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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Romantic Moments...

It was a tough and exhausting day. We’d put it off too long but wanted to take advantage of a sunny temperate fall day for tackling the garage – the boxes damaged last winter when ice dams backed the early runoff onto the garage floor, the items left along the garage walls by the previous owner, the boxes hastily thrown together from my parents’ last apartment before they moved to assisted living. They’re both gone now; no one will need most of what they so tenaciously hung onto all those years.

Physically moving things was easy. Emotionally? Not so much. My father’s high school newspaper columns? The gift cards from my mother’s baby shower before my birth? Stacks of yearly engagement calendars carefully inscribed with the daily temperature, the list of what was blooming, what birds were sighted, what the weather was like, what was harvested from the garden, for over forty years? We cannot keep and store it all; each item we let go of was saying goodbye all over again.

Together we kept moving through it, and by the end of the day we were finished. As we stood in the middle of the garage surveying our handiwork, my husband put his arm on my shoulders and said, “Guess it wasn’t a very romantic day.”

But that’s exactly what it was – the kind of devotion, caring, respect and hard work that knits two people together and keeps romance burning deep within. Sometimes I think as writers of erotic romance it’s tempting to focus on eroticism as the heart of our work. Erotic moments matter, greatly, and they keep our fires burning too. I believe their power – in our relationship, and I hope in much of our erotic romance – has its roots in the kind of day we spent this weekend. Romantic enough for me!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

If There Is One Thing I Like About Writing...

It's doing research. I know it sounds crazy and wonky, but tell me, what other job allows you to spend a weekend watching buildings burn, photographing a murder scene, shooting guns, driving a fire truck, and talking to a sniper?

Arson Investigation
Crime Scene Investigation
Sounds fun, huh? Well, this past weekend I had the privilege of attending the second Writer's Police Academy in Greensboro, NC. And oh my goodness, there is nothing better than talking to the people who do this kind of work every day. The public safety and protection, that is, not the writing.

Driving Simulator
Sniper Workshop
The event was organized by the High Point Library and I have the utmost respect and admiration for Nancy Metzner and her staff. You try wrangling nearly one hundred and fifty writers let loose on a college campus designed to train recruits in law enforcement, fire fighting, and EMT practices. Not a pretty site to begin with, then you add in non-stop rain for 36 of the 48 hours, and it only gets more tricky.

But they did it.

I'm hoping they'll do it all again next year...I always have so much fun!

Friday, September 23, 2011

The Legal Drug Kingpins


In the nineteenth century, entrepreneurs generically known as Traveling Medicine Shows, used to crisscross our country in their horse drawn wagons, making a living by providing a minimal show for bored citizens and ultimately selling medicinal tonics, commonly known as Snake Oil. Whether they bought their product from a manufacturer or made the product themselves, buyers could usually count on a pleasantly flavored innocuous product that would probably give the recipient a little buzz due mostly to a small (10-15%) content of alcohol. Though these merchants seemed harmless enough and provided a much needed break in monotony, the public never warmed to these men, sometimes calling them charlatans and flimflam artists.

Whether any of these medicine men had names like Pfizer or Merck or Lily or even Bayer I don’t know. What I do know and what America needs to realize, is that the Pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest businesses in the county and making billions of dollars a year selling legalized drugs, which in many cases are just as addictive, mind numbing and dangerous as their illegal counterparts. In effect they are today’s charlatans and flimflam artists in thousand dollar suits. They are twenty-first century Snake Oil salesmen! Folks, this is one huge megalobby.

Billions and billions of dollars are at stake here and right in the drug companies corner, is their pushers, the psychiatric industry and to a lesser degree the medical industry. Can’t sleep? Here’s a pill. Can’t wake up? Here’s a pill. In a bad mood? Here’s a pill. Can’t have sex? Here’s a pill. There's hardly a malady, medical or mental that the medical community doesn’t have a so called legal drug for and every drug out there has side effects (many serious, like dying) and or can be addictive. If I get a tooth filled, the dentist gives me at least one prescription for pain pills. For what? For four or five hours of diminishing marginal pain, I’m going to go to the pharmacy to fill a prescription for the dangerous addictive painkiller, codeine, or worse, which is an actual narcotic, derived from morphine, a derivative of opium. Have you or anyone you know, ever been to a Psychiatrist for treatment and not walked out with a prescription. It’s endemic. Psychiatrists no longer try to cure their patients neurosis’—they now merely, try to exert control over them with drugs. And it's shameless they way the coax parents to start children on psychotropic drugs for imagined disorders and a life of drugs. They are the pimps of the legal drug cartel.
 
It is not only becoming apparent, to reasonable people, that legal drugs are dangerous to the people to whom they are prescribed, but more and more to the people around these people. The term ‘Postal’ was born from numerous instances of school and workplace slaughter, being tied to the perpetrator’s ingestion of psychotropic drugs, such as Prozac and Ritalin.

So why are legal drugs so expensive. I don’t know. You have to ask the drug companies. I do know this, many drugs that cost over a dollar a pill to buy, cost less than one cent to make. Yes I’ve heard the drug company arguments that new drug prices are high because they need to recover the enormous research, testing and approval costs that go in to new successful and unsuccessful products and yet these companies make billions and billions. They make so much that they spend thousands of millions of dollars on advertising while lobbying congress to pass laws that are pro-pharma and anti-consumer. 
The prices of these overpriced drugs come down only when lower priced alternatives come on the market or the patent runs out, allowing other manufacturers to make the same drug. I also know that the same drugs sell in other countries for as low as ten percent of the price in the U.S. Why, you ask, if the drug cartel can make money at ten percent of the price there, they can’t here?

Selling medicine is no longer a way to make a living. It’s now a way to make a fortune, a world class fortune at that. Wake up America, we have become a culture of drugs. Drugs that in most cases aren't meant to cure you and don't. They are meant to keep you alive and dependant on the drug so you become a lifetime customer.
Health care costs have skyrocketed so much in my lifetime that it has become one sixth of our economy. Think about that. One dollar in six that is spent in the United States goes for health care and a significant portion of that goes to Big Pharma and their legal drug pushers. 

Drugs pervade our society and drugs have the potential to destroy our society. In 2009 drug sales in the U.S. topped $14 billion for antidepressants alone, $1.3 billion of which were for children. Many of these drugs are categorized in the same class as morphine, opium and cocaine. Bad enough we take these drugs ourselves but we give these drugs to our children, who trust us and have no say in the matter. More than 8 million American children are prescribed powerful stimulants, antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs for questionable if not dubious reasons.

We have become a nation of hypochondriacs. America is in the midst of a legal and illegal drug frenzy. Feel down? Here’s a pill. Nervous? Here’s a pill. Can’t swim ten laps? Here’s some pills. Want to experience something different? Try this. When will it end? I don’t mean to be an alarmist but your very life and those of your loved ones may be at stake here.


While I have several WIPs in progress, I have no recent releases, so I'm going to promote one of my favorite recent releases, Playing with the Band.

 PWB is a sexy menage a six that takes place in the late sixties during the 'Summer of Love'. Here is the Blurb:

LOCATION: Monterey Pop Festival, 1967.
SCENE: A beautiful woman named Carol, a five piece band named Maidenhead, a motor home and desire.
RESULT: An incredibly, erotic, quinte-sensual experience.

After playing the set of their life, at the Monterey Pop Festival, the five members of the band, Maidenhead become mesmerized by Carol, a mysterious beauty who shows up at their motor home asking to use the restroom. As the night moves on they toke a little grass, shed a few clothes and get to know each other. It's The Summer of Love and they want her for sure and it's looking more and more like she wants them. Will she? Dare she?
 

Coming Soon



 

Monday, September 19, 2011

choices, choices, choices

Con season is heating up once again and with the state of most people's finances the decision of which event to go to gets harder and harder every year. I recently missed one con I wanted very much to attend though it wasn't strictly because of a money shortage. My point is that conventions and other events, now more then ever, have to work harder to attract readers and writers to attend. They need to offer something the other events can't or don't. Something special to make that event THE event to go to during the year. Afterall, without people to attend a convention isn't really a convention. Which events are must attends for you? Do you prefer a small get together or a national con? What would a con have to offer in order to make you drop everything and attend?

My musts for the rest of 2011 and for 2012 are Leatherfet, GCLS, and EAA. Any others will be added based on if i have the extra dough to attend but these three are definites, even if i have to grow wings and fly myself there.
Beth
www.bethwylde.com

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Signs You Are Involved With An Erotic Romance Writer


Top Ten Signs You Are Involved With An Erotic Romance Writer

Aside of the constant thinking about sex, there are signs you're sweetie writes smutty books. I know there are male erotic romance writers out there but since most of those writers are female, I'm referring to women in my list.

1. She reads sex news for story ideas.

2. She reviews sex toys both for fun and for research purposes. Chances are that vibrating cock ring or rabbit vibrator she used on you will end up in a story.

3. Your partner gets Facebook messages, friend requests, and e-mail from perfect strangers looking for sex on a regular basis - and she's never even been on Craigslist. For some reason, perfect strangers think because she writes about sex she's ready for it at any time - with them. No, she isn't.

4. That baby name book isn't to name your future progeny but to come up with character names that are more exciting than the usual Jeremy and Caitlin.

5. When new friends or unfamiliar family members ask what she does for a living the two of you only smile and say... it's complicated.

6. Your convention swag is much more exciting than most convention swag. DVDs, and smutty books galore!

7. You wonder if you've ever appeared in any of her books. Or you know you have and you're proud!

8. You're not ashamed that she's killed off past rotten lovers in her novels. 

9. Men come up to you at book readings and parties and wonder what it's like to be so intimately involved with someone who writes about sex.

10. She tries out her sex scenes on your before writing them down in her books.

My new novel Don't Call Me Baby will be released by Naughty Nights Press on September 30, 2011. Here's  a blurb:

Don't Call Me Baby is a fast-paced, quick-witted, sexy novel about a young woman exploring her sexuality and the cultural morĂ©s she collides with on a daily basis. It's 1983 in Maryland and Catherine Stone is sex on wheels. She plays the field the way men have done for aeons. Not content to strive for her MRS degree like so many young women her age, she seduces men of all stripes - married college professors, theatre students, virgins, complete strangers who intrigue her. She has already cost one man his job. But she asks herself lots of questions on her search to enjoy her sexuality. Why don't other women enjoy their sex as much as she does? Why do so many women and men look down on sexually free women, calling them sluts while sexually free men are called studs and Lotharios? She bucks at the double standards!  Catherine has made no commitment to any man. She's free to explore and she gladly does so. No man can tie her down and no woman's judgment will stop her from playing the field to her heart's content. Does she meet her match in a new man who introduces her to sexual bliss she had never before experienced? When she tries multiple partners and bondage for the first time as a submissive, she believes she's found the sexual bliss she is looking for - and with a man who not only introduces her to the fineries in life but also cares about her like no man ever has before.

Please visit my blog, web site, and Facebook page for updates, buy links, more excerpts, and reviews.

Don't Call Me Baby Web Site Page

Elizabeth Black - Blog and Web Site

Elizabeth Black - Facebook






Sunday, September 11, 2011

Everyday Heroes


As a romance writer, I love to write about heroes. Hot, sexy heroes and heroines who risk everything, even their lives, when it counts the most. Having worked in fire departments and law enforcement, many of my characters tend to have the same characteristics as those who work in these professions. But not all heroes wear uniforms.

It's been ten years since 9/11. Memorial services, television programs, remembrances on the Internet abound, bringing images, stories and memories of those who died that day. From firefighters who rushed into the buildings going down, police officers who tried to maintain the chaos and evacuate those in danger, to civilians and passersby and those just flying on a commercial airline and gave their lives, so many people were affected, both in the United States and abroad.

Everyone who came afterwards to help, professional or not, in the search for survivors and remains, search for clues and investigate, they also remember. Today, I remember not only these heroes, but the everyday heroes who don't get as much recognition or celebration.

Consider the spouses and children of those lost in the attack, who had to step in and take over, to try and maintain a stable home life and explain the unexplainable, and why Mommy or Daddy wasn't coming home. Or the families and friends who pulled together to help someone deal with their loss. The airline personnel who had to go up in the first plane after those hijackings, and pretend they weren't scared out of their wits -- and every plane thereafter. The mail carriers who walked the dust-laden streets to deliver the mail, etc. The people who pulled their emotions in tight and tucked them away in order to make lives function for those still in shock... everyday people who, when faced with unimaginable disaster, not only persevered, but illuminated the darkness for those who couldn't see the end of the tunnel they had inadvertently been plunged into on 9/11.

Along with all of the everyday heroes, are the heroes who every day fight and give their lives, limbs and peace of mind, so that we can live in the illusion that we're safe.

Today, I want to remember them all and thank them for the freedoms I have, and that I'm able to weave romantic fantasies where my heroes and heroines can save their loves and freedoms as well.

Cassidy McKay

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Re-Inventing Oneself?

Have you ever had an urge to drop everything and run? When I say everything, I do mean everything. Grab a few clothes, one sentimental Item and get in your car and drive, never intending to come back.I believe a lot of people have this fantasy. I also think a lot of couples have this fantasy together but the logistics of it all are so heavy. You can't help but think- what about my stuff? What about my friends? What in the world will my family think?

All of these thoughts, and more, are going into my new manuscript I'm working on. Research is fun for me, always has been. So if you have had these thoughts before, either individually or as a couple, comment here or email me. I'd love to know all about it!

And if you have an idea for a title for this story- share that too. I was thinking 'All Over Again' but I'm not married to it!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Not Here, Not There






By A.J. Llewellyn

My good friend, the yummy model Adam Killian, is a persistent traveler. Getting on and off planes is a daily thing for him. Until I got my dog 15 years ago it was for me, too. Now, everything has to be planned, and saved for.
When I first moved here in the 80s from my native Australia, I lived like Adam. I traveled extensively and have probably seen more of the US than most Americans have. In those days a wonderful--alas, defunct--airline existed called The People's Express. Looking back it was hilarious. You took your suitcase on board and it sat in the aisle next to you. You paid for your ticket on board.
99 bucks one way. It was packed, it was chaotic and I wonder now about the safety standards, but anyhoo, I flew everywhere. I picked a different city each weekend. There were no snacks, no movies, no niceties, but it was bloody fantastic. And then for some mysterious reason it went belly-up.
I am getting ready to fly to Honolulu this morning. It is the land of my dreams. Like many Hawaiians-at-Heart, I am filled completely when I land and bereft immediately upon departure again. It's hard to believe that a few short weeks ago a few close friends talked me into going.
I had no intention of leaving my beloved, and elderly dog, but the truth is, I really need the break. I have a great dog sitter and the lure of showing three wonderful people My Hawaii is proving irresistible. Not only have they never been there but Ruth. Lynne and David are my kind of travelers. They want to see Oahu's sacred places and meet my favorite Goddess, Pele.
For weeks the emails have been going back and forth until we decided. We all have things pulling at us to stay home but this is what we need. It's not The People's Express, but the spirit is there, willing us to be free...fly!
It's interesting however that in the day leading up to this trip I've been in a kind of limbo. Not here, not there. I am somewhere in between. A boarding gate that feels both good and bad.
I worry about my pets, about taking time away from work. I worry about random, obscure fears and can't help being mindful that the anniversary of 9/11 is next week. My plan is to visit the military cemetery, Punchbowl, the Cemetery of the Pacific. Hawaii has endured more losses in the war against terror than any other state. her cemeteries are filled. I will take a lei to a fallen soldier I do not know and thank him for his priceless gift.
I called my friend Lynn last night and asked how she was feeling. She and her husband David were waiting, just like me. It's a strange waiting room in which we've dwelt. Perhaps as we've gotten older, travel has become such a luxury we taste and savor every moment, even the waiting and preparations to travel.
This time 10 years ago I was waiting to fly to New York to see Mike Tyson fight at Madison Square Garden. Those plans were derailed by the attack on the twin towers. I was lucky. As we all know, so many were not.
So I will happily exist, not here, not there, knowing that so many others are not. I will wallow in this day of travel, and feel humbled that I am in fact, thanks to the sacrifices of men and women I have never met, free to fly.
Aloha oe
A.J.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Do intense and detailed scenes in a book bring more enjoyment to the reader?

Menage/Threesome
Attorney Privileges a menage now available @ www.romancedivine.com, http://www.bookstrand.com, http://www.barnes&noble.com, http://www.allromanceebooks.com and Amazon.com Kindle Books.


When writing a story, I form a mental picture of a love scene. The more erotic, the better. I want to transfer my mental picture to the readers in words. If scenes don’t come clear enough in my head and I continue with the love scene, I’m unsure if I’m leaving my readers hanging wondering what’s going on.

Sometimes it takes me a day or two to get the right image and make sure the description of a love scene isn’t vague. That’s what it’s all about when you write. Giving enjoyment to the reader and taking them along for the journey whether it’s in the bedroom, or an office setting.

I like to think my readers feel something when I put emotions into a heated argument between my characters, or an erotic bedroom scene. This is my whole purpose in entertaining even though it’s only for a short while until they finish the book.

In the back of my mind, I’m hoping they enjoy the first read so much, they’ll glance at it the second time. That’s when you know you’ve succeeded as a writer. The five little words I couldn’t put it down is music to an author’s ears.

Is this how you feel as a writer in conveying such realistic scenes that the reader can’t put the book down? And here’s a question for the readers out there that are reading this blog. Do you feel a writer goes into enough detail in love scenes and other scenes in the story to give you an emotional impact that remains with you long after finishing the book?

Jake's Revenge available @ www.extasybooks.com. Cowboy/thriller/romance.



http://www.mary-suzanne.blogspot.com

http://www.webspawner.com/users/Romancewriter/index.html

Check out http://www.myromancestory.com for a feature at bottom of page on Mary Suzanne, Judith Marzone and Jodi Olson.