Storywitch's "Book of Shadows"

In looking at my previous blog, I’m thinking I just need to put that picture of Hugh at the top of every posting I do. Think they’d make me pay for rights to use the photo if I did that (lol)? It would almost be worth getting into trouble.

On we go. Nothing weighty this week. I’m excited that Eye on Romance gave A Vampire’s Claim a 10 out of 10 rating, because the reviewer is Australian. As you all remember, I did a lot of research on Australia (including bugging the crap out of Denise while she was on vacation, pain in the ass that I am) for the book, so that review in particular was a source of trepidation to see if I did a good job. The reviewer, Heather, was complimentary on my grasp of the setting, which delighted me. However, she pinged me on this: "The one aspect that, while not majorly impacting upon the story, could lead to frustration, is the distances covered between the property and cities as portrayed in the book were not as close as it may seem."

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So in honor of the release of A Vampire’s Claim, I was hunting up pics and links to some studly Australians, all of whom contributed in some way to the marvelous creation of Devlin. That said, I stumbled on a funny comment when I googled Australian Men. I hit this fellow’s blog (I’m linking so he doesn’t get me for copying his wit, but it is kind of funny, and the quote that jumped out at me was: "You could have a smart, intelligent, witty, and good-looking American (not unlike myself) and a tool box, half stoned Aussie eating a meat pie and drinking his 8th VB for breakfast, and the women simply fall at his feet. It does not matter what he says so long as he has a tan and the Australian accent." I have no idea what a VB is, so don’t ask me. Maybe Denise Rossetti knows. She’s at work and said she’ll get sacked if I bug her further. However, she was kind enough to provide me the link to the past blog she did on Aussie men. She also threw in a link about cricket players she said we’d all enjoy as well. So here you are – just don’t get too lost and forget to come back to read the rest of my blog (laughter) -

http://avonromanceblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/red-friday-red-hot-new-year_30.html

http://www.livenews.com.au/articles/2008/12/05/Hairy_Katich_strips_down_for_Men_of_Cricket_calendar

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Okay, before we get into kissing – kissing scenes, that is! – let me announce the winner of the newsletter contest. The winner of the signed copy of A Vampire’s Claim is Lynn E! I’ll be sending her a direct email, but congratulations, Lynn, and thank you everyone who entered. There was an enormous response to this contest, and I’m delighted so many are excited about getting their hands on Danny and Dev’s story. If you want another shot, remember that the Book-a-Day giveaway on or around March 11 at The Romance Studio (www.theromancestudio.com) is also a copy of Vampire’s Claim!

Now, on to the blog! Let’s talk favorite kissing scenes. You know, there are some narrow minded folks who assume, because I write erotic romance, that kissing is entirely unimportant – it’s all about various angles of pelvic grinding. So just for the record, let me say that writing that ultimate kissing scene is one of my favorite things about writing erotic romance. So much emotional and sexual tension can build up before the kiss that the kiss itself is an orgiastic experience. Or it can be so intense an expression of love, an emotional release, that it calls us back to read it, over and over again, to relive that moment.

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No, I’ve not forgotten my weekly blog commitment. I’ve been mired up to my generously endowed backside in tax preparation. Mmm-hmm. And I knew if I wrote a full length blog during this time, it would deteriorate into a snarling rant about how we pay a much higher percentage of our income in taxes now than we did under King George, and with a Congress that acts like they’re in a sports competition rather than making decisions that impact our lives, we’re right back to taxation without representation. Deep breath. See? That was one convoluted, run-on sentence. Imagine if I’d let loose for six or seven paragraphs. Grin.

Okay, anyhow, just wanted to dash in for a minute to say I’ll post my next blog this coming Monday when I announce the newsletter winner. For those of you who have read the newsletter, you know I’m going to be talking about something much more fun – kissing! Only now I have to think if I’ve covered that topic before. I’m losing my memory on top of everything else. Oh, well – if I can’t remember how much of my hard-earned money I’m having to give the government so it can be given to people who don’t deserve a dime of it, maybe that will be better. See, there I go again… ;>

And, I don’t think we can ever talk about kissing too much, right? So talk to you in a few days about something much better than taxes!

I am at a loss. I have come up with a complete blank on intriguing blog topics this week. I think I overtaxed my brain on the previous topics and I’m just having to recharge. I could do something light, fluffy and perky, except for one small problem. Anyone who reads my stuff knows I am not light, fluffy or perky. Sigh. Oh, wait, that just gave me an idea! Hold on a sec…

All right, had to run upstairs and dig in the file cabinet. Yes, I am going to risk alienating all of you forever. I’m going to share some samples of my teenage angst poetry with you. Run now, while you have a chance!! Of course, perhaps it will inspire some of you to share yours here. Let’s all wax melodramatic together. Come on…nothing better than being utterly mortified together. So here we go:

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Pacing. Sigh. This basically means how the plot of a book moves. Does it drag to the point you feel the author is beating the same point to death, does it go so fast you might know more about the pedestrian you pass at 45mph in your car than you do about the characters? Or does it flow just right? The problem with this question is it’s different for everyone. Some readers prefer a rapid fire pace. Some prefer a lazy riverboat ride. And everyone else falls somewhere along the spectrum in between. When you’re an author, you plot out your story, and while you have a general idea of what the characters need to accomplish to get from the beginning to the end, they have a knack for taking you on some surprising side trips. Trying to decide what side trips enrich the story and which ones just bog it down can be difficult.

So why am I ruminating on this? Since I use my blog partially as my own sanity check board, and you are unfortunately inflicted with my thought processes, I’ve been thinking of the variety of reviews and reader feedback I’ve received on my paranormal work (vampires and mermaids/angels) vs my earlier contemporary BDSM work. My BDSM work is fairly centered in the D/s orientation, and the evolution of the characters’ relationship is the main focus. As such, the pacing on those books receives very few complaints.

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Too many irons in the fire! I owe you all an apology, because I mixed up my newsletter contest with another contest I had running, so when I announced the winner in my Monday blog post, I wasn’t supposed to choose a winner for that contest until TODAY. Eeks! To those who noticed, thanks for being sweet and not throwing virtual rotten fruit at me. And to be fair, I did a second drawing this morning to give those who turned in entries after Monday, but before the originally stated deadline of Friday the 23rd, another chance. So this second winner is…Valerie! Congrats, Valerie, and I’ll send you an email requesting your snail mail address.

Now, on to this week’s blog. Thanks everyone for your patience, giving me an extra week. Of course, the way I like to ramble on the topic of movies, the extra time might have been a bad idea. However, the good thing about blogs is you can read as much as you like and then say "the heck with this", and move on. But hopefully you’ll find something to engage you here. I think my problem is sometimes blogs are like a conversation with myself, and I’m way too analytical, so before I know it I’ve gone off on a tangent, and forked off at twenty different points to make additional explorations…OMG I’m doing it right now. Let me get on with the dang topic before this turns into one of my books.

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Okay, I’m working on another semi-cerebral blog topic now and intended to post it this weekend, but the Romance Divas workshop stole all my available brain cells. I was going to work on it Monday, but so far I’m 25 pages behind on the second edit of A Mermaid’s Ransom. If I don’t want to drown in it, I have to stay pretty disciplined on my daily page count. Which means this week I’m having to make it my top priority, even though I love blogging with you all. Since I really want to do good things with this topic (it involves movies, one of my favorite subjects!), if you can have patience with me, I promise to post it by next weekend sometime. Yeah, I know, I’m lame. And on top of that, I have dubious fashion sense. I’m including a recent picture of me to prove it. Actually, I kind of like this look, which just proves the point, doesn’t it? I’m also considering dyeing my hair blond, which I’m sure will prove to be a huge mistake.

On a separate note, if you didn’t go visit the workshop, it was incredible. A lot of great discussions about erotic romance, by some fantastic ladies – Jasmine Haynes, Tina Burns, Zane, Jennifer Leeland, Denise Rossetti, myself, and the energetic participants. It went on for two days! Here’s the link to read all the posts –
http://forums.romancedivas.com/index.php?showtopic=42693&hl=. If you haven’t registered, it may direct you to the home page for registration first

And while you’re waiting for my next scintillating blog topic, here’s the winner of the monthly newsletter contest – Vici! Congratulations to her, and thanks to everyone who played. She’ll receive her choice of a signed copy of any of my stories, current or upcoming. And of course here’s the answer to the question:
"David in A Witch’s Beauty has a connection to one of my Nature of Desire series’ characters. Which one?"  The answer is Marguerite. David was her brother. Or is that "is" her brother? When you start playing with concepts of life and death, angels and mortals, it all becomes somewhat confusing (wink).

Hope you’re having a great week!

Okay, this week has been all about the body. I’m going to PT for a frozen shoulder, which basically means my rotator cuff won’t rotate, and there’s no WD-40 for this tin woman other than two PT sessions a week for 4-6 weeks, in addition to about 30 minutes of arm exercises a night.

On top of that, my husband and I made a very sensible decision to get a Bowflex Rod system from the local exercise consignment shop so we can supplement cardio with strength training to help with weight loss, but also to build muscle strength for our problem areas. Nope – don’t run yet. I promise my natural state is couch potato, supplemented with a constant supply of chocolate. But you get to a certain age and start to realize, hey, if I don’t care for it properly, it’s going to stop working, fall off, the gears are going to get jammed, etc. You know all this, of course, because many of you are on that same forty plus something boat with me (wink). We’re beautiful, we’re gorgeous, but it takes a tad more effort to stay healthy and flexible to do all those things we’d like to keep doing.

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One of many great quotes from my favorite football movie, The Replacements, comes at the beginning of the movie. Keanu Reeves’ character remarks on a game where he experienced several concussions, and Gene Hackman responds "that’s why girls don’t play the game". I was watching it today and told my husband, "That’s because girls aren’t stupid. If four or five guys, each 200 lbs plus of muscle, are going to jump me, it’s not going to be to obtain a brown ball or cause me physical harm – though loss of consciousness might be involved (wicked grin).

While I love great sports movies (I count Legend of Bagger Vance, Hoosiers, Wimbledon and The Replacements as some of my favorites), I’m not much of a sports person. Thanks to Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books and the obligatory teen girl "horse phase", I was very into horse racing (I memorized all the Kentucky Derby winners), until I learned about all the abuse that happens whenever animals and money come into conflict. That kind of killed the fantasy, though I continued to enjoy the less problematic jumping competitions (and I still love the fantasy created in the Black Stallion books). Then there was tennis. I adored tennis – I played it competitively and was a big admirer of Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova, as well as loved Jimmy Connors’ fighting spirit. Team sports really never pulled me in, though if I found myself taken to a softball or basketball game, I did get caught up in the competitive spirit and screamed and hollered like everyone else. But I didn’t actively seek it out. Football held zero interest in me.

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