The holiday season is barrelling down at us. May I humbly recommend books as fabulous gifts? They always fit, after all! Depending on what kinds of books your friends and family like, I'd like to think I've got you covered. Do you like sexy romance with lots of adventure? The Blood Wings Series (Dracula's Secret, Dracula's Desires, and Dracula Unleashed) are the darkest of my books. There are intense scenes of both hot sex and fight scenes.  They are also multicultural and GLBTQ-friendly.       Less dark and more James Bond-like is Curse of the Spider Woman. This is a story with shapeshifters and the Greek Gods. Set against the backdrop of the Greek financial crisis, this story brings two former lovers together again.             Or do you prefer sexy short stories on a variety of topics? Again, multicultural and LGBTQ friendly, I have Linda Mercury's Naughty Notes. Full of short stories and poetry, this book is wonderful to read aloud to your romantic loves.   Do you like gentle, woman-power, magical realism that take place in small towns? My co-author and I, Shea MacLeod write a series called The Dream Factory! The third book will be called A Dream of Words and will be out in early 2022. These books are all-ages appropriate and filled with hope.    Or do you dig non-fiction? That will be the next post!   Buy Links: My Web Site Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo Apple Books

Pinterest Love.

I love my Pinterest boards. I use them for brainstorming on my books and for general inspiration. Here are a few of my boards and their pins.

Live Like Celeste
My friend Babs and I came up with this board one day when we decided we wished we could be Celeste Barros from Vamping It Up and Keeping It Up. Celeste is brave, bold, and super-stylish. Here are a few outfits we thought she would wear.

This is what she wears in Keeping It Up to meet her new lover.

Some Alexander McQueen.

Keeping It Up
Who doesn't love doing research? And who doesn't love doing research on a location for sexy good times?  This is the library at Vilnius University in Lithuania. 
 

Where I imagined Holly and Linc getting it on.

Curse of the Spider Woman 
I'll be honest. I based Jordan Tasos, the hunky ex-lover of my main character Rachel Havelock on Jeremy Renner. 

Can you blame me?

And this is Rachel.

 

Back in the saddle.

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The last month has been rough on me. As a result of my push to finish Curse of the Spider Woman, I ignored my body's warning signals and ended up with nerve damage in my hip. Leg numbness and tingling has resulted. As a result of the chronic pain and discomfort, I'd fallen into a depression.


After several months of hoping it would go away, I finally went to a physical therapist. I'm slowly getting better, and that means I'm slowly feeling my mojo coming back. To kick start the whole process, I've taken a short retreat to the Oregon Coast.

Haystack Rock

 To the right is my view from my hotel room. The big monolith is Haystack Rock, the little guys are called (get this), The Needles. Oregonians are pretty funny, no?

Cool sand and oil patterns

Couldn't seem to prevent getting in the water.

World's comfiest pants from Kim Sakkara, natch.

Something about the waves and the wind help me find where my boundaries are broken.

Slowly finding my smile again.

Taste Testing Curse of the Spider Woman.

My latest book, Curse of the Spider Woman is live! Unsure if you want to buy it? Here is the Prologue!

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Prologue

“Look at that! The great god Hades gathering flowers on the riverbank like a lazy milkmaid.” The lieutenant of the Heirs of Socrates sneered. “Our emasculated Gods no longer care about the people of Greece.” Despite the touch of silver in his own hair, the lieutenant knew himself to be virile and manly. Not the sort who would wander like a barefoot hippie to appease his spoilt wife. 

His superior officer spoke. “They will care after today.” Pale blue eyes gazed over the valley of the River Styx. Nightmares, horses made of black smoke and red hooves, champed at their bits. “Easy, girls.” The general’s strong, competent hands gathered the reins for the chariot. “We charge as soon as he reaches for the narcissus.”

The lieutenant squinted. Distance in the Underworld was deceptive. What had once been a properly somber gray light was tinted with the gold of spring; another one of Hades’ ridiculous ideas to honor his wife, Persephone. No deity should cater to a woman in such indulgent ways. Instead of the traditional ash and cinders, the underworld now sported daisies, roses, and aromatic herbs like rosemary and thyme. The lack of tradition hardened the lieutenant’s resolve. 

Capturing Hades was the pivot point for the next phase of the Heirs’ plan to purify the land.

Hades plucked a daffodil. He caressed the cup-shaped center. A whiff of flame, and the flower transformed into a spray of yellow diamonds on an emerald stalk. 

The General slapped the reins on the night mares. “It is time.” The chariot surged forward down the slope, a streamer of red, black, and bronze as the nightmares unleashed their full speed.

The lieutenant’s gloved hand rose in the air, signaling the troops behind him to ready their weapons.

“Today we get the Gods out of the way of what must be done,” he stated. “We charge in, three, two…GO!”

All the troops on horseback charged, their mortal mounts slower but no less eager for the fight.

They had the element of surprise on their side, but Hades, King of the Underworld, was not some helpless, minor deity. All the dead, no matter their afterlife, obeyed his command. The land here itself responded to his desires. Never had he been defeated. The black-robed, black-haired god, his arms full of blooms for his beloved, waved a hand.

 The ghosts of the fiercest fighters of all time – Alexander the Great, Quintus Fabius Cuncator, the 104 Timberwolf Infantry – surrounded Hades. The land itself groaned and birthed skeletons, each armed with semi-automatic weapons.

Hades saluted the oncoming enemies. “Defend our land.”

 Unexpected bullets ripped through the offense.

 “Shit, shit, shit,” the lieutenant muttered. Guns? Where did an ancient God get guns?

 Salt peter and sulfur assaulted his nostrils. In front of him, scores of his troops fell, the horses screaming and the men writhing in agony.

The General swung a spiked ball on a chain, crumbling three skeletons with one blow. “We are not defeated yet,” his leader’s strong voice shouted. “We are not weak paper to crumple at the first resistance.”

Bolstered, the army rode on.

The shock troops trampled the skeletons, temporarily breaking them apart. Behind them, the second wave scattered the precious dragon’s teeth into the blood-soaked dirt. The general had traveled alone into the land of Colchis to find them. Giant soldiers sprang from the ground, the same ones that had defended the Golden Fleece from Jason and his Argonauts.

 “Attack.” Hades shouted and gestured with his staff. He placed his helmet of invisibility on his head and disappeared. The reformed skeletons engaged the dragon’s troops. Neither yielded, neither gained.

“Hiya!” With the skeletons busy, the general’s nightmares raced to where Hades had stood. The God was old and smart. Fortunately, the leader had done the proper research.

Invisible was not intangible.

A gloved hand dug into the pouch on the side of the chariot and flung what was found there. Fine, glittering dust flew into the air, coating everything and everyone in an incongruously pretty mist.

Not six feet from where had he had stood, Hades brushed at himself. The general dared much and grabbed the King of the Underworld. The Lieutenant removed the helm of darkness and swung his own club.

Hades fell insensate to the floor of the chariot.

“To the Caucasus mountains. I have the chains. They held the Titan Prometheus. They can tame this uninterested god.”

***

Hades twisted within the ancient manacles chained to the side of the mountain. The rocks reeked of old blood, viscera, and eagle droppings from the generations of Prometheus’ captivity. The old iron bit into his wrists, chewing away at his skin. Even though he healed as fast as he was damaged, blood dripped from the cuts. He was used to the cool shadows of his kingdom. The bright sun brought tears to his eyes and heated his black robes until he baked inside of them.

Zeus! He mentally shouted. I’m captured and trapped. Come rescue me with your lightning bolts.”

No response.

Brother, he cried again. Someone wants to destroy Greece.

Nothing. As God of the Sky, Zeus saw everything. Hades panted, panic nibbling at his psyche. What could have happened to his younger brother?

Poseidon. Where are you? Bring your earthquakes and topple this mountain to the ground. Together we can stop these horrors.

Again, silence. Something had gone wrong.

And Hercules was long dead, a mighty shade in the Elysian Fields. There were no heroes left that could break these chains.

Small black dots moved fast against the wind.

“And here come the eagles,” the lieutenant crowed. “They must be hungry after their long fast.”

The god gritted his teeth. There would be no respite from this torture.

The birds landed, clawed their way through his abdomen. These were not the enormous noble beasts of his brother Zeus. They would not carry a message to the lord of the sky, warning him of the Heirs of Socrates’ plans.

Their sharp beaks tore his skin open and they feasted on his liver. He made not a sound. His dark-eyed gaze held the enemy general, challenging his captor to witness what they had started.

The General broke the staring contest and turned to the white-faced army. Over the eagles’ triumphant noises, Hades heard the leader exhale.

“Forgive them, my Lieutenant. They are not yet inured to the realities of the necessity to overthrow the government and make Greece great again.”

“I will remind them we needed the Gods crippled to prevent any interference.”

“We don’t want a literal Deus ex Machina.” The General wiped at blood streaked forearms. “Phase Two is complete. Now, we start Phase Three.”

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What's going on and where I will be.

October 23rd, the release day for Curse of the Spider Woman is rapidly approaching. And like any good author, I'm going to be sharing my book far and wide.

Here is my schedule:
October 17th: Jan's Paperbacks

Aloha Villa Shopping Center, 18095 SW Tualatin Valley Hwy, Beaverton, OR 97006

11am. Buy a book, get a free fan!


October 23rd: The book releases! Available on Amazon, Google Play, and other fabulous on-line retailers.

October 31st: Downtown Hillsboro Farmer's Market. Outside of Jacobsen's Books,

And the biggie!

Curse of the Spider Woman is my fifth book and I will hold my first book release party ever! 

On my birthday, November 21st, I will engage in great revelry at Primrose and Tumbleweeds, 248 E Main St, Hillsboro, OR 97123

Join me from 2pm-5pm at this wonderful wine bar and restaurant.  There will be book signing, give-aways, and lots of hugs.

Curse of the Spider Woman Cover!

Cover artist, Leah Suttle

Hooray! Today, I reveal not only my cover (and isn't it a beauty?), but also my release date for Curse of the Spider Woman.

You can purchase your James Bond meets Greek Mythology story (with consensual sex) on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23rd!!

Here's the back cover blurb.

Due to die….

Former anti-terrorist agent Rachel Havelock has two weeks to live. She intends to spend that time reveling in sex, sin, and excess. But the world still needs the giant spider shifter.

But the Gods intervene…

.

Her ex-boyfriend, Jordan Tasos, is in hot pursuit of the terrorists who are exploiting the Greek financial crisis for profit. Only Rachel and her spider powers – silk, venom, and eight legs- can help him stop the Heirs of Socrates from destroying Greece.

Can they beat the clock and save the world’s oldest democracy? Or will Rachel fall victim to the Curse of the Spider Woman?

If you want to contact my genius cover artist, go to www.LeahSuttle.com.

Curse of the Spider Woman!

Of course, Curse of the Spider Woman is a Linda Mercury novel, and no novel of mine is complete without a passionate love story.

My centaur hero and my spider heroine have some serious history behind them, and it has really messed with their attraction.Let's have a peek, shall we?

      She rolled onto her back, away from him.

       “Where the fuck are you going?” he asked. He flipped her over to her belly. This was the position his stallion preferred. His primitive centaur instincts battered his discipline. He had to have her, had to mate with her, fill her, fuck her, tie her to him with the fragile bonds of pleasure until she would never leave him again.

       No more exile in the human world. She would be his mare, his herd. He leaned over and set his teeth in her shoulder, as a breeding mortal horse would.