Meet Laura Tolomei.
If you really want to know, I was born in 1965 in Rome, Italy, but soon started my travelling career. At the age of five, my parents took me to Lagos, Nigeria, where I grew up free and hot like I've never been since. I loved it there and still think of it with nostalgia. Anyway, it was also where I learned English.
After my African experience, I was ready to tackle the US. I lived in Atlanta, GA, five teen-age years, attending the Crestwood High School, where I started my writing career by publishing a short story Nostalgia on the Crestwood Journal. Very thrilled about discovering my new talent, I went ahead during college, writing for the Emory University journal The Phoenix. Three articles mark my first-and last-steps in journalism, "The peace Corps", "WAMM, Women Against Military Madness," and "Lesbism".
After my American experience, I moved back to Rome, but still kept living from time to time abroad, spending several months in Mumbay India, a country I always felt very close to me in more ways than one.
Today, I write both in Italian and English, mostly fiction of various genres, from fantasy erotica, to mysteries up to plain ordinary life stories.For those of you who read Italian, you can simply visit the Italian sections of my website, but if you feel particularly lazy, here's a short summary:
I have a short story on line Incontro Metropolitano (Meeting at the Subway) and two books:
Piccolo Crocevia a Cinque (Little Five Points, for those who know Atlanta it's a spot near Emory University), printed by Editing Edizioni, to be released December 2008.
L'Investigatto (loosely translated The Cat Detective), publisher Ennepil Libri, 2009.
In English, I write erotica in various genres, mostly fantasy, sci-fi and paranormal, sometimes trespassing into contemporary. Feel free to look over my current and future projects by clicking here.
Visit Laura's Website
THE FESTIVAL - Virtus Saga Book 3 by Laura TolomeiPrisoner of their whims, it was impossible to resist them further. With a shock of pleasure, she realized they were her masters - not just one, but both - to which she surrendered herself, body first, juggled upward and sideways, until she had no choice but to ride their tide, swept along with their passion, swelling uncontrollably as they drove her into bliss, her convulsions squeezing them dry.
BUY THE BOOK *** READ THE EXCERPT
WIN - Leave Laura a comment or question today at her Cyber Launch Party and your name goes in the hat for a free download of the first book in her VIRTUS SAGA - THE SEX! Please leave your email address so we can contact you if you are today's winner - good luck!
Morning Laura - or whatever time of the day it is over in Rome!
ReplyDeleteSuper congrats on another release in your Virtus Saga!!! This is a big project for you, how are you doing with the tough release schedule your publisher has you on and how are you handling staying in one world for this amount of time?
For those new to the series, tell us a little bit about the series and how if all contects.
Hope THE FESTIVAL is your biggest seller yet! Have fun!
Hi Laura :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the release of The Festival, Virtus Saga Book 3!
I LOVE the interplay between Ylianor, Chris and Duncan, It is sooo hawt.
Is a Virtus Book 4 in the works?
Mindy :)
Birdsooong@aol.com
Hi to everyone @ Author Island and it's great to be here! I'm exhausted, yeah, it's a hard schedule I've been keeping, but now it's vacation time and I'm afraid my readers will have to wait until later this year before they can continue the Virtus Saga with Book 4 The Leader. But I'm managing, at least so far, only because all these books had been written more than 2 years ago, so I just have to re-edit them, based on how much my writing has changed over the past 2 years. And boy, has it changed and grown!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the world goes, that's even more difficult to handle than the publishing part. Sometimes I wish I could just slip into Sendar and forget all about my obligations over here...ha, I wish! So I inevitably have to come back. But since I've just been in France on vacation, I had loads of fun with my husband, reading over the next 2 books of the Virtus Saga, The Leader and The Pledge, and it was great to share the feeling of living in another world with him. It was some sort of magic, being on Sendar while lying under the sun, sipping a cocktail or eating an ice cream and splashing around in the swimming pool if we were too hot to read.
All right, I have to go now, but I'll be back later this evening, so write away your comments and I'll answer them when I get back.
Ciao
VIRTUS SAGA
ReplyDeleteIt’s an ambitious and complex work spanning time and space on the planet Sendar where Prince Duncan Caldwell, his lover Lord Christopher Templeton and his woman Ylianor Meyer are the only ones who can shed light on the mysterious device controlling their world and their lives. Mostly, It’s about relationships, people, trust, love, friendship, discovery, truth, power, life and death. And last, but certainly not least, it’s about sex and its power not just to create connections, but also to defuse aggressive impulses.
The story begins in Book 1 The Sex with Duncan lost while returning home from a neighboring town. Before night falls though, he finds shelter in Ylianor’s rundown shack. The beautiful woman has a very familiar air, but for the life of him, he cannot remember who she is or resist the attraction he feels, despite his aristocratic tastes. So he offers her a job at Black Rose, his family’s estate, only to discover she’s the daughter of his father’s mistress. And his lover, Chris, isn’t too happy about her either, being fiercely determined to hold on to his prince against the hated rival he had already driven away from his lover’s side. But since life has the strange habit of surprising people, the lovers will be forced to take her along with them on a journey that will test their limits, particularly in Book 2 The Game where they’ll have to play masters or slaves in a vortex of sexual commands and passionate submissions. And even if with Duncan, Chris and Ylianor it’s easy to guess who will play what, the far reaching consequences of their game will change their lives, and that of their world, forever. Then in Book 3 The Festival everything comes together, the responsibilities and the relationships finally falling into place thanks to their new awareness of what their world is all about. And if the secret is to be as one whilst still remaining three…well, it’s something they’ll have to explore further in Book 4 The Leader, coming later 2010, with more exciting developments, twists and turns in and out of bed.
I have read the other 2 books in this series and am looking forward to this one.
ReplyDeletekissinoak at verizon dot net
Just wanted to say congrats on the new release. Can't wait til the book budget recovers and I can get it.
ReplyDeleteDon't enter me in the contest. I already have Book one in the series.
Hi Laura Congratulations on your release! I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteminnchica(dot)bookpusher(at)gmail.com
hi congrats on your new book.sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteREGINA ROSS
reginamayr@aol.com
Hi, Estella, it's great to see you here! And if you liked the other 2 books, I'm pretty sure you'll love this one, too.
ReplyDeleteLaura
Hi, Beth, thanks for stopping by and sharing.
ReplyDeleteCiao,
Laura
Thanks, Nicole, and I certainly do need some luck right now if nothing else, to cope with the tight schedule I've been keeping LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping,
Laura
Yeah, Regina, it's a terrific read for the lovers of on-the-edge fantasy mixed with a bit of horror, strong characters and even stronger relationships. Sometimes, I think Chris, Duncan and Ylianor are real people, sometimes I think they're larger than life. Either way, they seldom make me sleep at night!
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming over,
Laura
I'm a sci-fi geek so I'm very intrigued by this series. Are there any particular sci-fi shows you're a fan of?
ReplyDeletejoderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
Congrats!!! Wishing you Great success. Can't wait to read. T.
ReplyDeletefinalcutediting@yahoo.com
Congratulations!! I cannot wait to read this series.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI think it's awesome that you write in both Italian and English. I think it's awesome all of the places you've been. Your book sounds amazing:) It's been added to my TBR list.
yadkny@hotmail.com
Oh, joder, I'm a trekker at heart. Just love ALL the Star Trek series, well maybe except Enterprise, which wasn't released properly in Italy and I only have Season 2 and 2 in English. I also LOVE Space 1999, one of the best sci-fi TV series in my opinion, at least as far as Season 1 was concerned. To be honest, Season 2 wasn't anything special, but I watched it all the same. Recently I watched and loved Joss Wehedon's Firefly, a very alternative sci-fi series. It's just too bad it didn't last long. Also, I tried watching the remake of Battlestar Galactica, but didn't like it much while I loved the original series.
ReplyDeleteIt's just too bad, in Italy sci-fi isn't such a big thing, so you either have to have satellite TV or have to buy DVD in USA or UK in order to watch the series you like.
Laura
Yep, traveling around the world at an early age can give you an edge, particularly on languages, if you don't mess up your life first. Unfortunately, I've known many other sons and daughters of people working abroad and their lives haven't always turned out as wonderful as could've been expected. But that's karma, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAnd just for the record, my stories are spin-offs of all this traveling LOL
Ciao, Laura
OK, it's really late here in Rome, so time for me to say goodnight if I still want to have a productive day in a few hours. It's been great fun chatting with y'all and thanks to everyone for having come to my Cyber Launch Party. Mostly, thanks to Author Island for having me here and hosting me as nicely as they always do!
ReplyDeleteGood night from Rome,
Laura
Congrats on the release of your book and many sales. I wish I had lived in as many places as you have lived.
ReplyDeletelorettaC
lbcanton@verizon.net
Hi and Congrats!!!
ReplyDelete-Brandy
brandyzbooks@yahoo.com
Congrats Laura and wish you much success with this series. I am drooling to read them. :)
ReplyDeleteFrance, how wonderful Laura. Hope it's a restful and satisfying vacation.How many again were planned for this series? And good luck to us all.
Carol L.
Lucky4750@aol.com
Well, Loret, it certainly makes for a different experience LOL And I'm sure it also helped my writing, at least as far as settings are concerned.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by,
Laura
The plan of the series is quite extensive, so I needed all the rest I could get, Carol. I'll post the the plan here, too, and I just hope I can keep up with the tight schedule LOL
ReplyDeleteLaura
VVIRTUS SAGA
ReplyDeleteThe Books
Book 1 The Sex – available
Book 2 The Game – availabl
Book 3 The Festival – July 1
Book 4 The Leader – coming later 2010
Book 5 The Pledge
Book 6 The Heat
Book 7 The Trace
Book 8 The Keeper
The World
Sex, sex and more sex without limits or boundaries—not in numbers, not in gender, whether it’s the phase, the pledge or the heat—such is Sendar’s very foundation, an apparently peaceful planet, without the usual pestilences associated with mankind, wars, hunger, violence. But is it really so?
The Characters
Lost while returning home, Duncan Caldwell, only son and heir of Prince Charles Caldwell, finds shelter in Ylianor Meyer’s rundown shack. The beautiful woman has a very familiar air, but for the life of him, he cannot remember who she is or resist the attraction he feels, despite his aristocratic tastes. So he offers her a job as Black Rose’s stable keeper, only to find out she’s the daughter of his father’s mistress. But will this stop the fatal pull drawing him to her bed?
Lord Christopher Templeton is fiercely in love with Duncan Caldwell, a love started before either was old enough to know what love is, which continues until Duncan decides it’s time for him to find a woman. But Chris is determined to hold on to his prince no matter what it takes, even if he has to face the hated rival he had already driven away from his lover’s side, once, so long ago.
Ylianor Meyer has been in love with Duncan Caldwell since the very beginning, growing up with him on the green hills and cliffs of Black Rose. Banned by Prince Charles’s mate, she hasn’t seen Duncan for over 10 years, but when he walks in her rundown shack, she knows she still loves him as passionately as when she was merely nine-years-old. So she follows him, no matter what the consequences, no matter what his despicable lover will do to drive her away…again.
Lord Arthur Fairchild, leader of the High Council, knows time is slipping away from his grasp and Sendar will be condemned if his hero doesn’t come forth soon. So he summons him—not just him, but also the ones he’s connected to by lifetimes of bonding love and feelings so strong they’ve transcended time and space. And the uncontrollable power, the Virt, the energy running wild on Sendar only complicate matters.
The pyramid
Three-sided like the three lovers full of power and explosive feelings, Virtus controls Sendar in ways they have yet to discover and if they can, change.
The story
Unknown to most, powerful forces dominate Sendar’s feudal-like society, the ability to wield destructive energy so strong in some people, it’s threatening to devastate their world. But to reach a new balance you have to learn, grow, blend with the world from which you come, then go beyond it before the world collapses into chaos. And that’s what Duncan, Chris and Ylianor must learn to do if sex, power, magic, passion and jealousy won’t stand in their way.
congrats on your Release!!! Can't wait to read it
ReplyDeleteI've read a couple of Laura's works and just loved them. I look forward in starting this series.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
Wow I just read your first Virtus book and was amazed. It was so hot, that I had to step away for a hour to cool down. It left me wanting more.
ReplyDeleteThe series instantly got my got my attention.