Vixenwriter

Courtesy of the randomizer - the winner of an ARC of Cascadia Wolves: Standoff is: Carol Springer (poster #3).

Carol - email me your format choice and i’ll get the book your way! Congratulations and keep watch, I’ll be doing some more giveaways as we get closer to release day!

I usually read a lot. Several books a week along with writing but at the moment I’m working on three different projects at three different stages of the process (editing, revising and writing) so I’m so busy I’m not able to spend as much time as I like reading other people’s books.

Anyway, I’ve picked up two books recently where I’ve just had to put them down. The thing is, one person’s wallbanger is another person’s keeper. I totally believe this is true. There are books I hear folks raving about all the time but when I read them I just wasn’t engaged at all.

Here comes the part where I ramble about sex in books and a great many things I find myself annoyed by…

One thing I notice a lot is how sex is used in a book. Now not everyone writes erotica or erotic romance. Not everyone puts big sex scenes in books and that’s fine too. But one of my biggest peeves is how authors will toss in multiple, totally gratutitious sex scenes in a book. I don’t know why they do it. Perhaps it’s because sex sells and people think that more is better. I don’t know. Sometimes, more IS better. Sometimes that’s what the book calls for. Sometimes not so much.

A sex scene is like any other scene in a book. It should propel the story in some direction. If it’s just filler, it’s useless and it reads that way. Put from my perspective - it’s a wasted opportunity for great character interaction. Sex is rich with opportunity for an author! If you use it, use it wisely. If I skim past a sex scene, it’s not really motivational for the characters. Can I skip past large blocks of other scenes with the same effect? If so, same thing - you’re not utilizing your words.

There are authors who don’t have long detailed sex scenes but who understand the complexity and importance of a sex scene. It’s not the level of graphic words, it’s not page count - it’s content and purpose. Look at Nora when she writes as JD Robb - when Eve and Roarke have sex there’s a reason for it. That’s why the physical chemistry between them resonates with readers so deeply. Roberts understands how to use sex effectively even though she’s not writing 24 page sex scenes. There are authors who do write long, detailed sex scenes who DO know how to use them effectively (several of them blog right here at The Bradford Bunch) Sadly, I see a lot of stuff that mistakes quantity for quality and the use of certain words as shortcuts to try and seem sexy.

I’m not an expert more than anyone else is. I write sex. I like to write sex and so perhaps when I read, I see it differently than other readers do. I’m sure I’m far more nitpicky than some people can be. For instance - I don’t care how gargantuan his penis is, it’s not going into the heroine’s womb. The head of a penis can bump the cervix which can be painful or pleasurable depending on the woman, the time of the month and hell, the day or level of arousal. But the womb is closed, penises do not go into them. Now, there are times when a woman’s uterus contracts - often during orgasm and she feels THAT during intercourse, but that’s not a penis in her uterus.

Also - some things are just plain painful. If an author is going to use backdoor play in her story - can she please avoid scenes without lube or (cringe) double dipping? It’s not safe to have the fingers/toys or a penis go from anus to vagina.

In many scenes a little goes a long way. As in - just because you have him dangling her upside down from the side of a building, singing the national anthem with sparklers in his ears while attempting four movements from the Kama Sutra, doesn’t mean it’s “hot” - no, sometimes it makes me cock my head and wonder just how bendy any one human can be. Most people aren’t double jointed.

And I was just discussing this with someone who will remain nameless earlier today - what is with the gagging scenes during oral? I’ve noticed this as a trend in porn too. Maybe I’m alone in this feeling but it’s not sexy. First of all, have people actually gagged? Because it’s not a pleasant thing. Second of all, while I’m sure a great many people have triggered the gag reflex while giving oral sex, it’s usually not on purpose. Sounding like one is about to vomit doesn’t ring my bell and I tend to wonder about the dude whose bell it does ring. Again, this is just *my* perspective and I could totally be wrong and gagging could be the sexiest thing since Gerard Butler in a leather kilt.

Anyway, I’ve just finished a huge edit/revision so I’m braindead. The best you get from me today is a ramble. What are your pet peeves with sex in books?

BTW - I’ll take the folks who reply and toss the names into random.org and choose a winner for an ARC of Standoff - you have until 2/10 at noon pacific to reply!

Mine To Possess made the NYT best seller list! And rightfully so. Congratulations to you, Nalini!

All I’m gonna say on the recent blog dust ups is this:

There are ways to speak your mind which do not involve denegrating others. It is unprofessional and uncivil to the extreme for any author or publishing professional to speak in public in derogatory terms regarding other authors in other genres and other publishing companies.

It’s the kind of behavior I’d never allow my children to get away with (and they’re wild, unmanageable people), actually, and it’s the sort of thing I find totally unnecessary.

I’m not offended that some people don’t like what I write. I’d have to care about them to be offended. But I find it insulting that a member of my community would act in such a disrespectful manner and when called out on it, would dig themselves in deeper instead of just freaking apologizing or even just owning your words. This isn’t about planetary alignment, this is about people acting like adults and being moderately civil. It’s not that hard.

I don’t like all kinds of books. I don’t like some authors on a personal level. There are people in this industry who make me livid with the things they say and do in public - and yet, I can find a way to either own my shit and say so, or choose how I say things. If I can do it, if the majority of our community can do it - and do it every day - I am quite sure we are all capable of being opinionated bitches without being disrespectful and uncivil.

She answered a great many of the questions so I’ll post two of them for now and follow up as I get them. Thank you so much to the totally fabulous, shiny and sparkly Laura Bradford for your time!

1. is she looking for anything in particular in submissions at the moment as regards to genre?

LB: No, nothing in particular at the moment. Anything commercial (as opposed to literary), any variety of romance, mystery, urban fantasy, women’s fiction, YA. I like material that is really fresh and different… unusual settings and themes. Unusual mixes of genres.

2. On Laura’s site she welcomes electronic query letters but not electronic submission. Am I reading that correctly? No subbing the synopsis & 3 chpts by e-mail?

If she doesn’t really think the book clicks with what she’s selling these days, will she, if possible, make a recommendation to another agent that she thinks might work out better?

LB: It is really hard to read off the computer screen all day, which is why I prefer to limit electronic queries to query letters only (without sample chapters). As for 3 chapters being enough, if I am hooked by the sample, I will definitely ask for more. If I am not hooked by the first 3 chapters, then that is a problem. If the voice really, really works, I might still ask for more on the off chance there is a plot problem that can be fixed.

As for recommending another agent if I pass, I really don’t do that. If the MS was good, I’d want it for myself. If I pass on it, it usually means I don’t think it is ready for publication. If I don’t handle the kind of material you’ve sent, which is another reason I’d pass, I would generally tell you.

A pretty insane and yet sort of lazy weekend here. Yesterday was my birthday, the big FOUR OH. I was not pleased by this for most of last week but I was pretty much so busy I didn’t notice it until it was right on me. Which, you know, isn’t that bad. I did have a nice day. My husband let me sleep in, he brought me so many cupcakes even I couldn’t eat them all. My kids drew me pictures, friends sent me notes and I even wrote.

I found what I think is the foundation song for Sensual Magic. Sensual Magic is the next novella for Spice, the follow up to this May’s What Happens in Vegas -

Soundgarden - Fell On Black Days

Yeah, this one might be darker than I’d thought originally. Part of it is that I’m struggling against this other idea I really want to write but I have NO time to do it so it’s poking at me.

Now, I’m going to see if I can’t actually, um, well you know, write and stuff! Later this afternoon I’ll be hanging out with Maya Banks, Jaci Burtron and Diane Craver over at the Samhain Cafe. I’ll be there from 2 - 5 or so my time (pacific) but there’ll be fun to be had until 8 pm pacific!

Another song from Sensual Magic’s Playlist:

Good gracious I could not get into this or another blog of mine yesterday at all. My system would not make nice with wordpress for some odd reason.

Nalini Singh’s Mine To Possess came into my inbox and I tell you it’s made me all squeeful since that moment:

Right up front, I love Nalini Singh’s writing. I love her voice. I think she’s an amazing worldbuilder and she has created one fabulous universe with her Psy/Changeling books. I’ve said multiple times she’s one of the people I absolutely believe is worth the hype she gets and that’s so rare! So I opened up MTP with the expectation that I’d love it.

And of course - I did. Clay is such a rich, dark character and the story drew me in right away. I love so much that Tally is a human and lacking the powers of the changelings or the psy and I love that despite it, and despite her weaknesses she’s still strong. I think the match was particularly well done and MTP ranks up there with Visons of Heat, which is my favorite of the series for many of the same reasons I just loved Mine To Possess.

For me, broken people really resonate. It’s a theme done often but not always done well. In Clay and Tally, Singh has given readers some really broken characters but not ones who wallow or whine. Clay and Tally are strong, despite their flaws and I think that’s why the way Singh brings them together works so particularly well.

The emotion on the pages is palpable without seeming manipulative. This one keeps you turning pages as you twist in knots - you have to know what is next for these characters Singh has made you care about so much! The meta story of the building political tension in the Psy universe is also handled well and not short shrifted in the story as a whole.

I don’t want to spoil anything - obviously you know Clay and Tally will end up together but the road isn’t easy and it’s filled with some breathless moments. Mine To Possess is the perfect mix of all the things I love most - great writing, wonderful characters you care about, a fabulously created world, heat, emotion and lots of dark, jagged edges. It’s truly a fabulous book and I can’t wait to see what we’re going to see next from Nalini Singh!