Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Stone of Cruento reviewed by Simply Romance Yea!







Stone of Cruento


Charlene Leatherman


Cerridwen Press


May 2008


ISBN: 9781419916984


Fantasy
Order from Cerridwen Press
Synopsis:
Claren Maxwell felt she was misplaced, like she belonged somewhere else. Even as a vampire she was not like the others. Claren didn’t like to kill. She avoided intimacy with human men. It was too dangerous. Claren wanted to fit in. She wanted to be loved and protected. So she dreamed, but the dreams were becoming too real. She dreamt of three men. In real life she would have to choose one, right?
The three men in her dreams materialize. Belgretor, a giant of a man from Cruento, protects her. Daniel is a vampire from Earth who desires her. Jamros is a centaur from Cruento who is drawn to her by destiny. Together the four of them must find a way to stop the destruction of Earth and Cruento.
Can Claren choose between the three men she loves while saving the worlds she inadvertently put in jeopardy?






Lynda of Simply Romance Reviews gives Stone of Cruento the SRR GRADE: A
Vampires, goblins, centaurs….a vastly different alternate reality, that’s what you get from the Stone of Cruento. I loved the depth of the characterization and the story building in this riveting fantasy.
Claren was a vampire but not the same as other vampires. Repeated dreams of three men and love only served to make her desire a love of her own. Though attracted to vampire Daniel, she doesn’t trust him and resists his charm. Her constant companion is Belgretor but she has yet to learn his full potential, and then there is the prophecy.
One plot twist after another with love, sex, intrigue, back stabbing centaurs, you name it this story delivers. Charlene Leatherman weaves this story tighter than a rug and hands us a story that will leave us breathless and hoping for more.
The Stone of Cruento is a great story and so much more. Claren has to juggle the relationship of three totally different beings let alone men while being in the middle of a prophecy she has no idea about. This is just excellent story telling. Don’t hesitate to pick up this exceptional book. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

covers

Friday, June 6, 2008

Failure

Failure
A few thoughts about failure:There is much to be said for failure. It is more interesting than success. Max BeerbohmThere s no failure except in no longer trying. Elbert HubbardFrom The Internet from unknown sourcesFailure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.If there exists no possibility of failure, then victory is meaningless.Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.The only real failure in life is the failure to try.There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.Life’s real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.Success builds character, failure reveals it.There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them.Failure is the tuition you pay for success.A man may fall many times, but he won’t be a failure until he says that someone pushed him.Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Moshe ArensEver tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Agan. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel BeckettSuccess doesn't come to you . . . you go to it.- Marva CollinsSuccess is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.- Fred SheroSuccess seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.- William FeatherHalf the failures in life arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping.- Augustus HareIf you stop every time a dog barks, your road will never end.- Arabian ProverbAnyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. - Albert EinsteinIn order for you to profit from your mistakes, you have to go out and make some.- UnknownSuccess doesn't mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.- Edward BlissFailure is success if we learn from it.- Malcolm ForbesSuccess does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making them a second time.- George Bernard ShawThe season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.- Paramahansa YoganandaGet up one more time than you're knocked down.- Peter's Principle of SuccessIf all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.- John Kenneth GalbraithWe are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction. - Douglas MacArthur
My favorite and the reason for this blog:
From my close observation of writers, they fall into two groups: 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review. - Isaac Asimov
I recieved my first review of Stone of Cruento. If you would like to read the review here is the link http://goodbadandunread.com/2008/06/01/review-stone-of-cruento-by-charlene-leatherman/#more-5132
My response to the review? I thanked the reviewer for her reviews, it gives me another direction in which to advance, and give me something to learn from. I let you, the reader, know that Stone of Cruento might be something for you to think about. I will get back to writing Vials of Aquilonia all the while making corrections in my writing course.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

I have a cover for Stone of Cruento


I was really worried if they would be able to come up with a cover since a centaur vampiress having a menage with an ogre, a vampire, and a centaur was kind of difficult to imagine. But they did it! I am so jazzed!!!
Stone of Cruento is available at Cerridwen Press
on May 1.


Monday, April 28, 2008

Guess What Happens in 3 Days? Excerpt Rating Hot, Hot Hot

Guess What Happens in 3 Days?
Stone of Cruento comes out.
CataUniversity at http://catauniversity.com/?p=126 is holding its very first
Novella in a Month - a challenge of writing 25,000 words in the month of May.
I have entered. So I will be blogging about Stone of Cruento and about my progress in the NIAM (initials are mine) Novella In A Month by CataUniversity. Lots of authors will be doing the challenge with me. You should stop by their site and see who is writing up a storm.

Here is an excerpt: Please be advised: This excerpt is Rated Adult. If you are under the age of 18 Please Leave Now!

Claren rolled over and peeked open one eye. Still daylight. Not time to get up. She pulled the pillow over her head and willed herself back to sleep.
Her mind drifted into a place filled with clouds. Soft, comforting clouds. She looked down at herself. She was standing on a cloud. Bare feet, bare legs. Bare everything. Claren reached up and touched her breasts. They were bare as well.
Hmmm. One of those dreams. Nice.
Three dark pillars appeared in the clouds. The pillars became shadows which became men. Three strong confident men striding toward her.
The first man towered over her five-foot-five frame. He must have been at least six foot eight inches. Shoulder length blond hair tumbled around his face as he came toward her. He wore an open vest made of leather. His broad chest and washboard abs called to her. He wore black leather pants that skimmed his corded legs and did nothing to hide his desire for her. Claren wanted to touch him and caress his smooth tan skin. She wanted his muscled arms wrapped around her.
As if reading her mind, the first man pulled her to him. Claren looked up at his face only to have a cloud wisp between them.
Claren sighed. She never got to see her dream lovers’ faces. The giant of a man gently tipped her chin so that her face turned up. Claren felt soft firm lips brush gently against hers. His tongue caressed her lips then sought entrance. Claren opened her mouth slightly. The man invaded her mouth with his tongue, darting in and out, exploring.
His hands moved from her arms to her back to pull her closer. Claren relished the touch of the man’s rough strong hands skimming down her shoulders to her waist then her hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck pressing her body tightly against his.
The man picked her up with one hand under her butt. His fingers massaged and molded her cheeks as he effortlessly held her in place. His fingers moved between her cheeks touching first her tight pucker then her moist center. Claren gasped with pleasure as she felt the man’s fingers dip into her pussy.
Claren wrapped her legs around the man’s narrow waist. She rubbed her clit against the hard leather of the man’s belt. She could feel his other hand expertly loosen his belt and pull the zipper down.
Claren closed her eyes. She felt the man step sideways and kick his trousers away. His erect thick shaft bobbed up and touched sensitive parts making Claren inhale sharply and wiggle closer still.
“You are mine,” the man whispered in her ear.
With a mighty stroke the man claimed her. His penis drove into her pussy with the intensity of demand. He was in control. He owned her. Moving his hips, the man bucked into her ferociously. Claren hung onto his neck feeling the man pistoning far up into her, almost touching her womb. She felt stretched and full and loved the sensation. He reached a hand around and touched her clit with a finger. As he continued to slam into her, the man caressed and pinched the tiny nub bringing wave upon wave of erotic sensation crashing on Claren. She cried out as she slammed her hips onto the man’s shaft demanding more of him as she neared her orgasm. The pleasure waves tsunamied over her as the dam broke. Claren reared her head back as her climax shook her to her very core.
“Now, you are mine,” a second voice declared as Claren felt her limp body being pulled off the first man’s erection. She was effortlessly lifted onto the back of a horse.
Horse?
Claren opened her eyes. She sat on the back of an almost black horse. Liver chestnut. What a strange color to dream. The horse was a dark almost black color with the black and red tail of a liver chestnut. Where the horse’s head and mane would be the torso of a man faced her. Chocolate skin with black and red chest length braids. He held her next to his massive chest in his muscled arms as he swiveled to look at her. Claren again could not see the face clearly but she could make out eyes that pierced her to her soul even through the haze of the clouds. High cheekbones and full sensuous lips were accented by a thin black mustache and beard.
The centaur nearly turned completely around as he grabbed Claren. With one hand he cupped her breast and pulled and twisted her nipples, first one then the other. His other arm wrapped around her shoulders with his hand in her hair. He drew Claren to his mouth. He nipped gently at her lips. Then with a swipe of his tongue he opened her mouth and explored. The centaur’s tongue danced with Claren’s tongue. He darted in and out enticing her tongue to follow.
Claren almost cried out when his hand left her breasts. The centaur’s hand moved lower. Shifting her on his equine back, Claren felt herself tipped back. Fingers touched and caressed her clit. He moved her once again and inserted a finger into her vagina. Curling his finger the centaur moved in gentle circles until he found that special bundle of nerves. Claren’s cries were muffled as the centaur kissed her hard, forcing his tongue into her mouth, bruising her lips. Never pulling out, the centaur continued to fondle the spot at the roof of her pussy. Claren felt wave after wave of ecstasy build. She had never been so high before. She wanted to pull away. She wanted the pleasure to stop. She would go insane if it continued. The centaur held her firm. He moved his mouth to one of her breasts and began sucking the nipple, grazing the tender flesh with his teeth. Still he massaged and pressed and tormented that special spot. Claren threw back her head and screamed and the orgasm broke over her. She could feel the walls of her pussy contract and spasm against the centaur’s finger. Her hips bucked with a mind of their own. As the orgasm slowed, Claren slumped against the chest of the centaur. Her eyes were closed. She was a weak as a doll.
I should wake up now. Claren thought drowsily. Wow, what a dream.
“It’s not over yet, lover,” a third masculine voice spoke.
Claren felt her body taken off the centaur’s back.
No more. I can’t stand any more, even if this is a dream.
“You’re not finished yet. You still have some more orgasms in you. I’m sure I can coax one more out of you. Then we will show you how much more you are capable of. But right now you are mine.”
Claren looked at the man speaking. He was not as tall as the others, perhaps only six foot. He exuded masculinity and sexuality. Claren felt as though she was looking at the model for the statue of David by Michelangelo. This man breathed out desire and inhaled her feminine wants. Claren’s breasts ached for his touch. Her bruised lips wanted to wrap around his shaft. Her drenched pussy wanted to squeeze the life out of him.
“Hmmm, yes, lover. I see that you want more. Come lie down with me.”
Claren sank onto the cloud beneath her feet. The man cradled her in his arm as he kissed her cheeks, her throat and licked at the little dent at the base of her neck. He shifted as he moved to adore her breasts. He inhaled her musky perfume, the perfume of sex and desire. Gently his tongue teased around the reddened nipple. His finger traced the peak of the other breast, coaxing it to attention. The man moved to the other breast and laved the nipple with his tongue. Withdrawing he blew cool breath on each taut bud. Claren shivered with the sensation. Putting both hands on her breasts, the man lightly massaged her globes as he kissed and licked the valley between her breasts and down the line to her belly. Caressing her sides, the man drew his hands down over her thighs. He looked up at Claren and smiled. Pressing tenderly, the man opened her thighs wide, exposing her completely to him.
The man nuzzled his face into her labia, inhaling her sweet aroma. His tongue lapped her fluids easing between the lips. Teasing with his tongue the man stroked her clit and tickled under the tiny hood covering it. Claren moaned and shifted. She put her hands in the man’s wavy brown hair, holding him. Her hips bucked of their own accord. The man kept at his torture. When Claren thought she could stand it no more the man dragged his tongue excruciatingly slowly from her clit down the bit of flesh to her vagina. Striking like a snake the man darted in and out of her entrance. Claren called out, wanting more. Her head tossed back, her eyes crashed closed, Claren wanted him in her.
She felt the tongue leave to be replaced by a finger. She moaned again. She wanted more. The man lifted her hips slightly. Claren opened her eyes to see the man’s penis, engorged, placed at her entrance. With just a touch, the man put the head of his penis at her entrance. The man smiled as he tortured her by pressing only slightly into her. Moving at a pace guaranteed to drive her mad, he entered her then withdrew. Again and again he entered and retreated. Claren wanted to scratch his eyes out. She reached for him, fingers curled into claws.
The man grinned. He pulled almost all the way out then slammed into her. Holding her hips with his hands, he continued to pound into her. Claren matched him thrust for thrust, pushing her hips into the man. Her orgasm picked her up making her hips want to enmesh with his. Panting, exhausted, Claren closed her eyes and collapsed on the cloud beneath her.
The brown haired Adonis lay beside her.
A little more is required. Then you may sleep.
What? No. I’m tired.
Not yet. You are ours. We claim you.
Claim me? No, no, no. This is my dream.
Are you sure?
The brown haired man rolled Claren on top of him. Effortlessly, he picked her up and positioned her on his shaft. Claren’s pussy clenched as she felt the hard flesh pierce her. She started to move her hips forward and back. The brown haired man drew her down to him. He kissed her possessively on the mouth.
Claren felt hands on her butt. Her cheeks were spread. She tried to pull away but the man beneath her held her tightly. A cooling ointment was rubbed into her tight pucker. She squirmed as she felt a single finger press into the ring.
Relax. Don’t fight this. It is inevitable and what you truly want, the man holding her to his chest whispered in her ear.
Claren inhaled and willed her body to stop fighting. It is only a dream, after all.
First one finger then a second thrust into her ass stretching her and lubricating her with the cooling ointment preparing her for what was to come.
Claren gasped in pleasure-pain as the huge cock of the first man pressed against her anus. The man beneath her pulled her mouth to his and kissed her passionately. His other hand pinched her clit, rolling it around in his fingers. Claren moaned and screamed in his mouth as the feelings swept into her body like a tornado. Her focus was her clit when suddenly she felt the harsh thrust of the cock into her ass. Claren lifted her head and screamed. All three of them held still as her body adjusted. Slowly with a rhythm all their own, the men began gliding in and out of her body. As one came into her pussy, the other withdrew from her ass. Claren felt stretched to the limit. The pain lessened as the pleasure intensified. Her orgasm began to build. The flood waters of sensation built and swelled until she thought she might burst. She raised her head to see the centaur shimmer and change into a man. His sleek dark body increased her desire. He pumped his shaft with his hand getting it hard. Coming close the dark man pressed his erection against Claren’s mouth.
Open little one. We must all claim you or all will be lost, the dark man said gently.
Claren frowned. What a strange dream.
Opening her mouth, the dark man slid his penis into her mouth and throat. Claren licked and sucked tasting every inch of the man as his two companions found what they needed in the tight clasp of her body. Claren’s orgasm built again. She wanted more and more of the dark man. Matching the thrusts of the men in her pussy and her ass, she began milking the dark man’s cock moving her head up and down. Her pussy spasmed and quivered with pleasure at the brown haired man’s cock. Her ass pulled and tightened on the blond giant’s shaft. Her mouth sucked as her tongue wrapped itself around and explored the ridges around the glans of the horse-man.
Her men groaned in pleasure.
And Claren immersed herself in them, their cocks, their mouths, their hands, their sounds of pleasure.
She soared higher. Burning hotter than ever before she shattered, her vision graying and then going black as she tumbled into oblivion, a smile on her lips from pleasure too intense for her to handle. Claren floated there in that cottony world of immense pleasure.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Excerpt 1 Stone of Cruento

Stone of Cruento
Charlene Leatherman
Cerridwen Press

Excerpt of Stone of Cruento (unedited) Release Date May 1, 2008

Claren wanted to leave. The chanting and the color shining from the stone made her uncomfortable. Yet, something deep in the stone called to her. Deep within her belly, the place that held her sex drive and her instinctive drive to exist, to stay alive, ached and yearned for whatever the stone offered. She pushed the curtain aside and stepped toward the stone.
“Claren,” Belgretor and Daniel both said her name at the same time. She jumped as though she was shocked.
“Sorry. Let’s get the stone and get out of here. All of this is creeping me out.”
“Agreed,” Daniel said. “Belgretor, I owe you an apology. Geoffrey is indeed a stupid king.” He turned to Claren. “Geoffrey has evidently succumbed to insanity. He believes that if he opens the stone he will achieve power over all vampires here and throughout the galaxies available thru the portal.”
“Me get stone,” Bel said, pushing the drape out of his way.
Claren inhaled raggedly, expecting the shades to attack. They didn’t move. Neither did the king.
Belgretor stepped past Claren and Daniel.
The portal shimmered as though a stone had been tossed into a pool of water. Circles rippled from the center out. Belgretor, Claren and Daniel turned to the unexpected disturbance.
“Ah, all three of you are together.”
Belgretor turned at the voice. It was a language he knew from long ago. Something familiar about the words. He turned to see a man step through the portal. The ogre was torn between desire to go to the stone and the need to keep Claren from harm. He paused a moment too long.
Jamros read the DNA signatures on the KumPl bands. He tossed the metal mesh into the air. Tiny whirling self-propelled spinners[HW1] darted through the air. Claren held up her arm in defense. The KumPl struck her wrist. Instead of bouncing off, it wrapped around and locked.
Claren heard foreign words then felt a mist fall over her mind as the mesh seemed to penetrate her skin. There was no pain, only a fog that separated her from reality. She watched as the metal straps attached themselves to Daniel’s neck and to Belgretor’s ankle. She observed, detached as though she watched a movie. The man who came through the portal was dark and tall. His black hair was curly and long, with touches of red that caught the light. His eyes were dark and strangely shaped. He was naked and beautifully formed. Claren wanted to go to him and wrap herself around him. She wanted him to be inside her. She wanted to have his babies. He was meant for her and her alone.
This is insane.
She couldn’t move. Strangely, this feels like a good thing. That I can’t move I can’t do what my body tells me to do with that man.
The man uttered words, sounds that Claren did not understand. Yet, she knew what they meant. She had to move. She had to follow the man through the portal.
Claren began moving past the hypnotized vampires. Her body moved of its own accord, following commands she did not understand. She couldn’t turn her head but she could hear the footsteps of Belgretor and Daniel. They too were following the commands. Moving slowly, she and the other two made their way to the portal. Claren left the banquet hall. She faced the portal. Belgretor and Daniel stood beside her facing the portal as well.
The chanting stopped.
Claren felt rather than heard the electric snap. The air shivered.
She heard a moan and a sigh. Then she heard screams. She wanted to run. She couldn’t move. Neither Belgretor nor Daniel moved. Claren could see Daniel’s eyes from where she stood. His eyes shouted with fear, frustration and anger. His eyes screamed at the stranger. Claren couldn’t see Bel’s face or eyes. He stood an inch or two behind her. She guessed his situation was the same. He wore the same weird thing she and Daniel wore. At least that is what she assumed. If he was free, he would have attacked the strange man by now.
Claren studied the dark man who had control of her body. Something familiar. The horse-man in her dream. The chest, the arms look so much like him. Could her dream have been a warning? Claren’s eyes wandered further down. Or a promise?
The man looked over Claren’s shoulder. His eyes widened in terror. He glanced at the ogre then at Claren and Daniel. Taking one more frightened glance at the scene behind them, the man stepped toward the portal.
“By the shield,” Jamros cursed as the screams got louder. “I will not stay in this two-legged hell any longer. Earth will have to take care of itself. Crudak can deal with you three.”

Bel wanted to talk to the stranger, tell the man that preventing him from taking care of the stone and the power that came from it was the worst mistake of the stranger’s life. Bel knew that he could stop the creature of the stone. He could prevent the disaster that hung in the air like spider webs. But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak.
Belgretor understood the words the man said. He knew the name Crudak. The man from the portal gave a command to follow him. Try as he might, Bel could not resist the command. He watched as his feet walked into the portal behind Claren and Daniel. Bel’s mind screamed that he belonged where he could stop the stone. He wanted to make sure Claren was safe and if the stone remained where it was, no one would be safe.
As Belgretor put one foot into the swirling portal, a singsong voice touched his ears. The voice sent chills down his spine.
“My beloved, don’t go. I’ve only just begun to play.”

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Spring Brings New and Fun Stuff into Our Lives

Blog April 3, 2008


Spring is showing up.
I know the first day of spring was in March.
But Spring seems to be popping up all over.
Ads on the Internet for flower gardens are springing up.
Babies are being born, kittens are showing up in droves.
Little chicks are hatching.
New TV programs are blossoming.
My favorite catalogues are offering an easier way to grow tomatoes, strawberries, and a greener lawn.
Most of all, my cat has revealed her inner personality.
You see my cat is an alien. She comes from another planet and is saving me from
Invisible Space Alien Vampires.
She jumps up with no warning and scoots up the curtains in pursuit of the little monsters.
She hides under the bed and attacks them on my ankles, saving me from destruction.
She runs and pounces on the invisible critters outside.
And she watches.

Oh, and the most important,
I have a release date for Stone of Cruento May 1, 2008

Excerpts will start appearing here soon.