Plot bunnies—affectionately named because of how fast the little suckers multiply—are persistent bitey jerks that burrow into a writer’s brain and attempt to take over their mind at the expense of jobs, dentist appointments, and laundry—which is fine, because who needs laundry. *wink*
These evil plot bunnies wake me from a dead sleep to scribble illegibly in a little notebook I keep on my nightstand, leaving me to interpret my drowsy jotting in the morning like I’m staring at Rorschach inkblots. Hey, Stephenie Meyer dreamed up sparkly Edward Cullen one night, inspiring the bestselling Twilight Saga, so it’s not totally off-base to get a good one once in a while.
To be fair, it’s not just paid writing that works this way, since I’ve had the same experience with fan fiction ideas; fic that demands it be written right now. Have a sandwich for dinner, family—I’ve got writing to do!
Once a plot bunny has its fangs in you, it’s all over until you give in to its demands like it’s a bank robber with all the leverage.
Plot Bunny: “Hey. Hey.Hey. You know that thing you’re working on right now?”
Author: *guzzles coffee* “You mean the novel I’m finishing because I’m on deadline?”
PB: “Throw that in the trash. I got something for ya. You’re gonna love it.”
A: *groans* “Not again.”
PB: *cracks knuckles* “So, there’s these two hot guys, only one bed in the whole hotel, and wouldn’t you know it, there’s a blizzard…”
This was my experience last year when I got my weekly email with freebies from a stock photo site. I opened it and scanned the selection—probably the usual “woman laughing while eating a salad”.
But one picture caught my eye: two women side-by-side in a yoga studio, doing a stretch that looked like cobra or upward dog. Nothing out of the ordinary, but something about it…
Hmm…I’d never written a story set in a yoga studio. Maybe they’re friends?
Wait. Friends or not, they’re totally gonna get with each other if they haven’t already, if you know what I mean.
*CHOMP*
The plot bunny grinned, it’s teeth glistening with the fresh idea. I had no choice—I needed to write this now now now nownow!
The opening line hit me hard: The first time it happened was between my legs in downward dog.
Oh yeah, I wanted to see where this was going. So, I sat my butt in the chair and feverishly typed while overloading on caffeine and ignoring my eye twitch. Words flowed like a vinyasa, and when it was finished, I knew it would be perfect for an anthology submission.
To celebrate the Big Book of Orgasms Volume 2 release, I’m giving away an ebook of another anthology I was lucky to be a part of last year, Passionate Ink’s Falling Hard: Erotic Romance Anthology. If you haven’t read it, grab it now, since it’s only available for a limited time. All proceeds go to ProLiteracy, too! My story in Falling Hard is Hard Cider Crush, a gay second chance romance full of all the autumn charm of New England and more heat than July in Florida.
Enter below to win an Amazon ebook copy of Falling Hard—U.S. only, 18+. Giveaway will last from February 9th—11th and a random entrant will be drawn on February 12th to win and receive a copy. (Delilah Devlin isn’t associated with this giveaway.)
Question: Tell me about the best book you’ve read recently in one sentence. Or tell me where you’d love to see a romance set!
About the Author
Ryley Banks writes award-winning bestselling sexy romance between the covers, mostly of the LGBTQ+ variety. She’s a connoisseur of tea and gin and loves language, especially creative profanity. When she’s not begging her characters to behave or reading fan fiction, you can find Ryley at: https://ryleybanks.com/ and everywhere at: https://linktr.ee/ryleybanks
Enjoy getting to know Ryley? Then you’ll love her monthly VIP newsletter! Sign up for access to free books, giveaways, sales, and exclusive member extras! https://ryleybanks.com/ryleys-vip-newsletter/
So, I’ve been bingeing all the Star Trek series. I’d never watched Next Generation with Picard, so I started with that. Now, I’m watching Deep Space Nine. There’s an episode where one of my 60s heartthrob, James Darren, plays a Las Vegas lounge singer. If you’re of a certain age, you might remember him as Moondoggie in the Gidget movies or one of the doctors trapped traveling through time in The Time Tunnel.
That episode got me thinking about my favorite sci-fi shows from my childhood. The original Star Trek was, of course, my favorite. I had a major crush on Captain Kirk. Another show I loved was Lost in Space. While I thought the dad was hot (after all, he was Zorro before that!), my favorite character was Dr. Smith. Which got me thinking about my absolute favorite episode of Lost in Space. I did an internet search to find that green girl! I wanted to be her. The trippy song, the way she was so enamored with Dr. Smith. You can watch the Green Girl clips below, although, I think the voices aren’t the original actors because the robot and Dr. Smith don’t sound the same as I remember. Doesn’t matter. I still love this! And now, I’m putting the original Lost in Space on my “Binge Next” list!
Contest
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you have a favorite “vintage” sci-fi or fantasy show and share the name!
Tagged: TV shows Posted in Contests!|7 People Said|Link
Last 5 people who had something to say: Mary Preston - Debra Guyette - Jennifer Beyer - Nicola O Sullivan - Delilah -
I suspect most of us have pets, right? For those who know me well, I have a Border Collie (Maggie) who’ll be twelve in May and a Parti Yorkie (Henry) who is about 18 months old. So, I know and love dogs.
A few months back, I was asked to participate in a rescue dog anthology, and I thought, “How fun!” Each of the ten participating authors is contributing a new, original book to the collection. These books aren’t linked except by the fact each of them has a rescued dog as a character.
My book is Hot Assets. It’s the story of how my heroine (Andrea Carmichael) agrees to dog-sit her neighbor’s dog while the neighbor is in the hospital, only to have someone kidnap the dog! Why would anyone want to kidnap a rescued mutt dog? Andi has to enlist the help of the cop (Seth Noles) who lives across the street to find the dog and get to the bottom of the mystery. As the mystery heats up, so does Andi and Seth’s relationship.
Now, before I get to the excerpt, this collection is on a PREORDER SPECIAL PRICE OF ONLY $0.99!! The price will go up to $3.99 after release.
Also, the royalties from sales on May 17 and 18 will be donated to a Florida Rescue Animal Organization.
Here is an UNEDITED snippet of the opening…
I sat up, unsure what woke me. Darkness swaddled me, my bedroom so quiet I heard my heartbeat in my ears. Grabbing my cellphone, I checked the time. Two a.m. Then, before I could replace the phone on the bedside table and settle back down for three more hours, the blasted thing began to ring. I sighed. Everyone knows only bad news comes at this hour.
When I look at the screen, I see I’ve missed a previous call, mostly likely what jarred me awake originally. My elderly next door neighbor’s name is flashing on my screen.
“Lillian,” I croaked into the phone. “What’s wrong?”
“I fell and I can’t move.” Her voice is reedy and thin, barely audible. “Help me.”
“Of course,” I said as I slid from my warm sheets. “I’ll be right there.”
I slipped on the jeans and the long-sleeve T-shirt I’d been wearing before bed, unconcerned that the shirt bore a definite stain of spaghetti sauce from last night’s dinner. In the foyer, I thrust my feet into shoes and grabbed Lillian’s housekey from the drawer in my entry hall table. Until recently, Lillian Branson had been a healthy, active senior citizen. She’d given me her housekey so I could water her plants when she was one of her trips, as she’d been last month. She’d returned ten days ago with what she called a bad cold, insisting she didn’t need to see a doctor.
Now, as I rushed out of my house and across our lawns, I feel guilty that I hadn’t pushed her harder. Shoot, my sister’s an ER doctor. I could have—should have—asked Brooke to drop by and take a look at Lillian. That probably would have made Lillian mad, but her only family is a grandson whom I’ve never seen or met in the three years we’ve been neighbors.
I let myself in and deactivate the house alarm. “Lillian?” I called out.
“In here,” she said, followed by a bark from Baxter, her mixed-breed rescue dog. Baxter, who weighed about eight pounds, but believed himself to be closer to eighty pounds, was always at Lillian’s side. Baxter traveled everywhere with Lillian. If Baxter wasn’t invited, Lillian wasn’t going.
I followed the faint voice to the kitchen where I found Lillian sprawled on the floor, a small gash dripping fresh blood down the side of her head. Baxter’s head rested on Lillian’s chest. When I knelt beside her, Baxter’s head lifted.
“What happened?”
“Oh, I feel like such a ninny. I was coughing and came downstairs to get a glass of water. I fell as I was reaching for a glass.”
I could hear my sister in my head warning me to not try to get Lillian up. “You have a small cut on your head. Let me grab a towel for the blood.”
I stood and as I looked for a clean kitchen towel, I noticed the dirty plates and glasses in the sink. Lillian hated dirt and disorder, so dinner dishes in the sink was out of character. I found a clean cloth and rejoined Lillian on her floor. “Here.” I pressed the material to her head. “Where else do you hurt?”
“My left hip. That’s where I landed.” She clucked her tongue. “I’m so clumsy.”
“Is someone else here?” I asked as I pressed on her hip.
She groaned from my touch and her gaze shifted away. “No. I’m here by myself. That’s why I can to call you.” Tears gathered in her eyes.
I knew she was lying to me. I just didn’t know why.
“Yeah, I don’t think I can get you up. My money’s on either a dislocation or broken hip.” I squeezed her shoulder in sympathy. “Sorry, Lillian, I have to call an ambulance.” I expected an argument. Lillian is one of the most independent women I know, and when I only got a head nod in answer, I knew I’d made the right decision.
I called 9-1-1 and explained the situation. Once I knew help was coming, I helped into a sitting position and joined her on the hardwood floor.
“Well, this is a fine mess you’ve gotten us in to,” I said in my best Laurel and Hardy imitation.
She chuckled with a grimace. “I know.”
I heard heavy footfalls in the entry way, which surprised me as I hadn’t heard an ambulance siren. Plus, unless the ambulance had been one block away, there hadn’t been enough time for one to get here.
A man I did not know stepped into the kitchen as I realized that in my haste to get to Lillian, I’d left the front door open. Panic seized my throat and my breath.
I live in a Dallas historical area comprised of craftsman homes, many over a hundred years old. Lillian and I both live in refurbished homes in this classic neighborhood. While many of the houses have gotten the renovation necessary to bring back their stately beauty, others remain in poor conditions with the owners lacking the funding to do the required upkeep. Inside our neighborhood enclave, we feel secure. However, outside our immediate area, crime rates are higher than the average in other Dallas neighborhoods. Was the scruffy-looking man one of crime elements I needed to be worried about?
The stranger in Lillian kitchen was tall and broad-shouldered. His chestnut-colored hair was disheveled, as though he’d run his fingers through it recently. A heavy scruff covered his cheeks and circle a pair of thick lips that were pulled into a tight line.
“Get out,” I ordered in my best don’t-fuck-with-me voice and pointed toward the direction he’d just arrived. I might have been anxious about the stranger, but Baxter wasn’t. He greeted the man with a wiggly tail and excited yips, but of course, Baxter loved everyone.
He ignored me and continued to advance toward Lillian and me. My gaze flew around the kitchen for a weapon of any type, but honestly, our seated positions on the floor left us vulnerable.
I’m thrilled to be on Delilah’s blog today. I loved working with her on the latest Boys Behaving Badly anthology – COWBOYS. Writing my story, THE SCOUNDREL, reawakened my love of writing short stories, and I plan to continue writing short as well as the full novels I write for Entangled Publishing, and the series I self-publish.
Early in my career, I wrote a lot of erotic romances. It was ground-breaking back then (God, I feel so old!) and this was long before Fifty Shades. I’m not kidding when I say discovering erotic romance changed my life. I grew up a “good” girl in a rural area. Before the internet, before erotic romance, I didn’t know other women had sexual fantasies. I didn’t know it was okay to fantasize about blindfolds and handcuffs, or of being scared and aroused at the same time, or that pain and pleasure could be two sides of the same coin. I didn’t know it was okay to dream about sexual situations I’d never want to find myself in. Or that it was okay to dream about some I might want to.
I’m sure as Delilah’s readers, you know all about erotic romance and sexual fantasies, and it’s probably hard to imagine there was a time when you had to get your kicks from magazines like Playboy and Playgirl (and you had to gather enough courage to go up to the man at the register and ask for copies that were kept behind the counter) or maybe you could find erotica books like The Story of O or Anne Rice’s Beauty series, but I never read them until I could get them over the internet. But once I could buy an eBook in the privacy of my own home, it was a revelation. Suddenly, I wasn’t ashamed to explore my fictional fantasies, and I felt free to act on some of them, and I could even begin to write my own (believe it or not, it was a struggle for me to even type words like “cock” and “pussy” when I first started.)
I didn’t intend this post to be a history lesson, but just to explain that I will forever be grateful for the authors of erotic romance, and while I don’t focus my writing exclusively in that direction anymore, I will never stop writing it, never stop sharing my fantasies for other women to enjoy. And that is a long, and hopefully thought-provoking lead-in, to my newest release, one of 69 erotic shorts included in Cleis Press’s The Big Book of Orgasms, Volume 2, releasing on February 8th, and available for pre-order now.
Publisher’s Weekly said “… 69 bite-size stories ideal for a quick, sensual break. Myriad settings—including alien planets, bathrooms, and sex parties—genres, kinks, and sexualities offer a little something for every erotica lover. Standouts include Natasha Moore’s “A Perfect Match,” about a husband who likes to watch his wife with her lover…” My first PW mention! And tons of sexual fantasies to explore.
Contest
Thanks to Delilah for inviting me to share with you today. I’m giving away one digital copy of one of my earlier erotic romance series, Paolo’s Playhouse. Five novellas in one collection that let readers explore several different fantasies.
Comment below for a chance at the giveaway. I’d love to know if you think erotic romance is getting commonplace now. Are readers tiring of it? Do you get enough of the sexy stuff in your other reading? Or do you still look for those stories that focus on sexual fantasies and, through them, give women freedom and power?
It’s O-dark-thirty in the morning as I post this. My quiet time. It being a weekend, my quiet won’t last long. Between COVID and cold house-bound kids and eight indoor animals that need feeding and walking, quiet only happens when everyone’s sleeping. Although, I do have an office in the basement to keep well out of the way of most foot traffic.
I have a puzzle for you! It’s not my usual, and my choice was likely influenced by all the hours of Deep Space Nine I’ve been watching. It will be challenging, so roll up your sleeves and get cracking! I’d love to hear what you think. My first impression was that I was disappointed it wasn’t purple or swamp green. My second was that I wanted the goggles. Finish the puzzle. Share your time if you like. And be sure to enter the CONTESTS below while there’s still time!
After all the prep we did getting ready for the Ice-pocalypse, we only lost power for about forty minutes yesterday. Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with being over-prepared, and we did grill those hotdogs over the gas grill. So, we had some fun with it. I know a lot of people weren’t as fortunate, and I hope you aren’t freezing in the cold, but the Devlin house was spared.
Just thought I’d let you know. 🙂
Anyways, today’s contest involves a little effort. Very little effort, really.
Take a good look at the picture. Imagine what his story might be. And tell that story. In a line or a paragraph. Doesn’t have to be long or good. Just have fun. I’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner who’ll get a $5 Amazon gift card!
Posted in General|10 People Said|Link
Last 5 people who had something to say: Reina Torres - Jennifer Beyer - Pamela Reveal - Debra Guyette - Delilah -
This picture says it all. It’s what our cars outside look like. The same can be said for our driveway, our roof—the trees look amazingly beautiful, but we’re starting to hear those cracks and crashes as limbs weighted down with ice begin to break!
I live in South-ish Central Arkansas. For days, forecasters have been warning us about a cold front that would dump ice-sleet-snow on our region and that there would be power outages across the state. Already 14,000 are without power in this region.
Well, the rains started last night. Early this a.m., the temps were at 32 degrees, and that’s the high for the day. Already, we’re below freezing, and it’s supposed to wind up in the teens before the end of the day. Some of y’all who live up north think that’s not a big deal. But here, where we’re not winter-hardened, it’s an ice-pocalypse! My daughter and I drew up a plan early yesterday to get ready, which included:
Buy propane for the outside grill
Buy food which doesn’t need refrigeration (Of course, that included lots of snacks!)
Buy paper plates and cups (Who wants dirty dishes to pile up on the counter?!)
Buy straw for the goat’s hut
Buy extra horse and goat feed
Board up the window in the barn so the horse will stay warm in the lean-to
Pre-position the generator and purchase gas to run it (that will power only our refrigerator and our cellphone chargers!)
Run pool so the pipes and the pool water don’t freeze
Gather all flashlights and lanterns and make sure they don’t need batteries.
Check, check, check, the effing-check… We’re ready.
My dd and I were up early this morning because power was still on, so the priority was COFFEE.
The power flickered off around an hour ago. We saw power company trucks drive by, half an hour later, the power is back on. We made more coffee.
We expect power to go off and stay off sometime today because conditions are expected to worsen.
So, I’m typing this as fast as I can—while I still can!
Y’all stay safe! Stay warm. Know what you have to do in case of an emergency! We’ll be roasting weanies over the firepit or the gas grill. We’re all good. Love you! ~DD
