Yet again something fun from Amie Stuart's blog...You Are Fun Sexy 
What Kind of Sexy Are You?
(You can't read the headline but I'm fun sexy...whoo hoo!)
Check out my post on Friday at The Word Flirts.
I hung out at Joyfully Reviewed yesterday. It was contemporary day for authors and it was swamped with excerpts, contests, excerpts and more excerpts.
Let me tell you, I read soooo many good excerpts! I can't believe how many great ebooks there are. Actually, I can believe it. I just hadn't faced the reality yet, I guess.
What I'm saying is there's a lot of talent in the epublishing ranks. I was literally reading samples from author's books and writing down the names of them so I can go buy them later. I also bought two. And I want to buy more. A LOT more. Which means I'm going to be broke, but I'll have some great reading material.
I'm just floored by the writing talent. The creative plots. Stuff that made me think, "Wow, wish I would've thought of that!" Just really impressive books.
You know, there's such a limited amount of room in the NY publishing houses. They only produce so many books per month, per year. And there's so many talented writers out there, so many people who would love to be in print with a NY house, but your chances are slim cos the slots are so few.
That's the great thing about ebooks. They are producing quality work in mass amounts. Which for us, as readers AND writers, is a plus. All the books to choose from to read, and so little time! All the publishers to submit to, whoo wee! It's wonderful!!
So today I sing the praises of ebooks. There are some pretty fantastic authors out there -- and some pretty great publishers too. And to think a year and a half ago I really didn't know much about them. I was missing out!
What's your overall impression of ebooks? Wave of the future? Gonna grow bigger and brighter or slowly die out? Personally, I think they're here to stay. But maybe I'm partial...
First of all, thanks Julie Cohen for turning me on (ha ha) to this website. She helped me out after I complained I couldn't find any good man hand pics.
Of course, this isn't a man hand pic but I couldn't resist:
Ryan Reynolds is HOT! I shall be sampling from the vast amount of pics the website has for many weeks/months to come.
Second, I have become a part of a Yahoo author loop, started by fellow Cobblestone author Ann Cory. She has expanded it to include me, along with other Cobblestone authors Madison Chase, Emma Petersen and Mia Romano.
This group is going to be a lot of fun, and is very author friendly. We encourage other authors to hang out, share their news and promote themselves shamelessly!
I will be hanging out over there off and on for the rest of the day, sharing excerpts, a last chance to enter my contest and other fun and exciting stuff (well, I hope so!). Email anncory-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe.
Okay, and I'm swamped because I just finished a short story, I started the first edits on Haunted Dreams and I'm one-third in on a novella I'm writing for Cobblestone. Besides the fact that I want to clean my refrigerator today.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
Okay, when I first think of man hands, I'm always reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry went out with the woman with man hands. Every time they'd have a scene together it was literally a man's hand reaching out to touch Jerry. Hilarious, but anyway...
I have become obssessed with men's hands. I check them out as much as possible, and I also like to admire the arms that are attached to those hands too.
What is wrong with me? I was behind a car this morning with four dudes in it, all of the windows were rolled down and every single one of them had their arms hanging out, hands gripping the top of the window frame. I was in man hand heaven!
I tried to find a picture of some hot man hands, but that was impossible. I found a lot of porn though. What else is new? But check this pic out. Not only are his hands sexy, but the whole dang package is sexy! Except the cig hanging out of his mouth.
I'm such a dork! Fellow Cobblestone author Madison Chase posted an interview she did with me a few days ago and I forgot to post a link of it! I've been busy since husband came back home and daughter's been going to preschool. That's my only excuse.
So here it is.
If you want to learn a few things about me, check it out. If not, don't check it out. I'm not that exciting anyway. LOL
On a positive note, I've been writing like a fool. And it feels good!
I received the results of a contest I entered back in June. I entered a scene from a manuscript I wrote for HQ Blaze (never sent it), and yeah, I didn't place, but my average score was 84.67.
Not great but not terrible. Here were the break downs -- 4 scores, lowest thrown out -- 95, 86, 73, and 64(!!!).
The two highest scores, you could tell they've read some Blazes. I felt like they "got me," and what was so funny is that one of the judges said, "heat this up a notch or two and make it erotic romance!" Ha ha, I've been thinking of doing that with this manuscript, so I found that fitting.
The 73 was a bit too picky about adverbs and thought the premise was completely unbelievable, which was fine cos she also admitted she doesn't read Blazes at all. The worst score actually gave me the most interesting comments. She didn't think the story was bad, just needed some work. And she had some interesting points that I won't go into here cos they're just too numerous! Plus, she wrote all over the entry so she really put a lot of time and energy into it, which I appreciate.
I don't plan on entering any more contests - I sent this one off the day before I submitted Release Me to Cobblestone, and I'm not saying I'm a bad ass or anything, but I don't want to enter contests because I just want to get to work on submitting actual manuscripts to publishers.
Besides, they cost too much and right now we're broke.
So do you find contests helpful or a waste of time? I know people have blogged about this before but I just wanted to get opinions.
And I do plan on revising and sending that Blaze hopeful to an erotic romance publisher. I hope to work on that near the end of the year.
On another note, my daughter went to her first day of preschool today. **Sniff.**
She was so excited, and did so good. I'm proud of her.
Found this on Amie Stuart's blog.
What kind of sex are you?
And it might get me in trouble again, considering Photobucket banned Mr. Bean in his underwear. I had a small copy of this pic up on my desk at work a few years ago, my kind and thoughtful friend and coworker gave it to me, laminated and everything (to prevent it from getting ruined by drool, I guess) and a manager (male) said it was a form of harrassment and I had to take it down.
He said this cos he just got busted for having some sexy girls in bikinis-type calendar in his office. Ha ha - my pic of Marky Mark grabbing his crotch in his undies harrassed him. I still have that laminated pic.
>
Oooooh, Marky's pissed! I hear he HATES being called Marky Mark. Sorry, Mark Wahlberg.
I've blogged about men's backs before, but I'm going to say it again. Love 'em!
Aaah, my Saturday homage to Marky Mark, a la Calvin Klein underwear ads from 1992-1993.
Come see me over here.
In my blog hopping travels I came across Alison Kent's blog, where she was asking fellow writers to read and blog about a chapter from her book coming out, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance.
I decided to jump on that opportunity and Chapter 12 - Sex Isn't Always About Love, arrived in the mail on Monday. I'm going to blog about it for the next few days, so I hope you tune in because the chapter was an easy and interesting read. I'm definitely going to buy this book. As I read it a lightbulb went on over my head and caused me to add something to my current wip. See? One chapter and it already helped me! Guess I'm a complete idiot. LOL
Here are the main topics:
- Connecting physical and emotional pleasure
- Using sex as a plot device in an erotic romance
- Discovering the most intense and intimate reassurance of life
- Curing a character's ills
As Kent points out from the get-go, authors of erotic romance normally write the opposite of a "traditional" romance - the love grows from a sexual relationship instead of sex coming after love between the hero and heroine. So true.
Sex feels good and our characters wanna do it, a lot of the time with no strings attached. Of course, this is never the case, because after all, it's about the romance. There are all kinds of strings attached, but our silly characters just don't realize it yet, until after the fact.
So what kinds of realistic activities can our characters participate in that seem simple on the surface, but turn into something much more complicated? Here are some examples:
- The good ol' One Night Stand: A standard, one I've used more than a few times. But come on, you can't miss with this one.
- The "Bed Buddy": You know, the couple that get together when nothing else is going on and they want to feel connected to someone, enjoy a little free and easy sex. Then one of them realizes they want more than just occasional sex, which really throws a kink in the term "bed buddy." Damn emotions. LOL
- The Casual Affair: Similar to the Bed Buddy, but with a little more thrown in. The heroine has no time for a romantic relationship, she just wants someone she can rely on when she needs a date to a company function, or wants to go out to dinner, and maybe a little sex thrown in to sweeten the deal. Then she starts to fall in love with Mr. Casual. Uh oh.
And I haven't even gotten into the meat of this chapter! Check back, I'm blogging next about the emotions involved in sex that don't include love. Yeah, baby.
FULL SWING by Crystal Jordan(Cobblestone Press, August 18, 2006)
The only place they still communicate is between the sheets...a professional woman golfer and an Army Ranger struggle to save their marriage after he's seriously injured in combat and has to retire. Outside the bedroom, everything is falling apart because he believes she deserves better than a broken man, but she dreams of a future when they stop fighting and start talking long enough to reclaim the happily ever after that once seemed so certain.
ABOUT CRYSTAL JORDAN: Crystal Jordan only began writing about a year ago after she finished graduate school and needed something to fill the hours that used to be eaten away by homework. What started as a hobby has quickly become a new career. She now writes paranormal, futuristic, contemporary, and erotic romance. Additionally, she is a member of RWA and its erotic romance chapter, Passionate Ink. She also belongs to the award winning author's resource website and forum RomanceDivas.com, where she serves as a moderator and Paranormal Co-Liaison.
A handsome stranger haunts Kara's dreams, and she's stunned when she meets him at the Halloween charity ball. Staying the night in a haunted house just might bring her closer to Hayden, but will it be close enough to satisfy the ghost lovers who need them to unite – forever?
Haunted Dreams, coming in October at Cobblestone Press.
I'm participating in a Book in a Week deal going on at the Villa in Tuscany blog.
Now I know I'm not going to literally write a book in a week. If I had nothing else to worry about but writing then it could be feasible. But that's so not the case in my house...
Anway, I'm participating in this to give me that extra push to write. And it also helps to be held accountable and have to check in every day. Actually, that really, really helps me. So off I go.
Wish me luck! I'll be checking in, of course, with my progress (notice the positive statement - no negative thinking here!). Oh! And I have a special little something I'll probably share with you all tomorrow. Hee hee, what a tease I am...
Ok, I know this has been discussed before but I can't help but bring it up again.
What's wrong with writing romance?
Since my book just came out, of course I've been "coming out" to my friends and family and letting them know what's going on. And a few of them, even though I know they're not being mean or anything, have said, "Oh, a romance huh?" Like that sucks or something. Even had someone suggest I move on to something else once I get this romance thing out of my blood. WTF?
And when I tell them it's an erotic romance then they're really thrown for a loop! I can understand that, but come on, what's so wrong with writing a romance??
Some of the best books I've ever read have been romances. I enjoy reading romances and I enjoy writing romances. Nothing wrong with writing happy endings, delicious sexual tension and hot sex scenes. It's hard work, but so rewarding! So there.
I feel like a little kid but damn it, we deserve respect! And I don't feel like those who know me and know what I'm doing disrespect me, but I think they want more from me. And maybe this is all I want to give. To be a romance writer. There is nothing wrong with that. At all.
So I'm going to say it again. What the hell is wrong with writing romance?
NOTHING.
I need some! Bad! Even with my family visiting I've accomplished quite a bit this week in a lot of areas except for...yep, you guessed it. Writing!
What the hell is wrong with me? I thought I was back on track last week and it's all fallen apart. Makes me frustrated. Worries me! So I decided yesterday afternoon, 'just take a break. Your brain probably needs it.' But I still can't help but worry! Ugh.
Someone, somewhere is hosting a BIAW next week. I'm thinking of doing it. To force my creativity, so to speak. I mean, I know I won't literally write a book in a week, but I could probably get a lot done.
So look, watch me convince myself to do it! I'm such a freak.
Anybody else want to join me? Now I gotta go find the blog hosting the BIAW...
My parents are coming to stay for the week, which is nice since my husband is out of town for business. My kids are excited to see their grandparents and I'm excited to have a couple extra sets of hands to help me out!
So I probably won't be around as much this week cos I'll be "entertaining." Plus, I should take everyone else's advice and lay off the internet for a while and actually get some quality writing done.
I should have been writing last night but what did I do? Surf a website, looking for cool backgrounds for my myspace page! How lame is that? And I stayed up way too late again, the baby didn't sleep good (he's normally the best sleeper ever - slept through the night when he was one month! Don't know what's wrong with him right now) and he slept with me which was AWFUL! So yet again I'm draggin' ass.
Wish me luck on the writing thing - hope you all have a productive week as well!
I had to call my mom and ask her to pick a number to draw for the winner of my blog comment goody basket! My kids are too small, the 12 yr old is at his dad's house and husband is out of town.
So anyhoo....
The winner is Bren! Congrats Bren - you get a goody basket (including two sample size items from Bath & Body Works - whoo hoo!) for leaving a comment on my blog! How awesome is that?
Send me an email at karen @ karenwritesromance.com (minus spaces) with your mailing address and I'll send it out to you on Tuesday.
I'm so tired. I went to bed late, didn't sleep well, had daughter on one side and son on the other, and then we woke up at 6:30 a.m. Gag! These kids drive me nuts sometimes. Good thing I love them...LOL.
I just wanted to thank everyone for making my first release day so much fun yesterday. I was able to hang around the computer pretty much all day until my butt was numb, and I had a blast.
Thanks to Kat for reading Release Me straight through, unable to quit even though she was at work!
Thanks to M.E. for the great review. Appreciate it.
Thanks to my sister in law Kim for reading it. I probably shocked the hell out of her and she'll never look at me the same way again, but oh well. She still supported me!
Thanks to Stacy, Julie, Shelli, and anyone else I'm missing (sorry!) for promoting me on your blog. Love you guys!
Thanks to Crystal for interviewing me and posting it on her blog today. Check it out!
Ok, enough of the awards ceremony speech. I had a lot of fun, I was so glad Stacy came to the Cobblestone chat last night (she was hilarious and we encouraged her to join the fold - I think it worked!). Just too much excitement. Really.
Even though I was so tired, I went on to write around 1,000 words on a short story that's been dwelling in the pit of my brain. Dying to come out. I thought if I just pushed through, let it see the light, it would leave me alone and then I could work on the Harvest Rune story for Cobblestone.
So all in all, a productive day.
I'm over at CataReaders (CataNetwork-Readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe) all day today chatting, so if you want to stop by, please do. I'm giving away a free download of Release Me to anyone who comments so do so! Please!
Please???
Click on the cover to go to Cobblestone's website.
Check out my real post today at Word Flirts.
I'll be all over the web come Friday and Saturday. Friday I'll be over at eBookLove (eBookLove-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe) chatting and giving away a download of Release Me. Friday evening (5-7 p.m. Pacific time) I'll be over at the Cobblestone Press (www.cobblestone-press.com) chat talking about the new releases. Saturday I'll be at CataReaders (CataNetwork-Readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe) chatting up the book and giving away a free download.
Look at me trying to become a media star! It's either that or holding up signs that say, "Please buy my book. I'm begging you!"
I've turned into a shameless hussy.
Don't forget - leave a comment all week on the blog and you're entered to win a goody basket!
Also - I've extended the date on my 'sign up for my newsletter, win Bath & Body Works stuff' contest. You all have through August 4th now to sign up (it was the 3rd). If you've already signed up, don't worry, you're in!
Ok, shameless self-plug is now over. Thank you for reading. :)
This is just a short excerpt, one to whet your appetite, so to speak. And it's not really very dirty, though let me tell you, this book is steamy with a capital S! So if you don't like erotic romance, this story is not for you.
If you like erotic romance, I hope you like Release Me cos these two can't keep their hands off each other!
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Sommer opened the door to find Ted standing on her doorstep, looking far better than any man should. His jeans were molded to his muscular legs, and his white button up shirt was untucked, with the sleeves rolled up. A lock of dark hair hung over his forehead and she was again tempted to push it back. His glasses were gone, those gorgeous eyes of his appraising her, drinking her in. She realized she didn't want to go to dinner. She didn't want to leave the house. She wanted to grab his hand, yank him inside, and drag him to her bedroom instead.
"Miss Daniels," he said with a smile, and she sucked in a breath at the sight of it. Her knees felt like they could melt.
"Theodore." Sommer nodded at him politely. She realized she loved it when he called her Miss Daniels. Made her feel like a naughty schoolteacher.
He stuck his hands in his pockets. "You know, no one calls me Theodore except my Aunt Betty."
"Your Aunt Betty and me," she corrected.
He chuckled. "Everyone who knows me and loves me calls me Teddy."
"Well, I don't really know you and I certainly don't love you, so Theodore will have to do for now." She paused, arched a brow at him. "Would you like to come in for a minute? Before we go to dinner?"
"I would love to come in, Miss Daniels."
She held the door open and Ted walked in, stopping in the entryway to survey her home. He smiled over his shoulder at her. "Very nice."
"Thank you," she said as she shut the door.
"You've done quite well for yourself, Miss Daniels."
"Please." She walked over so she stood beside him, and ran her hand over his broad shoulder. "How many times do I have to remind you? Call me Sommer."
"I always seem to forget that...Sommer. For whatever reason, you're just Miss Daniels to me."
"Except when you're in the throes of an orgasm. I've noticed you don't call me Miss Daniels then." She smiled wickedly.
His eyes turned at least two shades darker, as they seemed to do when he was turned on. "You're right. It doesn't seem proper yelling out Miss Daniels when I'm inside of you."
Mmm. His words conjured up all sorts of images, things she wouldn't mind trying. With him. Mr. My Name is Ted and It Rhymes with Bed. She really needed to get her mind out of the gutter. "Would you like something to drink?"
He shook his head, reached out, and pulled her to him, until her body was flush against his.
"What I would like, is you."
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Remember, leave a comment on my blog and you're entered for a chance to win a goody basket! And the more comments you leave, the more times your name is entered! Good luck!
