RedHotRomance

Life has sucked up my time allocated to the Internet. My web site has become woefully out-of-date, my blog is weeks behind, and my email box is overflowing with unread emails. But I'm struggling to get caught up. Tonight, I selected the last item -- the easiest of the bunch -- and stumbled upon a link to a June 22nd article from the Sydney Herald that I'd emailed myself. So forgive me if this is old news to most of you, but I just had to share ...

From I'll have what she's having, I gleaned a lot of interesting tidbits that I may be able to put to use in my next book. Namely:

• Job opportunities abound for "orgasm theorists," as they appear to be under-represented.
• Poor diet, too much caffeine, and not enough fish oil may be to blame for my inability to have 52 vaginal orgasms in one session.
• For the first time ever, there is now an accurate map of the clitoris.
• News Flash: Researchers now believe that women can have a physical arousal and psychological arousal but they are two quite different processes. [Astonishing! I did not know that.]
• Women coming up today are used to having orgasms and decent sex, unlike "older" women. [Wow. Guess I just imagined having orgasms and great sex.]

Okay. I'm being a bit sarcastic here. But despite the article's eye-rolling paragraphs, there are quite a few that I found interesting (and I do think diet impacts all areas of life) and I am happy to see attention -- and dollars -- being spent on studying women's orgasm. What are your thoughts?

While waiting for my takeout lunch I picked up a local small press newspaper. It one of those freebie papers restaurants leave around to entertain those waiting for takeout. I read an interesting article, but unfortunately I can’t recall the name of the paper or the author otherwise I’d acknowledge the man’s work.

The author wrote a very funny article about the experience of his first Playboy magazine and his first look at naked women. He and his friends buried the magazine beneath a bush in his backyard only to unbury it when parents or adults weren’t around. Finally, the magazine was discovered by Mom and confiscated.

I enjoy the article but it got me thinking about the difference between men and women and their introduction to sex. Boys look at Playboy, Hustler, etc. Most girls are drawn to romance novels. If Playgirl had been available to me, perhaps I would have hidden it away and retrieved it to look at penises. Okay, I definately would have looked at it.

Once I read my first romance novel, even the ones that didn’t tell what happened in the bedroom, I was hooked. I loved them. I still do. Given the the huge amount of book sales a lot of women must love romance novels.

Is it any wonder men and women look at sex from completely different views!

I've been in the Adirondack mountains of New York for the past month and during the month, every time I meet someone new and we get started talking about what I do for a living (that'd be writing books, of course!), I wait an appropriate amount of time (sixty seconds, max), and then I start hawking all of my friend's books.

This time around I had a Jasmine Haynes book and an Allison Brennan book with me and I talked ENDLESSLY about them both, while waving around books. And then I listed off every other author I know and respect and had people write down their names. Several people told me they made the long drive into a big town to a big enough bookstore to find everyone's books.

Do you love that, or what?

I love sharing the love!
;-) bella
http://www.BellaAndre.com

Okay, so a few days ago I finally wrote "the end" on the latest novella in my Wolf Tales series, and as much as I felt like celebrating, I have to realize that writing "the end" is merely the first step on a very long road. Once finished, I reread the story and did some minor revisions, then I sent it off to my "village," a wonderful group of readers, all either published authors or editors, who are currently finding lots of ways to tell me, nicely, that my writing sucks. I'll take their comments and revise as needed, print the manuscript out and mail it to my editor at Kensington. The end? Not quite. Next I'll receive a nice little package in the mail filled with copy edits which will most likely need to be dealt with on the run and overnighted back to New York. All through? Not hardly. Galley proofs will show up, again most likely by overnight FedEx with instructions to proof and return within half an hour...well, not quite that fast, but damned close. Finally. Sigh of relief, right? NO WAY! It's time to check on promotion! Is the ad for RT ready? Got the mailings done for booksellers? How about those online chats lined up with readers? Almost ready to take a breather when you look at the calendar and realize the proposal for the new novel is due in two days and the deadline on the next book is less than a month away. Point being...there is no end in sight, which is a good thing and a bad thing...and one more example of being careful what you wish for. (VBG) My question being, did any of you who are now published authors have any idea how much work went into a manuscript AFTER you wrote "the end?" I didn't have a clue.

Sometimes I have to write something that is “to size” meaning that the story has to fit within a certain word count. In particular this comes up with the short erotic stories that Ellora’s Cave calls “quickies”. These have to be between 10 to 15 thousand words, or 10 to 12 thousand if it is for one of the Cavemen anthologies. Within that word count you must introduce the characters and show them falling in love, all through the use of lots and lots of hot sex. Challenging but fun to do.

Some people are pretty good at it, some find it very difficult to do. I find all the sex exhausting to write as Rachelle pointed out in her post last Friday, but I do like the short form in that I can stay focused on the basic relationship story I want to tell. I don’t get real repetitive…no point in repeating information that was only a couple pages away and I don’t have the word count for it anyway. Every word is golden…you don’t want extras so you write tight.

And there is a lot of sex to put in.

So I’ve got one quickie that I’m finishing up for the Wild Winter series that is due to my editor on Friday. Also on Friday I have a release – Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams Of The Oasis III with my short story Pleasure Maid is coming out in ebook and print format. That’s about this woman who wakes up in the garden of a young man being held prisoner. She has no memory of why she is there but Dina and Gal manage to find ways to fill their time. Within 12 thousand words.

Anyone else want to talk about writing to size?

Hey guys,

Okay it’s my blog day, but also new release day for me, which is always an exciting time. Today my book, The Lost Wolf Warrior--a re-written version—will be released from http://Liquidsilverbooks.com. Let me tell you a little bit about the Solarian Warrior Series-- of which The Lost Wolf Warrior is book #1.

I wrote The Lost Wolf Warrior many, many, years ago as my first completed novel, so the book holds a special place in my heart. When I was writing the tale I decided I had to have a strong female warrior as my heroine and I got to thinking, what if she has a talisman, an animal, I though. I set the story in 13^th Century England/Scotland and I really wanted my female heroine, Serena, to have a wolf by her side and for them to have a telepathic connection.

I started doing research on wolves in England during that time period. To my dismay, I discovered, King Edward the Ist ordered the eradication of the wolves in 1280, until they were completely extinct in England and eventually Scotland by the early 1600’s. To this day, there are no wolves in either country, despite activist attempt at brining them back.

I was totally dismayed to think an entire species of animal could be killed off that way. So I created a group of people called the Solarian's, who lived in harmony with their wolves until that fateful day in 1280 when King Edward sent English soldiers to kill not only the wolves, but the Solarian's as well . After the battle, the surviving Solarian's left England and settled in the Scottish Highlands, where they formed a secret Realm. Today, they still live in the Highlands and protect their wolves. And so the Solarian Warrior Series was born.

Please come by and visit my adopted wolf, Wana at http://WolfMountain.com

Here's an intro to Book #1 of the series:

The Lost Wolf Warrior

The year is 1311. Serena de Reincolt, a young Warrior of the Wolf, is tasked with a quest: Retrieve the sacred scrolls of Solaria and the outlawed murderer, Ziem.

Failure means certain death for the Solarians.

Found at age six in the Forest of the Dean with no memory of his former life, Lord Roan Aston, the Wolf, has always felt a part of him was missing.

One thing Roan knows for certain--he is finished with warring. Taking up King Edward's offer to protect a castle on the Scottish border, Roan is as content as he can be.

It wasn't until Roan met an incredible woman in the most extraordinary circumstances that he pieced together his purpose in life. But their journey is fraught with danger and a vengeful King who will stop at nothing less than eradication of all those he feels threaten his rule.

Suddenly, Roan and Serena are protecting more than a society of gifted people; they are fighting for their lives, their love, and a fantastic legend.

Rae

http://RaeMonet.com

Last week, after overdosing on coffee and forgoing sleep to meet the deadline for my latest book, The Sin Club, I wondered why I felt so drained. Well, beyond the obvious reason, that is. And it finally dawned on me:

Just as the actual sex act – done right, LOL – can be exhausting, so is writing erotic romance.

Why is that? Well, for me it’s because sex is a major character in the story who must be present at all times. Even when the hero and/or heroine are not thinking about sex or having sex or even together in the same scene. What the hero/heroine is seeing, thinking, saying, physically and emotionally feeling, as well as smelling and tasting, must be used to convey sensuality consistently – before, during, and after the actual sexual intercourse. The reader must always feel the sexual tension regardless of what is happening in the story. And keeping that level consistent, even in the most mundane conversation, takes a lot of work. At least for me and the level of sensuality I try to maintain in my writing.

But it’s over. I’m done. The book has been turned in. And I feel like I would after a great round of sex: Satisfied and complete. I think the exhaustion was worth it – The Sin Club pleased me.

So … is it just me or do other writers feel like this after completing erotica/erotic romance? And from a reader standpoint, do you like sensuality present in every scene?

I'm spending a month in the Adirondacks with my mil and I always give her paperbacks to read. I've passed along my friend's books--currently on her bookshelf is Barbara Freethy, Jennifer Skully and Allison Brennan--all of which she has read and loved, ladies! In any case, we were talking about books and she made the comment that she doesn't want to read stories about women figuring things out and working out their relationships with other women. I found this to be really interesting, because she voraciously read romances and in a lot of cases, along with the love relationship, the heroine goes through a process of figuring things out. Her preference is quite clear--no books with three/four women characters working through their issues.

It made me think about what I like/don't like to read. I really love women's fiction and romance. And honestly, that's about it. I can't read thrillers because they are too scary. Romantic suspense sometimes works. And literary fiction is usually a wallbanger. Oh--and I LOVE travel writing. I devour Bill Bryson's books and anything about someone who moves to Italy/France/UK to start a new life.

What are your reading preferences?
;-) Bella
http://www.bellaandre.com

In romance novels, often the hero gives the heroine gifts, especially in the form of jewelry or flowers. While both can be nice, I find both can be little impersonal. Which is why my favorite gift I ever received from my husband was... a dog.

My husband travels quite a bit for business, often internationally. He's brought home a few things - a really cool coffee mug, a couple of beautiful scarves (which I can't quite get the hang of wearing - Doreen, perhaps I can see you for a consult). But nothing beats the dog.

Now, it wasn't a real dog. We already have 2 of those, but at the time we only had 1. His name is Joey, a german shepherd (or Belgian Malinois, depending on who you talk to) rescued from the mean streets of Santa Clara. Skinny, sad, with a horrible case of separation anxiety, Joey joined our family and quickly thrived under our enthusiastic attentions. My husband, who was skeptical about having an "indoor dog," quickly declared Joey "the best dog ever." Shortly after Joey moved in, my husband took a business trip to Berlin. When he got home, he handed me a blue Swarovski bag.
"I know you're not big into the crystal figurines," he said, "but I hope you'll like this." Inside was a crystal figurine of a German Shepherd, and damned if the thing didn't look just like a crystal Joey.

Okay, I know it's corny that I teared up as I unwrapped it. And I know it's silly that I'm so emotional over a crystal figurine. But there's something so great about having someone who knows you so well, who knows exactly what will make you smile... That's more romantic than any diamond bracelety, in my book (although he also recently scored with a sterling silver turtle necklace he bought in Hawaii).

So what is the most romantic gift you've ever received? What did your loved one get you that showed that he or she knew you inside and out, and wanted to make you smile?

There are a few basic rules to writing if you want to be published. First and foremost…in order to publish a story, you must actually finish it. No one is going to put into print a story that has not been written, that does not have a beginning, middle, and an end. This is because when a reader buys a story they expect it to have those things. The pieces may not be great, but they must exist.

As I usually say, the first thing you must do is finish the dam… that is gosh-darn book!

And yet here I am with the beginnings of several stories that aren’t at this time completed. A couple of them are nothing more than beginnings. In one case I’ve got close to ten thousand words done, which is just a little beyond the beginning of the book. In another I’ve finished the beginning and am half-way through the middle part and the end is drafted, making it the closest to actually being finished.

Clearly what I should do is stay focused on one story, get that one finished, then work on the next. Linear writing - make sure I finish what I’ve promised to turn in first and don’t work on anything else until I do. If only I didn’t get distracted by all those other stories…

Anyone else have this problem?
Cheers,
Janet/Cricket

(Hi all. Mardi asked me to post this for her as she's on vacation! - Cricket)

Roman Holiday

To celebrate my upcoming birthday, my children decided to take me to a European capital I’d never previously visited – a stipulation that would exclude only London, Paris, Prague and Budapest. Though they kept the destination secret for ages, they finally took pity and gave me a bit of advance notice so I could do some preliminary research. So far, based on other travelers’ advice, I’ll want to see everything, eat everything and watch out for the drivers.

Rome brings up so many associations – romance, beauty, art, culture, history, style. The Audrey Hepburn movie whose title I borrowed for this column. “Three Coins in a Fountain.” Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Coliseum and the Pantheon. Gorgeously dressed men and women.

For the few days I’ll be in Rome, I’ll typify the cliché of an American turista -- taking too many photos, buying too many souvenirs and looking unbearably dowdy. Maybe my eyes will lock with those of an incredibly gorgeous man. I’ll drink in every detail of his face and physique, mentally casting him as hero, villain or supporting cast for a new story.

To be continued. I’ll let you all know about Rome in my next blog. As for now, Ciao!

Mardi

Talking promotion, here. We all get innundated on a regular basis with email from our fellow authors touting their latest book/contest/newsletter/chat/interview/ad nauseum (and yes, I'm just as guilty) but what I really want to know is, does that stuff work? I've pretty much given up all the online chat in readers' groups because I just don't have the time. I occasionally check out the Romantic Times readers boards, try to participate in the occasional chat and I make announcements and hold a contest through my newsletter every month (over 600 members) for both resident and non-resident readers, but I've shifted a lot of my promotion away from the lists. Why? Because I don't like reading everyone else's and figure that's probably how folks opening their email feel about mine!

Earlier this year I blogged about an error Red Sage Publishing had made in a double volume, hardback printing of Secrets, Volumes 5 & 6 by Double Day. On the About the Author page they printed my obit. One sentence, I was dead. I thought of it as a unique author story and wanted to share it.

Recently I received an email from Rachelle Chase. While participating on a Red Sage chat on WriteMinded Rachelle noted a posting from a reader. Pam D had posted the following: My favorite story was “Alias Smith and Jones” in Volume 5, sadly BJ McCall is deceased.

Rachelle immediately posted that I was alive and provided my website as proof. She also emailed me and suggested I post. Thank you, Rachelle for letting me know I was dead again.

I posted. Question is will my sales improve that I have once again joined the living!

A lot of people as me why I write romances with Race Car Drivers in them.

Well let me lay it out for you:

Growing up in Washington State, I began riding dirt bikes when I was an infant. How you ask? My mother used to carry me in a front pouch and my sister rode the back.

Yes, I was raised a tomboy, folks. Sunday, became NASCAR day, where my family would sit down and enjoy all day car racing and crack crab. I'm sure that sentiment brings back fond memories for all of you who did the same.

Here's the history... In the 60's my mother drove the powder puff racing category of drag cars and eventually married my father, who was a mechanic. That was until she decided to have children, and therein lies the story of my tomboy upbringing... instead of boys, my mom had two girls, so she had to make due. But she never really gave up her racing roots, and she decided to trade racing for motor cycle riding. Seemed like the safe way to go.

So my fascination with racing began, you could say, from birth ;). Now I write about the sport, the sexy drivers, the sassy heroine’s--it’s so fun to write I can’t resist.

You can read about all my books with Race Car hero's/heronines here: http://raemonet.com

Here’s a picture of one of the driver’s on the NASCAR stock car circuit… not sexy at all, huh? What an inspiration for a romance… and guess what, he’s a bachelor. This is from the August issue of Men's Health Magazine.

So tell me, did you want to watch racing now?