Vixenwriter

I learned this week that Enforcer has been nominated for two different Fantasm awards! Best Werewolf Romance and Best Overall Paranormal Romance. That is so cool!

There are a lot of great books up in many great categories. Please, if you’ve got a moment to go check em out and vote for me or one of the other great authors nominated - Charlene Teglia’s Dangerous Games has been nominated (FABULOUS book) as well as Jaci Burton’s Surviving Demon Island - that would be fabulous - thanks! It’s great to see so many wonderful books up for the awards.

Speaking of werewolves and the Cascadia Wolves universe - I finished up plotting and the synopses for Wolf Unbound (I’m 35K into the book at this point) which is Tegan and Ben’s book, and Standoff - which is Cade’s book. I am so very happy with how the books came out and with the overall story arc that I hadn’t planned from day one - it was all Tracy’s fault when I was writing Tri Mates that it continued. Writing about the werewolf mafia has been really fun. I really love Cade’s mate as well! I’m going over the partial one last time and I’ll send it all to Angie. Hee!

My daugher is currently working her father over the Disney music CD she’s been listening to. The Little Mermaid songs are over and she’s very upset - “DAAAAAADDDDDEEEEE!” stomps foot, “HEHP ME!” Snort. He’s all big, bad intimidator guy at work but when she looks up at him and the bottom lip quivers, he’s done for. I’d step in and save him but he put new batteries in the Sheriff Wood and Buzz Lightyear dolls and they’re now talking to each other and shooting each other, etc. Of course, daaaaadddeee is off at work during the day and MAAAAHHHHMMMAAAA! has to listen to al that mess.

Okay, I have to do laundry. Sigh. Everyone enjoy your Saturday!

This week I read several delightful books! I keep hearing people say they’re having a hard time finding great paranormals to read and I have to disagree. I’ve read so many fabulous paranormals and urban fantasy novels in the last few months I’m energized by the new voices (and not so new voices) in the genre. Paranormals and Paranormal romance is not dead, there are some amazing books out there!

First - Kim Harrison’s For A Few Demons More - Oh, gasp! Did I hesitate for even five seconds before ordering this in hardback? Nope. I loved it. I thought it took Rachel to some new places and it ended on a totally shocking note. I was miffed at first but as I believe Harrison is a fabulous writer, I’m choosing to believe she’s going to take us somewhere new with Rachel now that Rachel has been dealt some big losses. As long as it wasn’t done to clear the way for something! I know, that’s not specific but I don’t want to give spoilers.

Then I gobbled up Keri Arthur’s Full Moon Rising - this is what a total deviant I am - I read someone talking about the sex in the book and how it bothered them that until werewolves found their soul mates they got busy with loads of other people and I said, “oooh, must check that out.” I know, I’m terrible! But as it happens, it was a fabulous book and when I finished it I ordered the rest from Amazon and I’m nearly done with Kissing Sin (which came yesterday). These are not romances so I don’t apply romance rules to them. The need to have sex during the lunar phase each month is not an issue for me, it didn’t squick me or shock me and the meta universe Arthur has created is really interesting.

Patricia Briggs - Moon Called and Blood Bound - Mercy me (okay such a bad pun, sorry)! I love love love these books! Mercedes Thompson or Mercy is a skin walker/coyote shifter who was raised by werewolves for a large part of her life. She now lives in the Tri-Cities in Washington state and she’s a mechanic. Into her life we see Fae, werewolves, vamps, etc. Briggs has really written a series to be devoured - I love Mercy - she’s not a superhero, she’s scared but she does the right thing. Samuel, Adam, Stefan, Zee - all the other characters are interesting and three dimensional and I was sucked in right away.

I just got Lush in the mail yesterday so hopefully I’ll get to read it this weekend. Next Friday I’m going to talk about Vivi Anna’s Blood Secrets which I loved and as I told her yesterday, I think it’s her best book yet!

What’s everyone reading now?

Tonight - March 29 at 6 pm pacific/9 eastern - come by the FAR Chat to meet with the Whispers Authors and for chances to win some awesome prizes. It’s a round robin chat and there’ll be several authors there so it should be fun and fast.

Sleight of Hand will be in the Nightwhispers II print anthology coming out August 30 - if you’d like to check out an excerpt of SOH - make with the clicky.

Hope to see y’all tonight!

Thirteen Things I’m Thankful For

1. My husband. He’s good, kind, compassionate, strong, smart, passionate about things, handsome, very muscly, a fabulous father, supportive of my writing, brings me chocolate and he’s my number one fan. I’m so incredibly blessed to have a partner like him.

2. My kids. I may joke about them being monsters and so, okay I’m not joking, they are, but they’re the best part of me and my husband. They’re beautiful, horrible creatures and there’s nothing in the world better than their snuggles and smooches.

3. My mom and dad - they’re the best. They taught me about compassion and caring, they taught me to pursue the things that mean something in life. They’ve been tirelessly supportive of everything I’ve ever done and I can only hope to be half as good a parent as they are.

4. My friends. Jordan wrote about support yesterday and there’s a fabulous video up at Alison’s blog that touches on women’s relatinonships and for me - I know without a doubt I get through each day because of my friends’ support and love. From doing crit at the drop of the hat to sending me chocolate when I made my first NY sale - my friends are an integral part of my life and I’m grateful for them.

5. My readers (and many are friends too so I’m doubly lucky). You’re all amazing and I would not be here without you. Thank you. Seriously and most truly, thank you for supporting me and sending me notes and taking the time out of your busy lives to comment here, come to chats, to say hello on the loops, to read my books - you rock and it humbles me that you’re out there.

6 and 7. My editors - most notably Angie James and Ann Leveille. Ann has edited all my EC books and has taken me from something like 8 rounds of edits on Triad to two on books now. She’s taught me how to be a better writer. The thing about Ann I’ll always be most thankful for? When she sent my first round of edits on Triad she said, “make sure you make the threesome realistic.” And quite honestly, IMO, it’s the key to writing a good menage book. Make your characters human, there will be moments of jealousy, etc (well, even my non human characters can have jealous moments or at the very least a reason that three would work). She’s a good person and I love working with her.

And Angie - since Ann spoiled me and in the interim before I sold to Samhain I’d had other editor experiences, one was so awful I lost hair over it - I was wary but Angie is a fabulous editor. I remember asking one of her authors about her before I submitted and that author said she was hard core but a really good editor who didn’t mess with author voice. And that author was right. I love working with her, I love her sense of humor, I love the way she pushes me to write a better book. I never get the sense she’s just going through the motions or that she doesn’t care about anything other than finishing up and getting to the next person on her list. I always feel like she cares about me as a person, as a writer and that she wants me to do the best job I can.

8. My agent, Laura Bradford. She’s a wonderful person. Supportive. Tireless (and I mean tireless, the woman never takes time off). When I’m all mopey she sends me these great doubled edged emails that are supportive and then tell me to knock it off. I love that.

9. My laptop - oh how I love my laptop. Every book but Triad and A Touch of Fae has been written on it. It weighs next to nothing and has a nice, wide screen.

10. Music - I love music and I don’t know that I could write without it. Currently I’m loving TV On The Radio, Ministry, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney and The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Next week the list will be different.

11. Books - I started reading pretty early and I’ve been a book junkie ever since. There are books I read over and over because they’re like comfort objects or they inspire me. The book from my childhood I remember most? The Dark is Rising - I still read it from time to time. There are many others (god knows I’ve written about them a lot, books always kept me company) and every week I read something else that brings me enjoyment, joy, anger, inspiration, etc.

12. My house. It’s not big. It’s not grand. Most of the time it’s a chaotic mess filled with noise and clutter but it’s mine and it’s where my family lives. It makes me happy every time I come around the corner and see it there.

13. Inspiration. Each time I finish a book there’s always a bittersweet feeling. I’m glad I was able to finish and find the end for my story and characters, I’ll miss them and a tiny question about whether or not I’ll be able to do it again. And each time I start a new book, each time a new idea comes and I start to give it life, the wonderment that I’m living this cool as hell dream of writing settles in and I hope I never become so jaded it doesn’t fill me me with awe.

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For the sake of all that is holy, you don’t go and start a war when you get a bad review. Hold your shit together in public. There is nothing, NOTHING to be gained in such behavior. It will blow back in your face and make everyone look bad.

Yeah, I thought I’d keep the title simple. What I mean is the purpose of sex in a story and why we should use it/shouldn’t use it. Explanation/Disclaimer type thingy: I’m not an expert on writing or on writing sex. This isn’t a writing blog but the blog of a writer so what I say works for me as a writer and a reader. Your mileage may vary yadda, yadda, yadda. I’m not a “one true wayer” as some are - this is just my perception.

I love to write sex. I think sex is a marvelously rich way to develop a story, to move characters from one place to another personally and as a couple. Sex can be moving - should be moving whether from tenderness, anger, closure, taking the next step, taking the last step, etc. If sex is just a marker, something tossed in because you’ve reached page 57 and you think it’s time - that’s going to show.

This is, IMO, really true in erotic romance/erotic fiction when sex is much more prominent on the pages than in a non-erotic work. I read something recently and I skimmed the sex. The sex was boring, it was flat and it did not connect the people having it at all - not through any emotion or physical action. It was as if the author just tossed it in there and I felt that.

Show me something with the sex other than penises and vaginas. Why are they having sex? Is he mad? Sad? Does he want her with every part of himself or does he hate that he wants her? Does she want him? Why? *Show me* why. Why are they fucking?

I think sex is a place people get really sloppy with their writing becuase they think it’s filler. Well nothing should be filler in your book. NOTHING. Sex is like any other scene only you’ve got a high powered focus on your characters.

Even if your characters are fucking to pass the time that’s something to work with. Every time I read a pointless sex scene in a book I see something the author failed to capitalize on.

Think about the sex scenes that have remained with you long after you put the book down. They don’t have to be thirty pages long or hyper graphic - but think on those scenes that remain in your memory and then ask yourself why. Ask yourself what they did for the book as a whole.

For instance - the dock scene in Welcome to Temptation. It’s not an exceptionally graphic scene, nor is it very long but it’s a scene where we begin to peel layers off Phin and Sophie - they’re both very defended characters for a whole host of reasons but Phin wants under Sophie’s skin and Sophie wants that too, even if she’s not really aware of it. The dialog back and forth, the premise of the dare - it’s perfect for the feel of the story and for the characters and in the end, there’s movement into totally scary territory for both Phin and Sophie. Cruisie doesn’t waste that scene at all, in fact she uses it perfectly.

Now think of the scenes you may have read and then skimmed over because you thought, “oh god, not another sex scene!” Or you forgot about it five minutes later. Because it was filler. Or worse, the characters did something totally out of character - the 35 year old virgin who suddenly got all kinky and knew every position in the book for instance.

That’s not to say a character doing something unexpected can’t be perfect for a scene - when a very dominant alpha male does something very tender or even allows the heroine to be the dominant, strong one while he steps back, when the shy heroine does something very bold - this works in the right hands because it’s *still* in character, just unexpected.

Sex isn’t something to toss into a book because it’s new/hot/now and you think it sells. BDSM isn’t something to write because it’s new/hot/now either. Or vampires or whatever else. If you write it, make it count.

First, I got a fabulous 4 1/2 star review from RT for Tri Mates. Gail says in part: Dane’s intricate world of werewolf culture and pack politics only gets better with each book. Her fans will love revisiting familiar characters and new readers will be hooked. The Warden family is so real that they jump off the page. Their teasing, bickering and overprotectiveness is endearing, but there’s plenty of heat as well. This story focuses on Tracy, who finds love with not one but two hot alphas. Their sexual encounters, whether as a couple or a threesome, are very erotic and tremendously arousing, and a glimpse of sexual interaction between the two alpha males is tantalizing. The secondary characters play important roles as well and fill in any back story. Readers will be panting for more.

Wow! I’m so excited and happy about this review.

And I also got a review for Chased from PNR that was unexpected but no less wonderful. Jan said in part: Chased is a great story. Liv and Marc’s relationship builds to such a peak that every woman will identify with. The characters are great. Liv is so sweet and her emotional battles are ones that I identified with right away. Marc would be any woman’s dream. He’s so thoughtful and watches the little things. The supporting characters of Marc’s family are great too. The changes that Liv and Marc go through pull the reader through this book by their heartstrings.

But best of all? One of my dearest friends finally met her daughter and she and her husband have completed their family. How wonderful is that? When I saw the pictures this morning when I got online I cried for them - they look beautiful together and it’s been a very long wait so their journey is just beginning. All my love goes to them!

OH! And speaking of dear friends and love - Today is Megan Hart’s birthday. I first met Megan online gosh, nearly three years ago and in person two years ago this June. Megan is just a wonderful person and an extremely talented writer. She’s been a wonderful friend, a fabulous crit partner and someone who makes me laugh on a regular basis. Happy Birthday, Sparkles!

Titilating Tuesday excerpts up at my messageboard, by the way!

Have a great day folks!!

I forgot to say I’d be at the monthly EC Writerspace chat tonight at 5 pm pacific/8 eastern. Come by and say hello. I’ll be talking about Sword and Crown.

I’ve been brain fried this weekend from finishing Making Chased and then the revisions on The Others and the synopsis and I’ve only started to come out of that exhaustion mid-day yesterday. I think the weather helped. I’d hoped for more sleep but what can a girl do? I did rest and started back on Wolf Unbound in earnest, which got my brain moving again.

In any case, the dude and I took in The 300 yesterday and I really enjoyed it.

Reason #1? Holy hot muthafucking men, batman! Am I going to complain about two hours of a barely dressed Gerard Butler with abs o’Steel? Nope. Don’t know who most of the other actors (other than the dude who played Faramir in the LOTR movies) but they were all a joy to lust over for a couple of hours too. Hot, tight, sweaty, muscly abdomens and hard, hard thighs. Lotsa swords and grunting and well, yeah, that alone was worth the time.

But reason #2 - I liked the look and feel. I loved the otherworldly quality of the colors, the sepia against the red of the Spartan robes, the mythos playing on the historical elements.

Yes, I’ve read people complaining that the Persians were demonized and well, duh. Hello, do you think you can hack someone to pieces standing close enough to be sprayed with their blood and gore if you didn’t de-humanize them? And in a meta-historical sense, you’re dealing with the origins of modern western civilization up against a wholly different model of governance. I’ve also heard the film is anti-Islam and I hasten to say Islam didn’t exist when the battle took place.

They’re the enemy - they’re bad. Check. If you’re looking for intricate, in depth social commentary and historical richness - don’t expect it from this movie.

Anyway, I liked it. I thought the violence was uber gore for a reason. It’s not a documentary but I didn’t expect it to be. I liked it. I had a pleasant few hours with my dude, we had a nice lunch and came home to a house still standing, yay!