Their Sexy Thoughts ~ @oddlynn3 #MySexySaturday #Saturday7 #LynnCrain #MSSAuthors

Welcome to week 77th week of My Sexy Saturday. The week’s theme is Their Sexy Thoughts.  I’ve thought long and hard on this one since my characters think a lot. Sometimes about their significant other, sometimes about the situation at hand. Thoughts can be deceptive because many times, our characters are trying to convince themselves that they don’t want to fall in love, that there is nothing the other person has to offer them. They are wrong, so wrong. So follow along this week as each of the authors in this blog hop gives you their interpretation of sexy through the thoughts of their characters.

Last week was great as my father’s meager estate did get finalized and items closed. It was definitely the passing of an era and it makes me very sad in many ways. Though here in Austria, the weather cooperated in many ways and gave me a few snow days. Not that it stayed on the ground at all but there were a few evenings where it looked as if we lived in a snow globe. I’m hoping for more but the score is out on that one since the forecast has not been correct in many days. It’s like the weathermen can’t predict the weather any more.

As promised, I did start a multi-day post on my Facebook author page where I tell you five things about myself that aren’t necessarily common knowledge. I started that when I said I would and have been hit or miss on any given day. I think I’m trying to give people more time to look at it since Facebook doesn’t play nice with posts any more. Though I have a fair share of followers, it seems that maybe just 10% see what I post. If I’m lucky. I’ll be posting the last entry later today yesterday and I’ll see if any of you have commented on it. If enough of you have, I will do a giveaway for a $25 Amazon gift certificate AND a copy of one of my books. For every comment you leave, even if it’s on days past, will be another entry into the drawing. Hope to see a few of you there.

Today, the weather in Austria is beautiful, so I plan a day at the Naschmarkt to get some fresh veggies and fruit. There was a protest scheduled here yesterday that we were told would result in street riots. Thank goodness the weather didn’t cooperate for that one. It was cold and wet as the snow came down to melt immediately due to the warm temperature. I was home alone last night and didn’t hear a thing until right before I was to take out Pup Harry for his nightly walk. Then the helicopters started swirling around. So I waited a few then a few more and would have done it again but Pup Harry was dancing. He’d had enough and needed to go. So off we went to eerily quiet streets. We only saw two other people with their dogs and no one else. Either everyone was snug at home or watching the protest. I went home happy we didn’t get caught in something bad.

My new weekly column, My Writing Life, will be starting this week on Tuesday, not last week and I apologize for misinforming you. Besides not being on time, I can’t tell the date either. If you’re wondering about the time reference, go see my Facebook author page to get the explanation. I will talk about my spreadsheets and why they are personally important to me. There will be other tidbits about my life as well because as we all know, it’s not all about writing. No, there are no tiaras for me as I will prove over and over again writing can be a tough business if you don’t have a thick skin.

This week I am sharing something new. It’s been quite a while since I’ve shared this book. It’s part of the Santa’s Elves series. This whole series is about a family of elves who work for Santa and their lives. It’s not all toys, sleighs and happy tidings. No, there are things even in their world they would love to change. The main stories are all about the siblings in the Locklin family where the mother is human and the father is an elf. However, as I wrote this series, it became obvious to me that the world they inhabited was bigger than just the six siblings. They had human cousins, elf friends and a whole lot more that could be said. One of those stories is this one, Giselle’s Elf, and is all about their cousin, Giselle Paine. I hope you like this glimpse into the world of Santa’s Elves. Here’s the setup:

Giselle Paine has always been on the outside looking in on her elven cousins. Just once she wished she could belong to something bigger than herself. But fate has a way of weaving its web and when handsome elf Ronan Munro arrives on her doorstep after a vicious attack, she knows exactly what she wants. But convincing Ronan is another thing. What will it take to bring him around to her way of thinking and into her bed?

I love writing the Santa’s Elves series because their world is very rich and deep. It spans the globe from the US to the North Pole and to Scotland. I leave no stone unturned as I write these stories about a globe-hopping elven family. I plan to have the last of the siblings’ stories done this year with a few more to round out the world. I hope you enjoy my seven. And I’ll be honest, I cheated this time as I had to give you one final line this week. Hopefully, you’ll find this snippet compelling enough to pick up the first in the series, The View from Santa’s Sleigh, at eXtasy Books. Enjoy the snippet!

With me?” Now he was surprised. He had acted like a professional, like an elf should when his charge was human. Maybe he had pushed a little too hard but he thought it would help her in the long run by making her remember just who she was.

“With you.” She shrugged her shoulders, trying to remove his hands.

But he couldn’t let go. “Why? I’ve done nothing to you except be here to make sure no one attacks you again. And tried to bring you back to the world of the living.”

She chewed her bottom lip as if deciding what to say. When she did speak, it was in a low whisper and he had to lean closer to her to even hear. “If all I am to you is a responsibility you don’t want, why do you always smell so good? Why do you always look so damn sexy? Get away from me if all you want is to teach me a lesson. I’ve had enough lessons in my life.”

His hands immediately fell to his sides. This was his moment of truth. A decision to be made, to deny himself. “What are you talking about?”

“Huh.” She looked up at him wryly. “Go away. I don’t want you around because you have to be. Be here because you want to and nothing else. Even if we never...”

Giselle tried to shove past him but he wasn’t giving up so easily. He really felt she should get it all out so she – they could move forward. Making up his mind in a split second, he knew what he had to do. It was her wellbeing that mattered not his. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her so she was faced away from him. Her perfume wafted up and drifted through his senses, a warm earthy smell, so unlike what he thought she would wear. And he knew he was lost. Leaning in, her hair touched his face as light as an angel’s wing. “What is it you want, Giselle?”

“Who wants to know? Ronan, the protector or Ronan, the man?” she whispered.

This book is will be available from my traditional publisher, eXtasy Books, who is currently having a $0.99 sale on some of my books. And what’s even more wonderful is that book 1 in the series is currently one of the books on sale. There’s a big selection and if you’ve never read any of my stories, now’s the time to get them at a great discount and see if I write stories you like. Pick up your copies today!

The Thing About Elves ~ Book 2 in the Santa’s Elves series

The Haunting of Maggie Grey ~ Award-winning Scottish Historical about a woman doctor

Iain and Kelsey ~ Story about a woman’s darkest fantasy

Fluke ~ Book 1 of the Orchid series, sci-fi romance

An Elf’s Desire ~ Book 3 in the Santa’s Elves series

A Love for Eggther ~ Book 3.5 in the Santa’s Elves series

Shopping Spree ~ Story about a very special dress shop

Don’t forget to visit all the great authors from the My Sexy Saturday weekly blog hop listed below. They have even more amazing and sexy snippets to share.

Have a great weekend...see you next week with another My Sexy Saturday edition!

Lynn 

Sexy Down the Avenue ~ @oddlynn3 #MySexySaturday #Saturday7 #LynnCrain

Welcome to week 70^th week of My Sexy Saturday. The week’s theme is Sexy Down the Avenue and it’s a nod to the historical authors of the group. There are quite a few of them there but to be honest, I’ve only written a few. Not that I don’t like historicals, I do, but I am drawn to certain ones. Yeah, you got it…the ones about Scotland. And I do have more than one book set in that wonderful place. But first, a little about my week.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving was a little bit of a let down this year. And the reason was is that pup Harry and I spent it by ourselves. Not that we don’t like each other we do. But being alone reminded us of what we were missing at our US home and that made us a little sad on the day itself. However, to make up for it, I treated myself with a nothing day. Meaning I didn’t plan anything but could do whatever I wanted. And I wanted to catch up of shows and movies. And it was rather fun. Lots of new ideas brewing in my head.

 Please have a little more patience on my big reveals and surprises. I didn’t realize just how hard it was going to be to set everything up. But I still think you all will be happy with the outcome. Still, I apologize for dragging you on and not delivering. It willb e this week, I promise.

Again, Austria doesn’t know what season it is, at least not this week. We had lots of very cold days and yesterday, a fog rolled in that made me think of the streets of London. Yeah, it was that interesting and cool. We’ve had this happen a few time but I can’t remember it in winter. One weird thing is that this mist is falling out of the sky but it’s not rain. It’s more like it’s been hanging suspended and gravity finally realized it was there. Pup Harry and I were damp when we got home but not wet. It does accumulate like and there was lots of water dripping from the buildings and overhangs. Now if it just gets a little colder, this will all be snow. And according to the weatherman, Monday night at 11 pm, we’ll get an hour of the stuff. I’ll believe it when I see it.  

This week, I’m sharing sexy seven paragraphs from my book The Haunting of Maggie Grey. It is my only historical novel to date and I’m proud to say, it’s an award winning book. I was very surprised when it won that award. So much so, I asked them to make sure the scores were correct as it was a contest I’d entered often but had only been a finalist once. This story has been highlighted here before and I never get tired of it. It’s all about a woman doctor in 1880s Scotland. It has many historical facts and was well researched. When I visited various places on the Isle of Skye, I was plotting this story in my head. And what’s even more wonderful…it’s on sale for just $0.99! Here’s the setup:

Maggie Grey had wanted to be a doctor all her life. She achieved her dream along with her husband, Justin. Together they planned to build a clinic on his ancestral home on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. But women doctors in the year 1882 didn’t have many options and even fewer if they were widowed like she had been recently. Arriving in England to visit Elizabeth Blackwell, founder of the London Medical School for Woman, she is discouraged to find that the only real health care on the remote Isle of Skye will be herself, a few aging doctors as well as veterinary doctors.

She must build a clinic there to escape her memories and fulfill her late husband’s dream. Maggie goes by train and boat to the rather bleak Isle of Skye. The island is almost as barren as she feels and she isn’t sure if she can even fit in. Add the fact that her dead husband is haunting her with the request for her to fall in love again and she knows she’s losing her mind.

But the people of Skye need her…and she is determined not to let them down...but they are slow to accept a widowed woman doctor. Now if she were married again…that would be a different matter…and her dead husband, Justin, knows just the right man for the job, Conall MacGryman, his childhood friend and cousin, a veterinary for the island. Now all Justin has to do is to convince Maggie to give the man a chance so she can fall in love again…for both their sakes. her his love is fathomless. No matter what the future holds.

This is was great book to write. I had to know the history of Scotland and more than that, I got to visit the Isle to make sure I got it all straight. And believe it or not, there are so many more places to visit in that wonderful land. So here’s my sexy seven paragraphs. Need I say again that this is one of my favorite books to write…and I hope you find the wonder of historical Scotland just as appealing as I do!

He came closer, his breath warm on her face to pull it around her lower jaw and mouth. “If yeu breathe into it, it will actually keep yeu a little warmer.”

Desire pulsed in his voice and she hesitated to lift her eyes, half-afraid of what she would see. When she did, she saw the raw, sexual power of a good honest man, each look a caress on her already taut nerves. “Thank you.” Taking her medical bag and the laundry, she urged him to move. “Let us go before it gets even colder.”

Opening the door, his hand settled against her lower back to gently guide her through the door and to the wagon. Putting her bag in first, he turned to place his large hands around her waist and hefted her into the seat. Placing the wool blanket around her knees, she watched him as he returned to shut the door of the clinic. She loved the easy charm of living in the country where everyone was family, while there was no need to lock her doors, she still locked away the medicines nightly to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.

Climbing up beside her, he moved close.

She stretched the blanket across his legs as well. “You were correct. It is colder tonight. I will need to remember my gloves on the morrow.”

“Yes, now is the time of year to be very careful and make sure yeu are covered well.” He slapped the reins on the horses and they jerked the wagon into a slow roll.

Before they had gone too far, the threatening snow started to fall, inundating them with relentless wet flakes. Home was little more than a kilometer away. In good weather, it was a quick trip, but tonight every step was a hard won battle. The ruts in the road became more and more difficult as they trudged along the path. It seemed like forever before they made it to Conall’s barn.

Like I said, my traditional publisher, eXtasy Books, is having a $0.99 sale on some of my books and The Haunting of Maggie Grey is one of them! There is a big wonderful selection and if you’ve never read any of my stories, now’s the time to get them at a great discount and see if I write stories you like. Pick up your copies today!

The Thing About Elves ~ Book 2 in the Santa’s Elves series

The Haunting of Maggie Grey ~ Award-winning Scottish Historical about a woman doctor

Iain and Kelsey ~ Story about a woman’s darkest fantasy

Fluke ~ Book 1 of the Orchid series, sci-fi romance

An Elf’s Desire ~ Book 3 in the Santa’s Elves series

A Love for Eggther ~ Book 3.5 in the Santa’s Elves series

Shopping Spree ~ Story about a very special dress shop

Don’t forget to visit all the great authors from the My Sexy Saturday weekly blog hop listed below. They have even more amazing and sexy snippets to share.

Have a great weekend...see you next week!

On With Sexy ~ @oddlynn3 #Saturday7 #MSSWeek38 #LynnCrain

Welcome to week 38 at My Sexy Saturday from wonderful Vienna, Austria. The weather here is fantastic and it’s like we’re in spring already. Normal Viennese springs have meant some sunny days, some cloudy skies and of course, rain. This is totally no problem for me and I certainly love this time of year here. However, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. Last year I went to the States the first week of March and the first thing that happened was it snowed here. My trip was great but the weather here had gone bad. I’d waited last year for it to snow and it didn’t except for one brief moment in January. It’s the same this year. We’ve had flurries and a nearly a week with it on the ground then just nothing.

Really? This is winter? Now don’t get me wrong…I really couldn’t handle what you all are having in the Midwest…but I can send all my well wishes and maybe some great weather your way.  But I digress. Everything is good on the health front. My knee is better and we’ll see what needs to be done to keep it that way. But today is My Sexy Saturday! On with the sexy!

My Sexy Saturday is a weekly blog hop where authors share sexy snippets of their books with 7 words, 7 sentences or 7 paragraphs. Each week we strive entertain you through our snippets that we post. This is for you, our readers, as we value and appreciate each one of you.

Here at XtraOrdinary Romance, I’ve been highlighting my erotic romance, Loving the Scotsman. We’re now in Chapter 6 and there’s are only two more weeks of this fantastic book. It’s time to move on to other stories.  I know I’ve given everyone a great look into this wonderful novel. I hope you’ll love it because it will make you laugh, feel sad and sometimes cry as you follow the reunited lovers. It’s with my agent now and keep your fingers crossed. I’ll keep you posted on what happens.

For those who are new to the Loving the Scotsman world: Two lovers reunite in Edinburgh after a fifteen year hiatus and the sparks fly. The hero coerces said heroine to spend her remaining time with him…hmmm…let’s just say more than sparks light up the room. This scene is during a session of making passionate love and it’s told from the hero’s point of view. And yeah, these two really get into this week’s meme of Let's Get Sexy On and they prove it time and time again.  And while the Xs usually mean kisses, there’s nothing wrong with a good screw every now and then.

I loved writing this story. It’s told totally in 1^st person from both the heroine and hero. It’s a very unique approach and I had to talk to a lot of men, especially the dear husband, when creating the hero Logan. Here are my sexy 7 sentences for the week. Enjoy!

“Come on, Aeryn, you can’t tell me you didn’t have at least one serious boyfriend in fifteen years?” This was a stupid question for me to ask. No one compared to her in all those years. I’m not certain what I expected but it wasn’t what came out of her mouth.

“How can you ask me that question?” The defiance crept into her eyes as they blazed at me. “Once you’ve had the best, what’s left to savor?”

Don’t forget to visit all the great authors from My Sexy Saturday weekly blog hop listed below. They have some amazing snippets to share. If you want more on this story, here are the links to the previous snippets.

Week 38 Week 37 Week 36 Week 35 Week 34 Week 33  Week 32  Week 31  Week 30  Week 29  Week 28  Week 27  Week 26  Week 25  Week24   Week 23  Week 22  Week 21  Week 20  Week 19

Have a great weekend...see you next week!

Lynn 

A Good Screw ~ @oddlynn3 #Saturday7 #MSSWeek37 #MySexySaturday

Welcome to week 37 at My Sexy Saturday from Vienna, Austria. The weather here is still great even though it will be raining most of today. It’s a warm rain which means we’re still having weird weather. This week, another mishap has landed me with a very painful knee that has thwarted my walking plans for the weekend. Somehow I twisted my bad knee…bad from an old ski injury and it even makes me cringe to think about it. Heating pads, medicine and propping it up is in the agenda for the next few days. At least this gives me more of an impedus to write as I’m kinda bed bound. And write I have…but more on that another time.

My Sexy Saturday is a weekly blog hop where authors share sexy snippets of their books with 7 words, 7 sentences or 7 paragraphs. Each week we strive entertain you through our snippets that we post. This is for you, our readers, as we value and appreciate each one of you.

At XtraOrdinary Romance, I’ve been highlighting my erotic romance, Loving the Scotsman. We’re still in Chapter 6 and there’s only one more chapter to be covered. It’s time to move on to other stories.  I’m pretty sure I’ve given everyone a great look into this wonderful novel. I’m hoping you’ll love it because it will make you laugh, feel sad and sometimes cry as you follow the reunited lovers.

For those who are new to the Loving the Scotsman world: Two lovers reunite in Edinburgh after a fifteen year hiatus and the sparks fly. The hero coerces said heroine to spend her remaining time with him…hmmm…let’s just say more than sparks light up the room. This scene is during a session of making passionate love and it’s told from the hero’s point of view. And yeah, these two really get into this week’s meme of Putting the X Back in Sexy and they prove it time and time again.  And while the Xs usually mean kisses, there’s nothing wrong with a good screw every now and then.

I stretched my wings a lot writing this story. It’s told totally in 1^st person from both the heroine and hero. It’s a very unique approach and I had to talk to a lot of men, especially the dear husband, when creating the hero Logan. Here are my sexy 7 sentences for the week. Enjoy!

Now was all about the sex and how my dick felt sliding in and out of her hot, wet sheath as I stroked her inner hot spots. She bucked against me and moaned pulling me down to kiss and nip at my lips as her body clasp me inside her even tighter.

“Logan,” her husky voice whispered, “it feels so good.”

“Doesn’t feel too bad on this end either,” I finally managed to say. The head of my penis was so sensitive but this moment was about her, for her. I could get off anytime I wanted as long as I remained in control. With Aeryn, I was more out of control than in and I knew I’d need to work on that aspect of our relationship.

Don’t forget to visit all the great authors from My Sexy Saturday weekly blog hop listed below. They have some amazing snippets to share. If you want more on this story, here are the links to the previous snippets.

Week 36 Week 35 Week 34 Week 33  Week 32  Week 31  Week 30  Week 29  Week 28  Week 27  Week 26  Week 25  Week 24   Week 23  Week 22  Week 21  Week 20  

Week 19

Have a great weekend...see you next week!

Lynn 

Wednesday's Classroom

Adding Steam to Your Love Scenes - Lesson #3

© 2010 Lynn Crain

Here we are, back again with the third lesson in my Adding Steam to Your Love Scenes class. I do hope you are enjoying this as I haven’t gotten much feedback so far. But what I’m seeing is allowing me to make this class better!

Please enjoy this lesson!

Lesson 3

Add love scenes when the characters want to make love, not when you want them to make love.

This is one of the hardest things that an author has to do and that’s called pacing. Again, I relate it back to your own experiences. What happened when you rushed something? Did it work out well? Chances are it didn’t. It’s like rushing a cake; if you take it out too soon, it’s not done, too late and it can be burnt to a crisp.

Everything has a pace, be it fast or slow. When you truly listen to your characters, they will tell you when they need to make love and when they need to argue. Part of adding steam is to know when things are right for the characters, not when a ‘formula’ tells you a love or sex scene needs to be added.

I’m a pantser and all of my stories are character driven.

Some of you may have heard of this term and some of you may not. When I started my writing career, I was anal about planning. I had charts on characters, charts on plots, I played the ‘what if’ game and twenty questions for each of my chapters. I would plan every detail to the nth degree because I wanted things as perfect as I could make them.

Now days, I write by the seat of my pants most of the time because I work things out in my head and follow that plan but not so stringently because I’ve learned to listen to my characters. I know more about them sometimes than I do my own kids. I write what the characters want me to write, which is their story. Nothing more, nothing less.

It is true, however, that there are some stories I still plan to the nth degree and those would be my heavy fantasy or futuristic stories. Those are just as much about the world building as they are about the characters or the plot for that matter. If you don’t plan those, you can get caught in your own plot pitfalls because you haven’t done your planning.

What is right for the characters needs to be right for you as the writer.

There are times when your characters might ask you to write something controversial or not right for you to write. I know it sounds strange but if your characters need to do something that you find objectionable, then maybe their story needs to be written by some one else.

Now this isn’t the same as you being embarrassed over a love scene or something of that nature. When first learning to write love scenes, they can be very disconcerting if you’ve never done that before. I know that the very first time I wrote a BDSM scene, I would get up, walk away from the computer and mutter, ‘I can’t believe I just wrote that’ and mean it. It wasn’t until I had been writing the story for a month that I felt comfortable with it.

Part of the reason that I could continue to write their story was that I didn’t feel bad about writing something done in an adult consensual situation. Adults can and do make their own decisions. My characters were adults. They had adult minds and adult thoughts. They could handle what was going to happen to them. True, you say they were just characters but to me they weren’t and it’s all about perspective.

Listen to your characters as they will tell you what they need.

This is just as important as any other issue talked about here. Characters will tell you what is important to them. In the story I mentioned above, the heroine needed to have a deep, dark fantasy fulfilled to fall in love with the one man she could. I gave her that situation and what happened in it was fulfilling for her.

Your characters need to be as satisfied with the outcome of your story as you are. Sometimes it won’t be a happily ever after but it will always be satisfying.

Exercise

1. Give me a scenario where a love scene would be appropriate for your characters.

2. Give me a scenario where a love scene would be inappropriate for your characters.

3. What type of writer do you want to be and why? (Pantser or planner)

4. Why do you think it’s appropriate to listen to your characters?

5. When wouldn’t it be appropriate to listen to your characters?

See you all next week for Lesson #4 in Wednesday’s Classroom!

Lynn

Wednesday's Classroom

Adding Steam to Your Love Scenes - Lesson #2

© 2010 Lynn Crain

We’re back for lesson #2 in the Adding Steam workshop. I sure do hope you all are enjoying this as I do love to share my information!

Lesson #2

Use your own experiences

I’m sure at this moment, you are wondering just what am I talking about. Your own personal experiences can’t be what people want to really see. Well, I’m here to tell you that they do. People must relate to your characters; they must find some common ground or your characters will be meaningless to them.

Have you ever caught yourself while reading a book saying some thing to the effect of, ‘I can see myself doing that’ and know you mean it?

And I don’t mean using the experiences literally…you all remember that blush first being in love…use it, use it to your best advantage because people like to read about other people. How many of you are sick of the heroine or hero always being perfect? I know that I am. Why? Because people are flawed, even the really great people have flaws. They put their pants on the same way we do. They wear underwear, they shower, they go to the bathroom and for heaven sakes’ most of them fart too.

But the point is that you know and can relate to all those things. Use what you know. There is an old saying ‘Write what you know’ and the reason is that if you write about what you are good at, it comes more naturally.

If you are writing romance, there are some things that only women know. Most women remember their ‘first time,’ so use it. You can remember what it was like seeing your spouse for the first time. I do. I thought he was crazy because it was freezing and he was wearing shorts. I also remembering me thinking he wasn’t bad looking and maybe I should get to know him. I’ve used different version of this again and again.

Another one, most women remember the first ‘real’ date they were on, so use it. My husband and I didn’t date at first, we gang dated meaning we went out with a group of people. And we always seemed to pair up differently. Sometimes I look at my husband and don’t know how I ended up married to him. But I do know I worked my butt off to get him. This is something I can use.

The same can be said for men. When I decided to write from a man’s point of view, I realized I was out of my depth. I don’t know what a man feels during sex. But I do know my husband and trust his judgment. When I’m writing from the male point of view, he reads everything. He tells me things like ‘a guy wouldn’t think that emotionally about this’ or ‘no way would a guy do that.’ To be accurate, you have to have resources you can fall back on.

You can use anything you have experienced to make your writing richer and fuller. Everything you do in this mode just makes it so a reader can more readily identify with your characters. If the reader can’t identify with your characters, they won’t finish the book or maybe they won’t even pick it up.

Exercise


1. List ten experiences that you can use in a novel, be it romance, erotic romance, sensual romance or just a regular book.

2. Take one of those experiences and write me a whole paragraph about one of your characters doing the same thing.

3. What did you get out of the experience? Can you apply this to your writing.

4. List one outside resource you can use when you need it. It can be a person, a book, a library or even a place on the internet. The point here is to get you thinking about how you can find out the information you really need.

See you all next Wednesday!

Lynn

This And That

Occasionally, I come across some really great things that might interest you all. Normally I post them to various loops but this time thought I would share them with you here at my blog instead of my normal diatribe. LOL!

Hooks That Will Never Work

Okay, we all know one of my recent articles was about having great hooks. How about the contest here http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ which caters to those hooks that are awful. Some of these had me rolling in my chair they are so funny.

Tron Before Tron

Apparently, the man who went on to direct the blockbuster decided it needed some animation to sell the story line. Not bad for the mid-eighties if you ask me. Go see for yourself:
http://scifiwire.com/2010/06/thing-prequel.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The True Extent

This just makes me so sad and sick to my stomach but it’s the truth of living with technology. Some things have just got to stop. See the video at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/38029000#38028832

No Sex In Space

What? Right...do they really think people won’t get it on up there? Some folks are really short sighted to say the least. Here’s the video:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/38029000#38008691

I want to know just who thought this one up...LOL!

Vampire Awareness Month

Okay, I’d never heard about this one but apparently someone has worked out all the details. Go check it out at: http://networkedblogs.com/5mYve

Agents Raise Stakes in eBook Royalty Battle

This is interesting only because someone is trying to lower my royalty rate. Are they kidding? Check it out here: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/122527-agents-raise-stakes-in-e-royalty-battle-.html.rss

9 Underused Items in Sci-Fi

Need some more bling for your novels? Go see what Syfy says are underused topics as listed here: http://scifiwire.com/2010/07/9-untapped-ideas-sci-fi-s.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Jason Mamoa as Conan

Oh, lord, one of my favorite hunks is coming back as Conan the Barbarian. And he has long hair again. Sigh. Although it isn’t a great picture, it does show some muscle. LOL!
http://scifiwire.com/2010/07/bloody-new-conan-photo-of.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

An Author In Need

If you’ve never read the FREE, yes, I said FREE Dunvegas about a paranormal resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, you need to Google it and download it. One of the author’s, matter of fact Dunvegas was his brain child, S.J. Willing is having severe medical problems with no insurance. Go here to read the whole story: http://digs.by/9sUTT3

Pet of the Week

I so want this little guy as a companion to my puppy, Jasper. What do you think? Check him out here: http://tiny.cc/AT-ATPuppy

Finally, I was mentioned elsewhere for one of my blogs this week. I was really amazed that the people at Whipped Cream tweeted about me. I must have done something good. Sorry this was so short as well as being full of things from all over the web. Must have been the ten thousand, yes that’s right 10,000 plus actually, word day I had on Wednesday. I just had to finish the story I was working on because the characters just wouldn’t shut up! But it also wiped me out! LOL!

See ya tomorrow!

Lynn

An Interview With Fawn Lowery

Hi everyone!

Today we have the talented Fawn Lowery at XtraOrdinary Romance. Please join me in giving her a wonderful welcome.

At what age did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was in fourth grade when it finally dawned on me what my love of paper and pencils was really for. Sounds silly, I know, but true. I still have a large collection of pencils and ink pens stored in a decorative box on a bookshelf in my workroom. I was about nine years old and all my ideas for short stories came from TV.

What has been your biggest influence on becoming a writer?

Romance novels and TV. I love immersing myself in a good love story. And I love drama series. Criminal Minds is my favorite program. I marvel at the plots and the interaction of the main characters.

How did you feel when you got your first publishing contract?

My first sale was in high school, when I discovered a copy of Literary Marketplace at the library. I found a publisher I thought might be interested in a short story I had been working on and contacted them. It took six weeks for them to answer my query, then another three weeks for them to accept my story. I thought I had died and gone to heaven—what could be greater than finally realizing a childhood dream! Actually, I was still a child. I was seventeen!

How many novellas/novels have you published to date? When did you have your first sale?

I can’t count the out of print books that have fallen by the wayside over the years. Publishers going out of business are all too common. I’ve been at Extasy Books since 2003. Captive Heart, the little historical romance, was the first book accepted by the publisher. I have a total of twenty-three books with Extasy. All Hallows Eve will debut for Halloween and A Cowboy Christmas is scheduled in December. My first sale of a printed book was in 1984. That was about the time I discovered erotica. The book was corny and filled with so much sex it would make you dizzy to read it. :-)

Tell me about your latest release. Please include if it is part of a series or a stand alone book.

Blood Stalker is my latest release. It’s a stand alone book about a vampire and the woman detective trying to prove he’s a murderer. Blood Stalker originally began as Meet The Vampire, a short FREE story on the Extasy Books web site in 2008. I received a lot of feedback from readers wanting to read more of Morgan and Lincoln.

What was your inspiration for this book?

I find inspiration in more things than TV these days. Blood Stalker was actually inspired by a picture I have on my MySpace site. I don’t remember where I found it on the web, but I took one look at it and saw a vampire and a police detective. The setting is at night, he’s holding her against a brick wall, and the scene just screams sex.

How do you categorize yourself: pantser or plotter?

I plot. I find it’s a lot easier to know where I’m going with a story. I work from a chapter by chapter outline and make notes along the way of the characters’ physical and mental descriptions. Characters always develop more as the story unfolds and one of the first things I learned about writing was to get the facts straight. If you kill someone in the fourth chapter, don’t resurrect him in the sixth—unless he’s a vampire.

How do you handle the editing/revision process?

I read everything over several times before I feel it’s ready to be called finished. When an editor sends me a manuscript with changes noted, I value that person’s opinion. I know the benefit of fresh eyes on a story. I have learned to hone my work because of these editors. I know they are not only doing their job in tackling a manuscript, but they are trying to improve or embellish what I have begun. In the end, I feel the story has been improved.

You’re received some fantastic reviews...how do you feel about them and why?

I can honestly say that I have never gotten a bad review. Whew! I have a great day when a review shows up in my inbox! I think reviews are great advertising tools for writers. Posting a review of a work on any of Yahoo’s numerous groups can bring sales and get the writers name out in the public. I love reviews and always make it a point to contact the review site and sincerely thank the reviewer.

Did anything odd happen while you were researching this story? Odd or eerie?

I received an email thanking me for writing more about the vampire Lincoln Churchill and the lady detective, Morgan Glover. At the time, I didn’t have a book cover, or the name Blood Stalker, but I had submitted the story to Extasy Books, however, I hadn’t made any announcement that I was writing the story. I was puzzled then and still feel a bit dazed. The only excuse I can find for the email is that perhaps they didn’t proofread their copy before sending it. And instead of thanking me for writing more of the character’s story, they were asking if I would continue it.

How much of yourself can we find in one of these books? Do you every make yourself a character?

Zero. I never put myself in any of my books or reach into my real life to become a character. Everything is made up—all characters and scenes come straight from the old gray matter. When I was a kid, I used to think the words came from my pencil. All I had to do was touch it to paper, and presto, a story appeared. I’ve realized a lot since then. :-) Scenes have to be constructed, crafted and made believable. Characters have to undergo the same intensity. I’m a whole lot less interesting than any of my characters. :-)
Is writing a lonely career for you?

I have always been a loner, though I have a very full social life. Sounds contradictory, I know, but my husband is partly to blame. He’s a very out-going person and he drags me along with him. Personally, I love solitude. I’ve always been able to get lost in my writing and time flies by without my knowledge. I find it wonderfully relaxing. I have a large room on the second floor of our home that is decorated beautifully and caters to my every whim as far as writing. My privacy is respected by my husband and friends, and when my office door is shut, I’m off-limits unless there’s a dire emergency (house on fire, someone choking, etc.)

Did you do anything special after that first sale?

No, not really special. I clutched the acceptance letter in both hands and spent the next hour sitting on the couch just marveling at my great achievement. You would have thought I won the lottery by the extreme reaction but in truth, my first sale netted me one hundred and twenty-five dollars. But at seventeen—heck, that was big bucks!

What authors and books have influenced your writing over the years?

I’m a big fan of Janet Dailey. She can bring a character to life in a few words. Harold Robbins. His books are teeming with erotica. James Patterson. His style is simplistic, easy to read, very enjoyable. Rosemary Rogers. She writes the same plot over and over, and makes millions doing it. :-) Anne Rice. Her books helped me learn about vampires.

Did someone every give you a great piece of advice along the way? What was it?

Yes. My dad. God love him. He told me: Believe you can and you’re halfway there! I have no idea where he came up with the words, though he was always encouraging. Ironically, he gave me that advice the first time he took me out in the car to learn to drive. :-) I have a small plaque with those words on it handing over the writing desk he gave me when I was a kid. I cherish the advice and the memory of my dad.

Where can readers find out more about you and your work?

Readers can find my books at Extasy Books, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Fictionwise, and by utilizing any of the numerous search engines on the web by searching for: erotic romance author Fawn Lowery

www.myspace.com/fawnlowery

www.geocities.com/fawnlowery8@prodigy.net/mypage.html

http://www.fawnlowery.webs.com/

Fawn’s Bio: I write several different genres of romance, all with an erotic element. Historical romance, fantasy, vampire, shape shifter, werewolf, BDSM, and my favorite, contemporary romance. When I’m not writing, I enjoy traveling with my husband, Dave and spending time with our daughter, Suzette. I freelance to an assortment of fiction and nonfiction magazines and ezines. I enjoy meeting new people and hosting dinner parties. I love to dress up. Some of my favorite things are white roses, satin sheets, and pink champagne.

Thanks for taking part in my ‘2 for Thursday’ promotion, Fawn. I always enjoy talking to you!

Lynn

Another Day, Another Elf

Hi everyone!I know, I know...I haven't been on this blog for ages but I really do plan to rectify that fact.I wanted to announce a couple of things. One is my next elf book, Giselle's Elf is all complete and turned into the publisher. It is set to be released August 1. Yeah, you heard me right August 1 and it is a hot one as it brings together two people primed for love and sex. I think you'll like it! And I am fast at work on the next elf book, An Elf's Love as well as putting back together my Protector series as it got munched in computer crash. Do you know how hard it is to reconstruct something when you thought you had it complete? Sigh. It is an absolute pain! I also have an October 1 release called More Than Robotics. It is the continuation of the Orchid series which started in Fluke. It is a fast paced, kick-ass book set in space. I plan to do a lot more in this series and have started the 3rd book. Science fiction romance is actually my favorite to write and I am starting to gravitate more and more to writing strictly those types of books. I'm on vacation right now and will be yakking at you more later. You should check me out at The Many Shades blog. I'm running a summer contest there and you can win an iPod! Later... Lynn