Reality Versus Fantasy

One of the most challenging things we can do as an author or maybe the easiest if like me, you eagerly look forward to slipping into the fantasy of a good book, is to create those special moments while dealing with the reality of life behind the scenes.

What reality you say? Well, in my case I’ve been going through a major renovation of the house my husband and I recently bought and we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. Many of the highlights include a beautiful new kitchen, a cozy and functional office and an expanded master bedroom.

Then there are the shocking and unexpected discoveries such as when you take down a cabinet in the laundry room and discover a small spot of wet wall and mold which then morphs into an entire rotted exterior wall that has to be removed and rebuilt in the middle of winter.

Now when I watch HGTV and see the homeowners near tears when more and more problems are found during the renovation process–I get it! (That is when I’m allowed to watch HGTV. My husband threatens to ban that channel every time I come up with a new “project” *grins*)

It’s during times like these where I have to dig deep and put aside the harsh reality of the disgusting bathroom we are currently tearing apart—

And begin to imagine this scene instead.

Or when the reality of the contractor who showed up to do the plumbing is nothing like the fantasy you had in my mind threatens the image in my head of the slice of near perfect alpha male perfection I want to show up in my book…

Despite the ups and downs of reality we all must go through and the challenge of writing under very uncomfortable situations to meet our deadlines, I’m eternally grateful that life is never boring. It might make me want to pull my hair out more often than I’d like, but it keeps me on my toes and hopefully strengthens my brain for the next challenge lurking around the corner.

At least when we need a break from the reality of day-to-day life, we can pick up a book and slip into a new world. What would we do without them?

Thank you so much to Delilah for hosting me today. It’s always great to come and visit.

Eliza

Eliza Gayle lives a life full of sexy shapeshifters, blood boiling vamps and a dark desire for bondage…until she steps away from her computer and has to tend to her family.

Check out Eliza’s brand new release, Purgatory Masters: Tucker’s Fall, or her many other books listed on her website at elizagayle.net.

When Secret Fantasies Are Revealed, Stormy Sex May Prevail

We all do it. We know we shouldn’t and we probably feel a little guilty about it—but we still do it.

Keep secrets from our spouses.

Sometimes it’s a way to preserve a little piece of ourselves.

Sometimes it’s because we’re afraid for him to know the truth.

Do you ever wonder if your partner would still love you if he or she knew the real truth?

Bella, the feisty heroine of my latest novella, Extreme Couponing, is scared to death to let her husband Tae know her deep dark secret. That the strong, confident woman he fell in love with secretly yearns to be utterly dominated.

She would do anything to keep her handsome hubby happy—even pretend to be something she’s not.

If you’ve read any of my books, you know—you know—Tae is going to find out. And he’s going to give Bella what she needs.

And how.

The book blurb and excerpt follow.

But here’s my question for you: Have you ever kept a deep dark secret from your partner? What did it cost you? And when you came clean, did it make your marriage better?

I must admit, I am guilty. Of a lot of little lies. But the only ones I will divulge in public are pretty tame. For example, yes, I probably am not completely honest about how many times I visit the casino. I certainly don’t admit how many times I troll pictures of super hot guys on Pinterest!

My other sinister confession: All right. Yes. I do it. Sometimes I sneak vegetables into his meatloaf and don’t tell him until after he tells me how yummy it is.

Hah! So there.

As far as my other secrets…well, you’ll just have to wonder.

Please read on for information about my books, contests and coming releases!!

Have a wonderful day, and thanks, Delilah, for letting me ramble on!

About Sabrina York

Sabrina is an award winning author of erotic romance with over a dozen titles available, ranging from sweet & sexy erotic romance to BDSM to erotic horror. Connect with her on twitter @sabrina_york or Facebook.

Check out Sabrina’s books and read an excerpt on her webpage (www.sabrinayork.com) or explore on Amazon or at Ellora’s Cave.

Coming Releases

• Extreme Couponing (Novella): Available January 23, 2013 from Ellora’s Cave
• Dark Fancy, the scorching prequel to Folly (Short Novel): Available February 22, 2013 From Ellora’s Cave
• Man Hungry (Short Story): Available March 31, 2013 from Ellora’s Cave

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Win a Tiara From Her Royal Hotness!

Enter to win a gorgeous tiara by signing up for Sabrina York’s Royal Hotsheet (new book and contest info only–no spam! Your e-mail address will not be shared). If you’re already getting the newsletter, don’t fret. You’re already in the drawing. Send an email with “Enter Me” in the subject line (this is erotica, after all) to sabrina@sabrinayork.com. The drawing will be March 31, 2013.

One entry per person.

Refer Your Friends Bonus Entries
Tell your friends about Sabrina York, Her Royal Hotness. If they sign up for Sabrina’s Hotsheet you earn another entry, plus a chance at a Referrals Only drawing for more bling. (NOTE: They must tell me that you referred them in the message box so I can give you credit).

Good luck!!!

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A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Bella adores Tae. He is sweet and patient and gentle. She would do anything to keep her handsome hubby happy—even pretend to be something she’s not. She ignores that niggling dissatisfaction with their very vanilla marriage. But secretly, she yearns for something darker.

When Tae discovers—quite by accident—about Bella’s secret desires, he is determined to fulfill her every fantasy—and his. He devises a wicked coupon book full of naughty commands and fiendish challenges. From spankings to bondage to erotic play with household implements, he tests her limits.

With each coupon Tae redeems, Bella sinks deeper and deeper into the lifestyle she has always craved but never had the courage to demand. Can they find a place that allows her to be the strong independent woman he fell in love with and the quivering sub she is at her core?

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks, Delilah, for inviting me to be a guest blogger. I hope you’ll feel better soon!

Even the most vivid imagination needs a little push…

“Creativity – like human life itself – begins in darkness,” American author Julia Cameron once said. For me, that darkness is the darkness in a movie theatre before the lights begin to shine on the silver screen…

Let’s face it – it’s hard to set the mood sometimes. Especially when a deadline is looming. There are those writers who observe professional, strict writing rules. They start their day early in the morning, have coffee, and sit down, have more coffee, write for a few hours straight, have a break, then continue writing.

While I admire such discipline, it never was for me. How to have a lunch break when you character is just in the middle of breaking up their relationship? Or what if inspiration doesn’t care one bit about the schedule you set? If all you can think about is unpaid bills, dirty dishes in the kitchen and the visit of the in-laws tomorrow?

Besides, most of us have day jobs, so time to write erotica and romance is spare and needs to be used as it comes.

 How do you get into the writing mood? What inspires you most?

For me, it’s the movies. Especially on grey and chilly January days like these, I need sweeping movie melodies to spark my creativity, and a look out of Robert Redford’s blues eyes. Or Isabella Rossellini’s green ones. I need sentences like “Am I K in your book? I think I must be,” from The English Patient, or universal truths like “I don’t mind making a fool of myself over you”, which Maggie the Cat says to the man she loves in Cat On The Hot Tin Roof.

It’s those sentences that are so magical in their simplicity that touch me most, and make my mind wander, such as when Rocky said to his future brother-in-law about love of his life, Adrian: “I dunno, she’s got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.” Sentences that tell a whole world: “I think I wrote that stupid book, in a way, to try to find you,” and utterly sad and beautiful ones, also said by Ethan Hawke’s character in Before Sunset: “I feel like if someone were to touch me, I’d dissolve into molecules.”

Gone is the writer’s block, the dirty dishes are forgotten, and the unpaid bills remain unpaid a bit longer, or to say it with Bruce Willis: “Yippie-kai-yay, motherfucker.”

Before writing Her Hero for Delilah’s upcoming anthology Smokin’ Hot Firemen, I watched Backdraft (for the umpteenth time). I wonder why there are such few movies about fire fighters, compared to the importance of their work, the sacrifices they make, and the stories they could tell, and compared to movies about other professions. Anyway, I hope you’ll find the passion and bravery and longing that the movie portrays reflected in my story.

To sort of quote Cora Blu, who wrote on this blog a week ago: Now you know the movie buff in me.

More on movies and the stories they inspired on www.catherinepaulssen.com or Twitter: @CatePaulssen

Ideas…Where Do They Come From?

I think most authors will tell you that one of the most frequently asked questions they get is: Where do your ideas come from?

The answer may vary slightly from author to author, but most writers I know will tell you their ideas come from everywhere! A spark of a plot may come from an overheard snippet of conversation or a television show. Inspiration may strike when reading a magazine, listening to the radio or viewing a movie. A brilliant concept could appear in a dream or the muse may smack you in the face with your latest book idea from out of nowhere.

Now you may be saying to yourself, everyone watches television, reads magazines and has interesting dreams. And that’s true. But what makes the writer different from everyone else is that they delve deeper and start asking questions. I like to call them the “what if” questions. What would a character do if she found herself in certain situation? What happens next?

Authors will also take seemingly unrelated ideas and connect them. That’s what happened to me with my latest Samhain Publishing release—Night of the Tiger. I was on one of my Yahoo groups a few years back and someone had posted one of those blog quizzes. You know the ones. You click a few buttons to answer some questions and they tell you which color most represents you, which cookie you are like, or which zoo animal you might be (if you were indeed an animal). On this particular day, the quiz was about carnival rides. I filled out the questionnaire and discovered if I was a carnival ride I would be a carousel. No surprise there. I’m not one for roller coasters or other death-defying rides. A slow, gentle carousel suits me just fine.

But I kept thinking about the carousel and wondered what one might look like if the animals were more exotic, maybe even mythical, rather than your run-of-the-mill horses. Then I started asking the “what if” questions. What if the animals on the rides were really trapped there by an ancient curse. What if they were really immortal shapeshifting warriors. Why were they there? How would they escape? What dangers would surround them? Throw in an ancient feud between a god and goddess and I had the seeds for not just one book, but a new series.

These thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone and I outlined a four-book series I entitled Hades’ Carnival. Night of the Tiger is the first book and introduces you to Roric, immortal warrior and tiger, and the very mortal woman who helps break his curse.

To win the battle for his soul, he may have to sacrifice the woman who set him free.

Hades’ Carnival, Book 1

https://store.samhainpublishing.com/night-tiger-p-7182.html

Aimee Horner lives and breathes her career as a graphic novel illustrator, but she never expected it would invade her dreams. In recent months, worsening nightmares have pulled her into the darkest corners of Hell.

On a rare night out with friends at a traveling carnival, she finds herself strangely drawn to an abandoned carousel adorned with vividly exotic animals. One steed, a massive white tiger, is a temptation she can’t resist. The moment she climbs upon him, her world changes forever.

More than five thousand years ago, Roric and his fellow shapeshifting warriors were imprisoned in their animal forms, a last-ditch effort by the goddess they served to save them from the horrors of Hell.

With one special woman’s touch, he has a chance at freedom and redemption—but the clock is ticking. If he is still alive in twenty-four hours, the spell will be broken, and Hell will have no claim on his soul. The only hitch is his blazing attraction to Aimee. If only he could trust that she isn’t merely a distraction sent by Hades—luscious bait to lure him from his mission.

So you see, writers find their inspiration everywhere, which is why there are a never-ending supply of stories to tell. So when they tell you the ideas for their books come from everywhere, they’re telling you the absolute truth.

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N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:

Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Group: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters

Sorry this is up late! Between illness and internet outages,
I’ve been having a terrible time keeping up with things! ~DD

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Welcome to Small Towns, Big Personalities—An Exploration of Setting as a Character

Hello, my name is Cyndi Faria and I’d like to thank Delilah Devlin for hosting me today. One of the topics I’ve studied and would like to share is Personality Types. A writer can use setting as another character, be that as a protagonist or an antagonist. If you’re a reader, watch for the following techniques used by your favorite author.

Of the Nine Personality Types, consider the Reformer (Type One). If this were a real person, their occupation might be as a crusader, advocate for positive change, or teacher. As a healthy One, Reformers are wise, discerning, humane, hopeful, warm, and friendly. On the other hand, unhealthy Reformers are self-righteous, intolerant, hypocritical, condemning, and willing to be cruel to rid themselves of “wrong-doers.” Their ultimate fear is of being corrupt, evil, and defective. Their desire is to be good and to have integrity and balance. I bet you know a real One.

Setting can be typecast as a character who must also consider the thematic premise. In my current work in progress, I’ve typecast my setting as a Reformer who must also bear the consequences of secrets and the resulting oppression (Think: the truth will set you free).

The Beginning (An Unhealthy Reformer And Town):

Enter a cursed drive by coastal town shrouded by both storm and mist. Bedrock below. A restless sea sits to the west. A coastal range overshadows the town from the east. A highway carves a swath and separates the marina’s blue collar folks and stilted cottages from the bluffs’ white collar citizens and estates. The town’s grey hub boasts a diner with peeling paint and boutique fronted by a leafless sycamore tree. Because of the dwindling fishing industry, the one-block town’s corroded lampposts are missing light bulbs. Due to law enforcement budget cuts, the highway traffic rarely respects the 35 mph sign. At the edge of town perched on a rocky crag overlooking the pacific, a lone mission church steeple pierces the condemning sky. The mission bell rarely tolls in celebration of life and marriage, but more often to announce death, forever reminding the citizens of their inescapable errors and the curse that tethers the secret-keeping founding families to the foggy town inhabited by spirits seeking redemption.

Similar to a fictional character, in this four book series, book one represents Act 1 in the series arc. In a well-written novel, a character’s flaws must be shown just as the town’s flaws are shown. Hence by the end of book one, the town has debated and decided to move in a new direction.

How To Show New Direction:

Culminating Act One, the church bell chimes in celebration of a new marriage. The newly painted lampposts’ lights twinkle. The entire community has rallied together for a single cause as two citizens faced challenges relating to the theme and have moved into wholeness, essence, healthiness. Therefore the curse lifts for the couple as they enter their happily-ever-after. The town hasn’t completely changed, however. This absolute transformation will come at the end of the series.

The Series End Results (A Healthy Reformer and Town):

The highway has been rerouted, so the town is no longer divided. Visitors can leisurely shop and enjoy the warmth exemplified by newly painted building facades, the addition of welcome banners, and lamppost floral baskets. Clear skies bless the harbor and fishing boats fill the marina. A farmers’ market bustles with tourists. A new church has been erected near the historic mission, never forgotten but finally released from bondage as the citizens have been freed from the curse.

The next time you pick up a book, will you see the setting in a new light? The next time you drive by an unmapped town, will you wonder about the dynamics, politics, economics, and inhabitants in that town? Of the history behind the original settlers? I bet you will now.

To learn more about yourself and Personality Types visit www.cyndifaria.com/more-than-skin-and-bones-characterization

Happy reading and writing,

Cyndi Faria

Leading the lost to happily ever after…

An engineer turned romance writer, Cyndi Faria satisfies her craving for structure with cursed spirits, lost souls, harbingers, and a haunted coastal town. On and off her sexy romance pages, this California country girl isn’t afraid to dirty her hands fighting for the underdog. Find her helping fellow writers at www.cyndifaria.com, eyes attuned to her e-reader illuminating the midnight hour, or short-order cooking for family and friends while knee-deep in critters as she leads the lost to a place called home.

Follower her on Twitter: @cyndifaria

Love Equality

One of my favorite parts of being a romance writer is meeting the characters who shape the story. I know that sounds a little odd, but trust me. Beyond giving them a name and a few physical attributes, they are their own people. Sometimes to such an extreme that I have to exert my author-ly influence and reel them back in, or worse, leave tasty tidbits on the cutting room floor.

I love creating characters of all shapes, sizes, colors, and creeds. I like to mix them up and place them in atypical situations. I also love exploiting stereotypes almost as much as I adore sketching out a renegade. Depending on my mood that day, I may resist typecasting or I may embrace it to the nth degree. You never know. Doesn’t matter which way I go, everyone will meet his/her match. It may not be the one they expect, but it all works out in the end.

You see, I believe in love equality.

There are a few preconceived notions about what will play with romance readers. Some people think heroes or heroines should not be over a certain age. They shouldn’t have jobs/lives/families that are too typical, lest they be considered boring. They should be preternaturally good-looking, and effortlessly physically fit.

In other words, they don’t want to hear my love story.

I didn’t meet the love of my life until I was over *gasp* thirty.  I’ve held jobs in accounting, insurance, and human resources. My family is large and noisy, but we all get along disgustingly well. I’m not beautiful, but I don’t scare small children when I smile at them. And as for my body…well, I have a nice rack. Too bad I have the hips, belly, and thighs to match. Still, after eleven years and a lot of ups and downs, our love affair is just as fierce as it was when we fell for one another.

Real life love isn’t perfect. As a matter of fact, it’s often far from it. That’s why I love creating not-quite-flawless characters.

I’ve spent the past year writing a collection of twelve novellas set in a small Missouri town. The Hot Nights in St. Blaise series is centered on a fundraising calendar that changes the lives of the volunteers with the guts to expose themselves in all their glory. Each story is unique, and every relationship as savory as it is steamy. Some of the characters may be pretty, some not so camera-ready. A few may have youth on their side, while others know the richness experience brings to a relationship. A couple buck societal notions, and some push their personal boundaries both in the bedroom and out. This series was great fun to write and I am beyond excited to share it with you!

After all, there’s nothing more satisfying than watching two imperfect people find perfect love.

Be sure to check out book one in the Hot Nights in St. Blaise series, Jumping Mr. January!

When she pitched the idea for The Men and Women of St. Blaise Regional Medical Center fundraising calendar to her Board of Directors, Beth Watkins thought she wrote the perfect prescription for the small town hospital’s budget shortfall.

The moment she got a green light, Beth went after the man she wanted to be her Mr. January and so much more. She had no time to waste. Hunky EMT Robert ‘Spence’ Spencer was leaving for medical school within weeks of the photo shoot she arranged and there was no way on earth Beth was going to miss the chance to sneak a peek at her old high school crush in all his glory.

Focused and dedicated, Spence wants bigger things than his hometown can offer, but when brainy, sexy Beth Watkins breezes back into St. Blaise with a plan that includes getting into his pants, he finds she is the one woman who can offer him something he doesn’t want to refuse.

Be sure to visit my website for a taste of each delicious St. Blaise story coming in 2013.

Buy Jumping Mr. January at: Turquoise Morning Press Bookstore | Amazon | All Romance eBooks

Thank you Delilah for inviting me into your home.

I would love to tell you about something I do to relax that I just love. I’m a very domestic person. Gardening by the age of five. My father taught me how to make pepper steak at ten. I worked on farms, literally. I slaughtered chickens, hogs etc.

I picked up a love for fabric sewing with my mother. Unbelievably, my hubby gave me a sewing machine as a wedding present. A used “White” for those that sew. I knew I had the right man. Then after our first child was born, I started making baby clothes and pillows and then… the crib blanket.

Any one having a baby I started picking out fabric squares.  I wish I’d taken more pictures through the years, but I did it for fun. Then a gentleman I worked with complained he couldn’t find a heavy blanket like the one’s his mother used when he was a boy. He asked if I could make one and I fell in love all over again.

Only pictures of the recent one’s are on the computer. The other’s are in photo albums.

The one with the baby is my daughter and hubby. She’s eighteen now.

The purple quilt I made for my youngest’s purple and green party. Kids wore purple, teenage helpers wore green.

Now my latest project will be to make the cover of my fantasy book into a quilt and give it away during my release for book II in a month or so.

Now you know the country girl in me.

Thank you for allowing me to share a bit of what I do other than write, with your readers.

Cora Blu