First, thanks to the authors who kept you entertained while I was gone! I appreciated the fun commentaries and the fact I didn’t have to worry about posting while I was away. 🙂

My trip was a fun one! My daughter, the 7-year-old hellion, and I flew to DC last Saturday. We visited with my ex and my son and his family. I think it’s funny how we all ended up divvied up so neatly between Arkansas and Virginia. It certainly makes it convenient. The visit was lovely. We ate too much, shopped like fiends, and took tons of pictures of kids doing cute things. Then the three of us drove back in my “new” used Honda Pilot, which hubby passed along to me. For folks who like to drive to “get ‘er done” it should have taken us 17 hours, but the Red-Headed Hellion and I believe in enjoying the journey, so we took two and a half days to get back to Arkansas. If we saw a sign from the interstate that intrigued us, we followed it. More about our stops later.

While I was gone, I got exciting news from Maxim Jakubowski, the editor of The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, volume 11, which is due out next year. “Dr. Mullaley’s Cure,” which appeared in Cleis’s Carnal Machines, was selected for the anthology! Yay!

I also learned that I’ve lost my editor at Ellora’s Cave. I’ll miss her, but hope she’s going on to bigger and better things. Love you, Mary!

I’m settling back in, looking over the schedule for work I have to complete by month’s end, and making tweaks. I ALWAYS put too much on my plate, so I’ve been skinnying down my goals. Today, I’m working on the final revisions of Strokes, which I plan to format and upload this weekend, and hope will be available for purchase by next Tuesday. Be looking for it!

I think that’s it for now. I missed my daily chat. Now, I have to go unpack and start some laundry. Then I’ll unbury my desktop and get to work!

Building a Series

There are two ways to do it, and I’ve done both. First, there’s the series that just grows from a single book: a new story about a secondary character readers liked a lot. The other type of series is planned from the beginning and generally begins with a group of potential main characters or a special concept.

Siblings—a family connection in which all the main characters are members of one dysfunctional family.

They don’t have to be actual siblings, These characters could easily be best friends from childhood, back together after they’ve grown apart, or coworkers thrown together for a project that causes conflict among them/their significant others. The only limitation as to creating characters for a series is the author’s own imagination.

One series I’ve sold to Ellora’s Cave for release in 2012 is based on a family connection. I developed aTexasranching dynasty led by a patriarch with secrets and feuds with neighbors that has spanned a generation. Tired of cowboys and oil wells and little else, I gave the heir apparent, a bad boy with a history of failure and a passion for the wind farms he’s developing on his mother’s land—a source of conflict between him and his father. Scandal is always good for spicing up erotic romance, so I created Daddy’s secret love child, a  high-achieving guy who tries to show the heir up at every turn. Finally, to round out the series, I chose the only daughter, known as “Wild One”, for the final book. CADEN KINK seems to be shaping up pretty well. Look for the first of the three books in the second quarter of the year.

A special concept—A series with continuing secondary characters and a common but mostly independent theme throughout.

Think connections: a common setting, a thread of similar but independent situations, a cast of secondary characters who pull the series together. The series might spin off a previous series, bringing continuity and providing secondary characters who were fully developed when they were main characters in the previous series books.

COURTHOUSE CONNECTIONS, also coming this year from Ellora’s Cave, will consist of four books in which the main characters of each book have reason to engage the lawyers whose stories were told in the LAWYERS IN LOVE series. All the main characters are 1) in some kind of trouble that places their freedom in jeopardy, 2) in a legal situation that could ruin them financially and emotionally or 3) in an employee situation with the members of the firm.

I’ve never done a series like this before. So far, it’s been a lot of fun. I hope the results will go over with readers!

Check out my website: http://annjacobs.net.

Voyuerism. Is it always a bad thing? Do you see the pretty girl pumping gas? No, that’s not me. Do you see the creeper gazing with saliva gathering in the corners of his mouth? No, that’s not me either. I’m the gal behind the camera. (I didn’t take this picture. But, this is how I see the world.)

I’ve learned that if I want to be a better writer, I have to be able to describe what I see. So, I watch. In the picture above, I see a woman who is trying her hardest to not look at the creepy man gazing at her. I see a man who’s gazing at a woman he thinks is out of his league, but he doesn’t have the good manners needed to keep from ogling her.

I also see what could be—as any good voyeur does. I see the small child that might run away from his mother’s hand and dart in front of the creepy guy’s truck. I see a man who would be torn in two if he’d injured a child while daydreaming about a woman who couldn’t give a damn about him. I see a woman pumping gas that has lived through a life of being “the hot chick” and now she can’t even pump gas without somebody scoping her out. Her shoulders are back, so she probably has some kind of confidence, but her stomach is tucked in too, so that could mean that she might be holding her breath until he passes—nervous, fearful even.

Are you getting the picture yet? If you want to write believable stories, you have to look at the big picture. The whole picture. When I’m playing with my characters, I have to think about what they are thinking, how they’d react, what could happen, what will happen…the list is endless. But, I take all of this from things and situations I know. If you want to write really great characters, study people. I wouldn’t suggest being like the guy in the picture and completely creeping on people, but pay attention. Take notes. I always carry a small notebook with me and when I see something interesting I’ll jot it down.

I’ll give you the perfect example. Today, we were walking at the mall on lunch—part of my thin in 2012 plan—and I noticed this woman snatch her child by the arm, literally drag him three feet back to her baby’s stroller and give him a verbal lashing. The kid’s response was one of pure shock and dismay. “You grabbed me!” His voice rose, but he didn’t shout, didn’t really react in any other way except for a small “O” forming on his mouth and his eyes becoming saucers. This tells me that Mom must have been at her limit. He wasn’t accustomed to her dragging on him or he would have had a different reaction—maybe anger or screaming or fear. But, this kid was pretty calm. The woman leaned over and explained why she yanked him across the hall and then they strolled on down the mall. She had patience, even when I knew she had to be angry to have snatched him up like this. Controlled. What was her breaking point? Was it the kid wondering off or the fact that he was touching things?

Oh, the fun of people watching. I can do it for hours and it makes for totally good study for this craft I love so much! Do you people watch? Can you take something you see in everyday life and making a story from it? Do you give them a story like I do? Please share! Oh, and I want to thank Delilah for letting me come play on her blog today. It’s my B-Day, btw!

Rachel Firasek grew up in the south and despite the gentle pace, she harassed life at full steam. Her curiosity about mythology, human nature, and the chemical imbalance we call love led her to writing. Her stories began with macabre war poems and shifted to enchanted fairytales, before she settled on a blending of the two.

Today you’ll find her tucked on a small parcel of land, surrounded by bleating sheep and barking dogs, with her husband and children. She entertains them all with her wacky sense of humor or animated reenactments of bad 80’s dance moves.

She’s intrigued by anything unexplained and seeks the answers to this crazy thing we call life. You can find her where the heart twists the soul and lights the shadows… or at www.rachefirasek.com.

When a single becomes a series

People who know me know that I enjoy writing series. Now stop laughing at me. My reasons for loving series are many but the main one is my nosiness. When I meet a character that captures my attention I immediately want to know what their story is. It bugs me so much that I need to know their story. This even happens in other people’s books I read. Some of my fellow writing friends will attest to that although they might have planned a book as a stand-alone when I tell them I want a certain character’s story they sometimes rethink the stand-alone and it becomes a series. (Proud grin) I enjoy spreading the series writing love around. LOL.

After laying out my background on series love, I’ll fill you in on my attempt of writing a single book. Now stop laughing. I did try to write a stand-alone book.  Wilde Seduction was my attempt at a single book. When I decided to write the book I even told my friends that it would be a stand-alone book. They laughed at me. Each and everyone laughed at me. I was really indignant about it and determined to prove them wrong that this would be a single.  The book was my take on gargoyles. I had such fun writing it and by the end I had resisted my nosy tendencies of wanting to write abut the other characters in the story. I was so proud. But…when Wilde Seduction was released my readers loved it and knowing me they immediately asked for when the next in the series would be out. I told them it was not a series. And yep they were disbelieving that it wasn’t a series. Then they started asking me for the characters they enjoyed in the book. I got so many emails about it that they wanted more. My decision wavered then shattered and I gave in. My single title book became a series. LOL.

Today, Wilde Rapture book 2 in my Wilde series was released by Total-E-Bound. When I announced the book was coming, I got a flood of emails so excited that the Wilde’s would be getting more stories. The readers were happy and I was able to engage in my nosiness. There are a few more Wilde’s stories I will still be telling. After trying to write a single, I realized that I am not the only one who loves series. Because of readers love of series my single became a series.

So to all you readers who love series this series is all because of you.  Thank you for letting me indulge in my nosiness and your enjoying it.

Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Total-E-Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroines, and sexy heroes. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places, Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels.

You can find out more about Taige at her website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog.

Wilde Rapture – When a woman ducks into an alcove at a wedding she meets the man who is intriguing and will tempt her.

Buy here at Total eBound

Imagine waking up in a house with no running water, when you’re used to a huge tub to soak in every evening. Using the restroom to do your business means squatting over a hole, and scooping water out of a tub with a butter bowl to “flush.”

During my last year of college I had the opportunity to lead a student trip to Thailand, months after the tsunami devastated the coast. I’d spent the better part of a year preparing for this trip, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for the culture shock of living in a different world. Culture shock has been part of my life, so I think I handle it better than most. That was, honestly, one of the reasons I didn’t warn the girls going on the trip about using a squatty potty. I knew that without all of the comforts we were used to living with, the toilet situation was one that would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I will never forget our first, group, squatty potty experience. I’d learned the finer points of using one while living in Russia, but the ones we used in rural Thailand were crude, cinderblock structures. We’d landed in Bangkok as riots were starting, and got out of the city as quickly as we could, which meant no potty breaks. We stopped at their version of a rest stop on the side of the highway and our guide prodded me awake.

“We’re stopping so the women can use the bathroom,” he said, giving the girls nervous glances.

“Oh, so?” My jet lagged brain had forgotten the minor detail of instructing the girls about the potty situation.

“They need to go.” He jerked his head toward the bathrooms. “Do they know-?”

“Ooooooooh.” Light bulbs flash to life.

Part of me cruelly wishes I’d videotaped the introduction of American Girl Meets Squatty Potty. I feel that it would be a great YouTube hit. The girls on this trip, except for me, had never been out of America. Their reaction when I explained that the toilets we would be seeing were holes in the ground with foot grips on the side, if we were someplace fancy, got a lot of slack jaws and wide eyes.

I have no idea why using a squatty potty is so confusing, but on this day, after experiencing a barrage of new things, but I actually had to demonstrate how one would squat to pee. You can see photo evidence to the side. Unfortunately my demonstration wasn’t good enough. Do you see how my arms are stretched out? Well, one of the girls didn’t understand that it was not necessary to hold ones arms straight out and couldn’t figure out how to hold her skirt and extend her arms. To make matters worse, there were lizards inside the bathroom that intimidated most of the girls.

Over my handful of years I’ve had the opportunity to live a variety of places, eat things I never want to eat again (like crickets), and experience some out of this world things. Sure, I’ve gone to foreign countries, but culture shock can happen at home anytime we branch out and go someplace new. I love taking my mom out with me, for example. She says I never fail to show her something she wouldn’t have seen on her own. Our world is full of new experiences, cultures and a variety of people and places in our own backyard.

What’s an out of the normal experience that’s stuck with you? It can be something from everyday life, or a once in a lifetime trip you took to a destination you always wanted to go to. One commenter will win a $10 gift card to Amazon.

It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life. She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing. Her debut release entitled Flirting with Rescue will be out later this month from Ellora’s Cave.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Toys for Tarts: Road Rage

I attended a writing conference last Spring at Asilomar, the beautiful conference ground designed by famed architect, Julia Morgan. We’d had long walks on the beach, brainstorming sessions with other romance writers and craft classes taught by Margie Lawson.

During one of the lunch breaks, we somehow got on the subject of sex toys—vibrators, to be exact. Okay, I’ll admit, I had just published The Stimulus Package, under my erotic pen name, Angela Love. Someone asked me about it, and that set the ball in motion. Ask me about my writing and then expect me to shut up? No way. It started to bend the conversation in a very naughty direction. But hey, we were there to have fun, even if a couple of ladies at our table blushed and could hardly speak.

I’m sure the rest of the two hundred or so attendees were wondering what all the laughing was about. We told stories of things that had gone wrong, what kinds of toys we had bought and how they had been misused. One of my friends told the story about her friend, who was a sex toy sales rep, who happened to use a large purple vibrator in traffic.

This isn’t what you think. She was pleasuring herself, but not in the usual way. She extended it through the sunroof of her car at some guy who had been tailgating her for miles.

I asked for and received permission to use this idea for my third in the series, Toys for Tarts, Book 3, Road Rage. So, while this is based on a real incident, the story is entirely mine.

I like reading humorous sexual escapades because it imitates life. Not everything is the old bump and grind. Things that spice up a relationship between two consenting adults can sometimes be funny. They might even be more memorable.

I’m working on Book 4 now: Occupy Me. My lips are sealed until I get this puppy put to bed. But I am having fun with these light reads—sweet treats for me, and so fun to write.

Here’s an excerpt from Road Rage. The Teri Stanton has just left an office party and escaped an embarrassing incident with the boss’s son, Tim Benson. Her lustful thoughts about him have kept her in this low-paying job longer than she intended. So she has taken a part-time job as a sex education instructor for ESL students on path toward citizenship. She’s about to teach her last class of the semester.

Excerpt, Road Rage:

I checked my watch again. I had just enough time to drop by the Health Care office before my class, to pick up the lesson plan. Tim was absorbing energy from the room of clucking hens, so I made my exit.

Sandy Morgen was the Director of the Health Education program for the county. I breezed in, sure my cheeks still hadn’t deflamed. I was shameless. It didn’t matter one whit.

“Hi Sandy, sorry to be a little late. We had a shower at the office.”

“Oh? Who did you shower with?” She smiled like a pampered palace cat, batting her green eyes.
Read the rest of this entry »

Remember, there is still one contest running…
The Ellora’s Cave Grab Bag Contest (ends January 17th!)

Just a couple of short announcements today.

First, I didn’t announce it here, but Ravished by a Viking is up for a Romance Studio CAPA award for best historical! Woot! I’m always over the moon when something I slaved over gets recognition. Especially, when I know it’s something different, and sometimes, different isn’t applauded. So, yay!

See? That was a very short brag!

So on to the meat of this post. I’m flying to DC to see my son and his family. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so I’m very excited about the trip. My ex lives there too, and I’ll be spending some time with him as well. The Red-Headed Hellion and the 7-year-old are going with me. We have a purpose, besides seeing everyone. I’m picking up the ex’s Honda Pilot and driving it back. Seems like I used to inherit his old cars when we were married, too. Hmmm… He keeps them in perfect nick, so I don’t mind so much and it gives me the perfect excuse for a road trip—we’ll be driving the car back from DC. I’ll be sure to take pictures!

While I’m away, I have guests who are coming to entertain you! Please  drop by and give them some encouragement. They really are great guests! Here’s the lineup:

Friday — Sharon Hamilton
Saturday — me, I’ll pre-post a Saturday Snippet and give you a chance to win something!
Sunday — Sidney Bristol
Monday — Taige Crenshaw
Tuesday — Rachel Firasek
Wednesday — Ann Jacobs

Every time you post a comment, you are adding an entry to the Grab Bag contest.

So, enough biz-talk. Let’s share your experiences.

What is the most incredible weather event you’ve ever been through in your life? (Question from “The Question Guys”)