Vixenwriter

So I started off the day not too badly for having all the kids at home this week on vacation. My husband looked very handsome as I sent him off to work, he smelled good too. I had a nice cup of coffee and I got a lot of writing done yesterday.

And then…

I hear the distinct sound of a kid puking. Moms you all know this sound. Dread creeps through me and I look around the corner and see my oldest not only spraying vomit, but running around the living room and then hitting his sister head on with it. Shocked screams ensue from her as she’s standing, her arms out and glaring at her brother. I’m yelling at him to stop running and the middle kid is dressed in his spider man costume and gagging.

I order that one NOT to vomit and look at the living room, eyes watering. Sent oldest kid upstairs to his bathroom, start the water for a shower and get the washing machine running. Toss daugher in the shower in my bathroom after undressing her and trying not to join the party myself. I’m SUCH a sympathetic gagger. I got her cleaned up, dried off, changed. Got the oldest cleaned up and changed and I send him to his bed. Got the washer filled up and going and then I head into the garage for the rug cleaner - not the big kind, which I WILL rectify this upcoming weekend, but we have a spot cleaner kind. Sigh. I clean up the living room and cripes, of course they had all sorts of toys out and then have to get on my hands and knees to use the rug cleaner.

Sigh. By the time I was done and had run the washer, two showers and the rug cleaner, the water for MY shower was tepid.

Kiddo number one is sleeping and I’m just hoping whatever he has does not spread to the others.

Happy Monday!

OH - in actual happy news - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JACI BURTON!!

If you all check out the Dynamic Trio and the Bradford Bunch blog for my latest entries you’ll see contests to win an ARC of Standoff.

Just sayin…

Lauren

Simply Sexual by Kate Pearce

I bought the book because I like Kate Pearce. She’s a nice person and I’ve read her stuff from EC and Cheek and liked it. Amazon, at the time I purchased the book didn’t have a blurb up (and what’s up with that? I see it all the time - a blurb is um, sort of nice when I can’t pick the book up and look at the back) so when I got it and read the back I admit I put it down for a few days. The former sex slave in Turkey thing just didn’t catch me.

But I have to say, I picked it up night before last and I ended up awake until 1 am to finish it. I loved it. Valentin is such a wonderful tortured hero. He really came to life in the book.

This is an erotic historical and it had just enough detail but not so much I wanted to die. The characters never did things I thought, “why on earth would someone do that?” and I felt like the way Sara finally broke through was edgy and well written. It certainly pushed the envelope in several places without feeling manipulative on the author’s part.

I think the title underestimates the sheer emotional depth of the story though! Simply Sexual is probably one of the very best Aphrodisia titles I’ve read. Great job!

Nights in Black Satin by Noelle Mack

Interesting backdrop and setting, not every day you see Venice during Carnivale in a contemporary book. Fun bit of paranormal thrown in with a time travel plotline. Some interesting commentary about the place of women as a courtesan, etc - in fact that part was one of my favorite things about this book.

The sex was well done, the villain of the book wasn’t actually so much a villain and not a cardboard cutout - which I LOVED.

All in all, the book wasn’t at all what I expected and I liked it even more because of that.

Pick Me Up - Samantha Hunter

A little bit of suspense, a lot of sexin, great chemistry and romance all collide in Samantha Hunter’s Pick Me Up.

First - dewd, have you seen this cover? I love Blaze covers and this one is so tasty! Second, I like Samantha Hunter’s voice a lot and I enjoy her writing. She’s a good fit at Blaze.

You can read the book’s description to get an exact storyline recap but essentially this one is two people at the wrong time in their lives meeting each other, sparks flying and realizing despite how much they want to fight it, it’s really the right time to make something work.

Pick Me Up was a fun way to spend an afternoon!

So back in the days when I first started writing I remember seeing the CAPA nominations and thinking, “Wow, one of these days, I would so love to get a CAPA nomination.” And last year that dream came true and I won the CAPA for Taking Chase. So I was thrilled to be nominated this year as well.

Yesterday I won two CAPAs - and I’m honored. One for best contemporary romance of 2007 for Making Chase and one for best erotic paranormal romance for Fire and Rain.

Thank you to the Romance Studio for the honor and the awards and thank you to all my readers who continue to pick my books up. Yesterday was an exceptionally good day.

Because she is made of awesome. Just sayin.

Your question: I’ve been working on something for Laura for a while now. It’s an alternate earth/paranormal and is so big I’ve split it into three books. When do you stop editing and just submit the thing? I want it perfect. But if it’s not something marketable, am I wasting time by continuing to tweek, tweek, tweek it?

LB: Well you always want to make something as polished as possible before you send it off to an agent, but sometimes there is a fine line between polishing and obsessing. And it is possible to tweak your voice right out of your work. I have no way of knowing whether something is marketable until I see the material, so I can’t really give you a straight answer.

If you love the work, I think you should give it every opportunity to find a home, whether it is in NY or elsewhere. If you believe in it enough to think it deserves publication, you have to just bite the bullet at some point and let some kind of industry professional see it. Believe me, there is no shortage of people out there who are dying to tell you whether they think something is marketable or not.

Your Question: How would a typical day in the life of Laura Bradford be?

LB: It varies, of course. Most days I start out with a task list and then inevitably a call comes in, or a contract, or a problem of some kind that shoves itself to the head of the line. Generally I start by day by sorting through my email and prioritizing first anything from a client or editor. If I am pitching a new project, I will make those calls first thing. After that, I will work on client material. On any given day, I have about 8-12 pieces of client material that needs my attention–could be a proposal for the next book in their contract, could be an option, a new manuscript, an edited manuscript due for delivery that they want me to read through. All of this can take the entire day, and does. Then there are contests to judge, questions on Lauren Dane’s blog to answer, pitch letters to write. I also need to keep up with my electronic queries, so they don’t pile up too much. It stresses me out when I see that I have 100+ unopened queries in my inbox, so I work hard to keep that under control. I read hard copy submissions at night, usually.

Laura Bradford is a literary agent who is, as I’ve mentioned a few times, made of awesome. She has her own shop - Bradford Literary Agency and works incredibly hard for her clients (I can totally attest to this fact)

My name is Lauren Dane and I love wallpaper historicals.

Yes. Yes I admit it. I like pretty dresses. I like ballrooms and rakes and scoundrels who are really dukes. I do. I don’t care that shoe buckles weren’t round until 1789 or even that this is an actual fact or not. I don’t care that Alamacks wasn’t on X street until 1891 or whatever. I really don’t.

I’m not saying you’re bad if you care about those things. I’m saying I don’t. I don’t mind learning. I like learning. But I want pretty ballrooms and jaunty caps and men who blather about horses (not in too great a detail).

I get that some people are quite serious about historical detail in their historical romances. Everyone’s got their hot buttons. I’m that way about legal stuff in books. It drives me insane to see how people write about the legal system and don’t even bother actually, um, say reading about how the law works. So generally I don’t read books with legal themes or I stick with people I know will do it right or just don’t really touch on intense details. Then again, the legal system is a current thing, it’s pretty basic and not at all that hard to get correct if you just make a passing reference to it and if you delve into ANY subject in detail, it should be well researched, historical or not.

Otherwise, I’m quite happy to read wallpaper historicals with minxes and rakes, Alamacks and ballrooms with tepid lemonade.

I just had to say that. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

BTW, 70 Days of Sweat will begin round three on March 1 and end in May, giving an extra week for RT for those who’ll be attending. It’s no secret just how much I love this challenge. I think it’s effective and a great way to give your writing focus in your life. You can head over to the Sven blog to sign up!

I’m an author sponsor again this round so I’ll poke at you and celebrate with you as well if you sign up. It’s not just me - Diana Peterfreund, HelenKay Dimon, Jaci Burton, Larissa Ione, Portia Da Costa, and Shiloh Walker are back for another round as well!

Just a snippet of some erotica. 18 and over only behind the cut. FF warning…

Read the rest of this entry ?

I really, truly hate it when someone shows up on a loop or group blog and demands an apology on behalf of the group for something. In the first place, it’s totally self righteous. Don’t speak for me. Speak for yourself. You don’t have the right to speak for anyone but yourself so knock it off. If you’re offended just say so if you feel the need (and sometimes you do, I know that). But all this breast beating and wailing about the need for apologies to an entire group is tiresome. It makes me want to grab your author photo and LOL cat it.

Also, while I’m in rant mode - when people lie on the internet, are they unaware people know they’re lying?

Note: Currently playing quite loud on my stereo - Judas Priest - You’ve Got Another Thing Coming. Ha!

I’ve often spoke about how connected music and my writing process are - well so I’ve found myself listening to all this 80’s rock and I just scrapped what I had for Sensual Magic and started over. And yet, I’m totally cruising with it now. It’s now about Nell - which is what I needed. I knew about William but I didn’t know Nell. She likes buttrock. Score.

My soundtrack:

Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions
No One Like you - Scorpions
She Sells Sanctuary - Cult
Hot Rockin - Judas Priest
Mr. Brownstone - Guns N Roses
Patience - Guns N Roses
Round and Round - Ratt
Live Wire - Motley Crue
Too Young To Fall In Love - Motley Crue
Livin After Midnight - Judas Priest
Shout At the Devil - Motley Crue
You’ve Got Another Thing Coming - Judas Priest
Paradise City - GNR
Welcome to the Jungle - GNR
Snowblind - Ozzy (technically a 70’s song but still, totally buttrock)
Close My Eyes - Ozzy and Lita Ford
Crazy Train - Ozzy

lml Wheee! lml