist heroine and a drop-dead gorgeous agent ready to take on a sinister enemy in order to retrieve a stolen artifact.

In OVER THE LINE, a shorter romantic suspense novel, I gave the classic boss-and-subordinate in-love-story a twist and added a stalker to the mix.

Then came SINS AND SECRETS, which features a hero who isn’t what he appears to be. This story is a complex romantic suspense with one (maybe two) bad guys, and a hero and heroine with psychic abilities. In JUNGLE FEVER, I returned to Puerto Azul, this time with a quickie story that is laced not only with heat, but with a heart-wrenching, romantic story. In HIDEAWAY, I mixed an author heroine who has a severe case of writer’s block with her long time friend and SIA agent. But he’s been injured on a mission and doesn’t remember her.

This June came CLANDESTINE. This story features a character that shows up in quite a few of my SIA novels. She’s finally getting her own romance! Can’t get enough of Scottish men? Not only do I have a Scottish hero in OVER THE LINE, but I also have a Scottish hero in INSTINCT. Here’s a little blurb to get you intrigued.

She can’t release the past…
But the past is about to take hold of her…
SIA scientist Mina Carling shies from contact with Scottish SIA soldier Lucas Sloan. After all, the gorgeous, tough-talking soldier has a reputation for a voracious almost…animal sexual appetite. He’s arrogant, and she doesn’t like him.
He wants nothing to do with a permanent relationship…
Yet one relationship keeps finding him…
Lucas tracks evil entities in the dark places of the world and never seeks more than physical satisfaction with women. Yet something within Mina calls to his deepest male instincts to protect, even though he doesn’t really like her.
Sometimes there are human urges that are just so…animal.
When Mina and Lucas are thrown together at a conference, all the basic instincts they’ve tried to ignore find a way to escape. All the feelings they thought were dislike melt together, in one hot, unbelievably passionate discovery.
**
For excerpts and more information, stop by my website at www.deniseagnew.com. To get your copy of INSTINCT or any of my other Ellora's Cave books stop by Ellora's Cave www.ellorascave.com. For my title MALE CALL stop by Samhain Publishing at www.samhainpublishing.com. Have a great day!

Firsts and Favorites

Thought that picture might get your attention!! It's from a movie staring Hugh Jackman and since I'm mentioning one of his movies in this blog I figured I'd post the photo, too. :)

Today is my blog day and I have to admit I had a hell of a time coming up with a topic. Brain freeze! So I decided to do the lazy thing and try something I’ve done before on other blogs to introduce myself more to readers. I’m calling this a “firsts” list and a “favorites” list. So here goes!

1) My favorite spooky movie of all time The Exorcist

2) My favorite actress of all time is Katherine Hepburn.

3) My favorite actor of all time is Lawrence Olivier.

4) Favorite romance movie of all time (now this one is really hard, but I made a decision) Paperback Hero staring Hugh Jackman.

5) First limo ride in ’86. Second and the best limo ride in ’91.

6) I never went to a prom or a homecoming! Boo. Hiss. I'll bet there are a few of us out there like this.

7) My first date was two days after my high school graduation. No joke. And it was a blind date to boot!

8) Worst thunerstorm I’ve ever experienced was when I was twelve. It rained torents for two hours. For an hour of that time the lightning was so bad that it was continuous, non stop, and with no wait between flash and thunder. I’ll never forget that storm as long as I live.

9) My first Perrier water was on the first date I ever had. ☺

10) Weirest snowstorm I ever experienced was in Colorado one July. No joke.

11) Longest walk at one pop that I ever did while doing archaeology in order to see sites was seven miles one way.

12) Scariest place on earth for me? The South Bridge Tunnels in Edinburgh, Scotland.

So there are some more weird firsts and facts from the chronicals of Denise A. Agnew. Do you have some intriguing firsts to share? I'll pick a winner later this evening. Winner gets two decks of Ellora's Cave playing cards...one from '06 and one from '07.


Denise A. Agnew

Meet the characters of CLANDESTINE!

Happy July 4th. everyone!

Since this is promo day I'm jumpin' right on here while everyone else is eatin' grilled burgers and hot dogs. I've already had mine and we're about ready to take in a movie. At the end of June I had a new release out called CLANDESTINE, which is another book in my Special Investigations Agency series (SIA). I thought I'd give you a blurb and a snippet of an excerpt just to wet your appetite. :)

Clandestine (adj.) Concealed, usually for some secret or illicit purpose.

Dorcas "Dorky" Shannigan has spent most of her unique life closed off from others. A secret keeps her from showing her face to the world, including Grey O'Toole, an operative who stirs her blood with only the sound of his husky voice. Enclosed in her underground library, she keeps agents informed about evil paranormal forces. But part of her aches to connect more closely with the other agents, although to do so would shatter their understanding of the natural world and possibly put them in peril.

Grey O'Toole loves the silky, seductive sound of Dorky's voice, and many years of chatting with the elusive woman has driven him to the edge of his tolerance. He savors the opportunity to finally meet the woman who has fueled a thousand of his fantasies. One night his dream comes true, and she must ask him for help. For a prehistoric malevolence has found her after years of searching and will stop at nothing to destroy her.
***
And now, an excerpt just for you.

As the wall to Dorky’s office dematerialized and Grey stood in the opening, her mouth fell open in complete astonishment. Her heart thumped anxiously in her chest and her blood raced in her veins. Grey stood in front of her, alive and kicking.

She knew what he looked like, but faced with the real man, her heart and body reacted with soul-searing attraction. Experiencing the full force of six-foot three-inches of bristling, ready-to-kick-serious-ass male sent her into a strange fright.

May all the gods and goddesses help me.

Without a doubt, she had never seen a more intriguing, gorgeous man in her life. Considering how many men she’d seen, that said quite a bit.

He dragged a hand through his burnished dark copper hair, the tousled, collar-length strands shiny, wavy and thick. Strands fell over his forehead. His Roman nose was classically shaped, his jawline a rugged cut. His skin didn’t have the typical pale hue of a redhead. He’d managed to maintain a light tan from his frequent jaunts to hotter climates, or perhaps his ancestry was more than Irish. His body held the bristling, tight masculinity of a highly conditioned man. Broad shoulders and arms filled his navy shirt to perfection. One shirtsleeve was torn at the shoulder and the open throat of the shirt arrowed down all the way to his belly. Her attention pinpointed his chest and the generous sprinkling of russet hair over muscled pectorals and a six-pack stomach. Female appreciation darted deep into her belly and she licked her lips.
His pewter and dusk gaze, shadowed by thick russet brows, captured hers and held it.

Fire brimmed in those eyes, mixed with purpose and irritation. “Dorky?”

His husky voice, so familiar, sent curls of answering excitement all along her body. Almost afraid to answer, she opened her mouth and nothing came out.

He frowned and stalked toward her. The open area behind him rematerialized into solid matter. He swung around to look and when he turned back to look at her, his glower remained.
Her heart felt like it might pound out of her chest. She took one step back. Two. “I didn’t know you were out there. Then I heard a commotion and I opened the…the door.”

She continued retreating until she bumped into a desk behind her. When Grey stood less then a foot from her, he stopped. His heat seemed to sear into her, making her even more aware of his masculine energy. At five-foot eight-inches tall, she rarely felt intimidated by a man’s height. His presence managed to alarm her in a completely new way.

“You’ve got to be Dorky,” he said, his voice amazingly soft considering the ire in his expression. Then his voice went deeper and huskier. “You’re as beautiful as I imagined.”

A flash fire ignited inside her. Ages had passed since an attractive male had been this close to her, much less complimented her. Dorky’s body went on overload. Her breasts prickled with heat. In her belly, an answering tug sent new waves of incredible attraction moving inside her.

“Thank you,” she said, a little bewildered.

He looked down at her, weighty emotion flashing in those incredible eyes. Her breathing quickened as his body heat warmed her. The man was danger on two legs, an exceedingly difficult person to ignore. His lips parted, his chest heaved in and out with one deep breath. For a second she thought he would follow through on his earlier threat to kiss her. She expected it. Had imagined it many days and many nights over the years.

She craved it.

**
Hope you enjoyed the snippet! You can get your own copy of this novel at Ellora's Cave www.ellorascave.com

Read more excerpts and learn about my other SIA books at my website www.deniseagnew.com

Until next time, live, love and dream.

Denise A. Agnew