Favorite Lines Today at the Blog!

Sometimes I think that what makes or breaks a book is the author’s ability to deliver a really great turn of phrase. You can have an amazing plot, true-to-life characterization, but it’s those lines that stand out that make it all worth the read.

Have you ever been reading and everything is status quo. You’re getting into the characters, the plot is moving along at a nice pace, and then BAM! The author writes a line that just says it all. And as an author, the little green-eyed monster usually nips at me bad!!!! LOL I hear myself saying: I soooo want to write like that. Why can’t I write like that? What school do I need to attend to do it?

Sighhhhhhhh

No school for it. I’ve written some lines that I truly love. But do readers see it that way? I started thinking last night about some of my fave lines from my books and thought I’d post a couple today. And what I’d like everyone to do—readers and authors—is to post a fave line that you’ve read. For authors, it can be a line you’ve written. Or a line from another author’s book. And you can list more than one fave line most certainly. So, authors and readers, have at it! Post your fave lines.Name the author and title of the book, too, if you can. And definitely comment to each other!

Here are my fave lines from some of my own writing:

1.    He was wet panties and get-naked-quick in one fine-looking package. Bottled sin. A walking aphrodisiac. And all that with just a “hello”. –Twelve Days of Love http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9071-twelve-days-of-love.aspx

2.    Diving from the hidden waterfall. That’s the image his mind conjured, the feeling that raced through his body. A euphoric swell of excitement so thick he couldn’t breathe, could only taste and fall further and further, deep into the pool that was her. –Black Cougar Curse http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9014-black-cougar-curse.aspx

3.    What self-respecting forty-three-year-old woman with two grown kids wears hot pink? –Latin Rhythm http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Latin-Rhythm-Tess-MacKall.html

And today I'm showcasing Regina Carlysle's book trailer for Panther Moon. It was created for her by Tina at Topaz Promotions. Panther Moon can be purchased at Ellora's Cave. http://jasminejade.com 

Sizing Up Sexy

Before I begin today’s post, Natalie Dae and I want to thank everyone who voted for Black Cougar Curse in Whipped Cream’s Book of the Week Contest. Yayyyy!!!!! It won!!!! And looks like Twelve Days of Love will be having its own little “vote” soon, too. But about that another time. So thanks to everyone who voted! And if you haven't read Black Cougar Curse? Click HERE to find out more about it.

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My kid wanted Bojangles chicken. So I was sitting in the drive-thru line and patiently waiting, hitting the seek button on the radio to find something decent to listen to, when this sexy silver fox walks out of the restaurant. I did a double take. Whoaaaaa… Now most of ya’ll know that I like men with seasoning—kind of like my fried chicken! But in this case, the spices happen to be those seasonings that come with a little age and life experiences. I like a man with a bit of character in his face and salt ‘n’ pepper hair or hair with more salt than pepper. Lol I’ve always liked older men. Even when I was in my twenties.

Anyway, I’m watching this dude. Tall—at least six-two or three. Broad shoulders. Tanned. Nice butt! Handsome face—great Alpha strut! My gaze immediately rolled to his left hand. Is he married? No ring. Ohhhh…all right! Yeah yeah yeah. Like I was gonna jump out of the car, run over to him and introduce myself. So NOT. I never do. Guess I’m just curious. And I can always dream, can't I? But I’m way too shy to do something like that! Okay, okay, stop laughing. I am TOO shy. Stop holding your stomach, Regina! Stop it. I tell ya I am TOO shy. Forget it. Not listening to this snickering anymore.(LOL)

So I’m watching him walk into the parking lot and I’m holding my breath now just waiting to see which car is his. You can tell a lot about a man from the car he drives. You know it’s really just an extension of their… Well, there was a nice black Cadillac parked in the direction he was moving, and I’m nodding my head. Smooth, sleek, lots of quiet power—staying power. Ohhhhhh yeah. And then he immediately jumps into a yellow and black striped MINI COOPER! My face scrunched up into what I know was a look of sheer horror. I gulped, almost swallowing my tongue. That tall drink of whiskey had folded up those long legs of his and had gotten into a damn MINI COOPER! I don’t give a damn if Matt Damon DID drive the hell out of one in that movie. It’s just NOT the car for MY kind of man.

A picture of him in bed…uh…errrr…performing…came to mind. He was all over the place. And he was quick about it. Darting here, darting there, spinning around. He reminded me of a honey bee—only I didn’t want to give him the honey. And all the while I’m hearing: “I want a man with sloooooow hand. I want a lover with an eeeezy touch. I want someone who will spend some time. Not come and go in a heated rush…” (Love that song. Love The Pointer Sisters.)

Another one had bitten the dust. I’d have settled for a pickup truck with mud on the tires before that little, itty bitty box! I don’t need any bees buzzin’ ‘round ME!

Okay, I know at least one of you drives one of these cars. Or at least two of you loves these cars and wants one—but really? A man that tall? A man that built? Sorry, the car IS cute, but I can’t see the great Alpha male in that car. So my apologies if you are offended and happy driving!

A few days before this particular incident, I was sitting in one of the shopping center parking lots—not listening to music this time. I was thinking about a plot line. But my kid was in Game Stop and I knew it was going to be a while, so it was safe to think and jot down a few notes. A Dually pulls up in the space across from me. Big ol’ black one. Nice truck. And no, I’m not really into trucks, but I see them as Alpha material for sure—dependent upon which kind, of course, how well-kept it is, etc. This one was nice.

There was a gun rack in the back glass. Expected. A little deer symbol in the left corner of the glass. Expected. The door swings open and this big ol’ boot shows itself along with a long, camo pants encased leg. That boot planted itself on the pavement. I kept waiting on the other leg to join it. But it didn’t. I thought: Hmmm…he’s stretched wide right now. Yeah, I thought that. He had to be tall in order to do this. And he was. He finally brought that other leg out and stood. Ohhhh YUMMY! Definitely military. Biceps, triceps, pecs—all molded inside one of those tightly stretched Army t-shirts. I wanted to reach out and touch the Iron Man. And he HAD to be made of iron. Not a lot of hair, but definitely salt ‘n’ pepper. NO wedding ring. I shook my head. Why am I sooooo shy? REGINA!!!! I’m gonna have to gag you, woman!

And then?

He blew his nose. Through his fingers. Onto the pavement. Wiped his hand on those camo pants and started walking toward the sidewalk. I collapsed onto the steering wheel and the horn blared. I sat up just in time to see him turn around and look. I sank in the seat, making myself as small as possible. “PLEASE, dear Lord,” I prayed. “Don’t let this be the one who approaches ME!”

Thankfully, he moved on.

About a month ago, my oldest showed me a pic of a guy on Facebook that she’d met and was thinking about “hanging out” with. They don’t date these days, they hang out. Anyway, he had done one of those bathroom pics of himself without his shirt. NICE eight-pack. Very muscular. She was grinning from ear to ear. I nodded and said, “Yep, he’s cute. What does he do for a living. Does he go to school? What does he drive?” All of which got me a frown and a “none of your business” response.

Sooo…she’s been seeing this dude. Friday afternoon, he drives up and she runs out the door—followed by MOI! Yep, it was time for me to meet him. Ohhhh, she said some things under her breath and out of the side of her mouth to me. LMAO…no way was he getting away from me. And he saw me coming. Hopped out of his big ol’ green pick up (nice truck) and he was short. At least three to four inches shorter than her. Okay, nothing wrong with men under six feet tall. Okay. So nobody get all worked up over this. But I have this thing. I want the man to be taller than the woman. I know, I know. It’s outdated, silly, just so wrong. But hey—that’s me.

But even bigger than the problem I was having with him being shorter than her was his lack of MEAT. The boy was a stick. He’d blow away in a March wind for sure. There was nothing there to hold on to. Well, maybe I can fatten him up—stretch him out. Probably no need, though. She goes through relationships like most people eat M & Ms—by the handful. The one I want for her—and she doesn’t want—has a killer body, good lookin’ as sin, great job, great future ahead of him—has a kick ass tattoo on his back. Good personality. And adores her. And? She wants NOTHING to do with him. sighhhhh

But enough about me and my taste in men. Ya’ll got any funny stories about the Alpha who bit the dust? I’d love to hear them. Leave me comments. We’ll pass those war stories back and forth.

On another note, I’ve decided to start showcasing an author video each week. If you caught my debut blog post over at The Romance Studio, you know how fascinated I am by them. Here’s the link in case you missed that post: http://trsblue.blogspot.com/2011/03/move-over-steven-spielberg.html

The post features three book trailers that I absolutely love. Check them out!

Today’s video is by Lex Valentine of Winterheart Design. It was created for author, Debbie Gould for her book, November Rain. I’ve always loved the title of that book. And the cover is gorgeous—made by the amazing Emmy Ellis, aka Natalie Dae. Once you see this book trailer, I know you’ll want to buy the book.

So here’s the link so you can do just that: http://redrosepublishing.com/books/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=147&products_id=410

Now for the video…

Personal Taboos

We all have them. Some things are simply a turn off for us. Yellow cars bug me. I have a major aversion to Japanese food but love Chinese food. I hate wearing coats and no matter how cold it gets will only wear a light jacket like a windbreaker. And please do not stick your finger in my face.

But those aren’t the kind of taboos I’m talking about. I’m talking about things that really make you go ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. That TV show 1000 Ways to Die makes me go ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. There is something in every episode of The Family Guy (no, I don’t watch it but I hear enough of it to know) that makes me go ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

But I’m not talking about TV.

I’m talking about sex. Particularly sex in erotic romance books. What’s the “ick factor” for you? Where does it cross the line? Is it in the pairings—as in can there be too many? Is there something you’ve seen portrayed in an erotic romance that simply is UNromantic and UNbelievable?

I think this subject should produce some lively banter between commenters. Unfortunately, I’m NOT here. LOL No, folks, I’m off the grid for a while. Computer is sleeping. So my post showed up this morning automatically—well, let’s hope so. Lol I’m afraid I’m not going to be online for a while due to a family emergency. But! I’ll see you again soon.

Hope everyone is happily reading and writing. Hugs to all.

Insomnia and Lily Harlem

I’ve been freakishly busy—and loving it—for the past fortnight. I had an art project and a few book covers to create, and I wanted to get it all done so I didn’t get insomnia, waking in the night to worry about finishing. So yesterday I finished my projects and allowed myself to relax. I had one of those times where your whole body just sags—love that feeling; I know, I’m weird—and, due to my brain knowing it didn’t have to function much beyond getting me from the desk to the sofa, the old grey matter kind of went a bit addled.

I went to bed, intent on sleeping the night away, but I stirred at 2 a.m. Author Lily Harlem popped into my mind and also the thought that I had got the wrong end of the stick with regard to a conversation we’d had earlier in the week about blogging. My brain woke up, and by 2:15 I’d convinced myself that I needed to contact Lily immediately to make sure I hadn’t messed up on blog dates.

I got up, emailed Lily, and felt much better, but my mind was still hyper alert. I opened a manuscript and, much to my surprise, wrote 3K before anyone else in the house got up. I expected to be trawling Facebook or blogs, propping my eyes open with matchsticks until I felt tired enough to crawl to the sofa and catch a couple more hours of sleep, but noooo, my lovely Victorian hero decided he wanted me to get on with his story—one that I haven’t picked up on for too long to mention.

After taking my youngest to school, battling bracing winds that were so cold I swear they had a mind to rip my damn face off, I then expected to come home and crash. No. I cleaned my kitchen then sat at the computer and wrote some more, this time in the heroine’s point of view. I’m now back with the hero, and d’you know, I think I may well finish this book before the day is out. I had been naughty on this one and in places wrote [INSERT SEX HERE] before moving on to the rest of the story. Insomnia allowed me to get all those inserts done—LOL @ inserts, ahem—and now I can move on to the end of the tale.

Yippee!!!

So, what have you all been doing this week? And what do you do when insomnia grabs hold of you and won’t let go?

As I was woken by thoughts of me letting Lily down—I’d have been very upset with myself if I had done that—and have now realised since she emailed back that I hadn’t needed to worry at all, that I hadn’t got any wires crossed and all blog discussions were as I had previously thought before my stupid brain told me otherwise, here is the lovely lady herself with some competition news for any authors reading this. Do you have this weekend spare to write a quick short story for a competition and get it subbed before Monday?

The heat is on! Challenge yourself. DO IT! And good luck if you do!

You can also download a free book by Lily. Just click the Madam President link. I'll continue with my waffle after Lily's post.

For those of you who don’t know me I’m an author of contemporary erotic romance writing for Ellora’s Cave, Total-e-Bound and Xcite as well as featuring in numerous UK and US anthologies. I got my big break into writing by entering an erotic fiction contest with the first steamy story I’d ever written titled Madam President. Much to my delight I won first place which gave me the confidence and the enthusiasm to continue with my naughty stories. So, with that in mind, I just want to tell any aspiring writers about the Love Honey/Filament Magazine’s latest competition, but you’ll have to be quick – closing is Monday 31st Jan. Hey, you probably weren’t doing anything over the weekend anyway!

Submissions can be sent by email and will be judged by Violet Blue, Sex Educator, Blogger, Author and Editor of erotic anthologies. Not only could you win (first prize is £100 with two runner-up prizes of £50 each) you could also get published in one of her anthologies due for release later this year.

Basically you just need to write the most fantastic, filthy, luscious, dripping, delightful piece of fiction ever. Of course your story needs to meet competition guidelines and ideally suggest the theme water and/or be inspired by one of the photographs on their website.            

Then once your sexy words are down send your entry in the body of an email (not as an attachment) to fiction@filamentmagazine.com by 31 January 2011, 5pm GMT, subject line Filament fiction competition.

Be sure to check out all the official details by following the link below and while you’re there sit back for half an hour and listen to a FREE podcast of ‘A Classic Wedding Night’ - written by myself and read by Love Honey’s Alice – ever wondered what Mr and Mrs Darcy got up to on their wedding night after their carriage slipped from view? Wonder no more…phew, its steamy stuff! Or if you prefer just download it for FREE in pdf version. It might give you some naughty inspiration.

http://lilyharlem.weebly.com/awesome-contest.html

Good luck and don’t forget to spell check!

Lily Harlem x

Winner of the 2009 Love Honey Award for Erotic Fiction

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So this week saw the exciting moment when Black Cougar Curse, written by Tess and myself, made its appearance onto Ellora's Cave's front page. Tess has been like a fart in a colander, diving here there and everywhere, chatting and blogging and promoting. I've been writing blog posts for next week's part of our blog tour and ensuring we have places to park our bottoms each day of the week, and I think the pair of us are exhausted. However, that heady rush of release day always keeps you going, and we're just so damn happy our book is out there that my face might crack if I smile any wider. We've had so many comments on the cover and how Sam makes women feel, that I've been amazed. You've got to admit, though, that's one stunning cover.

So if you've been waiting for this beauty, HERE it is, and if you buy it, please know that you have our sincere and heartfelt thanks that you have supported us.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! And don't forget to tell me what you've been up to this week and how you cope with insomnia! I need to know these things!

Byeeeeeee!

:o)

My Soapbox Weekend

I love engaging in discussions about writing. Those of you familiar with me already know that. LOL This weekend I was on the Sweet ΄N΄ Sexy Divas group owned by two oh-so-talented authors, Tina Donahue http://www.tinadonahue.com and Sarah McNeal http://sarahmcneal.com and a few of us went back and forth on some really great topics of interest to me. Yep, I got on my soapbox. By the way, the Sweet ‘n’ Sexy Divas group is wonderful and you might just want to join. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sweetnsexydivas

One of the things we talked about was when can it ever be appropriate for an Alpha to cry? Now I’ve studied the romance genre for years. And when I say study, I don’t mean I read a few articles. I mean I’ve put in sixteen-hour days of CAREFUL study. My philosophy is this: In order to break the rules, you’ve got to know what the rules are first. Why? Because only then do you have a real understanding of the craft, and please note that I’m talking about the romance genre only with respect to this blog post.

The romance genre is unique. There’s nothing else like it out there. As I said on the Sweet ‘n’ Sexy Divas’ group, it’s often accused of being formulaic and unrealistic. That sounds really bad, doesn’t it? But actually, it’s not. Know your target audience. I can’t emphasize that enough. And in romance writing, your target audience is women who are looking to escape the daily grind of life. They want to be entertained and swept away. They want to step into the heroine’s shoes for the span of that read and experience everything she does. AND…they want to know what to expect.

They pick up that book because they KNOW there will be a happily ever after or happy for now. They KNOW the hero is going to be a hard dude to wrangle into a relationship. They KNOW there will be external conflicts pulling them apart. But they KNOW, in the end, that all will be right with the world. In this case, familiarity does not breed contempt, but rather sales.

As I said, there are rules in writing romance. Some written, some unwritten. Those rules are there for a reason. There is nothing at all wrong with bending the rules, thinking outside the box. Sometimes that can lead to major success. But you have to be careful how you go about it.

So, when is it appropriate for an Alpha to cry? Can he feel remorse? Specifically we were talking about the Alpha killing someone in order to protect the heroine and whether it was okay for him to feel remorse and eventually that led to the discussion of letting him cry.

Personally, I’d never let one of my Alphas cry. I might let his eyes moisten if something pretty tragic is going on. For instance: Someone he loves dies. He is losing the heroine. A memory of something horrible that happened in his past crops up. But outright cry? NEVER. So if you do let your Alpha cry, make sure you have a damn good reason for it…and…

It’s all about this: How you execute the scene and consistent characterization throughout.

The great Alpha is misunderstood. He’s stubborn, doesn’t bend too well. He’s forceful and wants what he wants when he wants it. But he’s not good at expressing his emotions—like most men. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings, and it doesn’t mean he hides his feelings either. It simply means he shows them differently than a woman or say a Beta hero.

Let’s look at it this way. Your heroine and hero disagree about their next step in foiling the plans of the bad guy. Your Beta hero would probably sit down at the nearest kitchen table and discuss it with her. He’d be sensitive to her thoughts on the subject. He wouldn’t let anger get the best of him. He would talk out everything he is feeling. But your Alpha? Hells bells. He’d storm out of the room and go chop a cord of wood. Yep, he would. And that’s how he expresses his emotions. More action and a whole lot less words. You can, of course, reveal in narrative from his POV and in internal thoughts the truth of what he’s feeling. But he is not going to be good at all with expressing this to the heroine verbally. At that point in time, only the reader knows just how sweet and kind and caring he really is—only the reader knows his true self and loves him all the more for it. And the heroine? Well, she sits and fumes over how stubborn he is. And it creates more tension between the two of them. Which is exactly what you want. Can’t make it too easy on these two, now can we? LOL

More about remorse and the Alpha. So he kills someone in order to protect the heroine. The Alpha IS human. You don’t just take another person’s life and not have it affect you. In paranormal romance, it’s much easier to get away with killing and not worry about the fallout of feelings. He killed a monster—a cruel vampire—a rogue werewolf—something not quite human, after all. The lines are a bit more forgiving there. But if he kills another human—even one who is evil to the bone—you might elect to show his remorse. And that all goes to author voice, of course, and depends on how you execute the scene.

But the point is, if you do want to show remorse, how would you show it for an Alpha? He doesn’t express his feelings well, remember? On the Sweet ‘n’ Sexy Divas group I posted an example of that very thing. Now, it’s rough—so don’t laugh and throw rocks. And it’s just a snippet too. But I think I show enough distinction between how a Beta would handle it versus an Alpha that you can get the general idea. Also, there is some not-so-pretty language in this example. I hope you’re not offended.

Beta Hero feels remorse:

The anguish he felt over taking Parker's life tore him apart. It would stay with him the rest of his life. If only she hadn't been there. If only he'd had more time.

Alpha Hero feels remorse:

Goddamn it. Why the hell couldn't he have found another way? But taking Parker out had been the only way, hadn't it? It was her or him. Fuck it. Parker asked for it.

In example 1, there is a more Beta hero feel. Example 2, to me at least, has a more Alpha feel. The Alpha might question his actions, but he'll easily justify them, too, decide he was right all along, and move on. And he’ll do it quickly—won’t dwell on it. Which is why I write Alphas. I love a stone-cold confident man. LOL Oh God, and before I insult Beta lovers out there, I don’t mean that Betas aren’t confident. They are and that translates into being confident enough in themselves that they CAN question their actions and still come out on top. They just do it differently than an Alpha with the tendency to look inward more so.

With anything you write, you need to be consistent with characterization. So please, don’t start out with an Alpha then switch him over to Beta to satisfy something you want to use as part of the story or vice versa. I’ve seen that. Actually, I’ve seen a lot of it. Oftentimes an author writes a scene that is inconsistent with character behavior. Good editors will catch that. Staying consistent with characterization is what makes your characters believable. They must be true to their nature. So when you write, decide who your characters are. Throughout the story your characters will grow based on the conflicts they face and the LOVE that blooms. But that growth must be believable and not so varied or different that it is completely contrary to their nature and the characters become unrecognizable.

You can’t let your Alpha learn things and change along the way if the change makes no sense. So if he kills someone and you have him feel remorse, let tears moisten his eyes, then have him fall in love with the heroine which opens up his heart completely—please don’t let him all of a sudden become Mr. Sensitive and start giving in to the heroine at the drop of a hat. At least not in that book. If it’s a series, and in the next book you have another hero and you mention the first hero in there—well, let him change diapers and prepare a soufflé if need be. LOL Just don’t let him do that in the first book. You don’t have enough time in that first one to completely overhaul the great Alpha’s personality. The changes must be enough so that the reader recognizes the changes, but at the same time, not so huge that they aren’t believable.

As I said at the start of this post, there are rules for romance writing. Some of those rules apply to other genres but a lot of them are strictly for writing romance. And as you break down the romance genre into sub genres there are even more rules in place to guide you. What you need to remember is that the “formula” is tried and true. It’s there for a reason. It works. Yes, you can bend or break the rules but know what the rules are before you do.

Now for a little news from me. I was very flattered and thrilled to find out that Latin Rhythm, my contemporary older woman/younger man novella published with Pink Petal Books was nominated for Love Romances Cafe's Best Contemporary Book of 2010. No, I don't expect to win. I'm in some really amazing company over there. lol But I do enjoy the fact that someone read my story and thought enough of it to believe it deserved a nod. So thank you to whoever that individual is. AND...if you've read Latin Rhythm, enjoyed it and would like to vote for it, just stop by Dawn's Reading Nook and comment on Latin Rhythm. http://lovesbooksandmore.blogspot.com/2011/01/nominees-for-best-contemporary-book.html?zx=b330b9d11a3e60e6 If you haven't read Latin Rhythm you can purchase it here:
http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Latin-Rhythm-Tess-MacKall.html

And now it’s shameless promo time! Yes, yes yes…I only have to sleep through tonight and tomorrow night before I can wake up to the release of Black Cougar Curse! I’m excited. Can you tell? LOL Wednesday, January 26 is the day, my friends. It’s a steamy shifter story co-authored with Natalie Dae http://nataliedae.blogspot.com We had a great time writing this one and eventually gave up trying to figure out who had written which part because we could no longer recognize each other’s writing. Yep, our writing just magically blended. So we’re looking forward to what everyone thinks of Black Cougar Curse and truly hoping you like it. For a sneak peek, you can read an excerpt here: http://www.jasminejade.com/productspecs/9781419931062.htm


And on February 1, the new, once-a-month newsletter--Risqué--from Natalie
Dae, Regina Carlysle http://reginacarlysle.com and little ol' me will make its debut. So if you'd like to receive our newsletter, you can subscribe here by joining our newsletter group--this is a no chatting group--newsletter only. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/risquenewsletter

Till next Monday!
http://tessmackall.com