Me and Sci-Fi Romance

As many of you know, today is Sexy Saturday at my yahoogroup. Today I will be promoting a lot of my stories as well as my sci-fi romance. See, I love sci-fi romance and as soon as I get some of the ones I have on my plate done, I will get going back to the sci-fi/fantasy realm. The reason? I really am in my element when I write these stories. They flow, they come easy and I never seem to be at a loss for ideas or just where my story needs to go.

In light of this, I am promoting my very first sci-fi romance, FLUKE today.

I hope you enjoy this little bit of the story.

Available NOW from eXtasy Books!

http://tinyurl.com/LynnCrains-Fluke

Fluke

By

Lynn Crain

“This is a proximity alert. The alien vessel will be within tractor range in one minute.”

The soothing calm of Henrietta’s voice settled around me. Rousing myself from my stupor, I stood. I was still the chief mechanic and AI engineer of this ship. I had to conduct myself as such. Standing orders required that I had to be in the bay when the other ship came on board. It’s called the ‘just-in-case’ scenario. And rightly so, there might be anything, mechanical or not, set to explode.

As I walked down the corridor I suddenly had an overwhelming sense of tragedy, of having walked this way before, of committing the same crimes as were about to be committed. I tried to shake the feelings. The closer to the bay I walked, the worse they became. I leaned against the side of the corridor, bathed in sweat. Other crew members passed me and looked at me strangely.

I pushed myself away from the wall, my determination hardening around me like a shell. I needed to know what lay behind these feelings, and also what lay behind the bay door. There was an obvious connection; it was as if my feelings were centered inside there.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I was dragged through a side access into a supply closet.

“What the…” I began as two able hands began to grope me through my blue government uniform. I knew those hands. “What do you think you are doing?” I breathed to the only man I had made love to in five years. And while we had an on-again, off-again relationship, I could always say that it was interesting. Aidan Chapel was one gorgeous hunk of a man with curly should length dark hair and aqua eyes with a muscle toned body that many of my shipmates wanted for themselves.

He told me once that the reason that people perceived him as handsome were his eyes in combination with his olive complexion. Add in his hair and he looked like Adonis. I smiled to myself…and he was all mine…not once in five years had he looked at any one else. And I never tried to second guess fate on this issue.

“What does it feel like I’m doing?” Aidan spun me around to him and looked me over while holding me against the wall. “You are one beautiful woman.”

I gazed into his amazing aqua eyes and smiled. I met Aidan when we first board the Lanko together as ship’s engineers. While I rose steadily through the ranks, Aidan contented himself with being the chief communications engineer. The first thing that I remember seeing were his legs…he wore shorts…which were very non-regulation then and now. And I liked his ass…it happened to be one of his most admirable traits…along with those aqua eyes.

His mouth swooped to mine, nuzzling and nibbling my lips and moving across my cheek to my ear. Delicately he blew warm air into that sensitive part of my body, making me shiver with delight before coming back to my lips. He traced their fullness with his tongue finally slipping inside the warm recesses of my mouth, allowing the passion to build slowly within my groin and other sensitive parts. It took everything I had to pull away.

“We really should go,” I whispered as his mouth licked my neck.

“We have time for a quickie,” he murmured and slowly unzipped my uniform. Unzipping the crisp fabric apart all the way down the front of my body allowed him access to the microfiber undershirt covering my breasts and stomach. Gently, his large hands moved under the material to tweak first one then the other nipple of my very sensitive breasts. This man knew all my erogenous zones.

“We really shouldn’t,” I breathed as his mouth leaned down to continue his assault on my body.

“Who says that I ever do what I’m supposed to?” he murmured against my skin.

Have a great Sexy Saturday! See you all tomorrow!

Lynn

This & That Friday

Here’s week two of the links which have run across my desk. I collect these during the week and yes, some of them were collected more than a week ago. Otherwise, I would be bombarding you with over fifty links a week. LOL! I’ve decided to make it a manageable ten links a week. Make that ten subjects. Some had more than one link because they happened over more than one day.

Here’s one from a friend of mine, Gini Koch writer of Touched by an Alien. It’s in three parts and every part is well worth it!

http://royallybitchy.blogspot.com/2010/07/3-ps-to-writing-success-by-gini-koch.html
http://royallybitchy.blogspot.com/2010/07/3-ps-to-writing-success-by-gini-koch_07.html
http://royallybitchy.blogspot.com/2010/07/3-ps-to-writing-success-by-gini-koch_09.html

Okay...for those of you who don’t know...I’m a fan of a webseries called The Guild. They have a kick ass youtube video called Do You Want to Date My Avatar and you can find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNyg1ftMIU  

But what I really wanted to show you was they have another fan who did this one in response to the one above. See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbXwXLylYZ8&feature=youtu.be

Go figure...LOL!

A very good blog on ebooks from a UK reader. It’s well worth the time.

http://www.bookchickcity.com/2010/07/few-notes-on-ebook-industry-by-laura.html  

Okay...this is way over the top...but I couldn’t stop laughing. Twilight for Men. Can’t you see guys doing this?

http://scifiwire.com/2010/07/twilight-for-guys-the-amu.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Twilight like you’ve never seen it before:

http://www.popsuede.com/2010/07/twilight-saga-eclipse-with-cats.html

If you are a fan of Firefly...then this one is for YOU...check it out:

http://scifiwire.com/2010/07/firefly-gets-new-80s-styl.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Now here is something different. I’m not usually a classical music buff but this isn’t your normal classical. This is fantastic and you can listen to the whole album before you buy. I will probably get it through iTunes to put on my iPod. Enjoy!

http://music.zoekeating.com/

If you love sci-fi romance, then this challenge is for you! Hop on over here to see what it’s all about. And don’t worry if you don’t met their 50 book level, there’s a level for you!

http://raelori.blogspot.com/p/2010-sfr-reading-challenge.html

OMG! This one is about me...kinda...LOL! While I’m looking at all the blog posts for the sci-fi romance challenge, I run across a mention of More Than Robotics on the SFRBrigade. Scroll down to the center of the page and you’ll see it mentioned. It makes me realize I’ve got to get my butt into gear and write some more. I think I really do love it better than any other genre.

http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com/  

This story is so cute, it just makes me want to cry.

http://www.uniquescoop.com/2010/06/kitties-rescued-by-us-marine-soldiers.html

Hope you all enjoyed those. As you can see, I do try to entertain you all! Have a great one and see you next week with more fine links to fun things, items for helping your writing, or ones that are just for the heck of it!

Have a great Friday evening!

Later...

Lynn

Today Is Thursday

Okay, I know that is a very cryptic title but true. LOL! For some reason, today is my hump day, not yesterday even though I got little accomplished, the things I did do, got me to thinking. A lot. It’s almost a bad thing when I think. I plan things when I really get right down to it and sometimes those things aren’t as productive as I would like.

We all have those moments. I mean, I didn’t even get on Twitter very much yesterday. Do you know how hard that is? LOL! I love to Twitter...it’s quick and easy...it’s fun. Most days you can find me there. You can imagine my withdrawl from it for even one day.

One of the many, and I do mean many, things I thought about was promotions. I’ve told you some of the things I have planned like revamp this blog and website and those things. One of the items I didn’t mention was book trailers. I love book trailers. So when I opened my email today and ran across this trailer at this site http://www.sunlightsucks.com/ I just melted. Winterheart Designs is one of the places I just love to explore and this trailer is one of theirs.

It just speaks to me and I do know the person behind the scenes. We’ve talked on many, many occasions and I just love her. I’m hoping I can get her to do one of mine in the near future. We’ll see how it all stacks up but my bet is on yes.

Yes, I normally save all the links until Friday but this one was so hot and sexy, I just had to share early. LOL! Don’t you sometimes become that kid shaking their Christmas present? I love those days where I revert back to a younger state of mind. If we all could keep our minds as young as those wide-eyed days of wonder, we’d never lose our zest for life. I know I never, ever will.

One of the things which hit me today was the fact I got a piece of mail today that wanted me to start planning for my funeral. Are they kidding? Or another one which says everyone is a senior when they turn fifty...yes, that’s right...5-0. Again, I want to know just who they are talking to because it can’t be me. I just refuse to admit I’m growing old. Maybe it’s because I am a firm believer in the fact, you are only as old as you feel. Today, I feel like I’m in my early 30s because I want to do it all. LOL!

Have you all had days where all you did was think about what you should do? Or how about dream about what you didn’t? Or know you’re younger than the number shown on your driver’s license? Share your thoughts with me and I’ll give everyone who comments two extra slots in this month’s giveaway!

See you tomorrow for This and That Friday!

Lynn

Wednesday’s Classroom

In order to get my blog more organized, I’ve decided to make certain days to certain things. Well, not all of them...LOL!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays will still be pretty much open days for doing whatever needed. On these days, I will talk and hopefully inspire someone to be a better writer.

Wednesday’s I’ve decided to make it my classroom day. On these days, I will do a lesson of sorts. I’ll give a lecture on the blog, which will have homework for those who want to participate. The subjects will be varied and based upon first and foremost, what you all might like to see. I already have some lessons in place and we’ll start with those until I can get some more input from you. This week’s lecture will be on the different levels of intimacy and will feed into next week’s ‘Adding Steam to Your Love Scenes.’

Friday will be 'This and That’ day where I post some of the many, many links and interesting things which come across my desk. And believe them there are a lot of them.

Saturday will go right along with my Sexy Saturday on XtraOrdinary Romance’s yahoogroup. Every week, I open my loop to other authors and readers to post. Some weeks there are a little, some a lot but when we do post, it is a fun filled day full of sexy excerpts. Hope you all can join us there sometime.

So, without further ado, here’s the first lecture in Wednesday’s Classroom. Enjoy!

The Many Levels of Intimacy

Over the years, I have written to various levels of sensuality. Each story requires something different but in general, the levels of intimacy remain the same. You will find many articles written on this subject with good reason. For us, the romance writer, be it erotic or sweet or sensual, the stages are all the same.

Everyone agrees that these steps need no verbal queue but all lead from the first advance to intimate contact. It’s all in the body language, folks and body language doesn’t lie. If you need some lessons in body language, watch the new Fox show, Lie To Me and you’ll learn everything you ever wanted about body language. They do it right.

But getting back to us writing love scenes, it is imperative that you have these steps. Sometimes, you can skip a step if the story calls for it BUT for the most part, these steps need to happen for your reader to get into your story. In addition, the love scenes can make or break a novel.

Eye to body – This is commonly known as the once over. And it is usually very subtle. The gaze will drop from the upper face, meaning the eye and nose area, to the lower face then on down to the upper parts of the body. Sometimes, the person will step back to get a better, fuller look at you. If that happens their whole posture will change as they glance at you up and down to see how your face matches your body.

Eye to eye – Intimacy increases the moment two people have eye contact. The more eye contact, the more soulful the looks. The looks will become more and more meaningful as more are exchanged. If a person refuses to gain contact in this sensual charged moment will send a message one is not interested.

Hand to hand – Contact is usually lingering but light. It can be disguised as being accidental or occurring in a social setting, which is considered acceptable. This would be like one putting a hand under and elbow to guide someone, two people reaching for the door handle at the same time or a handshake that slowly ends. Look at the way the Victorians or those of the Regency period acted toward each other and you will see this step everywhere.

Hand to shoulder – This behavior can again be hidden within what is considered socially acceptable behavior. Until this point, either person can withdrawal gratuitously without any real hurtful feelings. However, once this boundary has been crossed, there is no going back without one’s pride being severely injured. This is just a touch to the shoulder for a variety of reasons, like getting ones attention. This is also a form of claiming ones territory and can be used to ward others off.

Arm around waist – This is the signal that one wants greater intimacy. This is the time to get out if one does not desire this relationship. Feelings will be hurt if one doesn’t respond positively to this gesture.

Mouth to mouth – No, we don’t mean the resuscitation kind. LOL! This is the actual act of kissing where chemical information is passed from one person to another. The kiss adds another sense to intimate contact and that is taste. The first sense, encountered way back in step one, is smell and pheromones are a very powerful odor. Taste can tell one all sorts of information about people like body temperature, hygiene level and a variety of other things. If the people are involved in the kiss, their temperature will go up since the stimulation will cause sexual excitement. When people are emotional cold, they are usually physically cold as well which means they are not that interested in continuing the encounter. The more passionate a person gets, the more their temperature increases.

Hand to head – This is a trust issue. The more one person trusts another, the more likely they will allow their head being touched. Women tend to do this way before men. Caressing ones head indicates an increasing trust between the two people involved. Our heads are extremely vulnerable and only someone we trust is ever allowed to touch us there with a negative reaction.

Hand to body – This fondling can happen through clothes or under them. Some people will close their eyes as they are unconsciously gathering more information about the person they are with. However, keeping one’s eyes open while maintaining total eye contact is a more powerful gesture. There one uses even more senses, touch, sound, taste and sight as well as smell. During the physical portion of our encounter, our sense of smell is very powerful, as it will help us to become more in tune with our sexual partner, making us more sensitive to their unique smell. Odors are a powerful aphrodisiac, which helps to prepare us for a pleasurable experience and to etch our partner in our memory. The best source is natural smells, so keep the perfumes to a minimum.

Mouth to body – This can be very stimulating and a real turn on for both parties. Breasts and necks are very sensitive for both sexes as are the lower abdominal region. Fellatio and cunnlingus can be very rewarding as long as both partners are into oral sex.

Hand to genitals – Gentle caresses are always best in this stage. If you have gotten this far, intercourse is usually imminent. One can heighten the sexual tension in the story by making the characters get this far without fulfillment. Once one gets to this step, each partner trusts each other explicitly in a normal relationship. There are some other types of relationships where trust is never achieved.

Genital to genital – This is the final act in lovemaking. Everyone is different and the emotions as well as all the senses need to be utilized when writing a great love scene. Vaginas and penises are utterly boring when none of the stimulus is present.

Now, not all of these steps need to be present in your novel. Just remember, each step is a sensual journey. Recently, I had been in the blah stage of writing a love scene. Then I saw last an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and they reminded me of just how sensual stolen looks and accidental caresses could be. Suddenly, I was all hot and bothered again to get back to my characters.

Hope that this little journey can help you all create great love scenes.

Until next the next Wednesday’s Classroom…

Lynn

My Experience with The Singles Travel Club

On January 14, 2009, I had an experience to rival the best of them. At the time, I did a weekly column for the now defunct, The Many Shades blog. We had a great time and I got many, many comments on this event and what exactly happened to me. Read it and see if you don’t feel the same.

The Singles Travel Club

Alright, I finally have something to rival AJ in the weird and different department. But I digress; I need to start from the beginning.

Those of you, who know me, know I do way, way too much. I volunteer for many functions within my writers groups to which I belong. Take this week and month for instance. Last year, I volunteered to chair the EPICon conference right here in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And yes, that means lots and lots of work. I have to help in every aspect of the con. That means PR, picking the venue, food…you name it and it has my signature on it somewhere.

So while we're all working on putting more 'umff' in this blog, in the back of my mind is this conference and what I need to do for it. Never mind that I have a couple of books due and two talks that I'm giving on Saturday. This conference is a big deal and this is a very, very bad year to do it for a variety of reasons. One, people are financially strapped and two, things I thought were being done, weren't.

So all this weekend, actually beginning late last week, my mind has been flurry of activity. In other words, I'm scattered right now. BUT I can usually get on track with a list of things to do. But never mind all that…I can deal with those…it just means I've got to hustle my butt and go to some of those local writers meetings. While there I've got to do the smoozing thing, pass out brochures and let everyone know just how wonderful EPICon is.

And for those of you who've never gone, here's my shameless plug. EPICon 2009 is happening this year at the beautiful Tuscan village of MonteLago Resort in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada. That’s a picture of it at the top. While there, an author can learn everything, well, almost everything, about the epublishing world. Along with that, we have a kick-ass keynote speaker in one Penny Sansevieri, author of 'Red Hot Internet Publicity' and man, does this woman know her stuff! Penny is absolutely great! The conference is March 5-8, 2009 and you can learn more about it at http://www.epic-conference.com/. Since, we're all green authors, we should attend if possible. If nothing else, to smooze and visit with each other. I love meeting and hanging out with my fellow authors and frankly, what better place to do it?

Again, I digress. Sorry. Anyway, on my list were three writers meetings this week to attend in hopes I could entice someone to attend EPICon. They are the Las Vegas Writers Meeting, Las Vegas Screenwriters Meeting and my RWA meeting. I just found out about a fourth meeting on Sunday, a Sisters in Crime chapter meeting that I've decided I'll invade as well.

So tonight I get it together, I make some brochures, get all my regular work done and make sure the DH knows where I'm going so he won't worry. I also mention to CR that I'm going to this meeting and she says, "Isn't that on Thursday?"

"Nope," I say, "it is tonight and I've got to get my butt in gear." So I take a nap, take a shower and get it together so I'm out the door by 5:45 which just gives me enough time to get there and get comfortable. One the way I talk on my hands free phone to a friend and in no time I arrive. Grabbing my stuff, I'm dismayed to note that I am actually a few minutes late but no matter, I've been with these people before and usually enjoy myself.

I go in and don't recognize anyone but this group is rather large and I can see this is a big gathering tonight. I get a name tag and listen to the speaker who's talking about doing a reading. She's going over the important of the details she needs in order to give you a correct one. All interesting stuff. The sign-in person tells me to fill out the forms and bring them back at the end.

No problem. I can do that.

I go sit down and scan the room. Not one familiar face. That's odd, I'm not so far gone that I can't recognize any one. I flip through my brochures about to take them out and decide I should really listen to the speaker. So, I scan the room again and nada. Surely, not every person I know is gone today?

Mentally, shaking myself. I pull out the form. Maybe I should fill this out because the speaker is now getting on familiar territory and it's not so interesting any more. I glance down once, then up. That can't be right. I look down again. Hmm. The dues aren't the right amount. No one ever lowers their dues. I look up a little more and see the name of the group: Singles Travel Club of Las Vegas.

I shake my head and rest my chin on my hand. Okay, so maybe I need to do a little observation for my books, you never know what you'll see, right? I really begin to look at the people and by this time, I am trying to hold it in. At first I think, if this is the best that Vegas has to offer, there's a problem. Then I look at the form again. It's the over 60 Singles Travel Club of Las Vegas.

Oookkkaaayyy. Even a little old for me right now. I quietly pick up my stuff and go back to the sign-in table. I give the paper back and tell them to mark my name off because I've come to the wrong meeting. Sigh. Once in my car, I call the dear husband and let him know. What started as a snicker became a laugh. He couldn't believe it. I told him to make sure I really had a writers meeting before I went to the next one and started home. The trip is 45 minutes and the whole time I reflect on just why I was so gung-ho that the meeting was tonight.

I get home and email CR. Know what she says to me, "I can just see your face when you discover the mistake." The exact same first words out of the DH's mouth. Geez, are they in cahoots? LOL!

Sigh. Just chalk one up for the dodo who definitely needs to volunteer less and sleep more.

So...have you all ever had something like this happen to you...LOL! Share your experience with me and if I agree, I’ll be sending you a special gift!

See you all tomorrow!

Lynn

Promoting Myself

Hi everyone!

Hope you had a great weekend. I know I did. One thing did come up during all my talks with my fellow RWA chapter members. Most of them love my blog and the fact that I try to make it for readers and writers alike. All them said in their honest opinion, I didn’t promote my own stuff enough.

Well – duh – it’s hard to promote when you have things coming out but nothing new since Christmas. Now, I’m really not complaining because I’ve had a full personal life with new grandbabies, computers crashing and the like. Things happen and I know this. My goals for the rest of the year are very high with me writing a book a week. If it’s a long book, maybe in two weeks. LOL!

Yeah, this means that I have to really push myself but to be honest I have written three times more this month than the same period last month. Now this is a very good thing because I will be turning in two books to my publisher this week. Unfortunately, it’s not Merrick and Jenna because it went back to the bottom of the queue and I’m trying to stick to my schedule. I have two days for them this coming week and I plan to get it back in shape to also ship off.

Still that leaves my promo dilemma. So without further ado, I will give you something from my latest book...An Elf’s Love...enjoy!

An Elf’s Love

Available NOW!!!

Book 5 in the Santa’s Elves Series

www.extasybooks.com

http://tinyurl.com/AnElfsLove

He had never been one to run from a challenge and this would be no exception. Pushing himself up from the rail, he prayed he could keep his dick in his pants long enough to not frighten her away. Just the thought of what he would to her, what they could do together, made his dick hard. For a brief moment, his mind flashed with the thought his desire might just be an effect of this place. His senses told him otherwise.

He adjusted his cock and strode toward the woman of his dreams, wondering if she felt the same about him. At any rate, it didn’t matter. Maybe if he took her virginity, he could break free of this place. Maybe not, his mind told him. Deflowering virgins in this day and age was not in his agenda. Not that he had an agenda any more. No, he just had a playbook filled with mismatched references to people who weren’t what he thought.

Standing next to her chair, he leaned in closer to get a good whiff of her scent. He had a nose like a hound when in dangerous situations and he needed to know her smell. “Look,” his smooth baritone rumbled close to her ear, “apparently, I’ve been deceived on who you are and what you can do.”

Merna turned her head to him, her soft lips brushing his. Pulling back slightly, her eyes went wide as the sparks flew between them. “Apparently.” Her breath was like the wings of a butterfly against him, making him want to lean in to grasp her tight to him.

“Do you know what I want to do to you right now?”

See you all tomorrow!

Lynn

My Tidbits

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to write today. Normally, I have the column up before midnight but last night I went to bed early. I had spent the day at a RWA meeting then went over a friend’s home to float in her pool. Even though I was only out for two hours in the hot sun and in water, I came home completely wiped. I did a few things, had dinner then promptly fell into bed before nine last night. A first for me in many, many months.

So, sitting here thinking this morning about what I want to write about got me worried. See I was so tired I woke up with a fuzzy brain and no thought patterns. Yeah, I know I haven’t had my coffee this morning but I really need to write something...LOL!

In light of this fact, I decided I wanted to give you ten things about me you may or may not know. This can give you time to speculate then ask me questions about my life. Have fun!

1. I was born in Ohio. I do keep this to myself mainly because there are so many of us transplanted elsewhere.
2. The most scary place I went to growing up was called Serpent Mound. There was something odd about it and while I don’t get creeped out like I used to the place does set my mind to whirl. And the stories which are going to come from that experience makes me want to write them all now.
3. My two children are sixteen years apart. What was I thinking? LOL!
4. I love romantic comedies and try to get people to go with me to the movies every time I notice one I might like. It’s then I remember I live in a house filled with all men. Sigh.
5. I love sci-fi space thrillers like Alien and Predators. Gotta love those kick ass women! Matter of fact, they are my favorite movies. Probably the reason I write so many of them.
6. I’ve been in RWA off and on since 1985. There was a period where my mother was ill and I didn’t belong but I’ve seen the organization grow from about 300 people to where it is today.
7. I’ve run the contests for two international writing groups – RWA and EPIC. Those were very thrilling to do but hard work. My husband told me when I was doing the RWA one that he had never seen me work as hard even when I got paid. Leave it to a man!
8. I used to write screenplays for the Star Trek franchises. This was a hoot and something that made me know those people in Hollywood can be scary if you don’t have your head on straight. While it was the experience of a lifetime, once truly has been enough.
9. I’m a pantser by nature but plan all my books longer than 50K for almost a month before I start writing them. By planning, I mean write down what I want to happen chapter by chapter. Sometimes I go deeper than that but I have to have every step in my mind of where the story is going before I put more than a few words on paper. Weird, I know.
10. I have six completed books in my virtual file cabinet which haven’t seen the light of day since the mid-90s. The whys are complicated but suffice it to say, some of them are coming out of that closet very, very soon. These are long stories that need work and at the time they were completed, didn’t have a market. Things like fantasy romance, stories about women off-road racers and lingerie shop owners. I think I can find them homes now.

So there you have it. Ten things to know about me. I’ll give you more of course in time but I think these are enough to get you to think about all the questions you might have. So don’t hesitate to ask me those questions...I look forward to them!

See you all tomorrow!

Lynn