Sex sells. Every writer knows that. Most writers try to make sure they have some good sex in each book. Readers want to peek inside the bedroom, enjoy vicariously, and perhaps even learn something for their own romantic lives. When it comes time to make movies, the actors, directors, and producers want a certain amount of sex, too. Not only does it help bring in the crowds, but it also gives an opportunity for artistic skills.
Because sex is so primordial, so basic, and so widely experienced, it takes real art to make it something new and something special. The horniness of the characters was once enough to excite and even to make some readers blush. If it was a woman character who was aroused, it was as if the censorious skies were about to fall. But, we’re well passed that level of prudery.
Mutual climax was also once considered prurient. The secret by which the male character got his girlfriend to reach orgasm became a holy grail. Now, of course, we realize that female orgasm was more inhibited by cultural norms than it ever was by female physiology. But, there was a time that the portrayal of mutual orgasm was powerful stuff.
The list goes on and on. Oral sex, anal sex, three-somes, necrophilia, bestiality: we humans are a horny and lascivious species. Art becomes limited by the limitations of our bodies, especially those of us who cannot attain the positions of legendary ancient yoga masters and Hindu gods. We have become a culture that celebrates Rabelais and revels in the god Bacchus. Whether it is the fraternity party or the corporate retreat, we are quick to hold a bacchanalia.
What is the poor writer to do? How do we portray sex in new ways, in ways that will challenge and more importantly interest our readers?
Many writers have given up and turned to aggression as a substitute. Sex becomes more foreplay to rage, destruction, and dehumanization than it is a goal in itself. In other works, sex is merely bait – a means by which characters can be manipulated, particularly men being manipulated by evil women. In that regard it seems as if modern writers have gone back to The Bible; certainly the weakness of men in the face of sexual temptation is a constant theme in that “good” book.
As a writer, I take a different approach to sex. Trying, as I do, to see life as a tapestry, I try to portray sexuality and desire as part of the warp and woof of life. While disturbances of that normality can lead to sexual dysfunction and rage-filled acting out, day to day, sexuality should be and is portrayed as being just as normal and part of life as going to the bathroom or eating or even having a conversation. It is, rather, the emotion of love and the acceptance of desire that is for me the artistic high point. The challenge is not to describe yet another position or another place in which to have sex, it is to help the characters appreciate the experience that is happening to them. To me one challenge in writing is to write romance which is meaningful and not just filled with forced emotionality and claims that of some unearned uniqueness.
Here, for example, is a short excerpt from Widow’s Walk in which I try to achieve my artistic goal. It is the first time that the protagonist and her lover have sex.
They stand hugging one another and saying nothing. Slowly, they stroke each other’s body, feeling the nooks and crannies that have been hidden so long. Finally, with one coordinated movement – almost as if it has been choreographed – they lie on the bed. They lie and hold each other tightly as if terrified of ever being parted.
Neither the cold analytic purposefulness of Arnie’s marriage nor the stolid wholesome, unbending love between Mary and Sean had prepared either of them for the intensity of this night. Their hands ply careful channels along each other’s bodies. From time to time, one of them stops the ceaseless exploration to lean over and kiss the other.
Their kisses caress places that have too long been ignored. For the first time in her life Mary experiences the exciting pleasure of a man kissing her nipples; and she enjoys the strange saltiness of this loving man’s body – not just his face and lips, but his arms, and chest, and buttocks. And Arnie, too, is experiencing the electricity of love. He feels his manhood swell and raise itself to new attention. His penis becomes tumescent and it challenges him with its eagerness. When he is sure that they are both ready, he carefully rolls himself on top of Mary. So very gently, using his hand to guide it lest he cause her pain, he inserts his penis into Mary's vagina.
“Ohhh,” she moans with soft pleasure.
“Ahhhh,” he responds.
More than those, words are not necessary.
Find more of Kenneth's work at Sex and Murder Magazine; their issue seven leads with one of my stories. http://sexandmurder.com/
Ever have a high school crush, which you obsessed over but never did anything about? If yes, then you have something in common with my hero, Eric.
BLURB:
Someone is about to get some Spice in his life.
Spice has nothing but the clothes on her back when she returns to Chicago. She's looking for a better life, and that means reuniting with her estranged twin sister, Sugar. She isn't thrilled to find out Sugar's boyfriend is a vampire. But then she meets Eric, once the bottle-cap-glasses wearing nerd next door - now grown into the kind of man she'd love to snuggle with on this cold winter night...and he’s offered her his room in Sugar’s house.
Eric can’t believe Spice has returned. He’d given up hope of ever seeing her again, let alone having her stare at him as if he’s sex on a stick. But now that all of his fantasies for them are coming true, reality rears her ugly head and Eric must tell Spice his intimate secret; he’s actually an Alpha werewolf looking for his mate and he thinks he’s found her.
Link: www.lyricalpress.com/the_alpha
Excerpt:
Excerpt : Warm yellow light streamed from behind her. “Forget your keys, Sugar?” a male voice asked from the doorway.
She stopped and glanced over her shoulder but saw only his silhouette.
“Oh my God, you cut your hair. Daedalus is going to freak.” The laughter in his comforting voice disappeared and he moved closer. “Don’t cry.” He wiped a tear from her face. “It looks great.” With a grin, he ruffled her short blond curls.
She couldn’t help but smile back.
He thought she was Sugar, her twin sister. Something in his voice sounded familiar. The face didn’t ring a bell though, but shaggy brown hair fell around most of it. He had a nice, easy-going smile. It would be wonderful to come home to a smile like that every night, but it belonged to her sister.
Her grin faded.
He wrapped his strong, thick arm around her shoulders and pulled her inside. Laughter drifted from the living room where three men and an oriental woman were setting up a board game.
One of the men, who had short cropped red hair, looked up. “Where’s the food? You were supposed to grab some grub on the way home from work.” “We’ll order pizza.” The guy next to her squeezed one more time before walking into the next room, a huge kitchen.
“You cut your hair.” The woman spoke with a thick accent and sprung across the room to run her fingers through her hair.
Spice retreated and bumped against the entrance wall. This game of pretending to be Sugar used to be fun as kids but not anymore. With her hands raised, she kept the strangers at bay as they surrounded her like a pack of wolves. None of them looked dangerous, but what were they doing in her sister’s house while she was at work?
The way they grinned at her and each other, she concluded they were all good friends. Sugar had everything she wanted; a loving man, friends, and a home.
“Daedalus let you cut your hair?” A short man built like a bodybuilder approached her. The awe in his voice snapped Spice out of her self-pity and the protector inside reared its head. This was the second reference to someone allowing her little sister to do something. “What do you mean ‘let me’?”
What kind of relationship did Sugar have? She needed permission to cut her hair? Maybe destiny brought her back to Chicago to save her little sister from some monster. Again. All those bad things happening to drive her here couldn’t be coincidental.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Where is my sister, and what are you doing in her house?” They glanced at each other, confusion apparent on their faces. “What?”
The man in the kitchen stuck his head out of the door, chocolate brown eyes wide as he stared at her. “Spice?” The smile he’d given to her when he thought she was Sugar returned but wider.
Her heart skipped a beat. In the light his face seemed familiar as well. “I know you.”
“You should, we were only neighbors forever as kids.”
“Eric!” He had grown. Stupid, of course he’s changed. But she never expected that the skinny, lanky bottle-cap-glasses-wearing nerd would develop into a charming, handsome I-wanna-snuggle-you-on-a-cold-night kind of man. “Hi.” The jobs as a hostess, a bartender, and the most recent, a stripper taught her how to talk to men the way they liked. But with him grinning at her like a happy puppy, her mind went blank.
He swept her into his arms in a bone-cracking hug.
“Wow, I’d forgotten Sugar had a twin.” The redhead scratched his chin. “You look exactly alike, except your hair is short.”
Eric set her back on her feet. “Let me take your coat.” He tugged on the belt and untied it. To her surprise, the small action sparked warmth between her thighs. Not like he took off her clothes but she began to wonder what it would feel like if he did.
Their eyes met. His pupils dilated, the chocolate brown faded to amber, and something feral peeked at her.
She gasped and stepped back.
The pretty oriental girl took her arm and dragged her into the living room. She chattered about making tea, but Spice’s attention riveted on Eric as he stood with the men surrounding him.
What the heck? She’d seen need in men’s eyes before but this was darker, deeper, and so much more alluring.
Thanks for letting me share my new release with you! It’s available June 21 and I’ll be giving away a copy of my book at my blog www.paranormalromantics.blogspot.com that day so come enter.
Why don't you start with telling us a little about yourself? What genre do you write in and why?
In a word, I write sexy. I’ve written paranormals, fantasies, and (with a co-author under the name Sophie Mouette), contemporaries—but they all have the word “erotic” in the subgenre description. I’ve also written a boatload of short erotica.
I love paranormals and fantasies because I adore the possibilities for magic, mayhem and unexpected pleasures and perils that wouldn’t fit in a real-world setting. Besides, witches, shape-shifters, satyrs and other non-exactly everyday types make such great heroes and heroines, with large- than-life problems to match their extraordinary abilities.
And I love sexy because…come, on I’m getting paid to think about naughty things in great detail and then write about them. For most people, contemplating what a naked Daniel Craig-lookalike weretiger might get up to with a plus-sized witch and a vampire with a Jamaican accent would be a distraction from their job. For me, it is my job. How fun is that? (I just made that example up, by the way—but now I’m itching to figure out the story that goes with those three characters.)
What comes first for you when you sit down to write a book? Plot or Characters?
Most often, what I get is a quick image that tells me it needs to become something bigger. Plot and characters arrive shortly thereafter. With luck, they arrive on the same bus or I may end up doing a lot of flailing.
Do you "cast" your characters using pictures or actors to help inspire you when you're writing?
My Lions’ Pride heroes have actor inspirations. Rafe is based on actor Mark Descascos. Jude is actor Keith Hamilton Cobb. Interestingly, I’ve never seen Keith Hamilton Cobb in anything. I came across a picture of him while looking for something else and said, “Oh my gods, that’s Jude!” One of the heroes in the forthcoming Foxes’ Den is the fiddle player from an Irish band I’m fond of.
My heroines, though, just appear in my head. I’m not sure what that means!
How long does it take you to finish a book from start to finish?
About a year for a full-length novel, although I’m getting faster as I go along. That said, I’m usually working on several projects at once. ADD? What makes you say…oh look, a butterfly! (Or in my case, a hero!)
How much does reader reaction mean to you as an author? Do you read your own reviews? I love positive feedback! I read my own reviews, but try to take them with a grain of salt.
And some chocolate and single-malt Scotch, if they’re not good.
What are you working on now?
I’m finishing up the third Duals and Donovans book, tentatively entitled Shamans’ Sanctuary, and also the last novella in the Seasons of Sorania series. My co-author and I are also doing a final revision on one of our contemporaries, which is a sexy comedy. Kind of a brain wrench to jump from one to the other.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
I’m reading Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series, which are high fantasy. Next in the cue is Ill Winds, the first in the Weather Wardens series by Rachel Caine. After that, maybe a Bernard Cornwall historical. My TBR stack is ridiculously huge.
Where did you get the idea for your latest book?
The work in progress, Shamans’ Sanctuary was set up by events at the end of Lions’ Pride. Since Elissa, Rafe and Jude ended up in a remote part of Quebec, Canada, I researched French-Canadian folklore…which gave me the idea for the major external conflict the characters face.
Warner Brother cartoons were also a major inspiration, which will make sense once you read the book.
If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?
I’d start with Lions’ Pride, since it’s the first in the Duals and Donovans series (and the only one out right now, although Foxes’ Den will be out in August) and Lady Sun Has Risen¸ which is the first Seasons of Sorania story.
Where can we find you on the web?
http://teresanoelleroberts.blogspot.com and www.teresanoelleroberts.com. Be warned that the web site needs a major overhaul! You can also friend me on Facebook—I post regular updates about new releases there.
If we sat down with your muse, what do you think they would say about you?
“Teresa doesn’t need me for ideas. She has plenty of those on her own. My job is to get her to focus.”
Please tell us about your latest story. What inspired it? Where can we find it?
Lions’ Pride isn’t my latest, but as a new print release, it’s a big thrill. (I love e-books, but print books feel even more special.) Lions’ Pride started out as a short, tongue-in-cheek story about an animal control officer who answers a call about an exotic pet and discovers his neighbor is a shapeshifter.
Only once I started writing, the ACO turned into a bisexual cop who was a closeted feline shifter. The lion shifter he gets the call about acquired a hot, super-smart witch wife who specializes in sex magic. First they all got tangled with a shadowy and dangerous government agency and then they all started falling in love. Not the comic romp I envisioned, but a lot richer and much more erotic and romantic.
You can find the print edition at Amazon.com for preorder. Soon, it will be at your favorite neighborhood or online bookstore. The e-book’s available from all your favorite vendors, including My Bookstore and More.
Anything coming up in 2010 you want us to get excited about?
And sometime this fall—I don’t have a firm date yet—Threshing the Grain, the autumn Seasons of Sorania title, will come out from Phaze. It’s romantic and erotic, but also dark and creepy. It features satyrs and a dangerous demon, as well as a magical healer and a very sexy warrior who has to go way past his comfort level to save the day.
What is your favorite candy bar and why?
A dark chocolate caramel bar made by a little place in Ogunquit, ME called Harbor Sweets. It’s incredibly rich and satisfying, but not overly sweet.
To save the one they love, they’re going in with spells blazing…
Blurb: Elissa Donovan is a real green witch—when she and her lion-shapeshifter husband have sex, the blazing heat is recycled to warm their house. Now her beloved Jude has been kidnapped by a shadowy government agency, and the last place she can turn for help is her high-powered family, who considers her magic mediocre.
When Rafe Benedict gets Elissa’s call for muscle to back up her magic, he risks his law enforcement career to answer. He’s spent a lifetime hiding his Dual ability, but something about Elissa and Jude’s magic awakens the cougar within him. Tempting, bronzed Rafe is the perfect fuse for Elissa’s sex-fueled magic. Danger lies in breaking her vows; joining with anyone other than her true mate could not only send her marriage up in flames, it could burn out her powers in a last, all-or-nothing explosion. But Jude is worth the risk. And for Rafe, potential heartbreak is nothing next to the chance to help the two people he’s coming to love.
First, though, Rafe needs a crash course in Cougar…
Warning: This title contains evil fae, guys with guns, shadowy government conspiracies, a snarky ghost, and smoking-hot, three-way sex.
EXCERPT:
(For a little setting, Jude has been captured by the bad guys and shot up with a dangerous experimental drug that's affecting the bond between his human and lion sides. Elissa's managed to pull them all into the spirit world so she can heal his damaged spirit--via sex magic.)
Elissa's lips tasted of green and cinnamon, of life itself burgeoning, and his cock swelled in response. But there was an undertaste, one hauntingly familiar but not right.
Pine and forest smells, like the air around them, amber and male feline musk. For all it didn’t belong around his woman, let alone on his woman’s lips, it went straight to his cock and balls, adding to his desire. He ached sweetly for things he hadn’t known, had barely dared to imagine.
A hand gripped his shoulder, large and heated and firm. Not a threat, but a gift, he sensed. The scent of sage, already on the wind, already on Elissa, grew stronger.
Reluctantly, he turned from Elissa.
Into Rafe’s waiting arms.
Rafe stood, fully human, naked as Jude himself. He was shorter than Jude, but strong, muscled. Perfect copper abs tapered to narrow hips and a cock Jude felt hard against him, but didn’t dare to look at.
Instead, he met the other man’s eyes and saw the cougar, tawny and alert and curious, in the same spot where the human-seeming Rafe stood. The lion responded as he would to a beautiful lioness, or to the lioness the lion perceived Elissa to be despite her human body.
All kinds of questions rambled through his head, too many to ask.
“We’ve found you,” Elissa said. She pressed against him, her arms around his waist, her breasts soft against his back. “We’re going to get you out, my heart. No matter what.”
“Elissa…” He tried to turn, to look into her eyes, to tell her not to risk herself. That he’d be fine—even though he had no idea how he would be, poisoned and imprisoned and in the kind of pain that would eventually break his mind.
Rafe had left his hand resting on Jude’s shoulder as if it was the most natural thing on earth. He placed the other over Elissa’s on Jude’s hip, so his fingertips brushed Jude’s skin, the sensitive low belly, perilously near Jude’s swollen dick.
His cock felt huge, treelike. On fire with need. Wrong, yet so right. Elissa’s cunt was its natural home, but he felt an equal pull toward Rafe’s lush mouth and firm, elegant ass.
The air throbbed with the smell of herbs and pears and pine and fur, of male and female musk. Jude closed his eyes, trying to shut out some of the stimuli, but this was a dream and the sight of Rafe, of Elissa, of the two of them touching him and each other, burned through his eyelids.
“Rafe, what are you doing in my dream?” Jude finally stammered. He’d meant it to sound accusing, but it came out plaintive and eager, as if he’d been yearning for Rafe to be there for so long he’d given up hope.
So often those of us who have been called to spend hours in front of that blank glowing screen are asked why. When we could be enjoying a film, a barbeque, our friends or just washing our socks, we toil over plot and setting. Define it as a calling, an addiction, a penchant or insanity; those who write popular fiction have something deep inside them the normal human being does not—characters. Yes…with an ‘s’. Maybe we grew up with a greater than average curiosity about what makes people tick, or in the case of we romance writers, a softer heart that believes nothing is more powerful than love. Whatever it is we few intrepid souls park ourselves in front of a computer and/or carry a composition book and pen wherever we go because not to do so would impoverish our world…and yours.
The ineffable “they” say that most people want to write a book someday. It is the few that actually make it to those two little words ‘the end’ and fewer who manage to navigate the soul-blistering world of publishing. The waiting, the rejection, the learning curve are not for sissies.
Most writers will tell you that there are certain types of stories that attract them. In my case, I write to uplift, inspire, educate and entertain-- a tall order I take it with all seriousness. Like most art forms, literature falls under the influence of trends. Just as television seems to be inundated with crime investigation programs, popular fiction is flooded with revenge thrillers, vampires and fantasy.
Maybe it is our global recession that steers people to escape. Maybe we are drawn to the unknown, the unfeasible or downright unbelievable. Whatever the case, there has been and always will be the deep seeded need for people to experience the world through others eyes.
I write Contemporary.
I write contemporary because that’s what has always attracted me. Before I started to write fiction I was a big self-help and psychology reader. My major in college focused on the human condition. Even when I used to watch a daytime soap, I chose All My Children because it fit the lunch hour timeslot and it did NOT have ghosts, vampires or anything out of the contemporary reality (if you can call a soap 'reality’...lol)
People are endlessly fascinating to me, as is setting. I love to travel and use my experiences to research new locations and character(s). Modern day dilemmas and locales are more accessible and relatable. Not that basic human interest has changed over the generations. A good read is a good read no matter what century it is set because of this unchangeable human nature. Yet, I find modern life very exciting and think we are all fortunate to be alive in this amazing time of change and burgeoning knowledge. How do we deal with this avalanche of knowledge and choice in our present day? Fascinating stuff.
Sub Genre?? The book I just contracted with MuseItHot Publishing is a romantic suspense. (Shadows Steal The Light- Feb 2011) It is not easy to keep track of all the details that make a suspense, a really fast paced and fun read. It was a challenge in the writing---yet at the end of the day it turned out amazing. My Coast Guard rescue at sea, gone wrong book, Against The Current (Phaze Books at Phaze.com) also was exciting to construct with its realistic challenges and the suspense inherent in how these brave men and women handle emergency situations.
Exotic setting?? Most of my works take place, at least partially, in the UK. It has been a home away from home ever since I fell in love with it during a year of University spent abroad in London. Scotland feels strangely familiar as though I have lived there before or belong there. So I write about these people and their beautiful corner of the world. I have their idioms and speech patterns ingrained in my internal ear putting me in a unique position---I can write Brits so Americans can understand them. I imbed explanations of odd idiom or cultural stuff within the fabric of the story so Americans are not left scratching their heads. Yet when I do book signing I often have readers surprised to find that I am not British....a real compliment.
My most recent e-book release through Awe Struck Publishing is set on a beautiful Island off the coast of Naples, Italy. I have holidayed there twice and simply love it. It is a real joy to be able to bring wonderful settings to readers that they may never have a chance to visit. Or maybe they will do because of the sense of character my settings take on. :) Leap Of Faith is a great vicarious vacation.
Guess you can extrapolate that I don't plan any ghosts or vampires in my work anytime soon though I have learned to never say never. As a former Kindergarten teacher, most people would not have expected me to turn spicy romance author, so who knows?? It is the truth in the telling that sets a story above others. A hundred years from now we in the contemporary vein will be sought out as accurate reflections of a time in history when change was the only thing certain and men and women met the challenge with amazing resiliency and courage. That is the stuff of world building to know that eyes unborn will read and marvel. The readers of today will always appreciate something they can sink their teeth into as familiar, yet inspiring because the characters handled their situation in creative ways that uplift, educate, entertain. Hmmm…think I just may have hit on something here.
Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.
My first release with Wild Horse Press is called Hidden Magic and it is the story of a woman who learns that she has a very special destiny.This destiny was hidden from her to protect her.I have always loved magic and my malicious magician was actually inspired by my love of street magic.
How would you describe your creative process while writing this book? Was it stream-of-consciousness writing, or did you first write an outline?
I am a very random kind of person!I never use an outline except when making a book proposal for an unfinished piece.I just let it flow.
Did your book require a lot of research?
In Chemical Lust I researched Project MKULTRA.It was a secret CIA project that tested on humans and had some terrible consequences.
If you could have any vice without repercussions, what would it be?
I quit smoking a long while ago, but sometimes I really miss it.
If you could have been the servant to any famous person in history, who would that be and why?
Emily Bronte, she is my all time favorite writer.
What so you see for the future of publishing and eBooks?
I think that in another twenty years the majority of books will be sold electronically.I am so glad to be a part of the revolution now.I love to read eBooks because there are so many fresh ideas and voices that the traditional paper publishers would reject.
Which of your characters do you love/hate/fear/pity the most and why?
I love Jericho in Chemical Lust.He is a super hot guy but he is able to see Leah’s inner beauty.He reminds me of my husband.
Do you get along with your muse? What do you do to placate her when she refuses to inspire you?
My muse has been inspiring me since I was a very little girl.I remember telling stories with my cousins before I was even in school.I have been writing since I was thirteen.Imagination is the only thing that gets me through the day some days.So far my muse has never abandoned me, yet (gulp).
Do you have another book in the works? Would you like to tell readers about your current or future projects?
I am so excited for my Templar Vampire Series that is coming out with Keith Publications this fall!I am hoping for 10 books in all and the 1st is called Pray for Me.Michael is the 1st of my tormented Templar Knights.I use real history and legend and then I give it a special twist.I am working on book two and three right now.
Have you ever experience weird cravings while you write? If so, what kind?
After a particularly difficult scene to write I usually want a beer ***Wink***.
What are your top 3 favorite paranormal books and movies?
My three favorite books are The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, and Blood Dance by J. L. Oiler.My three favorite movies are Twilight (I know I’m one of those people!) The Vampire Diaries and Fringe are my favorite television shows I don’t watch many movies.
What character (s) in any of your books is most like you?
Alexia from hidden magic is most like me.
What is the most ridiculous thing that you have thought about doing to any of your characters but never did?
One of my current WIPs is a story call Whitney in Wonderland, the other dimension that Whitney is trapped in is a void of time where pieces of all time past and present exists simultaneously.I was going to have the hero fighting a t-rex but I just couldn’t do it!
What books are currently on your nightstand?
I am working on the Stand by Steven King again.
If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?
As Hidden Magic is the only one that is available right now…I would say that one. Where can we find you on the web?
ashlynnmonroe.webs.com/
Hidden Magic will be available from Wild Horse Press June 8th and Chemical lust will be available from Cobblestone Press early July.
Excerpt-Chemical Lust:
Coming to Cobblestone Press in July 2010 (www.cobblestonepress.com)
Leah tried to cover her mouth and nose, but it was too late. She was already feeling lightheaded, the first sign that the drug was taking hold of her. Jericho seemed to be fairing no better than she was, even with his makeshift mask. His pupils dilated; she assumed hers were as well. No matter what, she was still the scientist, so she began to mentally compile her data on their reaction. If they lived, she would have much to say about the effectiveness of the drug, as she was now experiencing it firsthand with her knowledge of its structure and of how the human body would metabolize it.
Jericho stumbled and dropped to the floor. His large frame made the elevator shake, but it still had not moved. Leah also lost her strength and sank down next to him. The gas was starting to dissipate, and they were still alive. For one moment of relief, she was sure that the gas was having no effect on her—and then it happened. Raging fire shot through her body, and she gasped for air. Her head fell back as her back arched. She felt as if she was on the brink of an orgasm right there, fully dressed and untouched on the elevator floor. Her keen awareness of Jericho’s eyes on her and the fact he was watching with interest, not saying or doing anything, made it all the more embarrassing and yet kind of kinky. Leah actually shook her head to try and clear that thought away. I am a scientist, and this is a perfectly uncontrollable reaction to a laboratory mishap, she reassured herself. I am in no way responsible for my actions, she thought as if pleading with her own subconscious.
Before she completely gave in to her loss of control, she managed to grab her jacket off the floor and flip it up to where the security camera was pointing directly at her. She did not want even more of an audience for her panting and writhing; it was bad enough that Jericho seemed to be completely aware of her predicament and enjoying it thoroughly. It made her hot just knowing he was the one seeing her need. She wanted him between her legs. She wanted him to fuck her right there on the elevator floor—an elevator that could start working any second, she reminded herself. Jericho’s perfect lips made her want to kiss him more than she’d thought it possible to want to kiss anyone. She was never the sexual aggressor in a relationship, but she suddenly wanted to pin him to the floor and remove his clothing until nothing but skin was rubbing together in delicious friction.
They grabbed the children and stroller and started to leave. Suddenly, the magician made himself appear in front of Alexia.She was startled and honestly afraid for her niece and nephew’s safety.She casually gave the performer the finger and said, “Excuse me. Your show stinks and we want to leave.Please get out of our way!”The word please pushed passed through her teeth with menace.
A strange light entered his eyes and Alexia immediately regretted letting her temper get the best of her. While she was not surprised that her temper was causing her trouble again, she regretted it anyway.He looked down at the almost sleeping Dixie and Alexia panicked.Gripping the child tighter, she tried to run, but the crowd had blocked her in.Georgia and Little Tony found themselves pushed to the back of the crowd, everyone wanted to see what would happen next.Alexia saw him feeding on her fear, enjoying it.Reaching around them, he yanked the doll away from the girl and held it up to the crowd.Alexia whispered, “You better not damage that or I’ll sue your ass buddy!”
He looked at her and this time his eyes held humor instead of anger.He spoke to the crowd.“I am going to make this doll live by giving it part of this child’s spirit!”Alexia heard the collected gasp followed by the obligatory rabble.
“I don’t think so pal!”She spoke with her full force of girl power while raising her knee, attempting to make contact with his groin.Unfortunately, this magician also had fortune telling skills because he had blocked her movement and she kneed his thigh instead.He laughed and then became scary intense.Alexia heard his whisper in a strange lilting language she had not ever heard before. Suddenly, she felt her niece stiffen in her arms and then go limp.Dixie’s little arms dangled as Alexia struggled with the dead weight of the child.Alexia motioned for the bystanders to back up and give her room. Somehow, they managed to accommodate even with the crowd pressing in on them.Alexia laid her beloved niece on the hot asphalt of the patio and felt for a pulse.To her relief the child was alive.Tears of fear and suffocating sorrow flowed from her eyes as she tried to revive the girl.She began to call for help.In the distance, she could hear Georgia screaming.She looked up, about to plead that he stop whatever he had done.
Her breath caught in her throat and she could not breath as she saw the most horrific thing she could possible imagine.
Some fact about the publishing world, or e-Publishing versus Print Publishing
With the advance of the internet, a lot of people wonder, ‘What is e-publishing about?’
And it’s a legitimate question. Here are some answers from an e-Published author.
Before an author can submit to an e- publisher, the book must be finished. That makes sense because an e-publisher needs to know how many words are in the manuscript. And there is also the little known fact that some people write a great beginning, but can’t finish a book. Then there is the time factor to consider. No matter the stories out there, most of the big print publishers look at a proposal and have many steps to go through before the decision is made to buy the book. It takes time, as much as two years. So there's time to finish the book.
I’ve mentioned time. With most e-publishers we’re talking weeks, perhaps two or three months before a decision to buy is made. That’s quite a difference from the one to two years I’ve mentioned with big print publishers.
I have to mention postage costs for the author. Many of the major print publishers want a hard copy of the work. Only a few editors insist on e-mail, so there's the cost of postage. And mailing a full 90,000 word manuscript costs money. With e-publishers everything is handled over the internet.
I’ll pause here and mention something called vanity publishing and POD. Vanity publishing is when an author agrees to pay to have the work published. It’s given the name because, let’s face it, the reason the author wants the book published is a boon to his or her personal feelings. They want their name in print, or want the information they've researched available with their name attached. The new electronic machines available to print books at once, POD (Print On Demand) make it all possible. But I contend you don’t want to have to pay to have someone to buy your hard work.
Everyone wants to talk about “Money”. I hate to say this, but very few authors get wealthy writing a novel. Oh there are exceptions, but by and large most authors have to have one or two other jobs to support their talent. And here's why.
With a print publisher, the author is offered an advance against royalties, if they decide after a year or two that they want the book. However, if the book doesn't get finished, they want the money back. Let’s say they decide to buy the book, you have your advance in two, three or four installments, then the book is released. You wait for the first royalty check. And surprise, surprise. After they subtract the amount paid in the advance, they withhold anywhere from a fourth to half for something called reserves.
This is what the most people don’t know about print publishers. Their business model, especially with paperbacks, says they can print so many copies, but if the copies don’t sell in a month or two, the bookstore can rip the cover from the book, throw away the rest, return the cover to the publisher and get what they paid for the book returned to them. The story is a bit different with trade paperbacks or hard copies, but they don’t print many of them. So after the advance, you wait a while, sometimes a long while for whatever money the book nets. Also there is the percentage of royalties on each copy. Most digital publishers pay three to four times the amount of percentage when compared to a major print publishers.
I have to mention the cost of buying an e-book compared to a print book. E-books are much cheaper. They don’t involve print expenses, paper and distribution costs. You don’t have
to spend money on gas to go to the store to buy the book or pay the shipping costs if you order the book from an online store. If you have a cell phone with internet connection, you probably can read the book on you phone, or on your computer unless you splurge and buy a reader.
Which brings up distribution. No one can deny the major publishers have a lock on bookstore and chain store distribution. But with the internet and more and more place available to purchase digital reading material the means of distribution are slowly changing. No matter the method of publication, an author must promote his or her work. Again the internet seems to be the most effective means of communication.
One last point. With e-publishing, the book is available for a long, long time. If you here about an author who is recommended, if the book is in print, and several months, or years old, you may not be able to get a copy. Not true with e-books. Several of my original e-published books are still available on the internet. As long as the publisher and I agree the books can be bought they can be purchased. If you like one of my books, others are available for sampling. But not least is the fact that with e-publishing that book can be sold worldwide, so if you travel and want a specific author, if they write for the e-market, their books will be available.
So there you have it. The reasons I like being an e-published author. And yes, I do have the credentials to compare. My first six books were purchased and printed by a major print publisher.
My next ten books are e-published book. I plan to have all the rest of my literary endeavors also available in digital format.
You can find Allison on the web at www.AllisonKnight.com where you can find out her latest news, books and more.
When it comes to books, what qualifies as a romance? All the usual medical, historical and romantic suspense aside, would you say that “Gone with the Wind” is a romance book? How about the Stephanie Plum series with the sexy Morelli and the even sexier Ranger? And am I the only one who thinks the literary “We need to talk about Kevin” Orange Prize winner is not a book about parenting as much as it is a love story between the narrator and her husband?
OK. Perhaps I’m exaggerating with the latter. Well, I don’t think so, but it’s all right if you do. My point is this: we are so used to alpha heroes and the search for Mr. Only, that we sometimes tend to overlook the romance in other places.
As a writer who’s been married for - ahem - significantly more than a decade, I’m perhaps a little biased when looking for romance outside of speed dating and all the singles’ bars. I believe that true romance can be found within an established long-term relationship.
You know, it’s easy for the alpha hero to say to the woman he’s just bedded: “I want you to have my baby”. But when the novelty wears off and the sleepless nights kick in, I believe it takes a true hero and the trues of love to utter the following most romantic words a woman can hear: “You carry on sleeping, darling, I’ll get up to the baby”.
Romance is more than red roses and a candlelit bath for two. Sometimes romance is a clean nappy and the opportunity to have a long, warm, silent bath for one while your wonderful hero is keeping the baby occupied.
If you think a murder mystery series has no scope for romance, I challenge you to try my “Murder @ ...” series published by Echelon Press. Although the amateur detective, Dr. Christine Chamberlain, doesn’t have children (yet), the whirlwind romance that landed her married lasted precisely five minutes.
Three years later, she’s beginning to discover her husband is not only the level-headed easy-going artist she knows and loves.... When it comes to your loved ones, is it possible to know too much? Find out in “Murder @ Play” Echelon Press, 2009).
