by Emma Ray Garrett Samara King/Anisa Damien Hello, zine readers! This month's Time Out features Samara King, aka Anisa Damien. The talented lady's Scarlet Ties series is not to be overlooked, and considering I've read them over and over, LOL, you can trust me on this!

ER: Hey, there Samara. Most of the readers know you better as Anisa Damien. Why did you decide to change your pen name?

SK: LOL, The honest answer to this is...I dropped a husband and gained a new pen name :)

ER: *G* I think we can all understand that. On the note of understanding, ROFL, it's my understanding that just about all authors have been asked why we decided to be writers. My question isn't why, but rather, when did you write, what you consider to be, your first story?

SK: I decided I wanted to write in 8th grade. LOL. After reading Silhouette Desires and being more than a little intrigued with the love scenes.

ER: ROFL, those scenes were certainly good a titillating. So, what was it about?

SK: My first story was about a teenage girl in Ecuador and this girl's first crush amid a war-torn climate.

ER: A lot of writers have the 'drawer story' - you know that manuscript you've been working on forever, that you pull out when you get a chance and look over again and again. What's your 'drawer story'?

SK: LOL. The question is how many do you want to know are in that drawer. Plenty. Trust me. I have a couple were the main characters just got on my nerves and didn't seem to really like each other, but one character worked and I've high-jacked them into another story.

ER: LOL, that's a great idea. I may have to look through mine and see if a couple of characters would be interested in playing outside. Next question: Coffee is very popular among the writing crowd. If you drink it, how do you take it?

SK: I love iced coffee, cappuccinos and lattes. Cream and sugar a must!

ER: Absolutely, LOL! So, when you aren't writing, or doing something associated with your work, what do you do for total, brainless relaxation, LOL?

SK: Dancing, spending time with my precocious son, or singing. :)

ER: Action or romantic comedy?

SK: Action.

ER: Me, too! I love to listen to tunes while I write. Music goes hand and hand, it seems, with creating. What kind of tunes do you jam to when writing?

SK: Hmm, this could be anything from oldies from James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Isley Brothers or some current R&B or Neo-Soul tunes! Depends on what is playing on my internet radio. (I recommend Pandora.com) LOL.

ER: Oh, I love Pandora! I have like twenty channels, ROFL! My final question: Give me a piece of sage advice. It doesn't have to be writing related, just something you find yourself following often.

SK: Everything starts with self-love and attracts anything else you could possibly ever want in life!

ER: That's a real nugget, Samara! Thanks for taking Time Out with me! Now's the time when you get to plug a book. Give us an excerpt too, the hotter the better, LMAO!

SK: Well, here is a sample of Scarlet Ties: Tempted (the second book in the Scarlet Ties series)

Scarlet Ties: Tempted by Samara King writing as Anisa Damien
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=570

Noely Lamont is a Southern Belle extraordinaire and, like every Southern woman, she knows how to get her man. Soon she's to become the queen of the Companions and the elders have chosen the vampire Cyrus Rayven, the man who vehemently resisted her advances, as her mate. Noely plans to bring him to his knees, but she didn't count on meeting her match in his twin brother Coye or the red-hot passion that he ignites within her.

Coye Rayven couldn't be more intrigued by the hellion who had her sights set on his recently engaged brother. He'll do Cyrus the service of taking care of Ms. Lamont -- starting with the lusty appetite that rivals his own. To do that, he'll tempt her, body and soul.

Excerpt, rated R:

Coye's mouth watered at the tight-fitting cat suit outlining Tara's curvy body. His dick hardened. He ached to strip her clothes off and thrust his cock inside her moist cunt. When it came to sex, Tara was no novice, but lately her appeal had waned. With the erection lining his pants, Coye was having trouble remembering just why that was.

"I've been waiting for you," she said, sitting down in a chair, crossing her legs.

"We need to talk."

A frown laced her brow and in that moment he gave up all hopes of the quick and furious fuck he'd hungered for. Anything to rid himself of the love frenzy he'd just witnessed at the table between his brother and Ashlyn.

Coye sighed, closing the door behind him. He would give her a moment to state her case, calm her as he usually did with his seductive charms and have her wedged between him and his mattress as he drove his cock into her tight pussy within the next five minutes. Maybe ten if she was determined to argue.

He knew what she wanted.

A commitment.

He shuddered as he walked further into the room. The determined spark in her eye should have been the only warning he needed.

"I gave up Peyton for you."

Coye rolled his eyes skyward. Where the hell was the bloody wooden stake? Just thinking of the male Companion and his weakness for Tara made him angry. "So you've told me."

"And I'm telling you again." She gritted her teeth, edging forward in her seat. "I deserve more than this. I've always been loyal to you, Coye."

He sat down the Louis XIV chair at his desk. "I never made any promises, Tara. In fact, I was clear about that up front." He laced his hands behind his head. "You said, if I remember exactly, that all you needed was my ten-inch hard cock." He smiled, unable to help himself. "Which you've made good use of, mind you." Over and over again. He couldn't understand why she was changing their arrangement now.

"I'm not your whore, Coye."

He frowned, placing his hands on his desk. "I never said you were. I may be many things, Tara, but I'm no monster. You know I care for you."

"Not enough to be at your side."

"You are."

"Not like Ashlyn is with Cyrus." Tara pouted, her dark eyes narrowing in on him.

Coye felt the cloak of despair ring around his neck. At this point, he'd settle for a silver bullet. Commitment! Marriage! This was too much for a creature of the night to take.

He pounded his fist against the desk. "Absolutely not! We're vampires! We don't need to get married."

"Cyrus is a vampire and he's getting married."

"I'm not my brother, Tara. I never want to get married. I'm almost three hundred years old. And I've been doing just fine without tying a noose around my neck. So why would I want to now?"

His words echoed around the room.

Tara looked away and then stood. Her eyes blazed with tears. "I refuse to be with a man, vampire or not, who offers me no future. Life is more than just lust, Coye." She walked out of the room, not looking back. "Maybe one day you'll figure that out."

"Life? We're vampires, we live forever, what more is there?" he retorted to Tara's retreating back. He watched her walk out of his life, unable to go after her. Her words cut into him harder than he'd expected.

Lust was all he knew.

If you want to get more information on Samara, check out her website (www.samaraking.com).

Until next month, be naughty and love it!

Emma Ray Garrett