Author: Elisabeth

King of Darkness

I have been so remiss in blogging it is downright embarrassing. I could make excuses and whatnot, but the bottom line is that I get pretty easily overwhelmed these days. But here to please you, I have cover art! And a blurb! And an excerpt! I SO hope it pings on your happy places. King of Darkness releases Feb 1 2012 from Sourcebooks Casablanca for your vampire romance pleasure. It is available NOW for preorder from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Oh, and don’t forget to put it on your TBR list on Goodreads. 😉

Blurb:

ETERNAL COMMITMENT IS NOT ON HER AGENDA…

Scorned by the vampire community for her lack of power, Isabel Anthony lives a carefree existence masquerading as human—although, drifting among the debauched human nightlife, she prefers the patrons’ blood to other indulgences. But when she meets the king of vampires this party girl’s life turns dark and dangerous.

BUT TIME’S RUNNING OUT FOR THE KING OF VAMPIRES…

Dead-set on finding the prophesied mate who will unlock his fiery powers, Thad Morgan must find his queen before their race is destroyed. Their enemies are gaining ground, and Thad needs his powers to unite his subjects. But when his search leads him to the defiant Isabel, he wonders if fate has gotten it seriously wrong…

Excerpt:

“Jesus, T. What is this place?”

Thad Morgan scanned the sparse industrial interior of the massive warehouse turned dance club. From just inside the doorway, he passed his preternatural vision over the writhing crowd of humans. Most of the populace bounced in time to bass-heavy techno music, stopping only to grope their nearest neighbor. Some gazed upward in awe at a raised platform of fire-eaters, and still more worshipped at a DJ stand opposite the entrance as if it were an altar. A scrolling sign overhead announced something called the Crystal Method. The humans partied with abandon and apparently little regard for their eardrums.

“I think they call it a rave,” Thad murmured to his friend.

And apparently at 3:00 a.m., the night was still young for the party kids in Orlando.

Thad’s hands clenched and released. How were they going to do this? The club was friggin’ huge and packed to the gills, from the crowded floor full of scantily clad dancers with glow sticks to the teeming balconies where couples and even groups were involved in more intimate acts such as massage and… whatnot. It was hard to fathom how in the hell they were going to find the female they were looking for in this place.

Already overheated, Thad pushed up the sleeves of his leather jacket and fingered the scar on his forearm, tracing slowly over the two intersecting lines that flaredinto a Y at each end, like a crude Armenian cross. The
small patch of skin was even hotter than the rest of him
and throbbed in time with the pounding electronic music
that was drilling a hole in his skull. He could almost
swear the scar was glowing, but the haze of laser lights
and cigarette smoke made it tough to be certain.

“She’s in here, Lee. I can feel it,” he said tightly.

Once again, King of Darkness releases 2/1/2012 from Sourcebooks. The paperback can be ordered now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble (You can even preorder on Kindle and Nook and I THINK it will automatically download on the release date!!).  And to everyone who’s already contacted me to tell me how psyched they are about the book, thanks so much! Y’all rock my world.
And if  you would like to be kept in the loop on future goings on, I would love for you to join me on on Facebook and Twitter.

My lesson in “$h**t happens.”

So I’m still pretty behind the ball these days, but I wanted to take a moment to stress a point that was stressed to me before I got my first writing contract: prepare as much as you possibly can, because once you have deadlines, sh**t WILL go wrong to keep you from meeting them.

All the seasoned writers who gave me that warning? You folks were right. Boy, were you ever.

Because even though people told me–lots of people–I didn’t quite grasp it. So here’s the deal. KING of DARKNESS comes out in mass-market paperback in February and I am super-mega thrilled, but there’s been a lot of hurry up and wait in the process. All the way back in January of 2011 I signed the contract with Sourcebooks, and it wasn’t until…I want to say late May that I finally had a lovely talk with my editor (Deb Werksman, who I just LOVE) and she told me very nicely that she felt I needed to re-conceptualize a fairly juicy chunk of the novel. Ideally, in about 3 weeks.

Yikes.

But, “Okay, no sweat,” I said. It seemed tight, but doable. I am the at-home parent to 3 kids, but those kids were in preschool part-time, and hubby would help if he could on the weekends. We had a sitter who came a few hours a week. So we’d work it out. Well, then our air conditioning died, so for a week I got nothing done because it was too hot to stay in the house, and the kids couldn’t sleep. Then, the preschool was closed for a school holiday. The babysitter got food poisoning, so there went my childcare help during the weekdays for awhile. Hubby had some work issues that ate up the weekends. Ugh! Oh, yeah, and I was rear-ended by a Lexus SUV while driving my friend’s Honda Civic and then sitting to type was painful due to getting banged up in the fender-bender. I mean–seriously?? If it could go wrong in those three weeks, it did.

But I did make my deadline. Not easily, and not without losing a lot of sleep. Not without swallowing a lot of ibuprofen. But I searched every nook and cranny I could for people who could help me watch the kids, and when my babysitter was back on her feet after my manuscript was in, I paid her to come watch my kids so I could SLEEP. I thanked my lucky stars that Amazon delivered coffee straight to my door. A LOT of coffee.

And I prayed that I could still deliver a good book, despite all the insanity.

So what else could I have done, in retrospect? I would have lined up some backup babysitters, for one thing. Maybe asked the preschool if they had any extra enrollment days once I knew what the deadline was going to be. There might not have been much, but there *were* things in retrospect that I could have done to be more proactive. Ah. Well.

So…planning, folks. It’ll save ya a lot of anguish.

I’ll know for next time. Though God willing it’s not another car accident. Or the central air.

Please.

Sex Has a Formula?! by Marsha A. Moore


This was originally posted by Marsha A. Moore at Ravencraft’s Romance Realm and my inner geek loved it so much I asked her if I could please re-post it, here. Thanks, Marsha!!

Sex Has a Formula? By Marsha A. Moore

In one workshop I attended, the instructor presented a helpful progression for structuring a sex scene. I found it useful and often refer to my notes while writing, if there isn’t some primary storyline already establishing the pace of the intimate scene.

Given you have a couple, person A and person B (gender doesn’t matter):

1)      Aggression from A
2)      Submission or pushback from B
3)      Elevated aggression or softening A
4)      Escalating physical contact between A & B
5)      Pull back/ fear/ uncertainty from either A or B
6)      Reassurance supplied by A or B (opposite from #5)
7)      Physical interaction
8)      Increasingly intense physical interaction/ both are lost to the physical sensations
9)      Completion
The moments of hesitation or pushing the other away add tension and invite a change of emotion from the partner, to be supportive or more aggressive. The drama of taking two steps forward and sliding back one builds excitement for the reader. Anticipation is a wonderful device.
As a reader, do you enjoy this gradual build up of intimacy in sex scenes more than wild abandon? As a writer, have you used this type of progression? If so, how does it work for you?

I’ll leave you with a wonderful example, a poem by E. E. Cummings—one of my favorites!

May I Feel Said He

may i feel said he
(i’ll squeal said she
just once said he)
it’s fun said she

(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she

(let’s go said he
not too far said she
what’s too far said he
where you are said she)

may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she

may i move said he
is it love said she)
now said he)
ow said she

(tiptop said he
don’t stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she

(cccome?said he
ummm said she)
you’re divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)

Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her fantasy stories. She enjoys watercolor painting and drawing. After a move from Toledo to Tampa in 2008, she’s happily transforming into a Floridian. Crazy about cycling, she usually passes the 1,000 mile mark yearly. She is learning kayaking and loving it. She’s also a yoga enthusiast and never has enough days spent at the beach, usually scribbling away at new stories with toes wiggling in the sand. Every day at the beach is magical!

Links to Marsha and her books:

Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

 

Guest Blog: Myths and Legends by J.S. Wayne

Note from Elisabeth: Many thanks to J.S. for guest blogging today, and for sharing his experiences as a man who writes erotic romance.

Myths and Legends: The Romantic Writer

First I’d like to thank our gracious and lovely hostess for having me here today! It’s always a privilege to be invited to someone else’s house; I’ll try very hard not to track mud all over your carpets.

The biggest question that people ask upon learning I’m a guy who writes erotic romance is, “Are you gay?” As my wife will attest, the answer is no. This invariably leads to another question: “What the hell possessed you to write romance stories?”

I’m a romantic at heart. Nothing brings me greater joy than watching a new love blossom. Nothing causes me more despair than seeing a once-promising relationship falter, wither, and die.

Throughout most of my life, I’ve pursued romantic love, with mixed results until I finally met my wife. I have been blessed to witness dizzying highs and cursed to weather devastating lows. The sweet thrill of the first time another person looks at you longingly and says “I love you” is a balm for a multitude of hurts. But the destructive potential of a lover looking at you with loathing and saying “I never want to see you again” is a lethally sharp cutting instrument for the soul.

Having seen all of this, it’s not surprising that for a long time, I was very cynical about love. One of my friends, in a rhapsody of romantic bliss, informed me that he was going to get married. As I’d just suffered a very nasty breakup which was an emotional bloodbath on both sides, my advice was for my friend to lock himself in a dark room and lay down until the feeling passed.

Unsurprisingly, I was not invited to be in the wedding party. Shockingly, I was still invited to the wedding. As this was several months after the breakup in question, I arrived with a date on my arm. We were promptly relegated to the farthest corner of the room with all the maiden aunts and other relatives and friends whom it would have been impolitic not to invite but whose presence could have been taken or left.

This could have been disastrous, but I elected to turn it into an opportunity. When my chance to dance with the bride arrived, I took it and, while awkwardly shuffling with her around the floor, apologized fervently for my previous behavior. I explained why I had said what I said and told her that I wished them both all the happiness they could possibly cultivate. Then I took my leave of her and went back to the table, only to be confronted by my friend. When I explained what I’d said, he got a very odd look on his face.

“I almost didn’t invite you,” he informed me. “I knew how you felt about this.”

“That was me looking at it through my own lens, not yours. And it was my mistake,” I explained.

The rift was healed, and I’m pleased to report that the couple now have two children and there’s a chance they might be expecting a third. I couldn’t be happier for them. And the experience renewed my faith and belief in love.

What that has to do with writing romance is this: I love recapturing that feeling of the first kiss. The moment when a person’s heart leaps within their chest and they suddenly dare to contemplate the idea that they might actually be able to consider being with another person. Not just for a night, or to “scratch an itch,” but forever.

I have learned that there are more ways to write erotic romance than there are writers to do it. The commonality is that ultimately, two (or more) people will find love eventually, no matter what hell the writer puts them through for them to get there. If there’s a way to make it hot for the reader, then so much the better. But the erotic element serves the romance, rather than the other way around., That’s why it’s erotic romance and not romantic erotica.

Romance isn’t the only thing I claim on my list. Urban fantasy and supernatural horror are also there right now, and I have no doubt that as time passes, I will branch out even more. For now, though, romance seems like a pretty good place to be.

A guy I work with asked me a few weeks ago, “So, I hear you’ve got a bunch of stories published.”

I confirmed this, more or less, by saying, “I’ve got a few things out there.”

“Yeah? What do you write?”

“Erotic romance?”

He looked at me like I’d grown two more heads in five seconds. After a few silent moments in which his mouth worked rather comically, he sputtered, “But you’re married. Don’t you have to be gay to write romance if you’re a guy?”

This particular individual fancies himself as a ladies’ man. He’s not, but it’s not my place to disillusion him. After weighing the relative merits of several responses, I smiled at him and said, “Check out my Facebook. You’ll notice that almost all my friends are women.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” He muttered, confused.

I laughed. “I’ve never been more popular with women.” This seemed to end the conversation, as he was unable to mount a comeback, and we drifted back to our respective tasks.

So, the biggest myth I want to dispel is that anyone can write erotic romance. If you can write well to begin with, why not? Write what you know. Write what you believe in.

Write what you want for yourself. By writing it, you may actually help create it!

Thank you all for letting me bend your ear, and thank you again, Elisabeth, for having me. It’s been a lot of fun!

Until next time,

Best,

J.S. Wayne

J.S. Wayne can be found in a lot of places, but the best and easiest to find him are:

www.jswayne.wordpress.com

www.wix.com/jswaynesite/herebemonsters

www.nobleauthors.blogspot.com

Guest Blog: The Benefits of Cheating by Jennifer Probst

Many thanks to Jennifer for guest blogging today! One lucky commenter will win a copy of her delicious book, The Tantric Principle!

THE BENEFITS OF CHEATING…by Jennifer Probst

I slept with Pierce Brosnan last night.

Got your attention?

Let’s just say I woke up with a smile on my face, purred happily and snuggled deeper into the covers. Let’s go, James Bond

“Mommy!”

My eyes widened. I wasn’t in Vegas and hadn’t bumped into him at the tables and then rocked his world in the elevator, and then the suite. My little one stood over me with a demanding face and the smell of pee. “Get up, mommy. I peed the bed again.”

Crap.

I trudged into my regular existence and took care of business. But as the day passed, I felt a secret smile steal over my face. The dream had been so vivid! And totally safe, not really like cheating, because he was a celebrity and I had always told my husband if he could get lucky with a celebrity, then he had my blessing to have the time of his life.

This led me to the topic of cheating. Cheating can be done in all kinds of ways and means different things to different people. Is a fantasy cheating?  How about good intentions that turn unfortunately bad? Is a sizzling look but no touching off limits? Ah, the list is endless and swarming with snipers at every turn. Fortunately, personal relationships are not my cheating topic of the day.

Writing is.

When I begin a new book, it’s all hot romance and sex and getting to know each other. I fall head first in lust over my characters and the possibility of the blank page. I have high expectations to pen the story so flawlessly done in my head. It’s all heavenly foreplay and so intoxicating…

Then I get to chapter 3. Ouch. The six month bump. Suddenly, my hero is not really behaving very nicely. I told him to do something, and he refuses. My heroine sees my hero acting up and gets in on the action. And the plot that was so tempting seems to stall out and seem..well…cliché. Suddenly, I don’t really love this book anymore. Sitting down and trying to write sucks. I snack a lot, and jump out of my chair a lot, and watch more TV. Heck, I even seek out the attention of my children. So, I need to make my decision. Is this really going to work out? Perhaps we need a break. Maybe I should try that other story or article or essay and come back later and see if we are really meant to be together. Sometimes, I bail. Other times, I stick it out.

My current work, The Tantric Principle, went exactly this way. All heaven and bliss and then quarter of the way I fumbled. The manuscript sat for a while and I left the story for the lure of something more exciting. But then our time came back around – I bumped into the manuscript on my way through cleaning out my desk, and said, “Oh, yeah, I remember you! You’re hot!” And I committed myself all over again. I scrapped the last chapter and soared. I hit a few more bumps but I had promised monogamy. I finished it. Then sold it to Red Sage.

Score…

Sometimes I hate cheating and am forced to do it. I just started a new project that practically hit on me at the bar. Butterflies in the belly from the thought of my hero.  Yummy. Good plot, good characters. I was into the relationship. Then found my editor was interested in another pitch I had done with a book I hadn’t written yet. Another story I loved but quit after half of the first chapter. It had the potential of a great relationship but was basically a one night stand. Well, the one night stand was forced upon me like a marriage of convenience. When you have an editor interested in actually buying something, you write it. At least, that is what I believe for good business.

So, I started my new work and broke up with the last one. It was messy and undignified. I’m still upset but am beginning to think my new husband has potential. We’ll have to wait and see…

How you do like to cheat? Or don’t you? Share your story with me.

Thanks to Elisabeth for having me on her awesome blog – it is quite an honor.

To celebrate my new release, I am giving away a copy of The Tantric Principle – a story well worth cheating with. Leave a comment here and I will pick a lucky winner.

Drop by my website or my blog to check out my other books.

Visit my website at: http://www.jenniferprobst.com

Visit my blog at: http://jenniferprobst.wordpress.com

Any writing mommies out there? Stop by my mommy blog at: http://4badmommies.com