Twas the Night Before Shutdown

‘Twas the night before shut down, and all through our house,
      All the editors were sighing, and letting go of their mouse.

The cover models were hung (hee hee) on the covers with care,
      In hopes that the readers would drool and stare.

The great manuscripts were edited and all have been read,
     As visions of more submissions danced in our heads.

With RJ at her computer, and Rhonda in her pjs,
     The editors are poised for a few easy days.

When over in Crimson there arose such a clatter,
     A villain on the prowl was as mad as a hatter,

Away to the department the editors flew like a flash,
     But the bad man was caught and tied with a sash.

The hand on the breast of the heroine vampire,
     Her body parts tingled, as if on fire.

When what to our unbelieving eyes should appear,
     But one lonely cowboy with all the right gear.

With a mighty stud, so lively and thick,
     We knew in a moment it must be erotic.

More rapid than eagles the senior editors they came,
     And we whistled, and shouted, TWRP would never be the same.

Now Nicole! Now Diana! Now Stacy, Amanda, and Leanne!
     On Callie Lynn! On Lori! On Kathy and Roseann!

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
     To the faery department we went, to all have a ball!

As elves, ghosts, and other creatures fly,
     When we see these characters we look to the sky

So all around us in the air they flew,
     With a variety of costumes, and some dragons, too.

And then in a twinkling we heard in the hall,
     A Civil War soldier with a lilting southern drawl.

As we were turning our heads and looking around,
     A modern day hero was what we found.

He was dressed in his finest from head to his boot,
     His clothes were tight fitting, and we let out a hoot.

A bundle of manuscripts he had flung on his back,
     The host of good stories TWRP would not lack.

The manuscripts—so many! The plots how they varied.
     Thank goodness, the hero and heroine were not married.

The older heroine is welcome her too.
     Her experiences are old, but her love life is new.

Lords and ladies, and a man in a kilt,
     Oh we love how those Scottish heroes are built.

A sweetheart of a story can warm a reader’s heart,
    But unless behind closed doors the characters are apart.

Give me a cowboy who just rode into town.
     Or a vamp and a were, but please not a clown.

An erotic, oh dear, can make us so hot,
     But please make sure the manuscript has a plot

We looked in the pack for a manuscript to take,
     Saved the stories on our computers for after the break.

Putting our flash drives in a very safe spot,
     The Christmas cheer made us feel like a tiny tot.

We sprang to our computers for one last time.
     We needed to end our little rhyme.

So here us exclaim as we shut down and go out of sight,
     Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

~composed by Allison Byers
    Historical Department Editor

Holy haunted house!!! I woke this morning and realized we are midway through October! How does that happen? October is my favorite month and, of course, being a Black Rose editor Halloween is, by far, my favorite holiday:)

Note:(The above picture is an actual house which is part of an old insane asylum that we used to haunt when I was a teenager. It has been deserted for many years and holds a gruesome history that has been replayed on Ghost Hunter episodes and historical discussions through time. I remember sitting in the middle of the night staring into the wooded area surrounding this compound shaking with adrenolin coursing through my veins. Ah... the bravery of youth! A Philadelphia radio station has been known to hold a Halloween Haunted house event at this location in the past. I believe more currently that most of these buildings may have been demolished. But I am sure that miserable and mistreated souls still haunt these sad grounds.)

In case you don't know me, I am Callie Lynn Wolfe, Senior Editor of TWRP's Black Rose Line. And, of course, this is our most active time of year, as you can well imagine. We are busy interacting with all our friends from the darker side of the garden.

An oasis of silvery moonlight shining down upon alabaster statuary in an Old
English Rose garden filled with you guessed it--Black Roses. In our midst are the to die for vamps, the hot weres, the fiesty demons and, of course, we are always looking for the elusive gargoyles as well other creatures our authors can scare up from their very vivid imaginations. Our heros and heroines are predators but they do have a soft side. You just have to know to pull it out of them:)

We will be dropping in and out to guide you through ebony paths and silvery forests for the rest of the month. The Black Rose staff is Lill Farrell, Joel Walker, Eilidh Mackenzie, Corinne MacGregor and Amanda Barnett all of which will share their scariest moments with you. I will be stopping in periodically with my special haunted memories as well.




I wish you all a very ghoulish and frightening Halloween and a most Blessed Samhain. Now I must prepare for the annual masquarade and dance of the dead celebrations. Please do join us. We would love to have you--literally!

Dark blessings,

Callie~

It's October! With that comes...

Indian Summer, Octoberfest, firey autumn colors but most important Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Samhain!

WELCOME TO PARANORMAL MONTH AT THE WILD ROSE PRESS:)

I am Callie Lynn Wolfe, Senior Editor of the Black Rose Imprint here at TWRP. I have been with TWRP from almost the beginning. I have been fortunate enough to watch this company grow and thrive under the tender cultivating efforts of RJ and Rhonda. I have also watched the Black Rose line grow and it still is. I absolutely love the darker side of the garden and my mission is to see it thrive.

That said, I wanted to tell you a bit about the line, our new blog and what we've got up our sleeves this year to celebrate Paranormal Month.

As you all know, we ran the Got Wolf? contest last year. This year we are celebrating the winners as well as the release of the two Anthologies. I am excited about both books and the collection of stories they hold. We will start October off at the Black Rose blog with the various authors of Got Wolf, so please don't miss any of that. Then we will slide into discussions about the many different aspects of Halloween/Samhain legend, history, tradition and all the creatures that make up the term Paranormal. The darker side, that is

For the next week or so the Black Rose editors will drop in and talk to you about themselves and the upcoming events.

For more information on submission requirements for Black Rose, please visit our guidelines page.

Below is a brief description of what we look for in our stories:

The Black Rose Line at The Wild Rose Press is actively open for spicy to very hot story submissions.

The darker side of the garden seeks steamy, Alpha male or female weres, to die for vamps, or any other delicious mystical creature you have locked up in your wildest imaginations. These stories should include vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, and mystical creatures of all types. The stories are darker, but must have a strong romance theme as the central story thread. We are open to a wide range of stories, and because these creatures tend to be sensual in nature, Black Rose accepts manuscripts that fit the Sensual, Spicy, and Hot ratings parameters, but sex should not be used as the main story thread.

Black Rose is open for submissions as we speak, so if you have a dark tale to tell we're your line.

I want to mention some other great perks this month for Paranormal month. All paranormal books will be on sale all month! So please do hop over and check them out. We have a wonderful selection to choose from.

One other thing I'd like to say. Keep an eye on the The Black Rose Blog daily because you never know when someone will be offering a prize or giving away free stuff and books. This is our month, and we're up to no good or should I say lot's of ghoulish fun:) Don't miss a trick or treat.

We look forward to haunting you all month long. Welcome to the darker side. Step on in and feel the chill. No worries though. I'm sure one of our HOT heroes or heroines will be along shortly to warm you up.

Callie Lynn
callielynnwrp@aol.com