Hey there! I’m heading out of town for a conference, so I’ll only have spotty access to email and this blog. To keep you entertained, I have guests arriving every day. Check out the schedule!

Thursday: Cindy Spencer Pape
Friday: Margaret Rowe
Saturday: Snippet Saturday (moi!)
Sundy: Taige Crenshaw

Enjoy! ~DD

IF THE SHEATH FITS

A brief overview of condom history
By Cindy Spencer Pape

A question that often arises among romance authors is whether or not to have their heroes suit up. Dress the soldier. Wear a raincoat. In other words, use protection, act responsibly, practice safe sex. The condom has become one of the more debated aspects of the romance genre, especially erotic romance.

Arguments on both sides can be fierce. Many authors and readers argue that it’s irresponsible of fiction to not show characters engaging in (and presumably enjoying) safe sex. Others maintain that the romance novel is inherently a fantasy, and to interrupt the moment with mundane precautions would detract from the reader’s enjoyment. While both sides have valid points to be made, the decision gets even trickier when writing a historical romance.

Condoms have been available, in one form or another, for a long, long time. Whether or not our historical heroes would have had ready access to them or any inclination to use them depends on a lot of variables: when and where the hero lives being the most important. Wealth, religion, educational level—all of these can factor in. And of course, depending on how it was made and what it was made of, the efficacy varied wildly. So to get it right, an author actually needs to know a little bit about the origins of the little foil packet.

When I started writing Marry Me, Marietta, for a special Ellora’s Cave project a few years ago, I had to do some serious digging to find out what my Victorian physician hero would have access to and use. Of course, once I started, I became fascinated by the research and had to know more.

Nobody knows exactly when the condom was invented. There are Egyptian hieroglyphics roughly 3000 years old that show a man wearing what looks like a linen sheath over his penis. Nobody is sure if this was to prevent disease or pregnancy, or just for decoration. There are rumors of the Romans using this or that for contraception, but no definite references to what could be considered a condom. Cave paintings in France dated to around 100 AD again show men wearing a colored sheath, but again, we have no idea why.

However, people have been trying to not get pregnant, for one reason or another, almost as long as others have been trying to get pregnant. And it’s just common sense to put a barrier between the sperm and the womb. So the use of homemade condoms could go back—well—as at least as long as humans have been making sausage. Given the obviousness of a length of sheep gut with a knot tied in it, it seems likely that these relatively risky versions have been used for a very long time. Keep in mind though, that most of Europe was Catholic through the Middle Ages, and that the Catholic Church considered contraception of any kind (even withdrawal) a major sin. So while the concept may well have existed, it probably wasn’t discussed publicly or in common use.
Read the rest of this entry »

Psst! Yesterday’s winner is named at the end of this post!

My Lines

By Kate Hill

Everywhere you turn, on movies and in magazines, the message always seems to be there’s something wrong with getting older. Whether it’s face cream, thigh cream or plastic surgery, we’re surrounded by products offering a magical solution to the aging problem. While it’s great to be well groomed and fit at any age, there’s nothing wrong with mature looks, either. Regardless of the outer package, everyone ages and there’s a unique beauty to people who age naturally.

Last night I saw a commercial for face cream that suggested anyone with lines can use their product. Personally, I like my lines. I’ve waited almost forty years for these crow’s feet and I have no desire to turn back the clock.

Even when I was younger, I preferred older partners. There’s nothing sexier than a man with lines around his eyes that show he’s lived. The rugged look most definitely does it for me.

If the media is any indication of the way most people feel about aging, then I’m probably in the minority, and I don’t mind at all. How do you feel about aging and “imperfections?”

About Kate

What do trips around the world, endless nights of breathtaking sex, and a muscular, 6-foot 3-inch, brown-haired, blue-eyed significant other have to do with Kate Hill? Absolutely nothing, but she can dream, can’t she? In reality Kate is a vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies.

When she’s not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, and researching vampires and Viking history. Visit Kate online at http://www.kate-hill.com.

Mate Marks Cursed: Wild Woods by Kate Hill
Coming in March 2011 from Changeling Press

The pain will come later.

After a magical artist tattoos an intriguing demon on her skin, Madison meets a gorgeous stranger with an alarming reputation and a fiercely sexy winged creature with an attitude. She senses they are one and the same. Despite the danger surrounding them, she’s drawn to them by an inexplicable force.

Half-human and half-demon, Brody has spent his life fighting against his evil birthright. Despite the hatred of the townsfolk, he uses his supernatural powers to defend them from his foul bloodline.

Neither Madison nor Brody can fight their lust or deny their love, but hell is out to get him. When everyone close to him, especially his destined mate, is targeted by eight generations of Blazewood demons, the only way to fight evil is with evil.

“I can smell you. Delicious. I could eat you,” rasped that sinister voice.

“Eat this!” Madison leapt up and, wielding the branch like a golf club, slammed him in the gut.

He grunted and doubled over, but at the same time managed to rip the branch from her hand.

Madison took off running again, hoping she’d hurt him sufficiently to delay the chase long enough for her to find her way back to the path toward the town.
Read the rest of this entry »

I woke up to find my Microsoft Outlook email program broken. After a few minutes of panic, I navigated Bill Gate’s site to find a fix. It’s taking FOREVER to run, and I’m not really in the mood to be creative or funny today! 😕

So, how about one of my “getting to know you” questions?

Everyone hears discussions that they consider boring.
What topic can put you to sleep more quickly than any other?

This morning I’m heading to Little Rock to meet with Shayla Kersten to nail down the details for a public presentation our local RWA chapter is doing at the library where we meet. The topic is, “So you think you want to write?” We have the program, all the media stuff, etc. to figure out. It will be the third Saturday in April, so if anyone lives nearby, put it on your calendar!

This week was hectic. A mild word. The red-headed hellion took a part-time job and I took over babysitting while she was at work. I’ve decided I will pay her to stay at home. She came home the second day and her jaw fell to the floor. She couldn’t understand how her house got so messy. I couldn’t understand how two children could be so bad. Still, I did manage to get some work done.

* I completed Handy Men (tentative title), a quickie for Ellora’s Cave, and shipped it to my editor—and yes, it’s about a threesome. These days I can’t conceive of a love story that doesn’t have multiple men in it. One of those dudes has to stay home to help take care of the kids—my heroine’s not going to have the energy to do it by herself!
* I completed Chapter Five of Cat Tails: Bad Moon Rising. I sent it to my webmistress for her to format it and get it up on my site. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready for you to read.
* I’m making great headway on my BDSM novella. The hero’s an ex-military cop and sexy as hell. I don’t want to finish it too soon, because then I’d have to say goodbye to Cross McNally.
* I worked with a web designer to put together the template for the Girls Who Bite website. It’s done, now the art will be passed to my webmistress for her to complete the work.

Not a shabby week, huh?

This next week, I do have to finish that BDSM novella, no matter how much I’ll miss Cross and his growly voice. Then I’ll dive into the next project. Something Urban Fantasy. I have this idea about a girl and her… Yeah, sooo not telling you. 😕

I’m extending my contest to win that lovely calendar by one day. Tomorrow, the winner will be announced. But today, you have a second chance to enter to win. Join me at Wild & Wicked Cowboys and post a comment—and we’re having a little fun with the calendar pic…

Exhaustion hit me last night about eight P.M. I pulled too many later nighters wrapping up some February projects. The problem now is that it’s five in the morning and I’m wide awake!

Oh, and those projects? Well, one of them is my part in a four-author anthology that I will do my best to get onto Kindle this month for you. Something paranormal-ish. My story features a favorite character from the Immortal Knight series—it’s the dark and brooding Moses Brown’s happy ever after!

I also sent a quickie, one on the longish side, so you’ll have no complaints there (not that you ever grouse!), tentatively entitled Handy Men. My Ellora’s Cave editor has promised to push it through quickly, so hopefully you’ll have that one soon too.

And I know you’ll be excited to know that I have written the latest installment in our Cat Tails story—you know, the one you all have been helping me plot. Poor DiDi is about to find herself in deep doo-doo, but not just yet. Mason has her purring in this chapter.

NOW I can officially start on my March goals—another Lonestar Cowboy, a short urban fantasy, and a BDSM story. Yeah, plenty to keep me busy and burning more of that midnight oil.

In the meantime, I have something sexy to give away. A 2011 calendar chock-full of manly goodness. Post a comment today, and it could be yours!

See the bottom of this post for the name of yesterday’s winner!

Erotic Romance – Life Affirming

by Michelle Polaris

My mind is on babies and the miracle of birth. My sister, bless her soul, just had her third little boy. She has three now under the age of four. Oy! And although I’ve heard the advice to avoid the subject of children in erotic romance for the mood killer it may be, I made a decision to throw that advice out the window in my last release. In all truth, no actual babies appeared in my story, but the subject of fertility and the goal of becoming parents were explicit in the plot.

I believe the sexiest erotic romance involves deep emotional bonds between the characters, and authenticity behind the painful struggles and incredible emotional risks those characters must take together. Children and the commitment they symbolize are a loaded risk. But they provide one of the greatest sources of hope imaginable. And hope translates to a sense of future. If I want to create a story where one feels my characters standing on the precipice of their future, balancing, eagerly or fearfully reaching out despite their risk of falling, dangling a baby out there in front of them does the trick.

Throw in the fact that I write BDSM erotic romance and this may seem strange. But I firmly believe BDSM story lines are an awesome opportunity to explore honest communication and vulnerability between characters. And, hey, kinky people have children too.

Putting aside that twist, am I the only one who feels this way about the subject of babies in erotic romance? How have they worked or not worked for you as you’ve read stories touching on this issue?

Check out my newest release, Fettered Love, at Ellora’s Cave to see if I’ve managed to pull off this idea without killing the sexy, kinky, tantalizing pull between my three characters. My novella is part of the 1-800-DOM-help series new to EC—BDSM at it’s best from a group of talented Ellora’s Cave authors.

Kirk, Master to his long-time lover Evan, decides it’s time to place his permanent collar around Evan’s sexy cock. But when he proposes, he faces a surprise. Evan wants a child. So where will they find a kinky woman to help?

A mysterious card with the 1 -800-DOM-help number advertises assistance for unusual problems in the BDSM community. When Evan calls, he recognizes the voice of Sarah—Kirk’s best friend from childhood, Evan’s Mistress of several years in college. They both loved her and suffered betrayal when she walked out of their lives.

Now she proposes to be the mother of their child. No strings, just a chance to have the men she respects and loves back in her life. Evan embraces the idea while Kirk rages with mistrust.

At Evan’s request, they share one night of passion, Kirk and Sarah working together to dominate Evan in the scene of his erotic fantasies, hoping it will be enough to rekindle trust and make all their dreams come true.

Safe, sane and consensual,
Michelle Polaris

The winner of yesterday’s prize is…Sarah M! Congrats, Sarah, and be sure to send me an email to collect your prize!