Remember, you have to post to win!

A note from Tina:

I’m offering a scavenger hunt at all three places and my site to celebrate the release of my newest erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights. I’ll be posting four questions throughout the day on my blog – answers found on my site – the lucky winner will get her choice of one of the following:

Adored – 4 stars Romantic Times – Second Place Winner NEC RWA contest2
Deep, Dark, Delicious – nominated for Book of the Week Whipped Cream
Reviews
Close to Perfect – 4 stars Romantic Times – “A walk on the wild side for romance readers”
Bad Boys with Red Roses – an erotic anthology with my novella “Tempt Me, Tease Me,
Thrill Me”
Take My Breath Away – 4 ½ stars Romantic Times – an RT Top Pick – Booklist wrote: “Fans of Lori Foster will enjoy Donahue’s light, sexy romp.”

So please join me today at Delilah’s, Book Junkie and at my site!!!

What makes for a satisfying sex scene?

Those who don’t read erotic romances would probably answer by saying the author should create vivid imagery. The passion should be obvious between the hero and heroine. The reader should be able to smell, feel, taste their lust.

While that’s certainly true, it’s not even the beginning of what makes for a satisfying sex scene. Before an author’s characters slip beneath the sheets there needs to be an intense build up of emotions so that the reader is sitting on the edge of her seat murmuring, ‘Now, now, now!! Dammit, now!’

You don’t reach that kind of intensity if your characters barely know each other but succumb to desire because they think their partner is hot. That’s physical attraction. And as we all know, great sex begins in the mind.

In my latest release Lush Velvet Nights, I wanted to draw out the sexual tension of each scene, to build anticipation in the minds of my fans and new readers. Just as importantly, I wanted to give the characters a bit of time to know and like each other, to be playful.

Here’s an excerpt to illustrate what I mean: In this scene, Nathan and Adriana are delaying their return to LA after a three-day erotic weekend at his mountain estate. After some heavy-duty sex scenes, I needed a fresh approach for their next encounter and came upon this. Adriana’s just hurled several snowballs at Nathan, catching him off guard and now he’s after her. . .

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nathan grabbed her right foot. Shrieking, Adriana kicked at him. Her boot came off in his hand thanks to Hayley having wider feet than she did. She plowed through the snow with no real direction in mind. It wasn’t as if the neighbors were going to help her. Hell, they probably stood at their windows watching, waiting for Nathan to strip her bare and fuck her out here until she turned blue from the cold.

“No!” she cried. He’d grabbed the edge of the ski pants that came above her ankles, thanks to Hayley being several inches shorter than her. Adriana kicked as hard as she could and finally hit something solid.

Nathan bellowed like a gored bull.

Oh shit. Had she hit him in the balls? Rolling onto her back, Adriana gaped at his broad grin. He’d been pretending pain? Jerk. She gave him the finger and seesawed her legs so he couldn’t grab them.

Nathan rolled his eyes and sat back on his heels, away from her flailing feet, waiting until she wore herself out. Didn’t take long. Adriana lay panting in the snow, sweating from her exertions, too weary to swear.
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Between Facebook, After Midnight Fantasies and this blog, there were 46 entries in this contest. But you will have to scroll to the bottom here to see who won!

Maybe I mentioned it on Twitter, but on Sunday, I took the 5-year-old to see How to Train Your Dragon. I know it’s not just the kid in me, because the other adults in the audience (lots of guys!) were cheering and laughing too, but I LOVED it.

The whole experience was fun. My daughter and I made a date of it with little girl. We took her to a late lunch at Olive Garden where she flirted with the waiter as she ordered spaghetti for herself. We took her to the bookstore where she perused every kid’s story book in the store until she settled on a coloring book instead. Then we headed to the movie. She chose our seats. At the very front in the middle. Our seats leaned back, thank goodness, and the armrests went up so it was like sitting on the sofa together at home. We had a huge bucket of popcorn that we shared. Cokes. And those funny 3D glasses perched on our noses. I’m not sure who had more fun, but we have to do that again.

I’ve already been obsessed with collecting the dragon movie action figures. I have the black one (Toothless), the big gray monster who spits fire from his mouth, and the green one that’s sitting on its haunches. Daughter says she has the red one and the blue one Astrid rode, which she’s been saving for me. Love that name Astrid. I used it for one of my Viking characters in Beloved Captor.

Anyway, if you have a chance to see it, do! It starts off with a bang, has tons of humor and adventure. It’s now my favorite movie I’ve seen all year, but then, I haven’t seen Avatar yet… Am I the only person on the planet who hasn’t?

I am obsessed with dragons. I’ll admit it. I bought a deskset (letter opener, stapler, and cupholder) fashioned with dragons. I bought a huge satchel purse with dragons embroidered on the sides. I’m collecting those little action figures. And I sent sis money for her trip to Guam to buy me jade dragons. Maybe it’s because I had so much fun writing about sea dragons in my book. I bought that picture book, Dragonology, a couple of years ago, which sparked my imagination and now they are my favorite mythical beasts. I keep thinking I have to get back to my Desire series to write about the dragons the hero discovered in Garden of Desire. Like I don’t already have a ton of books planned for the year. Ah well.

Tomorrow, Ellora’s Cave author, Tina Donahue, visits with a scrumptious excerpt, so be sure to drop by to enjoy!

Now for that winner. The winner (by random number generator) is…Estella! Estella, send me an email with your choice of a MIK book from my backlist. Congratulations!

Strangest dream last night. I moved into a very large house with many rooms, that were more like individual apartments because they had their own baths and kitchenettes. And the furnishings were very elaborate junkware. You know, like collections of foot-tall, ceramic teapots made in the likenesses of the Taj Mahal and Neuschwanstein castle. The rooms exploded with color—turqouise walls, enameled dressers and pianos. The floors looked like kiln-fired ceramic tile and were pieced together designs of rice patty or wheat fields. Anyway, I arrived with my daughter and mother, and we fought over which rooms we should take. Since I was doing the buying I argued that I should have first choice, and I wanted the room with the largest desk covered in Japanese black lacquer with insets of mother-of-pearl. I lost the argument, but didn’t mind so much, all the rooms were great. But then the convention-goers arrived. Seems Sasha White booked my house for a reader’s convention, so my house was overrun with readers scrambling to claim beds and breaking pottery left and right. That’s when I woke up.

Well, the big accomplishment was finishing Beloved Captor (that name’s likely to change). I wrapped up the revisions, which seemed to take forever, and sent it to my editor. Send a little prayer up that she likes it. After that, nada, zippo, zero! But I don’t care. I couldn’t sit because I’d been doing so much of that in the revisions. I attended my Arkansas RWA chapter meeting yesterday, and now I finally feel recharged enough to plunge back in.

So, if anyone out there wants to sprint with me this week—not the kind where you need running shoes, the kind where you write like a madwoman for 45-minute sprints—I’m so there.

Thanks to everyone who provided me input regarding what you want to see in the next installment of Bad Moon Rising. I will take a look at them all and come back with a poll for you to cast your final version vote.

And the winner of the gift certificate, by random number generator is…tamibates! Tami—email me with the email addy you want the certificate sent to!

Psst! Rememnber, if you want more installments of Bad Moon Rising, you have to tell me what you want to see next. Besides, someone has to win that prize! See yesterday’s posting!

Today, I’m heading north to Little Rock and the monthly meeting of the Diamond State Romance Authors. Should be fun. I get to talk writing with some of my bestest friends.

Just cuz I woke up thinking about it, what’s up with Bones this season? They must have had a change in the writer’s working on the show, because they couldn’t be making Temperance look any less human, and the romance between her and Booth was just killed. There’s no sizzle.

I woke up thinking about Booth but dreamed about Goren from Criminal Intent. Goren was in my pool, and not looking quite so stout as he has the past couple of years. Said he was working on his tan because he had nothing better to do. I thought of some things he could be working on instead, and sure enough the pool filled with people while he was trying to get some secret nookie. At least he didn’t turn into an insect and try to eat me.

Today’s horoscope. “You are finding it harder than usual to cope with the outside world—so it’s a good thing your home life is so good for you! Embrace the hearth and get back in the real world in a few days.” I can only do that today, because tomorrow I will be in Little Rock at my RWA chapter meeting.

In the meantime, I need help with a little problem.

If you haven’t read the currently availabe Bad Moon Rising chapters, then now’s the time, because you have to tell me what to write next. This is your story. Give me a hint about what sort of trouble DiDi will find in the next installment.

We left the action with her in the house she inherited with an angry Mason who kissed her silly. When it ended, she looked out at the darkening sky and saw many sets of golden eyes shining from the edge of the forest.

So what happens next? Does Mason take her to dinner and get a chance to talk to the elders about releasing him from his promise of not participating in the full moon orgy? Does he drop her at her motel and leave in huff to confront Bobby Sonnier about his treatment of DiDi? Or does he make an “arrangement” with Bobby? And why can’t Mason participate? Is it only because someone has to keep watch to make sure no one gets hurt? Or did he have someone in his past who was killed and now he doesn’t trust himself and that’s why he committed to being the watchman? And what about any possible sex? Should it happen with Mason before he takes her back into town? After he’s talked to Bobby or the elders? I’m open to any ideas.

Your idea can be something big or small, sexy or not. I’ll take all of your suggestions and think about them, and then come back with a poll and let you vote. And it might be a good idea for you to read the three chapters of the story first!

The contest will end on Sunday, so you have plenty of time to read and think, and you can enter more than once, because I know if you’re anything like me, you’ll write down one suggestion, walk away then be back in a little while because you thought of something else.

The prize will be a $15.00 gift certificate from Amazon.com!

I’m really loving IN PLAIN SIGHT this season. Last night, Mary and Rafael broke up, and as much as I love his character, I knew she was all wrong for him. He’s a nurturer who needs someone to take care of. She doesn’t want to be taken care of. She needs someone to knock her on her ass every once in a while, someone she can fight with and not feel guilty about it. It’s amazing how invested I feel in that relationship, and how much relief I felt last night when he finally called off the engagement.

And as happy as I am with IN PLAIN SIGHT, I hate the folks at LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. You don’t fire the crazy cop (Goren) who keeps you wondering week to week whether he’s going to land himself in the nuthouse. I adore Goren, and I think there’s something sexier than hell about all that leashed anger and angst he holds inside himself. I love Jeff Goldblum, but Nichols just isn’t doing it for me.

CHUCK is rocking along. I love, love, love that is his little buddy at the Buy More is going to be an agent now. It’s hilarious. The only thing I’ve missed so far is a big “Jeffster” moment for me to get out my Jeffster tee and rock out with one of their truly awful karaoke moments.

So what TV shows are you loving? My TIVO needs filling up.

Welcome my cyber-friend, Adele Dubois! For the winner of yesterday’s contest, you’ll have to scroll to the bottom of this message! Oh, and I shipped Beloved Captor (tentative title) to my editor yesterday! ~DD

Note from Adele:

The hero of DO ME GOOD is my first otherworldly protagonist, and I admit I’ve developed a crush on him. Gunnar is a fearless Nordic warrior cast into eternal servitude during a time when mortals answered to gods and goddesses. He becomes a celestial in the pre-Christian period before those who interacted with both gods and mortals were called angels. Gunnar is a Nordic Light Elf and so handsome he is “fairer to look upon than the sun.”

I hope you enjoy DO ME GOOD as much as I enjoyed creating this story. Here’s a sample of the book with a summary and excerpt. Thanks for reading.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Penny throws her hot, but worthless mooch of a boyfriend out on her front lawn with his clothes, and vows never again to be a bum magnet. Exhausted by overwork and mountainous debt, Penny pleads for divine intervention.

Gunnar, a rebellious Nordic warrior cast into servitude by an angry god to learn humility, answers. While Penny sleeps, the celestial arrives to complete her chores, but she awakens and finds him. The handsome immortal kisses her, sparking a passionate, forbidden sexual encounter.

Dark forces seeking vengeance for Gunnar’s past misdeeds mark Penny as a target. To protect his lover, Gunnar tests immortality in a death battle using a god’s magical sword. But the strength of Penny’s love and lusty connection might be what saves them both.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He smoothed the hair at her temple and then rubbed a thick tendril between his thumb and forefinger. “I am Gunnar.” He pronounced the name “Goo-nar”.

A coarse brand of the sun, surrounded by a circle on the back of his hand, and covering the areas between his thumb, index knuckle and wrist caught her eye. His hand looked muscular and powerful beneath her gaze.

She touched the scarred skin with the tips of her fingers while he held a length of her hair, recognizing Freyr’s sacred insignia from her textbooks. “The pain must have been excruciating.” Without thinking, she lifted the old wound to her mouth and laid four kisses against its perimeter before pressing a fifth to the emblem inside.

A low tremor vibrated across her lips as they touched the ancient symbol on the white, extended hand. The brand grew warm and then hot on her mouth, though it did not burn. Her lips tingled and her body hummed with the pleasant sensations. She ran her tongue over the thick scars to erase the heat and then licked the center with the tip of her tongue in a tiny swirl before lifting her head.
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