One and Done? I can’t do it.

I keep telling myself that I’m done. When I started Small Town Siren, I knew it was going to be one book and then I was going to move on. I had a single story to tell, right? That what stories do. They end. In a romance, all stories end happily. Until those damn characters keep whispering to me.

I never meant to write more than one story set in Willow Fork, Texas. This week my fourth Texas Sirens book, Siren Beloved was released. Where did I go wrong? Well, I listened to those damn characters who kept telling me the story of this little family wasn’t finished. First, Sam Fleetwood had a few things to work out. Julian Lodge was only mentioned in the first book, but by the time I was done with Siren in the City, Julian simply had to settle down. And by the time I was finished with Siren Enslaved, I knew that Lucas and Lexi would need a story. Even as I was writing the second book of this series, I told myself that I would take a little break from Willow Fork and write a one off about a weird little Colorado town. Yeah – that worked out for me. Book four of that series comes out in August.

Why do I go back to the same well? I fall in love. I fall in love with the worlds I create and the people in my mind. Some of my readers might have noticed that I even cross over series characters. In Two to Love (a Bliss, CO book), Callie has a wild night in an unnamed Dallas BDSM club and Stef meets two of his old friends. Of course it’s The Club and Stef is having a drink with Jack and Sam. In Siren Beloved, I make it plain that my charming Dom Leo was raised close to a town called Bliss, and his mother is the girlfriend of Bliss’s notorious alien hunter. I can’t even leave my actual stand alone novellas out it. At the end of Siren Beloved, Dani is opening a spa in Willow Fork complete with a new manager who knows a thing or two about running a BDSM resort. Yep. If anyone’s read it, Gaby and Cal from Away From Me are back in Texas with two kids in tow.

I guess I do it because it’s my world. I see it so clearly in my brain. It’s vivid and alive to me. It’s a place I want to live in and people I want to know. I can’t leave them behind because each one is a piece of me.

But Texas Sirens is done. I’ve finished off that little family.

Except for Leo. And the Dawson twins. And maybe Bo…Damn it.

Sophie Oak writes erotic romance for Siren Publishing. You can read all the first chapters of her books at www.sophieoak.com.

Aural Sex

In my stories, sex is a vital component and sometimes tricky to pull off effectively. So many things go into writing a sex scene, and using all five senses is crucial. Touch, taste, sight, and smell are all important, but sometimes dialogue is overlooked. The physicality of the encounter might seem paramount, but without the emotion and intimacy of dialogue, it all becomes mechanical and the scene falls flat.

Good dialogue during lovemaking can make a sexy scene even hotter. If the characters are making love for the first time, their dialogue can reveal a turning point in their relationship, a time of new understanding or greater intimacy.

Whatever they say has to be consistent with their personalities. How would they express themselves in bed? Are they shy about talking dirty? How graphic would they be with each other? Would they use explicit language or sensual words?

How the words are spoken can be just as important as what is said. If a character is bilingual, he or she will often revert to their native tongue during sex. Using a few foreign phrases can bring a lot of emotion into a scene. In my short story, Love Bytes, Rhys, a Welshman, whispers to Ben in his mother tongue when they make love. Ben has no idea what Rhys is saying, but it sounds romantic and makes him feel sexy.

Sometimes less is more. Words aren’t always needed. A gasp, a moan, or a growl can be enough to show what the characters are feeling. And using inner dialogue can reveal feelings and emotions that a character can’t vocalize. In the end, it’s all about the characters, and making sure the reader will connect and care about them.

Thanks for reading and a big thanks to Delilah for having me today.

Gale

Erotic Romance Author, Gale Stanley writes for SirenBookstrand and Silver Publishing. She lives in the City of Brotherly Love, with hubby and two talkative Tonkinese cats, Buffy and Spike. Her kids are grown and the grandkids are waiting for a book they can read. Her latest book One Night in Bangkok was released June 4 from Silver Publishing.

The temperature in Bangkok is a humid ninety degrees but things are about to get a lot hotter. David Elliot is in Thailand on business but when he meets Kai, the younger man turns his world upside down. It was never meant to be anything more than a pleasant diversion but can he walk away when it’s over?

http://silverpublishing.info/index/book_authors_id/48/typefilter/book_authors
http://galestanley.net/
http://www.facebook.com/gale.stanley.author

Remember, the Promo Ho and Cabbage Rose Fairy contests continue!

Click here for details!

I didn’t have a guest today, so I decided to pop in very briefly. The trip, so far, has been a blast—other than a quick jag through Joplin, MO on our way up.

I can’t even begin to describe everything I saw in Joplin. At one point, we stopped the car and I stood on a little hilltop. I turned in a slow circle and can truthfully say there wasn’t anything within that 360 degree turn that wasn’t completely flattened. It’s a miracle more people didn’t die when that tornado hit.

Today, we stopped at Powell Gardens and toured their “Jurassic” exhibit. It was lovely; the dinosaurs were fun. We took tons of pics. Next stop was Jesse James’s family farm. That was a bit of a letdown because much of what existed during Jesse’s lifetime was gutted and rebuilt. Still, I took pictures. I’m hoping there will be a shadow in a window I can claim was his ghost (just to make it worth the detour!).

We reached my brother’s house this evening and stayed up talking until we were all yawning—as you must be now reading this blog. I am soooooo happy I have guest bloggers for the next few days!

Tomorrow’s tattoo day. I hope the artist has a good night’s rest. I don’t want the word he’s carving into my skin to be misspelled or crooked.

Take care and remember to comment! The day after I return home I’ll be choosing the winner of the pretty fairy journal. I’ll try to find something fun here in Iowa to bring back for a giveaway as well.

New Release and Book Giveaway!

I’m Randi Alexander and I write cowboy erotic romance. My first book, Chase and Seduction was released May 27 from The Wild Rose Press’ Cowboy Kink line. I want to thank Delilah for letting me guest blog today. She and I share a love of cowboys. We both blog on Wild and Wicked Cowboys with 12 other erotic romance authors.

Some of the 14 published authors on W&W are full-time writers, others have day jobs and write evenings and weekends. I’m a stay-at-home author, and I wonder if sometimes I’m not as focused on the actual writing as someone who works a day job. Someone who needs to get things done in a condensed amount of time.

So, here’s my story. “A day in the life of a full-time writer.” I hear my husband get up at 6:30 AM because I’m a light sleeper. I get up, too, put on my pull-over robe, which he calls my muumuu, and shuffle off into the kitchen to make coffee, breakfast for two, and his lunch. He says I don’t have to make him lunch, but if I don’t, he goes out and spends $15 a day at a restaurant. (Have I mentioned I’m very frugal?)

I kiss him goodbye at 8:00 and power up the ol’ laptop. Checking all my social networking hangouts takes about an hour. It gets longer every day as I add more favorites. Then it’s e-mails, which can take a little or a LOT of time.

I still haven’t written anything, and it’s already 10:00. Yeay! Time for a snack! Oh, and I put on real clothes right about now, too, because when the mail comes, I want to be ready! Mail is an exciting part of my day!

Now the neighbor guy starts mowing his lawn. I watch him for a while, concocting a story about the lonely stay-at-home writer who falls for the handsome hunk next door. Except Burt is about 83, and has on a huge, floppy sun hat that I’m sure his wife makes him wear, so I really have to use my imagination.

Okay, butt back into the writing chair. Tummy’s full, water glass is full, brain…isn’t so much. I’m outlining a book, and things just aren’t flowing. So, I open my library book on voiceover acting and do my voice exercises. “Unique New York, unique New York, red leather, yellow leather, blue blood, black blood.”
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Around 8 AM, the Red-Headed Hellion, the six-year-old and I will be piling into Yoshi (my cherry-red Scion) and heading out on a road trip. We’re heading to Iowa. I know, right? Who goes to Iowa? Well, my brother and SIL live there—and so does my tattoo artist. We’re making the trip about the journey and have planned stops along the way. We’ve also promised that if we see an interesting sign or attraction along the way, we stop! So a one-day drive will be two, both up and back. I promise to take pictures!

While I’m gone, I have guests lined up. Be sure to drop by to say hello.

6/22—Randy Alexander
6/23—I was supposed to have one here, but she didn’t send me her stuff!
6/24—Gale Stanley
6/25—Sophie Oak
6/26—Taige Crenshaw
6/27—RHH decided we needed more road time at the last minute, so I’ll poke my head in the door again.

Y’all take care now!

Tomorrow, I’ll blog one last time before I head out on the road. So ya know today I have a ton of things to do…get my nails done, get the car’s oil changed, laundry, pack…blah, blah, blah. Today’s post will be short. Just something to get you thinking because you know you need someone to prod you into doing that.

If you had to change your first name , what would you choose as your new name?

The Promo Ho and Cabbage Rose Fairy contests continue!

Comment here, then head to After Midnight Fantasies for another chance to win the fairy journal!

I haven’t done a report card in a while because I haven’t done a lot of writing over the past couple of months. This week I got back on track.

But first, what’s that list to the left?

Yeah, that’s Samhain’s Best Sellers list! What a lovely gift! Thank you, all!

I signed a total of four contracts this week!

Three of them were stories for Samhain.
* The next Lone Star Lovers story, A Four-Gone Conclusion, which will release in September!
* The next Red Hot Winter story, Lone Heart, which will release in January 2012.
* The start of a new series, a five-some that I will tell you about after I start writing it! It’s tentatively scheduled for release in November!

The fourth contract is for another short story collection for Cleis Press, cowboy-themed—and this time heterosexual! I put the call for submission out on this blog a couple of days ago. So, any writers out there who are interested… I can’t wait to read your stories!

This week, I finally made progress on the lesbian vampire story that’s been on my plate for a couple of months. Why have I had so much trouble getting down to business? I haven’t talked about it much here. I mean, who wants to hear about real life stuff, right? But since it affects readers, I thought I might let you know that my lack of productivity hasn’t been because I suddenly got lazy.

About a month ago, my grandfather became gravely ill. My mother headed to Washington state to be with grandma. My brother and his wife relocated her from Colorado, and they’ve moved in until they can build a house on the property. My grandfther died, and now, as of late last night, my grandmother and aunt are living with us too. Add to the fact that it’s summer and the red-headed hellion’s children are constantly underfoot—and the pool is finally a comfortable tempture—and you can see why I’ve been a little distracted.

This next week, the RHH, the six-year-old and I are taking a road trip to Iowa. Not a sexy destination? Maybe not the way most people travel, but I’ll blog all about it when I get back. We’re escaping the madhouse for a week, then I’ll be back to the grindstone. Promise. I have all those shiny new contracts to fulfill!

The Promo Ho and Cabbage Rose Fairy contests continue! Comment today and add another entry for the drawing for that lovely journal. Post an honest review and send me the link, and you’re entered in the other. Thanks to everyone who’s playing!