Julia Barrett's World

Meeting new people.

Have you been watching the World Cup?  I have, along with Susi, The Geeky Bookworm, over in Berlin, Germany!  We’ve watched together, screamed, hooted and hollered, and cheered over google chat.  It’s been great!  Well…except for the United States losing, that is.  Susi and I agree that the vuvuzelas have to go.

Speaking of Germany, an author contacted me about my post on the true identity of Will Shakespeare entitled, The Dark Lady.  Lev Raphael left me this erudite comment regarding the article I quoted:

“It’s a lovely fantasy, but Reform Judaism’s editors should have been more thorough and done some fact checking.  Bassano Lanier was not a Jew, first  of all.  Her mother wasn’t, and there’s no proof whatsoever that her father was.  As for the rest of the story, it’s a lovely fantasy constructed out of half-facts and suppositions and starts from a false premise: Shakespeare couldn’t have written the plays.  This premise took root in the mid 1800s, more than two hundred years after Shakespeare died. That should give people pause.
Interested readers should check out James Shapiro’s “Contested Will,” Irvin Matus’s “Shakespeare in Fact,” and http://www.bibliobuffet.com/book-brunch-columns-322/1304-anyone-but-shakespeare-062010

Mr. Raphael is the author of My Germany.  He’ll be speaking in Berlin this fall.

http://www.levraphael.com
Watch an excerpt of the book at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFhrajH-6AE

Yes, I’d like to think that Shakespeare was a woman – it’s a very romantic notion, ah well…

Thanks to the blog hop, I’ve met some great new book bloggers, like Steph at Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust.  We’ve been discussing True Blood.  http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspot.com/

And today I was thrilled to find a new-to-me site, (it’s a long story), Kelly and Five Agents and a Funeral – a name I find hilarious!  http://www.fiveagentsandafuneral.com/

News:  Little by little, I’m doing better.  I’m no longer crying all the time.  I can’t wait to see the puppies, but that won’t be until we get back from ten days in Montana – leaving on Friday.  Author Stacey Espino has had a great week with her new release, Saving Grace.  I think she’s like, um, numero uno over at Siren.  I’m sending many positive thoughts to my friends, authors Regina Carlysle and Paris Brandon who’ve faced some tough personal challenges lately.  All right, going to bed, night.

Tweet This Post

Beauty and the Feast is hot on Fictionwise and All Romance Ebooks.  That scares me.  Yeah, I guess I’ve paid my dues in a sense, but the way we see things in my family, any success whatsoever attracts the evil eye.   Wooooooooo.  It’s like when my husband says – Gee, my car is running great! – and I slap my hand over his mouth and knock on wood – I remind him that speaking of good things is a surefire way to guarantee an immediate blown head gasket!

To make a long story short…thank you for buying my books and please keep buying them.  Maybe one of these days I’ll be PAN Eligible.  I don’t want to talk dollars and cents so if you are wondering what that is, feel free to look it up.

I think my newsletter will be out today or tomorrow – for those of you who don’t receive the newsletter, I have a new contract with Siren for my very first menage – All Four One.  This is a futuristic work of science fiction – the story takes place maybe 150 years from now in the Pacific Northwest.  I do love sci fi.  My husband says that erotic sci fi is a bit of a contradiction in terms but I find it heavenly to write.

Many thanks to Chris from Stumbling Over Chaos for her sci fi recommendation, Babel-17, by Samuel R. Delany, an unknown-to-me author and work published back in 1966.  I told her the story is like a cross between Ringworld, Albert Einstein and The Left Hand of Darkness.  The premise of the book is that language influences thought and perceived reality – not the meaning, but the words themselves.  Deep stuff!  http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/

Many thanks to Susi over at The Geeky Bookworm who asked me to guest post this past week.  If you want to win one of my books, leave a comment – she’s extended her contest for a couple days due to her school schedule.  http://thegeekybookworm.blogspot.com/

Today is Memorial Day – my dad and all my uncles served in various branches of the Armed Forces so thank you, men and women, who put your lives on the line for us everyday!  You are never forgotten.

Tweet This Post

What’s up with my books?

Captured has come out in print on Amazon!  Yay!  This makes me really, really happy.  I can’t wait to get my own copy.  There’s something about seeing a book, holding a book, smelling a book, opening a book that just feels good!

http://www.amazon.com/Captured-Publishing-Classic-Rachel-Barrett/dp/1606018582/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275021374&sr=8-2

The book can also be purchased for your Kindle, if you’ve got one!  http://www.amazon.com/Captured-Siren-Publishing-Classic-ebook/dp/B00371V7WO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Beauty and the Feast is a bestseller on Fictionwise and all it’s outlets.  This so takes me by surprise!  I’m in good company – Tessie Bradford and Desiree Holt – author friends – are there with me.  http://www.fictionwise.com/topstories.htm

It’s also available for Kindle.  http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-and-the-Feast-ebook/dp/B003NX70QS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1275021641&sr=8-2

SusiSunshine over at the Geeky Bookworm invited me to post for her anniversary week – you can win an e-copy of Beauty and the Feast or Captured or My Everything.  http://thegeekybookworm.blogspot.com/2010/05/guestpost-by-julia-rachel-barrett.html Susi will be announcing the winners on Sunday so you have plenty of time to leave a comment!

So…coming soon with Resplendence Publishing:  Daughters of Persephone, Book One Exile and Book Two Return.

Coming with Siren:  Anytime Darlin’ – my favorite romance-suspense.

Ya’ll have an excellent weekend!

Tweet This Post

Review:
“I read this book a while back in my exams period and I just discovered that I totally forgot to review it in all the stress. And it totally deserves a review. I got this book from Julia and I’m so thankful she send it to me. It really made my day better and let me forget all the stress of the exams for a few hours.

What makes this book so special? I loved that the characters felt this huge attraction to each other even before they met. I think we all know that situation when you hear the voice of someone and start thinking about what he or she will look like. Or perhaps that is just me because of my job at the directory assistance.

Eva is a wonderful character. She works for a catering firm and is a really independent woman. She seems perfect and prim as in how can she be that perfect but after a bit of time we discover what makes her a real human. She has a seriously dirty mouth from time to time and I had to laugh so often just cuz of the stuff  that came out of her mouth. She loves to cook and it mostly felt like foreplay what she does with the food. I really liked her from the start.

When Gabe hears Eva’s voice for the first time he is smitten and it gets even worse when he tastes her food for the first time. I really thought that food couldn’t be such a turn on but Gabe showed me that I was wrong. He really “likes” her food and OMG how I wished I were the cook. He is one hot man and I completely understand what Eva finds so interesting and sexy about him. He has a way to talk and gesture that just makes you crave him. He’s a millionaire but is still such a nice guy.

Together these two are one nice pair. They are made for each other. They have these easy conversations and funny banters but they know how to turn up the heat, too. I’m always totally blown away how Julia creates this matching couples. I love how her couples are together and how they seem to be so real.”

Thanks, Susi!  You can read the entire review here:  http://thegeekybookworm.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-beauty-and-feast-by-julia-rachel.html

on my review page.

Tweet This Post

I’m throwing my hat in the ring and trying my hand at menage.  My philosophy is this – there can be no slut factor and no positions that necessitate unrealistic contortions.  There will be a reason for one woman and her three men…a damn good one.  This is so scary and I wouldn’t do it if I hadn’t A.  dreamed a menage and B.  hubby hadn’t given me an out of this world idea for a second book – m/f/m.  Is that how you describe it?  I actually don’t know the difference between m/m/f and m/f/m.  Anybody?

Oh yeah – I’m off to work today, but Susi over at The Geeky Bookworm is hosting me today – guest blog – how Barry White influenced my romance-suspense, My Everything!

http://thegeekybookworm.blogspot.com/

Tweet This Post

Susi is enthusiastic!

She really enjoyed My Everything.  Her review is so winning – and you know I appreciate her energy.  She’s posted it on two sites:

http://thegeekybookworm.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-my-everything-by-julia-rachel.html

and here:  http://book-lovers-inc.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-my-everything-by-julia-rachel.html

I’m having site trouble, i.e., the link upload so I’ll reprint her review here:

“I received this book as a review copy from the author and after reading the blurb I was like “Okay we will see.”. And I have to say this blurb doesn’t do the book any justice.

The book is fast paced and written in such a lovely way, I just couldn’t put it down. We switch from different POVs through the whole story but it made the story more 3 dimensional and not at all confusing. I loved how Ms. Barrett chose an unique voice for each of her characters. It made them so much more real in my eyes.

Our heroine Grace had a few grave moments in her life. She lost her husband to leukemia after only 2 years of marriage and she suffers from really hard migraine attacks from time to time.But she doesn’t give up and tries to handle this all on her own. She is a specialist for pain management and it would look really unprofessional to have problems on exactly the same topic. While she has one of her attacks she meets Ben, her big teenage crush. He helps her and is more understanding and helpful than many other people in her life.

Ben is broken inside. He lost his wife and his unborn child in a terror assasination he should have prevented. He works in the security sector and it was his purpose and task to prevent things like that but he failed and got punished for his mistake. Or that is what he thinks. We all know that there are certain things in life we just can’t stop from happening. We shouldn’t stop trying to but sometimes it’s just the way it is. And especially in this situation it’s not at all his fault. As you can see I really felt for him. Poor man. He’s a strongly caring person and although he vanished from the surface of his normal life for a year to hide and work through his grief, he still cares for his family and friends. When he hears that his best friend is in grave danger he doesn’t hestitate and immediately starts his journey home. The moment he meets Grace again after ten years his first thought is that she is a distraction. But why? He quickly finds out how unlogical this assumption is and discovers his own attraction and perhaps a bit more for her. Surely he feels guilty for that and even more he knows that this is possibly the worst moment ever to get close and personal to someone he really cares about.

The situation gets even more dramatic when Ben finds out that not only his bestfriend is in danger but his sister got kidnapped to draw him out of hiding. The plot is really suspenseful and I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story is a great mix of relationship building and actual story plot. It always gave me what I wanted and it was a real satisfying read for such a short novel.

One thing at the end was a bit “Yeah, sure!” and I don’t mean the supernatural aspect. I won’t tell you more because that would be one gigantic spoiler but if I can forgive something like that other readers probably can,too.

All in all this book was a great read with scorching hot, emotional intense and thrilling action in a perfect mix. I can recommend this book to all the lovers of a nice steamy romance with the right amount of suspense!”

Tweet This Post

Come Visit.

You’ll find the link on my sidebar – every time I try to upload it here, it goes all funky on me!  I’m blogging in Germany so get your passport and come visit!  Totally a day behind thanks to work and the holiday!

In other news, my friend, the Goddess of Poetic Prose, Mia Watts, has a new release, Open Sesame.  Her style makes me drool like Pavlov’s dog.

Alister Baban overheard a business discussion which netted him and his Uncle Cassimer a lot of money. When the Simsim Group stock crashes and declares bankruptcy within weeks, the owners immediately suspect the Babans of playing dirty.

Oz Adamo, one of four brothers who owned Simsim Group, agrees to abduct Alister to obtain information and win back the lost pensions of former employees.

Tied to a bed and lusting after his captor, Alister fights the sexual attraction he has for Oz. They want information and he isn’t about to give it. But Oz loves a good challenge and shrewd, serious, sexy Alister is naked and his—at least for now.

Cool excerpt:

He stood off to the side, forcing Alister to completely look away from the first three to see him. Like the others, he had an olive complexion with a head full of dark straight hair. This brother’s hair swept off his face to skim the top of his broad shoulders. Trimmed but unrelenting black brows slashed over his mahogany colored eyes with very little arch. The color reminded Alister of finely polished wood reflecting undertones of reddish tints. Like the sunlit glass of port had been spilled over one of Cassimer’s antiques.

Chiseled and angular, there was nothing pretty about him. He was beautiful, startling, in the way ancestry had selected the best traits and bestowed them on this man. Alister couldn’t help but stare. The white dress shirt had been rolled up his forearms, tucked neatly into charcoal slacks. He stood an inch taller than Cain, with a silence of conserved energy and motion. As Alister watched, the man folded his arms across his wide chest. Letting his gaze fall, Alister noticed the substantial disturbance in the line of the man’s slacks.

Buy link:  http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/

Oh, Mia, you are so fucking good!

Tweet This Post

Susie, over at her site, The Geeky Bookworm,

which is a great name for a site, by the way, posted the cutest review of Captured.  Maybe she was disappointed in the ending, but I did leave the door open for a sequel…

Check out her site on my sidebar.

Her site really is worth bookmarking – she’s got an awful lot of fun stuff going on.

Here’s a little of what she says:

The book starts a bit alarmingly. We wake up together with Mari in a room full of naked woman in cages, not only human ones but many different species, and two hunky men watching over them. First thing I thought was: OMG not the Stockholm syndrome again! But after that I thought: isn’t it greedy to have a whole ship of sex-slaves? But as it shows it’s not the way my dirty mind pictured it. The women aren’t kidnapped to being raped, their even worse future is being sold on the meat market. Yep, you read that right! There are species enjoying nothing more than a human steak. So ick!!!! But okay, we need a bad party in this book. Even worse for me was the attitude of the “smugglers”(who are vegetarians by the way- love that part). They think humans are nothing more than animals without any feelings and higher cognitive functions. You feel charmed already?

The Geeky Bookworm is a charming site!  Thanks, Susie.

And many thanks to Erotic Romantic Crush Junkies for hosting my guest blog and contest yesterday.  It’s not too late to leave a comment!

Announcements:  Go check out my friend, Tina.  http://www.tinadonahue.com/blog/

Read all about her new book, Deep, Dark and Delicious!  Yum!

*A word about Haiti – relief supplies are arriving.  The problem, as always in poor nations, is distribution.  Don’t be fooled by fake charities asking for donations.  Give to a well-established charity like the Red Cross that knows how to reach the people who need help.  Thanks.  Julia

Tweet This Post