I remember the very day I sat down to write my first book. It was almost five years ago and I was so green moss was dripping from my fingers. What did I know? I was a voracious reader and was convinced I had the formula locked in my brain and only had to spit it out. I thought, I’ll write a book, send it off to a publisher, and five minutes later I’ll be famous.
Yeah, right!
Read more… »
I gotta confess. I’ve been thinking about this blog for about a week, and my mind keeps coming up blank. It’s the writer’s version of “Not tonight dear, I’ve got a headache.” I’m just not feeling it. Not in the mood. And no amount of candlelight, or music, or sexy innuendo is going to influence me enough to change my mind. And make no mistake about it, sex starts in the mind. And good sex will blow your mind.
But what is good sex? Well, it depends on (you got it) you’re frame of mind. Sometimes the good stuff is a quickie, and sometimes it’s an all-nighter. Sometimes it’s tender and mellow with the candles and music, and sometimes it’s a violent explosion of intense desire. Right here. Right now. My way. And it can be dangerous.
Read more… »
Why do women like to read erotic romance?
One of my loops is discussing this topic this week.
Personally, I’m an emotion junkie – romantic emotions, that is. I want to feel as if I’m falling in love and maybe I’m oversexed, but I like those feelings, too.
When I was a kid reading Harlequins and Silhouettes, I used to cheat and read that back of the book to make sure there was a happy ending which of course there always was. I also dog-eared the pages where the hot sex was so I could re-read those parts.
I know some women profess sex is dirty, that it should be secret and hidden behind the closed bedroom door. Some of those same women have 8 kids. Hmmmm. That makes me think they’re not so against sex.
Secret Admirer by Ashley Ladd
I’m sure others are like me and enjoy sex – both the real deal and the emotions it evokes. I’m sure I have at least one kid as a result of getting hot from reading a fictional sexy romance.
For some reason, we don’t want our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts to read our erotic stuff – at least not most of us. For some odd reason, we don’t like to think of them as sexual creatures but obviously they were at least once if we’re here – well, maybe not the aunts, but usually. I was in a workshop listening to a famous author a few years ago who is hilarious in person as well as in writing. Maybe more so in person. Anyway, she had me laughing so hard when she told this confession. She had told us that her mother professed to be shocked (I don’t recall exact words) about her erotic romance scenes, but then she’d catch her sneaking to read them. She then told us that she was afraid her mother would get so hot she’d jump her father and she’d wind up with a new baby brother.
It happens. That’s life. :)
If you like to read them, why? What are your reasons?
Do you mind if other people know you like them?
I imagine a lot of women like to read them but don’t want other people to know. That’s one reason they’re so hot in e-book format. No one else gets to see a cover with naked, entangled bodies – a dead give away. Try explaining that one to your pastor or Bertha-better-than-thou if they see you reading it at Borders.
A long-time secret admirer of star pitcher Blake, geeky nerd Wes asks Blake to make him over into his fantasy man – for someone else.
Wes Donovan has long secretly admired Blake Kirchner, the star pitcher on their baseball team. But Wes is a nerd and a 98 pound weakling. Worse, he’s the lousiest player on their baseball team who keeps snatching defeat from the clutches of victory. How’s he going to make a buff, popular guy like Blake fall in love with him? Inspired by an old movie, he sneakily asks Blake to help him make another man jealous in the real hopes of sparking Blake’s jealousy—and love.
He decided it was time to corral them out of here. “Is anyone up for a drink at my place?”
Duane purred and linked his fingers through Blake’s. “Count me in, lover boy. Throw in a little romantic music, and I’ll throw in a couple slow dances.”
Blake reclaimed his hand and merely nodded. He should teach Wes how to slow dance…if he didn’t already know how. He’d need to know before Valentine’s Day. Slow dancing was a sure-fire way to a man’s heart.
Mitch rubbed shoulders with Wes and gazed at him hopefully, “Say yes.”
Wes checked his watch, looked up, and said, “Sure. I’m free for a couple hours.
A lazy, satisfied grin curved Mitch’s lips. “I can’t wait to slow dance…with you.”
Wes’ Adam’s apple worked, and a blush started to creep up his cheeks, but he said coolly, “Sounds like fun.”
Simultaneously, Blake’s heart sang and wept. He was happy yet sad, anxious to teach Wes the fine nuances of seduction and flirting yet afraid Wes wasn’t ready to fly on his own. He should’ve kept him apart from Mitch until after he’d given this lesson. He didn’t even know how well the man could kiss, and he knew how much Mitch adored a good kisser.
His gaze dwelled on Wes’ lips, and he wondered how he’d missed just how firmly chiselled and sensual they were. They must’ve been hidden by the unkempt beard. With just a sexy five o’clock shadow, they stood out, calling to be kissed and kissed good.
Blake made a mental note to make sure Wes was a good kisser and, if not, to instruct him on the fine art. Furthermore, he needed to find out if Wes was good in bed. He was considered to be a kind and considerate lover but could turn on the heat and make a man howl for the down and dirty stuff. His pulse quickened at the idea.
Again, he stole looks at Wes’s sculpted body, and he congratulated himself on his intervention. The man had really shaped up and was becoming quite a dish. His abs grew harder by the day and his arms and legs were now well-muscled with whip-cord strength.
His shoulders seemed broader, and his waist nicely tapered.
But most of all, Wes had a new, exciting confidence that wowed Blake. He could hardly believe it was the same man. This wasn’t the geek who’d begged him to make a man out of him and make Clay jealous. This was a real man who anyone would be proud to be with.
At least out of bed. He couldn’t certify his education as complete without adding the final lessons…
His mouth went dry, and his cock flexed as he imagined Wes in bed, nude and waiting for him with bated breath, eager to be fucked, to learn how to catch his man and forever snare him in his web. He hated the idea of creating a Picasso just to hand him over to an insensitive brute that couldn’t begin to guess Wes’ true value. Blake wasn’t sure that even Mitch was good enough for the new, improved Wes.
Available at: http://www.total-e-bound.com
Once upon a time, I had a dream of becoming a published romance author, and writing books for Mills & Boon…
I always wanted to write romance, and my ever first attempt at writing was a short erotic love story about a handsome zombie and the mortal woman who fell for him. Even though there was no brain-eating involved, it was still colossally stupid, and probably one of the worst stories ever written, but I was so thrilled to have just written something that I didn’t care. And it was romantic. Sort of.
A few years passed, and I wrote more of these stories, just for my own amusement. Gradually, it got a bit easier, and the stories were slightly less stupid, and I started to dream of writing books, and being published. My day job was librarianship, and though I read in all different genres, what I really adored were Mills & Boon romances. As many as I could lay my hands on, especially by great authors like Sophie Weston, Sara Craven and Kate Walker. So obviously, my goal was to emulate these writers and become a Mills & Boon author. Foolishly, I hoped I could succeed quite quickly, and in 1988, I started submitting manuscripts. And submitting them and submitting them and submitting them…
I think I subbed about six or seven times in those early days, and even though I loved my stories and my characters, I see now that those first efforts were silly and self-indulgent with paper thin plots and zero emotional conflict. They had slightly more going for them than the zombie story, but there was still a big difference between what I was writing, and the high quality of the romances I was reading.
But then, fate took a hand, and I got shunted onto a slightly different writing track. A writers’ advisor took a look at one of my manuscripts, and amongst all the terrible plotting and the flimsy romantic conflict, she picked up on something I seemed to be pretty good at. Writing sex scenes. She advised me to try writing erotica, as that was an easier market to break into at the time. I took her advice, and with a speed that still surprises me today, I had a book accepted. And some stories. Pretty soon I started writing for Virgin’s famous Black Lace imprint, and I’ve been writing Black Lace novels ever since. My latest IN TOO DEEP, came out in November 2008, and KISS IT BETTER, my 15th title [including novellas] comes out in August 2009.
