Vixenwriter

So last night as I did the exercise bike I finished up a book by an author I love. I’m not going to say her name because I do love her and I still plan to snap up every book she writes but if I hadn’t been stuck on the bike for 40 minutes (and is it just me or does space/time actually slow when you’re exercising?) I wouldn’t have finished.

The thing is, any book has to have a universe with rules. A contemporary is easy enough that you’ve got rules already there and you as an author need to decide what to include or not include (for instance, I always have my characters use condoms, if they’re parents I write them actually parenting, that sort of thing, we all have our own little issues we put out there).

Paranormals are fun because you get to make up rules. This is why I love writing paranormals so much. I can write around STDs and cancer, hell, I can write around the need to sleep or even gravity if I choose. But whatever I choose, I have to be aware of that universe and those rules and stick with the rules or it’s a glaring issue. Usually editors catch you out on stuff you miss and if you’re lucky, they write you funny little notes on track changes about it. If not, they frown at you and point it out.

Rules also include basic character behaivor and progression. I was saying yesterday to a friend that a book shouldn’t be wall to wall plot devices instead of wall to wall plot. Don’t gimmick me to death - write a story. Biggest rule in my reader handbook, “Thou Shalt Only Use One Big Cliche Per Story”

So this book I read violated that one in a big way as well as having the H/H violate my other rules.

Anyway, every author on the planet has used a cliche. After all, cliches are powerful. But more than one of them in a book begins to feel like wallpaper instead of actual story. Secret baby - okay. But Secret baby, amnesia, secretary, billionaire, saucy heroine, drug abuse, childhood abuse, bad first marriage, etc - it’s too much and the story gets lost with all those markers.

Give me characters I want to read about and tell me their story.

Save the date!

March 13 6 -9 pm at Babeland 707 E Pike Street
During Art Walk

An erotic reading featuring:
Lauren Dane
Lacy Danes
Bonnie Edwards
Celia May Hart
Susan Lyons

There’ll be short readings from each of us and then a Q&A and a signing at the end. I’d dearly love to see some familiar faces as I say naughty words out loud!

Chased is now available from Samhain! I hope you all enjoy Marc and Liv’s story.

Hey everyone, I’m over at the Samhain Cafe today doing the List Mom thang, come by and say hello! I’ll be giving a few more ARCs of Chased as prizes over the course of the day.

Also - I’ve been fortunate enough to have already received two lovely reviews of Chased - one from NJ Walters and the other from Lori at I Just Finished Reading.

Not a bad Monday at all!

I’ve written about this before but it struck me today as I read reviews for a book I flat out loved and some of them were of the “oh my god this is the worst book evar” variety. I loved this book so much it changed how I came to think about erotic writing and BDSM in erotic writing - this was before I’d really given serious thought to beginning to write myself.

I wonder then, if books with sex and sexuality at their core aren’t the most difficult to access because they’re not universal. Yes, we all have sexuality in some sense whether it’s none to nympho but at the same time, sexuality is incredibly individual and what made me stop, read the paragraph, stop, read it again and once more while my heart pounded and my brain screamed, “That’s amazing!” - someone else read it and thought “holy crap, this is awful”

And really? That fascinates me. There are authors I’ve read who’ve made me cringe, made me think, “this is terribly executed tripe, unsexy, uninteresting and the heroine is the biggest idiot I’ve ever read” and saw online a discussion about how hot that same scene was.

An example? The Beauty books by Anne Rice’s alter ego. Honestly? I thought they were awful. Not sexy at all. Clumsy and silly and the BDSM play in them made me snicker. By marked contrast, in her Vampire Chronicles, especially the first three books, you have impotent vampires who ooze sexuality. She writes so deftly and with such sensuality that I think all the craft she uses there is totally absent in her Beauty books.

By contrast I’ll bring up Emma Holly’s Velvet Glove and Molly Weatherfield’s Carrie’s Story - these books occupy opposite ends of the spectrum. Velvet Glove is softer and more of an erotic romance while Carrie’s Story is straight erotica. Both books though explore the subject of BDSM from the perspective of the sub who is exploring the issue with an honesty and openness that is intense and very sexy.

To think people look at either book and find the Beauty books superior or more sexy surprises me. It doesn’t offend me, I can’t argue with it because it’s all perception and filters.

This isn’t earth shattering, it’s not something I hadn’t realized before but it still amazes me how the deepest and most common of human behaviors can also be those we cannot see through the same eyes.

The two winners of the ARCs of Chased (chosen at random from all the entries here and the other blogs) are:

Annmarie
and
Jpercival

Email me with your format preference and I’ll get your copy to you!

Congratulations and remember I’ll be at the Samhain Cafe on Monday giving away a few more before the official release day on Tuesday!

I’ve got my author copies of Chased (releases Tuesday!) Wanna win an ARC? I’ll pick two winners by day’s end from comments here and and at the Dynamic Trio blog and myspace, etc. I’ll pick the names by 4 my time(pacific) so get commenting.

Lacy Danes’ What She Craves is now out! For some reason, Amazon is dinking around and hasn’t sent me a copy but as luck would have it (and I need to say this in the interests of disclosure anyway), I know Lacy and she sent me a copy via pdf some months ago so I’ve read it, neener neener (and get moving Amazon, I want my copy!)

WSC is a collection of three novellas - all historical erotica, each has a slightly otherworldly feel but the last one, Night of the Taking, is the only one that’s a paranormal.

Lacy’s writing has a lovely, erotic tone with a modern edge. My favorite story of the three, Checkmate, takes a character from Lust’s Vow (story one) and makes him the hero. The game of sexual chess with human pieces is echoed in the subtle back and forth between Cora and Rupert.

There’s no denying WSC is a sensual collection that’ll leave you hoping Lacy’s next contribution comes out from Aphrodisia very soon (as it happens, she’s got a story in Sexy Beast III with Kate Douglas and Morgan Hawke that releases in September!)

You can check out an excerpt and other info at her website!

And I finished Mistral’s Kiss last night while finishing up my time on the exercise bike. Straight away, I liked it. I thought the sex was necessary as we’ve known since book one Merry possesses fertility/sex magic. I look at all the kerfuffle over LKH and shrug, folks, if you don’t like the books or the sex, why do you keep buying them?

Anyway - the one chief complaint I’ve got is that these books are too short. The last two or three books should have been one book. It’s not just that it’s a lot to pay for a hardback, it’s that the story arc should be all part of the same book or it’s too jerky and doesn’t flow well.

I was entertained. I’ll continue with the series. I felt bad for Mistral at the end but I was overjoyed to see the emotional connection between Merry, Doyle and at the end, Frost. I’m a huge Doyle for king girl and while I was disappointed to see not a single Doyle/Merry sex scene, I was very happy to see Merry admitting her feelings for him.

Was it as breathtakingly unique and original as Blood Lines? Well, no. But not much can be.

Thirteen Romance Heroes I Love

1. Roarke (In Death series) - okay so my absolute love of Roarke is tarnished a bit by what an utter dumbass he was in Innocent in Death. Still, he’s just marvelous. He’s handsome, mysterious, sexy, smart, super rich, oh and Irish. Yum!

2. Rule Turner (Eileen Wilks’ Lupi series)- Yep, still simmering from that Eileen Wilks binge of a few weeks ago. From the first time Rule steps onto the page, he dominates the book. Even Lily can’t resist so why should I?

3. Aidan Gallagher (Jewels of the Sun) - Say what you like but no one does the Irish hero like Nora. I loved this book and I love Aidan. I think I was as eager for a glimpse of Aidan in the other two books as I was for the other Gallagher siblings to find their love.

4. Phin Tucker (Welcome to Temptation) The scene on the dock? Sigh. He’s funny, he’s sexy, he’s a great dad - what’s not to love?

5. Declan (The Hunters) Yeah, so he won’t be the last Irish hero on the list. What? I can’t help it.

6. Patrick Dugan (Velvet Glove) This is my favorite Emma Holly book ever. Patrick is so, shiver, alpha and dominant and yet not an ass. Oh and he’s Irish too.

7. Doyle (Merry Gentry books) Oh how I love Doyle and hopehopehope LKH makes him king.

8. Jamie Fraser (Outlander) I love him more with every book. My favorite moment in the entire series? When Claire walks into his print shop after being gone for nearly 20 years and they see each other again. That moment is so poignant, so well written and bittersweet. It’s why I love Jamie in a nutshell.

9. Ken “Wildcard” Carmody (Out of Control) it’s hard to pick just one in Brockmann’s SEAL universe, it’s a tie really between Ken and Blue. I loved this book though, the very first one of hers I ever picked up.

10. Beau Dupree (Be My Baby) It’s the accent, the cop thing, the alpha maleness - I love this book and I love Beau.

11. Sam Donovan (Mr. Perfect) Another cop - the scene where Jaine looks though her window to see him next door in his kitchen? Fabulous!

12. Devil Cynster (Devil’s Bride) The first three books in this series have some of the best historical heroes ever. Devil is my favorite.

13. Derek Craven (Dreaming of You) Undoubtedly I have a thing for bad boys gone good, or at least, when it comes to the women they love. This one is such a great mixture of good girl who isn’t nearly as good as she appears and bad boy who’s not as bad as you think. It’s my absolute favorite Kleypas (and that’s saying a lot!)

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