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Thursday 30 October 2014

Chemical [Se]X and Halloween Fun!!!

Hello and happy Halloween - een! Two bits of news today...

I'm so excited I could burst - I have a story in a sexy new anthology coming out very soon - it's called Chemical [Se]X and includes all manner of filthy tales from some awesome writers - it all started with a tale of aphrodisiac chocolate from Oleander Plume...
Take a squizz at the photos and excerpts - phew! I defy you not to want to eat this book whole - it's so hawt!

And the next news is - you guys KNOW how much I love Halloween - so why not Join The Brit Babes and I at our spooky Facebook Party, Shivers and Tingles, tomorrow night from 5pm GMT - Fun chat - prizes and contests - you can even dook for apples if you like :D

See you tomorrow night! And I can't wait for you to read Chemical [Se]X either x x x

Friday 24 October 2014

Halloween Blog Hop!

Hello hello and welcome to this spooooky Halloween hop with the Beachwalk authors!

BeachwalkPress will be sponsoring a grand prize giveaway which is: 
two $25 gift certificates to the winner's choices of Amazon, B&N, or All Romance Ebooks.  So remember to hop on through to all the participants (list below) and comment on all the blogs to increase your chance of winning and find some fabby new authors and books! I'll give a copy of my ghostly novella Mia's Books - it's a sexy threesome to heat you up for Halloween.


I found these beauties on
Pinterest
So when I was little I was quite terrified of Halloween but strangely drawn to all the horrifying costumes and evil merry making. One of my most favourite things is pumpkin carving - though when I was a girl living in Scotland pumpkins were exotic indeed - turnips were what we carved. Now I don't know if you've ever tried to hollow out an actual turnip but I'm guessing if you did, you'll have the scars to prove it! It is like trying to carve a hockey ball :D I might try a bit of a turnip revival this year - who'd have thought there'd ever be a time when the turnip lanterns are the unusual ones. 

What a joy when pumpkins started making their way over here! I carve about five or six every year - usually starting too early in October so they start turning to mush and I have to replace them - here's a couple I made last year:

I love naked ladies!

To go with my Clockwork Butterfly
Trilogy


I hope you've been inspired to take part in this hop! If you fancy winning Mia's Books or any of the grand prizes from Beachwalk - please comment below and tell me about your favourite carved pumpkin or even turnip designs.

Remember to visit all the blogs! 
Links to the authors participating:
Constance Bretes

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Halloween!


Friday 17 October 2014

Giving back with Kay Jaybee!

Isn't she lovely?!
Hello! It's Giving Back to the Internet time! And today I have the saucy minx Kay Jaybee here to share her love of scones - if you would like to share some top tips here with me (any subject) just drop me an email - tabitharayne@gmail.com - here's the original invitation.
So take it away Kay!
Adding Flavour

Ohh- so Tabitha asked if I’d like to write a blog giving advice about something I know about- something I can give tips about...but not necessarily about writing.

I’ll be honest, this is tricky- because pretty much all I do (including when I’m at work) is write things down. I write about writing, or I write stories, or I write educational blogs. I live therefore I write. You get the idea.
But surely I must be good at something else? I must have some handy top tips to share; some useful wisdom to impart that doesn’t involve holding a pen?
I did what all sensible adults do when facing the reality that their brains can’t see beyond the next task at work- I asked my children what top tips I could give you today. And, in the way of all teenagers, they both looked at me like I was quite crackers, and gave me a whole long list of stuff I can do that doesn’t involve a pen. A ballot was instantly held, and it was decided- well they told me- that I should tell you about scones. Yes, you read that correctly- scones.
I love scones. I have always loved scones- with butter obviously. No point in having anything low fat about a scone- otherwise, why eat one in the first place?
Obviously there are three main flavours of scone- your traditional plain (bring on the cream tea!!), the fruit scone, and the (oh so delicious) cheese scone.
But why stop there?
When I lived in Scotland I used to work in a gorgeous out of town store that included a fabulous cafe, in which they served a varying selection of different flavoured scones each day. This wonderful place, now gone, first introduced me to the delights of the Mars Bar scone, the white chocolate and raspberry scone, the lemon and coconut scone, the apple and cinnamon scone....I could go on.
It wasn’t long after I started working there that my own scone cooking began to be somewhat pepped up!!
So why not give it a go yourself!!??
Here’s the basic recipe- you could literary add anything edible that you like! Sweet or savoury!!
Ingredients-
8oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2oz butter
1oz caster sugar
A big handful of whatever it is you have decided to add, eg grated cheese, chopped Malteasers, diced cooked peppers and sausage...etc etc
¼ pint of milk


Method-
Heat the oven to gas mark 8 or 230c
Lightly flour a baking tray
Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then rub in the butter. Mix the sugar into the crumb like mixture. Add in your special flavour, e.g. raisins and grated stilton (ohhh, that combination has only just popped into my head- I might have to try that later- sounds nice!!)
Make a small well-like hollow in the middle of the mixture with a knife, and tip in nearly all the milk. Stir from the inside outwards with the knife, until all the mixture is taken up and you have a ball of dough. (You might need to get your hands in there towards the end)
Flour a surface and using a rolling pin, roll out the dough so it is about an inch thick. Cut out circular scone shapes, and place them on the baking tray.
Finally paint the tops of the scones with the remaining milk. If making cheese scones, add a sprinkle of extra grated cheese on the top.
Oh lord, is it elevenses time yet?
Then cook in the oven for approx 10 minutes. Thicker scones will take a little longer.
And then eat them while they are hot- with loads of running butter spread in the middle- YUM!!!!
***
Hope you’ve enjoyed my scone tip!! I’d love to hear about any new (and weird) scone flavour you try!!
I think the weirdest one I’ve ever had was the pizza scone- or maybe the pineapple and banana ones...
Happy munching everyone,
Kay xxx
Kay Jaybee wrote The Perfect Submissive Trilogy, (Xcite 2011-14), The Voyeur, (Xcite 2012), Making Him Wait (Sweetmeats, 2012), Digging Deep, (Xcite 2013),  Not Her Type (1001 NightsPress, 2013), and The Collector (Austin & Macauley, 2012).
Details of all her other work can be found at www.kayjaybee.me.uk  

OK - I know what's for afternoon tea today - thanks Kay x x Remember to join Kay and the other Brit Babes for chat and fun over at TheBritBabes.co.uk
Remember, drop me a line if you fancy joining in :D tabitharayne@gmail.com

Thursday 2 October 2014

Journey of a Painting

Well hello y'all

I'm not felt like writing much recently I'm afraid so I have no little gems of anything wordy to share but I was commissioned to do a painting for the lovely author, Ms Samantha Darling. It took longer than I should have in coming up with the actual idea but once I got going I think it went pretty well.

I thought I'd share the steps...

1 - Think up the image you want to depict. This can take the longest time and usually results in several failed attempts. If you can't quite work from imagination use a model or a photo of your model. I like to work with dramatic lighting so that every shadow and highlight is emphasised.

2 - Rough sketch.


3 -Define the outline with pen.


4 - Gently paint in the shadows with diluted ink.


5 - Add further definition with the shadows.




6 - Think you're finished? Leave for a day then check for strangeness.


7 - Final touch ups then unveil :D

8 - Package up and send away.

Hope you like it Ms D!

See more on my drawings page. Thanks x x x