A teaser from my WIP

“Prophecy smophecy, Pandora’s jar my arse.” Shaun muttered to herself as she yanked on the old, pitted, sadly-lacking-in-chrome door handle on her car. “I know some Greek mythology and I saw Tomb Raider, Pandora had a box, not a jar, and Pandora let all the evil out into the world. I’m so not all about the evil.” Although, there was a certain sort of piquancy to the Pandora myth and how she was the first woman -- a beautiful evil -- sent down by the gods to punish men.

She had to use her whole hand to press down the button on the handle, and then when it unlatched use both arms to pull the door open. No swift getaways in this baby; the damn door weighs a tonne, let alone the whole car. The car was new -- well, it was a ’58 Edsel Bermuda, so it was new to her -- and since it was definitely a work in progress, she had a lot of kinks to work out, or at least learn to work around.

“Not evil. The jar wasn’t anyway, whether Pandora was evil is still open for debate.”

Having opened with a groaning, metallic creak the car door reached the point in it’s arc where is moved freely. Taken off guard by the words coming from over her right shoulder Shaun wasn’t paying all the attention she should to the heavy door and as she twisted to face the speaker she was jerked around and into the door with an “oof” of stolen breath. Pain shot up her arm from where she’d twisted then fallen on her wrist, and she cried out, pulling her wrist up to her chest to cradle it.

“Hey, are you okay?”

When she looked up, it was into Jak’s concerned face. “Yeah, just sort of landed funny.” Shaun shook her hand out, trying to relieve the sting in her wrist, “Like when you land on your funny bone -- stings a bit like that.”

Fingers, smooth and slightly cook to the touch, wrapped around her wrist and stilled her movement. “Let me feel.”

Jak’s fingers ran over her skin, pressing firmly, yet gently, easing the taut tendons when he came to them. He concentrated on her wrist with intensity, and his touch was oddly the most intimate, sensual single thing she’d experienced in her life. “Nothing broken I don’t think, just a light sprain.”

Caught up in the sparks flooding her system from the vampire’s touch, Shaun was embarrassed to realize she was staring up at him, mouth no doubt wide open, while he patiently waited for a reply. His lips flirted around a smile as Jak watched her back.

“I--It’s--that is, I’m sure you’re right.” She jerked her hand out of his and absently rubbed her fingers over the skin he’d touched, not sure if she was trying to rub the tingles in, or rub them off. Like little butterfly wings they danced along in her blood stream fluttering in her belly… and lower. She tingled in places even she’d not been able to make herself tingle before, let alone one of her loser boyfriends.

“It’s late, I better go.”

Shaun turned, and moved to slide onto the big bench seat only to freeze in place when a growly, rough voice yelled out, “What the hell is that heap of junk?”

She straightened, the fluttering butterfly wings in her belly stuttering to a halt as plain old annoyance took a hold. Trust Rob to ruin a perfectly good moment.

“It’s not a heap of junk, it’s a classic.”

“No it’s not, it’s a rusted out clap trap--”

“No, it’s not. It’s an Edsel.” Shaun moved down the side of the car and ran her hand tenderly along one of the fins that stretched down to the rear. Then turned back to Rob with her hands on her hips. “Clarabell’s in the middle of a bad hair decade, but I plan on fixing that.”

In Bed with Her Boss - Brenda Jackson

Reviews? By an Author on her own blog? You can see why here. And further here. I'm contemplating setting up a separate blog, but I'm having title issues. Anyone care to make a suggestion? Because my initial offering with the acronym of McWAAR isn't cutting it.

---

In Bed with Her Boss
Brenda Jackson
Kimani Romance 2007
Series: The Lockharts--Three Weddings and a Reunion

Blurb:
D'marcus Armstrong was demanding, autocratic and cranky as a boss. But as the star of her feverish nighttime fantasies, the man was simply divine. Still, Opal Lockhart had no chance with Detroit's self-made millionaire. What would a high roller like him want with a buttoned-up, naive secretary like her?

Enter the Lockhart sisters—for some attitude adjustment and a wardrobe makeover. With some décolletage and come-hither heels, they have the sex kitten in Opal downright purring.

Now she's giving D'marcus notice—he'd better watch out!

---

I thought I’d start my reviews off with a local author from here in Jacksonville, Brenda Jackson -- she’s got quite a nice solid shelf of books in my local library which is great to see for a local author.

In Bed with Her Boss is the entrée book of the four book, four author Kimani Romance series about the Lockhart sisters, and tells the story of Opal, the self confessed quiet girl and peace maker of the four Lockharts.

The object of Opal’s affections is D’marcus Armstrong, her boss, and general all around category romance rich guy -- he’s got the looks, the money, the tortured past, the whole kit and caboodle of the Rich Boss / TSTL Secretary (or in this case Administrative Assistant) standard. But D’marcus is the Arrogant Bossman - light version, compared to say his 80’s/early 90’s counterparts, and Opal definitely isn’t in the TSTL category, she knows what she’s getting into right from the word go. So no SOB 80/90’s Boss/Secretary deal, but that staple fairly much is the story arc.

Now, to say right from the beginning, I liked the story. It was a simple read (this afternoon, simple was good), sexy, and the protags were realistic -- seriously nice cover too, btw. But -- I’m figuring you knew there was a but coming -- it was a story that maybe was a little too pat. I’m all for losing that hand wringing wet mop secretary of the overly conceited boss of older romances, but Opal and D’Marcus were all just a little too nice; a bit flat and too on formula to make the story more than just a pleasant afternoon snack.

One thing I found while reading, and even now having finished, is that I’m having a hard job placing the story in Detroit -- but I must qualify that by saying I’ve not been to Detroit to know better. I don’t know if it was because I know Ms. Jackson is from the South, but I really got more of a relaxed Southern family vibe from it. The Church scenes, the references to family and food etc, came off a little more like what I’ve read in various ‘Southern Lit’ (I get a kick out of the fact that the amorphous ‘South’ has it’s own quasi genre). I’ve always envisaged Detroit to be a bit more hard-edged and dirty being that it’s the motor city. Maybe it’s a byproduct of the ‘nice’ feeling I have from the whole story, but I just didn’t get ‘big bad city’.

While not much of a Church going person myself, I liked the way Ms Jackson included the sisters’ faith into the story without being preachy (one problem I have had with a couple of AA protag stories in the past), but also kept them real in so much as that the sisters were modern in their outlooks and actions i.e. nightclubbing, sex etc. Their faith is part of who they are in a comfortable background manner, not overtly in your face and stealing you away from the love story -- something I’ve admired in Catherine Anderson’s backlist.

There is one nitpick I do have though, there’s a thread throughout the story with D’marcus and one the players from the team he co-owns that I hesitate to call suspense, because it’s just a big, thin hanging thread I want to tug on and get rid of. I kept waiting for the big public showdown when Dashaun gets his revenge -- exposing D’marcus and Opal’s affair perhaps -- but it never arrived. I’m actually left wondering if Dashaun is going to show up again later, maybe with the party hearty youngest sister Amber? But that might be the author in me looking for sequel bait. I picked this book up at random off the library shelf, so other than the front page telling me there are three other books, I’m not sure what’s coming, and if once I lay my hands on the other three books, it does turn out to be bait for a longer running thread, I’ll make sure to correct this review.

I believe this is my first Brenda Jackson book (but don’t quote me, I’ve read thousands, and have a seriously holey memory for author names), and even though this was a lightweight, afternoon snack type read (and hey, we all need an afternoon sugar rush now and then!), I’ll definitely look out for more from Ms Jackson. She also set the ‘world’ up in such a manner that I’m quite keen to look up the stories for Opal’s sisters Ruby, Pearl and Amber -- I see on her website that Ms Jackson has a family saga style series, I think I’ll hunt them out and see how Ms Jackson reads amongst a continuity that is all her own.

(ps - don't look to find the books on Harlequin.com. Even though this was released in 07 I can't seem to find any listing for it on their site)

(pps - wait, I lie! I decided to try one more time and amongst the eBook listings I found it!)

So many ideas, not enough time

Or at least not enough patience to sit and get them done with out letting my add tendencies get the better of me and start blog surfing.

I've had a couple of ideas on the back burner, yet I looked up a couple of outlines I'd done ages ago and wondered WhyTF I haven't done anything with them? They are good ... but I can't seem to work too well on multiple WIP. WIP and edits are not a problem, but I'm failing at having 2-3 WIP going at the same time.

So at the moment I have this great dark menage story that I really have to sit down and start editing - its going from short story length to novella/novel length. Great twisty stuff where it starts off as a mfm menage but ends up as a mmf menage, tortured type hero, whimsical heroine, hero with the wastrel family. As it stands its a mfm, so I've got lots of work to do.

Then I've always had a plan to follow up AW with another story, one where the pack alpha, gets together with the much younger goth chick. How bad is this: I emailed my editor, who snapped up AW quick, to see if she'd like to see a second story land on her eDesk. Can you tell I'm procrastinating on that editing? To RS,CF's detriment she didn't poo-poo the idea. Bugger. Turns out that its not just Rob and Shauns story, but lookie here theres a studly vampire by the name of Jakov Peter (I resisted I didn't call him Peter Jakov!), hmmm ... and 850 words into my first scene a ghost called Gertruda has just popped up - I think I could really have fun with this story.

Then I have this trio of stories about eBay, and a story of a pair of peeping toms (which might work for the Brava contest if I pull finger), and ... too damn many idea's I tell you!

I forgot the good news ...

I'll soon be able to add another one of these:


to that sidebar over there ------->

I really must get around to making a generic one that fits in with my site. I've got the skillz, must. use. them.

Available NOW!

Title: Tea for Three

ISBN: 978-1-59632-476-3

Author: Anne Douglas
Cover Artist: Croco Designs
Price: $5.99

Genre: Nontraditional Erotic Contemporary, BBW Heroine
Length: Novel

Straight, gay or in between, turning thirty is never easy.

Craig wonders just where his life's heading. His relationship with Jack is satisfying, to say the least. But deep down, he sometimes still craves the soft touches of a woman.

Something's bugging Craig, and Jack knows it. Some sort of pre midlife crisis that he just can't understand. The sex is hot and demanding. Their home life is comfortable without being too familiar. But he just can't help feeling he might be about to lose the love of his life.

Then they meet lovely, loyal and slightly broken Wren Browne. It doesn't take long to realize, they might have just have found the solution to both of their problems.

Love isn't tidy or simple; it doesn't come packaged in neat little boxes. And sometimes you have to set the table with tea for three.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: m/m sex practices, m/m/f menage.

What a week for Romance Land

It's been a great week for blog watchers :

The RT conference finished up, and when everyone got home they found out about Laura Baumbach and other authors/publishers involved in m/m publishing being treated unfairly. I've read a couple of her books, and they have been nice reads, but I'm going to be a touch cynical--and I'm NOT siding with the Hyatt or RT here, Ms Baumbach should have had as many rights as every other conference goer--but Ms Baumbach couldn't pay for advertising this good. I'm sure, like Carol Lynne of this weeks Ben's Wildflower fame, her books have been flying off the electronic shelf.

I feel a bit bad for Carol Lynne. Reviews done by some reasonably prominent bloggers (not review sites, but personal blogs) have been fairly scathing, and have in turn exploded into an all out knickers-in-a-twist series of rants against Ellora's Cave. This has little to do with her personally as she's at the whim of her publisher and editor now she signed on that dotted line, and with a dirth of 'EC is the big bad nasty' and personal attacks against EC staffers, I can't help but think that this bad publicity, while good for this book because everyone's snapping it up to see what all the fuss is about, is not going to be so good for her next releases when everyone goes 'oooh, I remember her and that big EC stink, she sucked'.

The old adage says bad publicity is good publicity, but in this instance I can only see it as just being plain bad. I read her first book in this series, and while I didn't jump up and down, I had planned to get the next (I'm a martyr for a series ... well, except for Anita Blake, I just had to stop), and I will (cause I'm a series whore--bad or not). I really hope she gets a chance to work with a good editor who can help her improve her craft, not leave her open for more ridicule.

And that moves us on to the 'Ellora's Cave, WTF?' section of the week.

Karen Scott was the naughty blogger at the center of all the scandal. She started the ball rolling with her review of Carol Lynne's Ben's Wildflower, which morphed into a 'EC sucks lately' rant by readers. Karen followed up on her commenter's replies with a new post of her own, which asked the big question 'WTF is up with EC lately?'. This in turn bought out the Big Guns of Romance Land, aka Kathryn Falk, Lady Barrow, owner of RT mag, who stated, if I may paraphrase as the post was very long winded and rambled all over the show "As women we need to be nice to one another. If a book is not good, you must must suck it up, forget about the money you just spent and smile and tell the author how wonderful it was."

Yes, well...

Of course there is the whole problem that anyone, can be well, anyone out there in blog land. A new name is only a gmail account away. The claims made in the now infamous post by Ms Falk needed confirmation, so some Smart Bitches reached out and touched somebody, and were unfortunately left with more questions than answers, even though they went direct to the horses mouth. Other bloggers got in touch with the head offices of RT in an effort to confirm or deny culpability, and were floored by RT's response that they agreed with the poster--bloggers are nasty, nasty creatures and indeed need to be wiped from the face of the earth. Alright, I made that up, that wasn't the word for word response, but as a reader, that's the impression I was left with. And my RT subscription bill is sitting right beside me on the table...

Now this is where it starts to get tricky. RT also have a finger in the Laura Baumbach incident--they (in this instance Carol Stacey) continue to insist that their readers are not at all interested in gay romance (erotic or not)--and pulled out the 'If she gets such a bum deal from us why does she continue to advertise with us or attend our conference' line. And I agree with all the posters, despite the grief she gets from that publication, RT mag hits a target audience (though with that cynical hat on again, I wonder how much is advertising effect and how much is the gossip mill grinding--either way RT is fucking expensive, somethings making it worthwhile for her).

Then it gets a little more convoluted--Lady Barrow is being published by Ellora's Cave with their new Lotus Circle Imprint, and is hissing at all comers like my Siamese at the new kitten we got this week. I think I read that members of EC are at a retreat with her, recovering from RT last week.

Okay, I'm feeling decidedly left out here, I want to be in someones pocket damn it!

I also have absofuckinglutely no idea what The Lotus Circle is about. Does anyone? If you do, please, please let me in on it. I had thought initially that it was to be a new take on world building--the publisher has created a world and then you create a storyline withing that world (which revolves around psychic stuffs in this instance)--but after seeing the website, I have a feeling that is not the idea at all.

Claims of interference in ms have been leveled at EC by some parties, and that they have taken a stance to 'dumb down' literature for the masses by removing commas, colons, and semi-colons left and right. (Hell, I should fit right in judging by all the little red comma's B has to place all over my ms's, though I'm sure they'd kick me right back out for over generous usage of semi-colons). If you want a little insight to the EC machine, take a gander at Tina Engler's guide to authors found in the back of the Authors guide found on the submissions page. I have to admit I raised eyebrows at a few things.

Personally, as a reader who spends literally thousands (please don't let on to hubby how much I really spend) on books a year, and would have spent a good, oh, easily $500 bucks at EC over the last few years, I'm going to jump on the crap bandwagon--though I see now that a certain editor might be the source of my discontent. I used to buy at least a title a week, usually 2 or 3, even 4 or 5 if BDSM wasn't the predominant genre that week, now I'm lucky to buy 2-3 a month (though I see this Friday's releases have some authors I like reading, I'm going to blow that statement out of the water). An over abundance of BDSM turned me off to begin with, now it's other things.

If I didn't love my little laptop like it was my second child, I would have done a traditional wallbanger with some of the crap I've bought from EC recently. There has been more than one that I've though should have been marketed with the Exotika title attached, because it was no more than porn wrapped in a thinly veiled story. I know, as a writer, I shouldn't be saying boo about the biggest ePublisher out there, but as a reader who very rarely goes a day without reading a book (or two, or three), I really want my voice to be heard.

I've made the decision that if I think it's crap--no matter who the publisher--I'm going to complain. It's not likely to get my money back, but at least it might prompt some people to do some thinking.

Unlike Ms Falk, I do care about wasting my money on bad books. And as an author, I would like the courtesy of people telling me they thought it was bad--but then I think I might be in a minority on that front, for some reason I'm a bit of a masochist about wanting to improve my writing skills.

So it was quite the week, huh? Even my hubby laughed at some of the antics, and I think he's close to asking if he can read Ben's Wildflower after hearing all the reviews I've read to him. Considering he's never read a full ms of mine, Ms Lynne is one up on me!

Just a taste...

Just got an email through with the first cover draft for T43 - I can't show y'all till its finalised, but mmm mmm m! It's all in sepia tones, with this pastoral scene blended with a lovely, lovely man (or two) wearing not a lot except some skin.

I can't wait till I get the finals in so I can post it - I really have been having a good run with the cover gods!

Making Out is available now

I'm running a wee bit behind today. With the bathrooms finished bar the paint, we needed to get on with the last of the flooring, so I've dragged my aches and pains to the computer a lot later than I had planned!

All the links for Making Out will now take you to a fully functioning book listing at Loose Id so make sure to nip over and nab a copy!

Now me, my sore neck, my gimpy hip and aching hamstring are off to bed!

Editing

I've nearly finished my alterations to McCabes2. I've got one scene I need to add in, but I've been mulling over how its going to play out so in the mean time I've started on editing what I already have.

I wrote the first draft of this story over a year ago, and with changes in editors and the rest, it sort of ended up in limbo till late last year, and since then I've procrastinated, too. So having written Position Vacant (it just got a new 5 kiss review from Two lips reviews), Tea for Three (its looking at a late May release now, Happy Birthday to me!), and also Red Skirt, Cool Fountain (which is getting expanded from a fling to full length before I find it a home), I've had a few WTF was I thinking moments.

Such as:

"He had seen a picture of sushi being decadently served off a naked model; Kate needed no sushi adornment - she was the feast"

"He opened his lips and took what he was craving, and by god it wasn't just a spark, it was a lust-ridden firestorm." - You should read the rest of the scene - I went a wee bit overboard on the fire metaphor.

But then there are some good bits:

"...But before he got far, he had needed to get some emotions out of his system, so he kicked a stone, and then started taking his anger out on an unsuspecting bush. Moving on from the poor bush who couldn't put up a good enough fight, he'd started throwing fist sized rocks as far as he possibly could into the lake -- until he threw one too hard and toppled himself, fully dressed, into the cold water.
Now he was trudging back to the cabin, sopping wet, cold, still as angry as hell, and feeling distinctly sorry for himself."

"..Rushing the last part of the way up to the cabin and racing up the steps he skid to a halt as he came face to face with Kate. Beautiful, vibrant, sexy, and positively fuming, Kate.
“Well?” One eyebrow was raised sardonically.
“Kate?” David swallowed hard, not quite believing his eyes.
“I should hope so. I definitely don’t feel like a Tom, Dick or Harry.” The sarcasm came through loud and clear… she was not happy a happy camper. Too bad, even as angry as a hen left in the rain, he would take Kate any way he could get her.
“Kate?” He goggled at the woman standing before him in a tight, bright red tank top and jeans that clung to every voluptuous curve.
“Yes, Kate. And this is the second time today I have been greeted by a locked door. Lucky I had a spare key, wasn’t it?”
“I… ah… I was walking around the lake… I...” He couldn’t quite figure out where he was going with the sentence.
“Around the lake? Looks more like you walked through the lake. You are soaking wet, and getting colder by the minute by the look.”
Grabbing him by his shirt front, Kate dragged him behind her into the bedroom. Releasing him, she turned to him with her hands on her hips.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Get those clothes off!” Her tapping foot showed her displeasure..."

And you can count that last one as your excerpt of the moment :)

Now just to figure out what I'm naming the beastie. Currently it's called Trusting David, but with the changes I've made it's less about that and more about other things - accepting your faults, trusting in yourself to make the right decisions, growth, becoming a new you, and accepting things don't have to be normal to be right, accepting the past to move into the future. Instead I wanted to play more on the basis of the story - a battered woman found.

So these were a few idea's I was throwing around sitting in the car yesterday while kiddo had his tutoring appointment (which fyi is giving me 45 min 2x a week to write or edit with no possible interruptions, how handy is that):

Trusting David
Bruised Bones
Bruised Bones, Healed Heart
Healing Hearts
Facing Demons
Battered Hearts
Broken
Bruises Heal
Healed Bruises
Sticks and Stones - I kind of like this because my next thought is "break my bones but names will never hurt me", which, is a big part of what happens in the book. Or is this a big leap no-one else but me is going to make?

Any comments anyone?

EDIT: I suppose that if I want to keep in the Persuading Jo line of titles Finding Kate might work, too. Then number three would be Submitting to Anna or Tony's submission or some such.

I wish

This is old news, but new to me

Longoria To Pen Romance Novel.
13th June 2006 18:01:01

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES beauty EVA LONGORIA is in negotiations to transfer some of her sizzling on-screen sexuality to the page - by penning a raunchy novel.
The actress has already planned an erotic plot for her first foray into literature, and can't wait for the work to be in bookshops.
She says, "They offered a huge deal and I like the idea of seeing my book on a shelf.
"The plot's top secret so far but let's just say I have a wild imagination."

Wouldn't it be nice to be some famous person that gets offered a multi million dollar deal to write a book *cough*OJ*cough*.

It sucks (very literate at times aren't I) to see someone offered this sort of money, when there are no doubt hundreds of excellent stories sitting in slush piles the world over.

I'm off to do some research to see if it ever got written - or ghost written, perhaps?

EDIT: haven't found a thing yet

The art work's in!

Check out the coming soon pages for other shorts from your favourite stories.

A new week

I was hoping that the renovations on the bathrooms would be finished last week, but it looks like (since they have been gone half the day) there will be no end in sight till at least Wednesday.

Sigh.

I had really been hoping to be getting my life back today. Instead kiddo is home sick, the contractor has been, but gone again, and I haven't written a word on McCabes 2 today. I did manage around 4k at the end of last week, and I'm working on getting to a point where the new content merges back into part of the old. Once I'm finished I think I'll be looking at approx 40k, not to shabby all things considered, it might be more depending on where the story takes me. I also managed about 1k of the start of McCabes 3.

I'm glad I got a chance to write a short story based on Matt, Brian and Jo from Persuading Jo, it whet my appetite for knuckling down and getting the McCabe stories done.

Now if only I had a nice, new, finished bathroom to write them in!

Losing Love

The Bunco Bitches have a special honorary biotch who plays with us when we run short on bodies (there is 16 of us playing once a month every month). He and his boyfriend of 3 years went their separate ways last weekend, and he asked us for advice on how to cope with a broken heart.

This is what I told him:

Broken hearts never mend, love, but they have this wonderful ability to pick up the pieces, slap some glue over the cracks and put themselves out there to try again. Hearts are like that, they have great fortitude, and learn from mistakes. They only get bigger, which means the bit with a crack in it gets smaller.

I thought I would share my words of wisdom, because this time, I really think they make an impression.

Fists and walls

Authors everywhere are going to cringe at my next statement.

I buy books at the supermarket. Yes I do, they are handy, cheap, and I can hide my book purchases amongst the long list of grocery items and hubby is none the wiser - not that he would ever stop me from buying a book anyway.

I don't buy hardback - unless, its part of a series I have been waiting an extraordinarily long time for (years not months) and I'm unwilling to wait another 6 months or more for the paperback. Sorry all authors printed only in large size hardback, they belong in the library, not on my bookshelf. I can buy 3-4 paperbacks to one hardback, plus, I just don't have that much room.

That's why I love eBooks!

Anyhoo, that wasn't what I popped on to blog about. While I was at the supermarket last Friday, I picked up Alison Brennan's Speak no Evil and Hear no Evil, and in one of the books, the good guy slams his fist through the wall.

I also received my latest installment of Blaze - yes, it's shock and horror morning isn't it. I get a monthly series romance fix. I only subscribed when I found about about Blaze not long after it started (Otherwise I got my fix via eBay and HUGE-assed boxes of used 80's & 90's Harlequins). Low and behold, the good guy in this book slams his fist into a wall in a fit of pique.

And y'all know we are doing renovations at the moment...I am leading somewhere with this, so hold on for a few seconds more.

This got me to thinking: Why is it, in movies and books, when the guy gets huffy and lashes out to beat up that poor, defenseless, can't avoid it if it wanted to wall, they NEVER HIT THE STUD?

Every freaking single time they hit the sweet-spot, straight into a cavity with a nice puff of drywall as it crumbles around their manly fist. Not a single one manages to muff it and hit the framing, dropping to the floor with a girly scream as their now well broken hand wails out in extreme pain at being subject to such male stupidity as to think punching a wall makes it all better.

You know, I think I'm going to use that in a book. I can see it now. Hero gets all frustrated, turns and punches the wall, falls into a girly screaming heap. Meanwhile our Heroine is snickering behind his bad, eyebrow raised in a 'oh you so deserved that' manner, calmly pulls out the icepack and tells him "good freaking job, and make sure you make a damn good job of patching the hole, honey".

Erotic Romance and Faith

There is something that I've noticed when it comes to erotic romance, and its slightly more smutty sister, erotica - faith, or a visible lack thereof.

Oh, I'm not talking those highly involved fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction types of faith that an author might build a world around. I'm talking good old, everyday religion in a contemporary setting.

Are Sex and Faith mutually exclusive?

I've mentioned before that I enjoy reading Catherine Anderson. Her stories, more and more (just personal observance, she might not think so at all, and neither may you) are verging into inspirational, but I wonder if they will ever quite make it as she is just too frank with her language and pretty open with sex, too.

What appeals to me is not the sense of Faith running through her work, but the reality of her characters. They swear and fight, they have premarital sex - though often suffer for it in some manner - they have jobs they have to to before they can run willy nilly through the crabgrass and clover of their love lives. They are human.

But when I was sitting down staring into the ether at the Golden Trough on Sunday while scarfing my over sized plate of chicken, green beans, and spuds this is what popped into my brain. Why you ask? - the group of people who before seating themselves prayed over their table.

Now, I do live in a city that, religiously thinking, would love to name itself the reigning Baptist center of the world, so you might think I would see more of this type of behaviour. We don't really. A few quiet murmers, some dipped heads or clasped hands, but not a very public display. So Sex and Faith just jumped in there as an interesting blog topic.

Personally, I'm an agnostic. Yes, I'm one of those people who wants proof. I believe what I see, so Faith has little meaning for me on an intrinsic level in a story. But it does have a great deal of meaning for me for understanding a character though - their personality, their core beliefs etc. Does this translate over into romances hot-to-trot cousin, erotic romance?

I mentioned that there is no lack of faith or religion when applied to an imaginary world. After all it's a chance to be your own mini god, isn't it? Getting to make up the ins and outs of your own religion. The same with historicals - it's just a given that religion plays a big part in the mores and strictures of life. But what about in a contemporary setting?

BDSM and religion - now there's the mother of all debate topics. Submission, degradation, action and consequence, forgiveness, control of power, release - trust.

I think I understand the concepts behind BDSM, although it's not a hot trigger for me; still, the correlations between the two ring bells, big bells. Why then do I not see more content involving faith? Not the type of story line that involves someone ritually purging themselves through pain, but the kind where they trot off to Church on Sundays and make obvious dialogue about their religious beliefs. And I'm not talking "Oh my GOD, it's so huge!" That's finding religion of an entirely different genre.

Are erotic romance readers people who embrace religion?

I know there are readers and authors alike who are Pagan, but what about the traditional churches - Catholic, Baptist, Methodist etc? What about Asian or Middle Eastern faiths? It's not too far a jump from some Pagan beliefs to paranormal, romance, and fantasy. After all, that's where it all started - Greek and Roman myths and legends coming to life; mother nature at her finest; Druids, Witches and Warlocks.

Can traditional religions make the leap and keep the sexy heat? Is religion in an erotic story a turn off - the guilt factor chiming in? Face it, most erotic romances do not involve a married couple (or triple, but then that's another big no-no for most religions). Is the reminder that premarital sex is supposed to be a big NO, the reason I don't seem to see religion as a part of the current erotic romance selections?

I know I don't write about it - don't practice, how can I preach it? Could this be the new big thing? Inspirational Erotic Romance? I think it could be done. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to tie BDSM up with a healthy religious aspect, rather than using it in a protaganistic manner?

Preds & Ed's Readers Poll for 2006

Preditors and Editors have posted the results of their 2006 Readers poll.

Persuading Jo was entered in the Category: Electronic Romance Novel and finished 4th overall. And in the Category: Author pages I finished 7th equal!

I guess this means that I can flash around one of these :) :

I guess this is where I'm supposed to give one of those stuttering Oscar speeches thanking my cat for her constant company while I'm writing, and my husband for being kind enough to by me a laptop then not complain to much when 10mths later I want to trade it in for a new mac laptop instead, and my sister for kindly telling me "this paragraph is a load of shite" and "oooh, this bits good!", and my editor for putting up with all my seriously wacked diva tantrums and tears (seriously, you know thats sarcasm right...I'm so not the queen of Diva...well except when hubby hasn't put out all the rubbish bags yet again - I mean whats so fucking hard about going arund the house emptying the rubbish bins and the fridge from things that jump out and try grab you?).

Oops, sorry B that was a bit of one of those run on sentances you keep telling me off for.

Anyway, isn't that cool beans? Oops, and before I forget - Loose Id, thank you so very much for publishing me! Can't have any of those horrid rumors going around that we are on rocks and about to divorce because I forgot you in my acceptance speech. But then again, I was only a top ten finalist not number one so the tabloids probably wouldn't give a shite anyway!

Seriously, everyone that I nagged begged politely asked to vote for me, thankyou!

Happy Valentines!

While my day has been full of the rush rush of trying to get everything sorted for these damn bathroom renovations, class parties....oh and a rather painful (I have fybro), but good massage at a place called Massage Envy I almost forgot to leave y'all some purdy.

See, my day might be shit - I severely doubt that flowers, chocolates, or even a 'happy Valentines, honey' will be walking through the door tonight - but I think of y'all!

Position Vacant isn't the redheaded stepchild...

The reviewers tell me so!

Check them out at my main site www.annedouglas.com

A new review...see if it makes you giggle...

TCM reviews just got back to me with their review of Persuading Jo.
At first I thought WTF? Then I re-read it a couple of times and started giggling. Lets see if you can come up with the same conclusion I have.

Will & Grace has a lot to answer for - NOT, one hastens to add, that author Anne Douglas has anything to apologize for on that score, but the fact remains, any ménage a trios involving two gay men, a cute female roomie, and the not-so-nagging suspicion that one or both of them want to have their way with her, is bound to draw comparisons, no matter how much the reader tries to shut the mind to the ensuing images.

Jo, Matt and Brian met when all three were at college, and it swiftly became apparent, to the boys, anyway, that the trio was destined to be together forever. But fair’s fair; Jo had the right to determine her own life, so they let her be... and, for eight long, frustrating years, they watched as she made one bad choice after another, and was nowhere nearer to finding happiness than the day she first walked through their door, and almost caught them having sex. Brian stood up just in time, but she knew what he’d been doing down there, and they knew she knew, which sets the tale up perfectly for some delirious bouts of voyeurism, shot through with stolen fragments of the lovers’ conversation. So Jo knows the score as well. She just needs to be persuaded....

Persuading Jo is a quick and exhilarating read, its 91 pages a roller coaster ride on which every scene is either setting up for sex, coming down from it, or just going at it hammer and tongs. There is a subplot, involving Jo’s creepy cousin, but it doesn’t really go any place before fizzling out in a final chapter that winds things up a lot more abruptly than it ought to. The dialogue is a little cheap, too, with the boys, in particular, cursed with a vocabulary straight out of an early 80s porn flick. For all that, however, Douglas tells her tale with vivid verve, and the hiccups are certainly overwhelmed by the highs.

Actually he raises a valid point - does my fascination with multiple partners in a loving relationship (versus wham, bam, thank you sir & madam, sex) stem from a popular culture television show?

Will and Grace had so much pointedly unexplored sexual exploration opportunities. First there is Will and Grace - wasn't the running joke that Grace turned Will gay? Is she such a fag hag because she is hoping one day he will realise that unlike all his other lovers, shes the one who hung through thick and thin with a hope that she might turn him back?

Jack and Grace - the love to hate each other relationship - more than just the biting sarcasm between them and the blatant and constant fight for Will's attention, there was the constant wonder if Jack would take the final step of finding out why Grace fascinated Will so much, to find out why he, Jack, couldn't measure up. Of course everyone else but Jack knew Will would jump in front of a bus if he had to to save Jacks ass, even if he was treated like the annoying puppy that won't let go of your pants leg.

Jack and Will - the tortured unrequited love.

Karen - oh Karen we loved to hate you - the perfect foil for them all. Trying so hard to be a bitch, and succeeding of course; but when it came to the crunch she pulled out the goodies, even if she said it was for an ulterior motive. Karen, so sexually ambiguous, you didn't know who she might be going to come on to next. Such a refreshing hurricane to keep you guessing. Would she do Jack? Rosario? Grace? Her husband? The bellboy or the waitress? What better personality to upset the Will/Grace/Jack triangle so successfully?

Karen is the one who rang true for me.
Seriously, Grace was a whiny bitch, who was totally inept at keeping her life on track. Even with Will as her crutch she got it wrong. She wasn't just a chick-lit girl, she was the chick-lit girl - if a cow had invaded New York and plopped a nice big cowpat on the sidewalk Grace would have stepped in it, then tripped over her boyfriend and landed him in it face first while exposing her underwear to the general populace.
Karen? Karen, aside from her bisexual tendencies, was a woman who had a real life. A tough time growing up, then she had compromised to her need for security by marrying Stan only to end up loving him anyway. She didn't like her step kids most days and they didn't like her, and lets face it, how many trophy wives and step kids really do like each other? Though I always got the idea that she didn't like that so much - that she would have liked to have been move involved with their lives and to have them like her. After all, that's what it was all about, she hurt people before they hurt her - a facade to cover up how desperately she really did want everyones approval.

So, in the end, do I think in my instance I am playing out a hidden desire to rewrite Will and Grace the way I wanted it to play out? No, I don't think I am. While Will and Grace had an amazing cast dynamic with an intricately woven, twisty web to tie the characters up in I would never have saddled Will with both Grace and Jack - eh could you imagine the Sunday morning bickering, and the moaning and whining? Now Rosario, Will and Karen...that would be a different story altogether!

13 ways to say I love you

1. Ta gra agam ort

2. Ek het jou liefe

3. Je t'adore

4. Ngo oi ney

5. Volim te
   

6. Jeg elsker dig

7. Ich liebe dich

8. S'ayapo

9. Aloha i'a au oe

10. Nu' umi unangwa'ta

11. Taim i' ngra leat

12. Te amo

13. kei te aroha au i a koe