Beware – Characters on the Loose!

Sometimes I wonder if we create our characters, or if they truly are persons who have their own lives, in some other dimension, and if we’re lucky, we catch a whiff of it and get to put it on the page.

That’s certainly how I feel about Jen Andrews, heroine of the Swinging Games series my husband and I started writing over three years ago. For those who don’t know us, he and I co-write erotic romance under the pen name Adriana Kraft.

Quite naturally, when we got started with the series, we thought we’d invented her. Having a baby-boomer couple with their children grown who check out the swing lifestyle because the wife wants to explore whether or not she’s bisexual seemed like an excellent device to get a wide range of ménage scenes in front of readers to heat up their fantasy life.

And it has succeeded in that goal, for sure. By now Jen and Brett are seasoned  lifestylers who swing regularly with a few close couples, who host house parties, and who visit lifestyle clubs. So far their adventures have always fed back into their relationship, deepening their connection and heating up their sex life as well. And we have lots more adventures planned for them – a lifestyle cruise, a convention, a hotel takeover, for starters.

But first, they have to make it through their current bump-in-the-road. We thought it would be fun to explore with them what some hot three-way sex would be like with a single woman – the elusive “Unicorn” of the swing lifestyle. Enter Sarah Creston, newly widowed and ready to try her wings, looking for a gentle couple to be her mentors. So far, so good.

The problem? Jen has a mind of her own, and now she has eyes only for Sarah – so much so, that Brett is starting to wonder just how this is all going to turn out.

That’s where Book Nine picks up the story. Released earlier this month at Extasy Books, Too Close for Comfort picks up the story when Sarah moves in with Brett and Jen for the summer.

BLURB

It all seemed so simple: Sarah Creston would move in for the summer, Brett and Jen Andrews could revel in their new threesome, and everyone else would understand. But now Donna and Ryan – their best friends and lovers – won’t speak to them, and Jen seems so infatuated with Sarah that even Brett is worried about the consequences.

Battered from the double whammy of her husband’s death and caring for her aging parents, Sarah Creston thrills to Jen and Brett’s exquisite care and ravishing sex. Now that she’s had her first taste of a woman, will she be satisfied – or will she want more?  Everything hinges on what Sarah wants.

EXCERPT

“I could really get used to this,” Sarah whispered, stretching out over Jen. Heat poured through her body as Jen’s legs wrapped around hers like a vise.

“Me, too,” Jen murmured. “This is so good. You are so good.”

“We are so good,” Sarah echoed. “I fantasized about us making love for hours, but I didn’t think this was possible.” She checked the clock in Jen and Brett’s bedroom. “I was wrong.”

Jen giggled. “Delightfully wrong. We should probably get up and fix supper before Brett gets home.”

“Don’t you want one more?” Sarah pressed her pubic bone against Jen’s. “You’re still very wet. Brett won’t mind if supper’s a little late.”

Jen chuckled. “Particularly if he can have you as an appetizer.”

“Any time,” Sarah said, beginning to rock in earnest against Jen. “I never knew I’d become such a glutton for sex. I’ve been living with you guys for two weeks and I still can’t seem to get enough of either one of you.”

“Or us you,” Jen murmured, tightening her arms around Sarah and arching her lower body upward.

“That’s right. One more time. Let’s do it.” Sarah kissed Jen’s shuttered eyelids and began sliding her pussy across Jen’s clit.

“Oh yeah.” Jen let out a low moan. “You’ve become an artist with your pussy.” Jen raised her legs in the air and spread them wide. “Go for it, girl. Let’s come together.”

Gasping, Sarah increased her pace until she wasn’t certain if she could hear Jen’s pleasure moans or if those noises were coming from her own lips.

BUY LINKS

Extasy Books     Amazon     Amazon UK

ADRIANA ON THE WEB

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Fire and Ice in Italy by EM Lynley

Last week my latest novel was released by Dreamspinner Press. ITALIAN ICE is a sequel to RARER THAN RUBIES, where Trent Copeland and Reed Acton were in Thailand on the trail of a long-lost Ruby Buddha. This story takes them to Italy. They start out in Rome, but they soon head to the Aeolian Islands located off the coast of Sicily.

I spent about a week in these islands during my travels and they remain one of the most amazing places in the world. They are part of a volcanic chain and each island boasts a unique aspect of that origin. Lipari is the largest of the islands and has a beach made of pumice stones. It's quite tough to walk on, scratching your feet. It's odd to see bits of the "beach" floating away each time a wave hits the shore. There literally is no sand. Just small chunks of pumice.

Nearby Vulcano is amazing. There is a large mud bath where about a hundred people at a time can smooth the pale mud over the skin and hopefully look younger once it's rinsed off. To make life simple, the beach next to the mud bath has a natural Jacuzzi effect. Hot water bubbles up between the rocks (not much sand here either), helping rinse off that dried mud. It doesn't come out of your swimsuit very well, so make sure to wear an old one that day. There is nothing like floating in the sea while feeling warm bubbles between your toes!

Stromboli is the most amazing of the islands. It's more than just a spicy sandwich. In fact, it's the most active volcano in Europe and erupts about every fifteen minutes. Usually it just shoots out some glowing rocks and a few jets of hot lava. It's hard to see in the light of day so the thing to do is a pre-sunset hike up to the crater where you can see the eruptions after dark. Then they are absolutely something to write home about. I loved it so much, I wrote a book around it, where you'll find Trend and Reed spending the night on the volcano.

They also fall more deeply in love and help put a smuggling ring out of business, but that's almost beside the point when they get to experience such dramatic scenery. Take your own little trip to Italy with ITALIAN ICE.

More about the book

In this exciting sequel to Rarer Than Rubies, gay romance author Trent Copeland and former FBI agent Reed Action head to Italy for a Roman holiday. What should be a relaxing and romantic vacation is interrupted when Reed’s not-so-former boss asks for his help with a case. Trent's shocked to discover in the six months they’ve been living together in LA, Reed hasn’t been completely honest about his “retirement.”

Reed heads for Sicily on the trail of a suspected antiquities-smuggling ring and to find Peter Isett—a former FBI partner he also hasn’t been completely truthful about. Stung by Reed’s dishonesty, Trent questions what else Reed might be hiding. But when he overhears something that tells him Reed's life is in danger, Trent follows Reed to a remote chain of ancient volcanic islands off Sicily's northern coast. Soon Trent is caught up in the smugglers’ web, and Reed must decide between his heart and his mission—a decision complicated by his past with Peter. Reed’s position is perilous: unless he can learn to put the past behind him, he risks destroying everything he's built with Trent.

 

Read an excerpt

Buy from Dreamspinner or Amazon. Also available in print, 290 pages.

EM Lynley writes for Dreamspinner Press, Silver Publishing and Torquere, edits for several erotic romance publishers and provides editing and writer coaching for private clients. She has worked in finance, the wine industry, and high-tech, though she'd rather be writing sexy man-on-man romance. She spent 10 years as an economist and financial analyst, including a year as a White House Staff Economist, but only because all the intern positions were filled. Tired of boring herself and others with dry business reports and articles, her creative muse is back and naughtier than ever. She has lived and worked in London, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., but the San Francisco Bay Area is home for now.Visit her online: http://www.emlynley.com or email at em@emlynley.com

Erotica vs Porn? Is there a difference?

Today one of the groups I'm on has been debating the differences between erotica and porn. For me there is a definite difference between the two.

It all started with an excerpt someone posted of a new book release. The excerpt was rather graphic and while some thought it was hot others called it porn and asked to be removed from the list if things like 'that' were going to be posted regularly.

That got the discussion started of what constitues porn and what is erotica. Some said graphic sexual content automatically makes a story porn. I disagree and i want to find out what everyone else thinks. It's an age old debate and one that often pops up when a group of smut writers get together. Some of my fellow erotica authors are fine with what they write being called porn. I'm not one of them.

For me porn, whether written or visual is very easy to spot. It's just sex for the sake of sex. No reason behind the action. The dialogue, if there is any, is cheesy at best and charcater development is nonexistent. It's graphic sexual description strictly used to get the reader off. One handed reading.

Erotica, if it's well written shoudl turn the reader on. Hell it should turn the writer on too if they are doing it right, but there is also a purpose behind the intimacy. A reason for the characters to fall into bed, or on the kitchen table, or into the backseat of a Chevy or wherever else they decide to get naked and naughty. There should be realistic action, backstory, character development, dialogue. (I love well written dialogue, especially as part of the foreplay)For me  It doesn;t all have to be serious either. A little humor is great. Lord knows real sex isn;t always pretty or neat. It's messy and emotional and sometimes downright funny. For me this marks a huge difference between porn and erotica. What's your opinion?

Beth
Check out my newly updated site
http://www.bethwylde.com/

All My Knowledge Comes From Research

Hey all,

The title quote, by cartoonist Stan Sakai, says it all for me.  But what some people don't understand is research isn't what they think it is.  They have this idea of sitting in a musty old library, surrounded by boring research books that are eight inches thick and will put you to sleep just by cracking the cover.

But while you can do it that way,  I'd rather take a more active approach to research.  To me, research isn't an activity.  It's a lifestyle.  Zora Neale Hurston, the famous American folklorist, anthropologist, and author said that... Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

And I agree with this, 100%.  Whenever I research a book I'll use anything that I can to make my world--whether it be a contemporary, fantasy, historical or a sci-fi--completely believable.  And my favorite way to do it, is to go out and explore that world personally.

Now granted, I can't journey to the fictitious Mayall II, in the Upsilon Andromedae Gallexia where I set my upcoming book, Justifiable Sins.  But I CAN go to NASA in Cape Canaveral, Florida and experience the exhibits there to get a feel for space travel.  And I can go to the observatory at the Space Center in Singapore and explore their interactive display on planets, galaxies, and stars.

For me that's the best kind of research.  Getting my feet wet and REALLY becoming a part of the story.  I made a promise to myself years ago when I sent in my first story to be published that I would only write about a place I have experienced personally.  So when you read one of my books, you can be assured I've actually been to those areas I speak about.

But what if it's a fantasy or, as I mentioned above, a sci-fi?  I can't really go to the Upsilon Andromedae Gallexia, nor can I go beyond the faerie mist as I did in my bestseller, Eyes of Fire.  But I CAN dream up those worlds and then find a place that I've been or will go to that fits the description of what I've imagined. For example, Justifiable Sins', Myall II was based on the Mojave desert in California, and The Mylari Chronicles: Eyes of Fire's faerie world was based on the California redwood forest.

I've wandered, explored and camped in both.  Learned what I needed to make the worlds in my books not only sound real, but feel real as well.  For me, that is the most important part of a story.  Making it FEEL like a place that really exists.

I just finished up a book where part of the story is set during the French Revolution and the other part is set in one of the most famous graveyards in the world.   To research that, I spent time in Paris.  (remember I'm traveling with Cirque du Soleil)  I went to museums where they spoke about the "Terror", I visited the site of the Bastille, I toured the catacombs and graves of King Louis XVI and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette, and visited the palaces where they lived.  I spent hours at Père-Lachaise, the biggest cemetery in Paris, getting the perfect spooky ambiance I wanted to portray.

And I loved every single second.  What other job can you do where you can travel, explore, and enjoy so many different experiences and still call it work? 

Just yesterday I visited the Fashion Museum here in Antwerp, Belgium.  It had all kinds of historical women's fashions from the 1700s through the mid 1900s.  Seeing them...actually being able to look close at how they were made will really help me describe the clothing in the historical book I'm thinking about setting here.

Research doesn't have to be stuffy or boring or unnecessary.  Like Ms. Hurston said, it's got a purpose.  To satisfy your curiosity.  And the nicest thing about research is it can be fun.

All you have to do is find a way to make it so.

Until next month...

Hugs,

CJ England

 

Follow Your Dreams

http://cjengland.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CJsaysFollowYourDreams/

 

Happy Friday The 13th!

Do you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia? That's fear of Friday the 13^th. I don't suffer from that fear myself. My birthday falls on the 14^th and when it's on a Saturday, that year usually has at least two Friday the 13ths.

That said, here is a list of things you should not do on Friday the 13^th.

Piss off a black cat.

Start something new, like a business or writing a new story. It's bound to fail.

Begin a sea voyage. You may never return.

Launch a ship. See begin a sea voyage.

Begin a journey of any kind. See the previous two.

Get married. Divorce rates are high enough as it is. Don't tempt fate.

Have a baby, not that giving birth would be under your control.

Moving to a new home. You won't be there long.

Now, if Good Friday falls on Friday the 13^th, all bets are off. Such a day is considered to be good luck.

You don't believe any of this nonsense? How about taking a chance and buying a book you've never read before, namely my short story "Purr"? This one is my short erotic version of the fairy tale "Puss In Boots".

Buy it. Read it. Tempt fate.

Buy Links:

New Dawning Bookfair:  http://tinyurl.com/purr-ndb

Amazon Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/purr-kindle

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63792

AllRomanceEBooks: http://tinyurl.com/purr-are

Purr Blog Category:

http://elizabethablack.blogspot.com/search/label/Purr

Blurb for "Purr":

The alluring puss in boots Muca aspired for her master to become the richest and most respected man in the land, but her job was cut out for her. Could she convince the local farmers to trust in her against the vicious ogre who ruled the region?

I still have my cat!

So many things have happened in my life recently. I quit my job, moved to another city and lost my mind? Some say mid-life crisis. I say living life. Potato/patato right? All of these changes have me behind with my writing, but they've got me thinking. (Always making connections) Aren't changes what readers want? There is seldom an interesting character who never takes some type of risk, whether it be in love, life or career. Now I guess you'll have to label me an 'interesting' character since I seem to have taken many risks as of late. Oh yeah, I still have my cat with me! Love that cuddling, Siamese fur ball. Now I'm really going to take a giant leap and relate this blog to my most recent published story- Toy Box. The submissive in this story takes a public risk, or does she? Is it her master who takes the risk? Hmmm, it could be the couple they've met for dinner shouldering all of the risk...but it's not! Toy Box is an upcoming free read from Red Rose Publishing. Watch for it; it will be free for one month only.

Visit Kissa at www.kissastarling.com

Annie Calahan meets her match in the courtroom as she goes up against high priced New York attorney Mitch McClintock in a sensational murder trial in Chicago. The instant they meet the sparks ignite into a flaming inferno. Will Annie and Mitch act on the sensuous attraction, or will the opposing attorneys find the situation too complex to handle?

Releasing in July from www.romancedivine.com.

My publisher at Romance Divine is a real go-getter when it comes to trying new ideas out for his authors. He has taken a few of my e-books and turned them into audio formats, placing them with several distributors. It’s an exciting new venture that I hope will prove profitable. I already have four audios for sale and he has added two more this week. The others will debut in the next few months.

Audio books already published.

My Cowboys, Double Your Pleasure, The Christmas Gift and Angel In Blue now available in audio from itunes.com, audible.com, Amazon.com Kindle Books, Apple and Barnes&Noble.com.

Also coming soon in audio: A New Beginning, Mistaken Identity, More Than Friends, Marooned, Sexual Knead and Olivia's Haunting.

When my publisher sent me the author’s copy of the audio, I found it easy to sit back and relax and listen to my story unfold in sound. He’s also provided music to the background where it’s called for making for a pleasing effect.

I’m not sure how many other publishers are trying this route to sell the author’s product, but I’m happy I found one that has shown such an interest in helping an author promote their work.

What do you think of buying an audio e-book to listen to versus the e-book downloaded onto your computer to read? Are there enough consumers ready to purchase the new venture into audio instead of reading an e-book from their computer?

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

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