by Emma Ray Garrett Reneé George This month, I corralled Reneé George to take a time out with me. Reneé is one of the most versatile writers I know and her Beast series certainly shows that! A little mystery, some YML, fantastic tension and very real, layered characters are just some of the things Reneé excels at!

ER: Thanks for taking time out with me, Reneé! I'll jump right on in here, if you don't mind. I know you've been asked why you decided to be a writer, LOL. My question isn't why, but rather - when did you write what you consider your first story? What was it about?

RG: Well, I wrote a lot of really bad poetry, mostly angst ridden teenage diatribes until I was 19 years old. It was only after I decided that I really didn't like poetry, or angst, or diatribes, that I completed my first story. It was an angst-ridden, teenage diatribe about revenge, called "Just About Perfect." I remember my grandfather, who was a college dean in his past, was very impressed with the fact that I used proper grammar and punctuation. Thinking back on that time in my life, it makes me grateful to be 39 years old. LOL

ER: ROFL, years young, Reneé! Okay, so how about telling us about your "drawer" story? You know, that manuscript you've been working on forever, which you pull out when you get a chance and look over again and again.

RG: The drawer story. The bane of my existence. The monkey on my back. It's a 428 page unfinished, rewritten a half a dozen times, high fantasy novel that seduces me to break it out every now and then to remind me of how far I've come as a writer.

ER: I have similar thoughts when I break out my own, LOL. Coffee is very popular among the writing crowd. I know you drink it, a lot of it ROFL, but tell the readers how much you need caffeine.

RG: IV's preferable, straight caffeine given directly into the blood stream, baby. Yeah.

ER: Exactly as I thought, LMAO! Are you a "chaos" writer or a "silence" writer? Can you write anywhere, anytime, or do you have to have a quiet, you-place for creating?

RG: I have to have quiet when I'm writing. It's the reason I stay up at night while the husband and child sleeps. Well, that, and it's the best time to watch porn. LOL.

ER: Ah, too true! It's why I write at night as well. Okay, so when you aren't writing, or doing something associated with your work, what do you do for total, brainless relaxation, LOL?

RG: Reality TV, yeah, that's the ticket to brainless relaxationville, let me tell ya. And after, I watch, then I dish the dirt on the people silly enough to sign up for it with Dakota Cassidy. (Yep, I'm outing her as a Reality Junkie, hehe. Okay, so everyone already knew that. LOL.)

ER: You're also a terrific graphic artist, Reneé! Is bringing art to life similar to creating a story, or do you find the two processes completely different?

RG: Oh gosh, completely different. Kidding. I'm methodical and haphazard about both my writing and art. And I never feel like I've done enough for either. I can be a little tough on myself, but it makes me work harder.

ER: Gah, you're so hard on yourself, not that I complain. I get to see lots of different art when you're in a spot *BG*! All right, onto movies: action or romance?

RG: Action Romance! Was that an option? LOL. I'll tell you, one of the best movies I've seen in a long time is Transformers. Totally kick ass robot movie. It is like Godzilla meets Independence Day. And it had a little romance in it, which is always nice. What was the question again?

ER: LOL! One last request: Give me a piece of sage advice. It doesn't have to be writing related, just something you find yourself following often.

RG: You should always have summer in your heart and spring in your fanny.

ER: LOL, that's one to put above the desk. Okay, so that's the end of my questions. Now, here's where you get to plug a book and you better give us a hot tidbit to relish too, LMAO!

RG: Oy, I suck at the pluggage, unless you are talking about my cooking. LOL. Okay. I'll plug, I'll plug.

Viva Los Regalos: Double Down By Reneé George
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=681

After shy, hard-working Maxine Simms inherits a small chunk of money from her grandmother, she decides to be frivolous for once in her life. She books a dream weekend at Los Regalos, the world's only city run completely by paranormals and catering strictly to humans. The best thing is, Los Regalos prides itself on complete anonymity for their guests! Maxine is determined to have her every fantasy fulfilled, even if it goes against her nature.

Nigel Tennon and Pacer Prism are blackjack dealers at the Platinum Nugget Casino and Hotel in Los Regalos. Both hume-shapeshifters from the same clan -- Pacer, dark-haired and mysterious, Nigel, blue-haired and outrageously fun -- they were childhood friends until a misunderstanding drove them apart. When Maxine shows up at the Nugget, her quiet, conservative demeanor attracts the shifters, and they are both determined to have her. They get the surprise of their lives when Maxine takes a chance and tells them she wants to "double down" and have them both.

All bets are off as the two shifters decide whether they can put their differences aside to make Maxine's fantasies come true, and they discover there is more beneath the surface anger that they feel for each other than either one of them could have imagined.

Excerpt:

"You've never heard of humes? I'm not surprised. Here..." He stepped back from her. "I think it will be easier to show you than to tell you." Before Maxine's eyes, Nigel's long blue hair turned blond and began to recede into a shorter cut. His body shrank down to her height. Morphing and shifting, he grew breasts and his hips became curvier. His rainbow colored eyes turned green and Maxine nearly hit the floor. He'd made himself look exactly like her.

There Maxine stood looking at a mirror image of herself, only the image wore black slacks and a black T-shirt. "Oh, that's just... crazy."

The other her smiled as Nigel shifted again, hair lengthening a bit, and turning brown. His build became thickly muscled as he grew several inches. Not as tall as his former self, but taller than she. His face took on a chiseled look, no longer narrow and beautiful, instead he became more rugged, like an action hero from one of those old movies her grandparents liked to watch.

Within seconds, he transformed into himself again. Tall, delicate features, and gorgeous. Without thinking, Maxine reached out and touched his hair. Nigel took her hand and brought it to his lips. "It's real. I'm real."

"And you can just..." She wiggled her hips and eyebrows. "Shift your body into whatever?"

"Well, it is limited to human forms and variations thereof. But, yes, mostly whatever." He grinned.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Never." He nuzzled her fingertips. "Do you like the way I look? Or would you prefer me to take another form?"

"I..." She blinked at the question. It also could have been the fact she still felt the electricity pulse through her fingertips from where he'd kissed them. "I... you look fine." Maybe a little overdressed.

Nigel stripped his shirt. Maxine's jaw went slack. His abdomen lined up in a neat eight-pack, with a strip of blue hair below his navel trailing down under his slacks. And his nipples. Oh, God, his glorious light blue nipples -- the left one pierced by a gold barbell -- ached to be played with. "What are you doing?" she asked, then thought, and why in the hell did you stop at just the shirt.

As if on command, the blue-haired god of a man smiled coyly and began to unbutton and unzip his drawers.

Maxine felt light-headed. "Dear Lord, man. What are you doing?" The words came out in a weak pant.

"You're the one who keeps thinking I'm wearing too many clothes. I'm just trying to please you." His pants hung loose at his hips. He took Maxine's hand and pulled her closer to him. He placed her palm on his stomach and slowly slid it down until her fingers dipped into the blue curls of hair and his aroused cock rose to greet the tips. "Do I please you?"

"Oh yes," Maxine sighed, gripping his shaft. She stammered, "I... I mean, uh..." She couldn't think. Not with his really large, really hard cock in her hand. "I don't know what I mean."

"Maxine. I want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?" The dulcimer tones of his voice poured over her body like warm honey, coating her with his desire and longing. "Kiss me."

She bit her lower lip, determined to put up one last resistance. She didn't know this guy from Adam, jumping into his arms and fucking his brains out and vice versa was not practical. Her grandmother's words crept into her mind. Forget practical, Maxi-moon. Live. Really live. For both of us.

His hands went to her shoulders. "Live, Maxi-moon."

As scared as she might be of making a mistake, the thought of never taking the chance scared her more. Throwing aside her rationales for not taking full advantage of the hume, Maxine jumped into his arms and met his mouth with her own. Fiercely and fearless, she thrust her tongue between his lips, running the tip over his fangs, before slipping it past his teeth. His lips met her with as much ferocity, if not more, feeding from her mouth like a hungry tiger.

Nigel yanked her pajama top over her head, and she pulled back far enough to see his hair had turned orange, his eyes yellow with large black pupils, and his skin burnt-orange with black stripes. Still in human form, but his markings were that of a tiger. It definitely distracted her from the fact her naked breasts, not nearly as perky as they used to be, were on full display. "Whoa. That is so awesome."

"No." He cupped her breasts, taking one nipple into his mouth, then moving to other for rough lick. "These are awesome." Kneeling before Maxine, Nigel pulled her bottoms down, revealing her white underpants. He chuckled -- dark, sexy, seductive. He licked the fabric between her legs. "Mmm, you are delicious."

She thought she would lose it right then and there. Remaining standing was no longer an option as her knees buckled. Nigel caught her thighs and held her steady. His tongue laced itself under the white cotton panties and slid along the folds of her pussy. Placing his arms against her back, he lifted Maxine until her legs were over his shoulders. He stood, holding her up, his teeth nibbling her swollen clit as he braced her against the wall.

"Criminently!" She threw her head back and the top of her skull bashed against the eight-foot ceiling. The small pain sent a twittering thrill through her body. She rocked her hips forward, wishing the fabric between his mouth and her pussy gone.

Nigel head reared back. "Your wish is my command." His fangs bit into the white cotton and he yanked, ripping her underwear right off.

"Oh, God. Oh, God," she murmured, her aching clit grazing against his chin.

"You haven't seen God, yet." His tongue swiped the folds of her sex, twice. "But you will." She could feel him grinning against her flesh. "You will."

Many thanks to Reneé for joining us this November. And I'll be seeing you next month for more Time Out. Till then, be naughty and love it!

Emma Ray Garrett