Some authors love it. Some hate it. All do it.

From mundane internet searches to exotic trips to faraway lands, research can take many forms. I’ve called strangers, governments, secret agencies, and once even the student loan agency in California (they couldn’t believe I wanted to talk to the about something other than debt). I’ve eavesdropped in bars, sampled less-than-tasty cuisine, and taken cross-country motorcycle rides all in the name of providing readers with the most authentic experiences.

But nothing can top the days I spent with the fighters in a local MMA gym.

Oh the sacrifices I had to make for my readers! The hours I spent, pen and notebook in hand, following the hard-bodied White Rhino and the lean, mean Flash around the gym. MMA is a brutally tough sport. I learned about how fighters use grapple dummies (not anatomically correct, I noted), punch bags, free weights, cardio machines, gloves and helmets, cages and rings.  I also learned that the hardest part is not always the fight, but the endless training sessions, drills, and head games.

Although I had caught quick glimpses of cage fighting on television, I never really enjoyed watching it until I understood the techniques and strategies. At a professional level, fighters have to train in and master several martial arts styles, the key ones being jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, wrestling and boxing. A weakness in any area makes a fighter vulnerable. A strength has to be used carefully because every strength can be turned into a weakness.

What interested me most, however, aside from the incredibly fit dudes wandering around in their tight shorts, was the fight terminology, and I couldn’t resist using it in my MMA fighter romance series, Redemption. A fighter on top takes the “dominant position” and might have an expertise at “mounting” (full, rear, half…you get the picture). Other fighters are “submission” specialists and some prefer to “ground and pound” where they get their opponent on the ground and pound away from a dominant position. Maybe it’s just me and I have a dirty mind, so I won’t share my thoughts on the “hold”, “collar tie”, “rear naked choke”, “missionary control” or my favorite…the “rubber guard.”

In Your Corner, the second standalone book in my erotic romance Redemption series, takes place in an upscale MMA gym. Our hero, Jake, is a cage fighter, trying to win back the girl who loved and left him. Yes, there are fight scenes (in the cage and in the bedroom), lots of sexual innuendo, and even more smokin’ hot smex. Oh, and of course, there is a love story. Because who doesn’t love a man who is all about holding on?

In Your Corner will be released on July 1^st and is available for pre-order at:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1nnCUlx
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1hvHV3u
ITunes: http://bit.ly/1re3WNA

And if you like darker, but just as sexy MMA fighters, check out Yield to Me!

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