Friday, July 27, 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anastasia Rabiyah writes erotic romance, paranormal erotic romance, and fantasy. She often crosses genres in order to follow her muses into the darkness where they seek out destiny in all its forms. She believes in fairies, demons, angels, magic, passion, chocolate, supportive friends, e-books and writing critique groups. Her deepest desire is to pursue her creative dreams and realize them. Every spare moment she devotes to writing for her haunting muses.

She is heavily involved in two online writer’s group, moderating an Erotic Romance forum. For fun, she edits for two e-publishers and helps fellow writers strengthen their work. Her current project is self-publishing her short stories on Lulu.com while she waits for edits on her seven contracted works.

Her forthcoming publications are: Rope, part of a Cowboys series contracted with the e-publisher loveyoudivine. Rope is a modern day erotic romance set on an Arizona guest ranch. Rope’s scheduled release date is August 23, 2007.

At StarDust Press, The God in the Stone is a novella about a little-loved Greek demigod trapped within a column at the Acropolis. This Paranormal Erotic Romance explores one woman’s need to be loved for who she is. Currently there is no release date scheduled.

Forbidden Publications has contracted three of Anastasia’s works. Oikoni Stone is a tribal based paranormal erotic romance set in primitive times. The main character, Nainie, a dark-skinned native from a magical forest clan falls in love with Tiir, a fair-skinned slave in the neighboring village of pilgrims known as StoneCircle. He’s determined to free her and make her his wife.

Demon in the Basement is the tale of a quirky young woman, Emme, who inherits her deceased father’s old home. In the process of cleaning out the basement, she discovers one of her estranged father’s greatest treasures, a demon. Together the two of them face their past and battle the intense sexual attraction that binds them.

The upcoming fantasy trilogy, Shahzar, will also be published by Forbidden Publications. This epic is loosely based on Arabic culture and presents a world where a wayward goddess has fallen from the sky and left behind a legacy after her death. Her soul remains beneath the city temple, and from this unusual vantage, she manipulates her devout followers. Shahzar is the young princess destined to be queen of her cursed city. Determined to bring about change, she battles the city council, the strict traditions, the rival city of Klem and even the fallen goddess to make her way.

Twilight Fantasies has contracted Anastasia’s futuristic erotic romances, Derrick 7744, a novella about a lab worker that realizes the horrible implications of what she invented at her job. She falls for a male escort who opens her eyes to the dark side of the world and many other experiences she’s never partaken in.

Nimmet, the Goddess of Love, is a larger work. It centers on Sima, the daughter of a politician who is promised in marriage to Leuj, the leader of Irnia, a corrupt city where human trafficking is permitted. Sima escapes her bodyguards and runs away, hiding in what she thinks is a hotel. When she enters her assigned room and discovers a handsome, half-dressed man there, she realizes she booked a stay at a brothel. This tale is an adventure that takes unusual turns. It’s a story of freedom in different forms.

For more about Anastasia, visit her on the web at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RabiyahBooks
http://www.myspace.com/AnastasiaRabiyah
http://stores.lulu.com/RabiyahBooks



ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

Lena likes her privacy but as fate would have it, a naked man shows up face down in her garden one morning, interrupting her coffee and seclusion. She wakes him to find out he's her new neighbor who suffers from a so-called sleepwalking problem. His unusual gaze and attractive body overwhelm her.

Her day gets better when he shows up in the afternoon to apologize and get to know her better.


EXCERPT:

The coffee steamed over the top of her purple mug as she walked along the cobbled path. Lena liked to sit by the Koi pond early in the morning when waning night grayed into day. Water trickled and bubbled over river rocks. The lush green shrubs and overgrown ferns reached for her house slippers and tickled her bare ankles. She’d pulled her hair into a hasty braid to keep the auburn wisps from blowing into her eyes when the cool breeze came down from the forest behind her yard. She chose the house for its garden and its privacy and had lived there five years by now.

The breeze came early, nipping at her body through the thin cotton nightgown she wore. Lena set her mug atop the wrought iron table thinking she ought to repaint it a cheery color. The green had long since tarnished to a grim black color. She was about to sit down when something caught her eye. Spatters of blood crossed the cobbled path that led around the stand of bamboo. She frowned.

I wonder if that was a wolf I heard last night. She edged around the table, stepped off the path, careful to avoid the daffodils, and followed the ominous, crimson trail. On a patch of monkeygrass that had gone wild, a nude man lay sprawled across her property, his backside to her. The trail of blood led to him, though without turning him over, she couldn’t tell if he was injured or not. His tanned skin and thick, dark hair suggested Mediterranean descent.

Lena crossed the grass, her gaze heavy on his body as he took in slow breaths. He’s alive. At least that’s something. She knelt beside him and touched his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake. As soon as her fingers met his skin, she felt a wave of heat press in on her senses. “Sir? Wake up.”

He mumbled as he turned onto his back. His broad chest sported a thick patch of curly, black hair. The nest peaked and darted down his abdomen where it thickened above his flaccid penis.

She cleared her throat, embarrassment burning in her cheeks. “Sir? You need to wake up.” There wasn’t any sign of injury on his body…his perfect body. Her curious gaze roved over him once more, this time taking in each chiseled feature. He appeared strong, well-muscled and lean but formidable. A jagged scar ran the length of his left bicep, piquing her curiosity. Lena grasped his shoulder and gave him another shake, this time harder. “Hey! Get up!”

His eyes flickered open in the graying light of predawn. They looked more animal than human, a strange tint coloring them a shade of amber. His dilated pupils retracted, avoiding the coming light. He gave a soft moan, and his full lips parted.

“Are you all right?” she whispered, amazed by the shade of his eyes.

His consciousness stirred. He looked down, covered his nakedness and returned his gaze to her. “Oh God, not again.” The strange man curled his body to sit up. “I’m so sorry.”

“Are you hurt?” she asked. “I saw some blood over th—”

“I probably bumped my head.” He glanced around the garden, searching for something. Lena guessed he wanted clothes.

“Well, hey if you’re okay, can you get the hell outta my yard? It’s obvious you have some kind of drinking problem or something. I’m sure most girls you meet think this is adorable, but I like my privacy.” She tried to force malice into her voice but the unexplainable urge to laugh overwhelmed her.

His thick, black eyebrows furrowed. “It’s not funny. I have a sleepwalking problem.”

“I’d say.” She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t drink.” He gave her a miffed look that distorted his handsome features. “I don’t.”

“No. You just strip naked and go walking about in other people’s yards.” She stood and crossed her hands over her chest, hiding her peaked nipples. “I’m not sure if I should call the cops or the looney bin.”

He rubbed his temple. “Just give me a minute. “Where am I anyways?” he arched a brow, staring directly at her. His golden eyes changed just as the sunlight lighted the sky. The fiery color faded fast. Lena decided she must be imagining things.
“Alamenia and Schuster Street, number four. You’re in my back yard, my garden to be exact.”

He groaned. “Good. One block from home.” The man stood up shakily and held one hand out to her. The other he kept over his privates. “I’m William Thurest, your new neighbor.”

She eyed his outstretched hand, suspicious. “Lena Parks.” Relenting, she reached out, her face flushing with heat. “Thanks for the free show. You’ve given me an interesting morning.” Their fingers met, palms touched and a sweet tingle swept through her body. She held her breath.

William did too. He stared into her a long while, his lips curving in a confused smile. “You’re welcome,” he said finally. “Maybe we can see each other again.”

“You’ll wear clothes, I hope.” She smirked at him.

“Good idea.” He released her, his hand retreating and with it the stirring desire in her core. She tried to ignore the cold that filled her. I need to get out more. Some nut sleeping naked in my garden turns me on. I’m deprived.

He turned around and sauntered away along the cobbled path toward, what she guessed, must be the house he’d rented. Lena stood there staring at his small ass. The sun clipped over the hill and caught on William’s nude form as he bypassed the herb pots and slipped through the open gate. He was handsome in a dark way, someone she might like to get to know, that is if he hadn’t showed up buck naked in her garden to interrupt her morning coffee ritual.


INTERVIEW:

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I started writing at the age of eleven. I remember telling the boy across the street that one day I’d publish a huge fantasy novel. It was a childhood dream, and the voices *cough cough* I mean muses started talking to me then. Now, they never hush.

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
I love being able to get lost in a story. Sometimes, when the muse is talking non-stop, I can envision whole scenes, whole conversations. It’s like reading a great story only better.
I dislike writer’s block. There’s nothing worse than being 600 words from The End and unable to get even one word down.

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
Balance? I have an addictive personality. I’ll be honest. I lack balance. I write in the morning, in the afternoon, late into the night…sometimes I scribble a few words in the pocket-sized notebook I carry with me while waiting in line, at lectures, even at stoplights. Sick, I know.

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
I’m fused at the wrists to my laptop. If I have to be away from it for any length of time, I have withdrawals.

My characters come first. Often I see the hero or heroine in the opening scene. Sometimes they shake me awake in the middle of the night or invade my dreams. Always, they are urgent in their desire to have their stories told. They tell me the plot as the story progresses.

I’m a fly by the seat of my pants author. I try to outline but found that it slows me down. I deviate from my outlines when I make them—must be the rebel inside me.

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
At first I wrote only fantasy. I had a secret desire to write something naughty but didn’t have the courage until a fellow author, Dawne’ Dominique, confessed that she’d been working on a vampire erotic romance. At her urging, I delved into the paranormal erotic romance genre and never looked back. The result of that delving, my first attempt, Oikoni Stone, is contracted with Forbidden Publications.

I write what I write because the muses tell me to. Most of my characters are flawed and always human, even when they’re not! I feel driven to show people as they are. Erotic romance adds a side to the characters that I find lacking in non-erotic stories. There’s that extra connection a reader gets from being involved in even the most intimate parts of the character’s life.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
That’s a good question. I see bits of myself in every single one of my characters, but only bits. They own who they are, and I am often surprised the directions they go in when I’m tapping at the keyboard.

They evolve from my imagination obviously but tend to have very human tics and goofs that make them endearing and believable.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
My all time favorite is Shahzar, the queen of a cursed city and the main character in my upcoming fantasy trilogy (named after her because she made me do it). She is a woman that knows what she wants, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Shahzar is dangerous, domineering and yet, on the flip side, she’s shut herself off so much that a tender touch scares her. Of anything I’ve written, her story was the most straining on me. I swear I couldn’t get her to shut up.

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
A good journey to a place they’ve not been before. I want them to fall in love with my worlds and my characters. I want my readers to stay up late and keep turning the page to see what happens next.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Yes. Join a writer’s group—a good one with real writers offering real advice. Adverbs are the devil—never overuse them. Know your characters. Know your grammar. Study the Chicago Manual of Style. Revise, revise, revise. Have thick skin. Take criticism but stick to your guns. Understand point-of-view and don’t abuse it. Don’t be afraid to give your characters internal thoughts rather than narrating all the time. Show—don’t tell and no matter what…WRITE!

What are you reading right now?
Line edits for one of the publishers I edit for, a work-in-process novel in my fantasy writers group, a romance in my other romance writers group, Shahzar in between all that so I can split her in three parts. The list never ends.

If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be?
Well, that’s a good one. I’ll answer the same way I did when I was five years old: a farmer and an artist. I want to be me and I’m okay with that. Most people that know me are too. I love what I do. It makes me happy.


REVIEW:

"Wolf in the Garden is one of several short stories I have read and enjoyed by Anastasia Rabiyah. When William shows up passed out and naked in Lena's garden, she is exposed to more than a little nudity. Lena's unexplained attraction for her mysterious and handsome new neighbor causes her to ignore the danger her eyes and mind immediately perceive. This erotic quickie is just the thing to put pizzazz in a lazy summer day or steam up the windows on a cold winter's night."
-- Binnie Betten - Author




Wolf in the Garden by Anastasia Rabiyah
Download:1 document(PDF),1982 KB
Genre: Fantasy/Erotic Romance
Book Length: Teaser 3,300
Lulu Sales Rank: 75,171
$0.99 from Lulu.com



Purchase Wolf in the Garden by Anastasia Rabiyah from Lulu.com