Thanks for letting me guest blog today, Delilah!  I’m Jenna Ives, and I write contemporary erotic romance novellas.  I love novellas, because with so much technology at hand these days (texting, tweeting, e-readers, smart phones, video game players, etc) it seems everyone is developing a shorter attention span.  And novellas are the perfect way to satisfy a romance reader’s appetite for stories without having to make a long-term time commitment!

Since novellas are by definition short, I’ll share my secret for writing erotic novellas with you:  as the story opens, I immediately put my characters into a situation where they either have to have sex for a particular reason (there are many fun ways to do this, and author Leigh Court is my personal favorite for coming up with creative situations) or else create an event where your characters are forced to stay together for a certain plot reason. Voila! Instant tension! And in an erotic romance, that means the sexual sparks fly!

My new novella, Snow White And Her Seven Lovers, was inspired by both Kristen Stewart’s upcoming movie “Snow White And The Huntsman” as well as Julia Roberts’ spring release of “Mirror, Mirror.”  It looks like 2012 is definitely the year of Snow White!

Here’s the blurb for my erotic version of this classic fairy tale, which I’ve written in first-person from our heroine’s point of view:

What’s a girl to do when she wakes up poisoned in the ER and finds that she’s lost her memory, her family, and very nearly her life?

That was me. Three months ago. With no identity, no money, and nowhere to go on the day I was discharged from the hospital, I gratefully accepted my gorgeous ER doctor’s offer to move in with him and his equally gorgeous six friends – the ones who’d found me unconscious in an apple orchard. My plan was to stay only until my memory returned, and I could figure out who I was and if someone really had tried to kill me.

Together with Doc, these were an amazingly diverse bunch of guys, but there was something about each of them that attracted me powerfully enough to want to explore it. The policeman with his clever handcuffs. The cunningly linguistic librarian. The disciplinarian teacher. The virgin computer whiz who loved to play sex games. The engineer who created shotgun orgasms. The wildly imaginative baker.

Becoming intimate with these seven men completed me in ways I suspected discovering my name never would. That is, until the fateful day a man showed up claiming to be my fiancé…

Oooh… conflict and lots of steamy love scenes!  A real page-turner. But by far, my most favorite part of writing this story was coming up with jobs that realistically lent themselves to the characters – Doc is the obvious one (he’s the ER doctor who saves our heroine’s life) but if you read this story, I’d love to hear from you about my choices for the six friends’ occupations J  Grumpy? Dopey? Sleepy? Sneezy? Happy? Bashful? Are the real-life jobs I’ve chosen for these characters believable?

Snow White And Her Seven Lovers is available through amazon.com, bn.com, Smashwords.com, or at my website, www.jennaives.com. 

So…. which fairy tale is your favorite?? And how could we spice it up a little?

Remember, there is still one contest running…
The Fairy Trinket Box Contest (ends tomorrow, January 3rd!)
Yesterday’s winner is named below!

Here are my picks!

Vamps rule—especially, when they’re kick-ass girls!

I showed this one to you before, but it bears seeing again! I’m still waiting for it to release somewhere I can see it!

Keanu as “Neo” is forever cool!

The winner of the free download of Jacq’s Warlord is…Rhonda! Rhonda, congratulations! Be sure to email me to arrange delivery of your prize!

Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year! Thanks to my online friends who have joined me here to play—you keep me excited to seek my keyboard every morning and find out what happens when I open a new blog. Thanks to all who bought my books—you provide me the means to stay at home and live my dream of being a full-time writer. Here’s hoping you all find happiness, good health, and a little more gold in your pockets this year. Cheers! ~DD

The year’s a wrap! In case you missed it, these are the releases I’ve added this year:

1. 01/04/11 – RAVISHED BY A VIKING (Berkley Heat)
2. 01/04/11 – TRUE HEART (Samhain)
3. 04/01/11 – THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, Lesbian Cops (Cleis Press)
4. 04/06/11 – HANDY MEN (Ellora’s Cave)
5. 05/01/11 – TIME RAIDERS: THE WARRIOR’S TOUCH (Harlequin Nocturne)
6. 05/01/11 – DR. MULLALEY’S CURE, Carnal Machines anthology (Cleis Press)
7. 05/01/11 – DREAMING BY THE SEA, Dream Lovers anthology (Cleis Press)
8. 05/13/11 – BEGGING FOR IT (Ellora’s Cave)
9. 05/27/11 – HER SOUL TO KEEP (Kindle/Smashwords)
10. 06/14/11 – UNDENIABLE (Samhain)
11. 08/23/11 – HOT OUT HERE, The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance (Running Press)
12. 09/13/11 – GIRLS WHO BITE (Cleis Press)
13. 09/14/11 – A FOUR-GONE CONCUSION, Lone Star Lovers sequel (Samhain)
14. 09/20/11 – B IS FOR BONDAGE (Ellora’s Cave)
15. 09/21/11 – GILDED CAGE, Bitten in the Big Easy anthology (Ellora’s Cave)
16. 10/04/11 – ENSLAVED BY A VIKING (Berkley Heat)
17. 11/22/11 – FIVE WAYS ‘TIL SUNDAY, Delta Heat series (Samhain)
18. 12/06/11 – RED HOT WINTER anthology (Samhain)
19. 12/13/11 – DRIVE ME CRAZY, Best Erotic Romance of 2012 (Cleis Press)

I’m asking a question today, not because I’m lazy, but because I love the answers you give me. As for the following question, forget about what it might cost or how impossible it might be. Have fun.

If you were asked to create the ultimate vacation destination,
where would it be located and what would it be like?

Remember, there are still two contests running…
1) Cynthia D’Alba’s free copy of Texas Two Step (ending December 31st)
2) The Fairy Trinket Box Contest (ending January 3rd)

When my sister accused me of being a hoarder, she referred to my ever-growing clutter of dragons, gargoyles, and fairies. She didn’t mention anything about what I have hanging on my walls. I hoard paintings, too. I love color all around me, and an empty space invites a special treasure, right?

I love going to museums as much as I love combing through galleries. I’ll say right now, I don’t “get” a lot of modern art. Cubism, splatters of paint—they just don’t appeal. I’ve been to some of the best art museums in the world, so I know what fine art is, but I have my own peculiar tastes. Sometimes, pieces appeal to my sense of whimsy. A few months ago, I went to an art show in an old bath house in Hot Springs. I found a lot that left me cold, but several that made me smile. Take a look at my faves.

From a distance, you think—nice. When you get closer, you wonder whether he left his mother’s flatware alone. And how did he get all that weight balanced on one foot? Now that’s something I’d love to have in my front yard.

Here’s another:

From a distance, the colors are just right for my office and bedroom. I love warm colors—yellows, reds, along with splashes of green and blue. But get closer, and you see the ship behind her isn’t sailing on the sea. It has wheels. And the woman’s hat is topped by a fish. I wish you could see all the clever, kookie details of the painting, but this one made me smile.

So, what’s the point of today’s post? I don’t have one. I woke up with my mind a total blank. Maybe you can think of topics you’d rather I talk about tomorrow. In the meantime you can wonder about the things I have hanging on my walls, or better yet, you can tell me what treasures you have hanging on yours!

Hi y’all. I’m Cynthia D’Alba. Delilah has kindly offered up her blog to let me ramble for the next couple of minutes. I want to talk about the future.

It’s almost the end of 2011 and beginning of a fresh new year with all its potential and possibilities. 2012 will be an interesting year for me personally.

• I have my first book (Texas Two Step) coming out on February 28, 2012. (YAY!)
• I’m going on my first blog whore tour (which I BEG you to follow and comment. I’ll try to be interesting every day! And I’ll give away lots of stuff as bribes, er prizes.) Click HERE for dates and locations. A complete list of prizes will be posted in January.
• It’s an election year. My hubby and I are political junkies so this year will be like catnip to a kitty!

Notice I’m not asking for New Year resolutions. The ONLY New Year’s resolution I ever kept is not to make any.  🙂 So I’m not looking for yours. But I’d love to know… What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Mega-thanks to Delilah for having me here today. I know she has a loyal following of fans and to them I say…you have great taste in reading material!

I’ve included a small except from my upcoming debut from Samhain Publishing, Texas Two Step. I chose it especially for DD’s readers.

He wanted her. Even if he hadn’t told her, she’d known. Even if he only wanted her for tonight, then tonight it would be. For the first time in years, she was alive and sexy and desirable.

Jerking her mouth from his, she kissed his neck, using her lips, teeth and tongue to caress his salty skin.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he said in a strained voice.

She locked her ankles around his waist and thrust her aching center against the bulge behind his zipper. They were as physically close as two clothed people could be. His large hands scorched her bottom as he dug his fingers into her flesh, cupping her through her panties, holding her in place, rocking her against him. She groaned at the torture of being close but not close enough. He was driving her insane with desire.

He locked his mouth to hers, carried her across the room and kicked open a door. The door banged against the wall. He laid her on his turned-down bed, the satiny sheet cool to her heated flesh.

“Don’t move,” he growled. “I want to enjoy the view.”

Instead, she rolled to her side and rested her head in her hand. “I don’t think so. I think it’s time I had a turn looking.”

His lips curved into a slow, sexy smile.

“As you demand.” He toed off black cowboy boots and kicked them toward a closet door. He unfastened his slacks and pulled the zipper slowly down.

Interested? Want to read a copy of Texas Two Step? Read the rest of this entry »