How to Write A Kiss!...Backlist Blog Hop & Give-A-Way!

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One of the things I have to do as a writer of erotica romance is describe the art of a kiss.  After all, a kiss is everything.  The dictionary defines a kiss as to join lips in respect, affection, love, passion.  How romantic does that sound, eh?  There is a Chinese Proverb that says “kissing is like drinking salted water, you drink and your thirst increases”.  After all, a first kiss represents the spark of love, the hope of the future, quivers in the belly, and tingly sensations all over the body. 

It should be easy, right?  Writing a kiss should be the easiest thing in the world for someone like me.  But capturing the beautiful act of kissing can be extremely difficult to describe.  A written kiss has to be just the right blend of romantic and Oh la la! with no hint of being wet, sloppy or smacking (as I’m sure we’ve all experienced at least once in our lifetime!)

In my first novel, Black Leather Pants, this is how I wrote Kiley and Penny’s first kiss:

“Kiley's tongue slid into her mouth, twined with hers, danced, jolting a salacious moan from her. He explored each hidden corner. In and out he plunged, sweeping aside any doubt that this was exactly where she needed to be at this moment.”

Also, writing such a monumental step as a kiss in the love story of two people has to be stimulating for the reader.  It’s my job to not only write a believable love scene, but to bring that love scene to life.  So sometimes dragging out that first prolonged moment can be sweet torture. 

In A Silver Lining I wrote:   “His hand hit the wall next to her head, trapping her. He leaned in so close that she felt his breath on her face. An answering need rose sharply inside her, and she itched to touch him, to bring his lips down upon hers. Fire ignited her blood. Her heart thumped almost painfully while her pussy creamed for the hard cock that pulsed through his heavy denims, pushing against her thigh. The overwhelming urge to fall to her knees and suck him into her mouth for a feast had her reeling.”

So how does a writer write a kiss?  We close our eyes and jump back to that first moment, when we experienced that soul shattering kiss that changed us forever.  We write them from our heart, from our hopes and wishes, we draw them out from every movie and book that turned us on.  We study kisses, deconstruct them, fantasize about them.  And we read…a lot!

While there are many ways to write a kiss, and many different scenarios to engage in a kiss, perhaps the most rewarding is that kiss when the happily ever after starts.  Love stories start with a kiss, and though they may not end specifically with one, the reader knows that the kiss is there, waiting in our imagination when we turn the last page.

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I would be happy to give away any one of my titles…all you have to do is leave a comment and a way to contact you!  One lucky winner will be drawn the day after the blog hop (name out of a hat, picked by my trusty assistant…AKA: son) and can choose any title. I’ll email you the PDF version of my book!   Thanks so much for visiting with me!

Please visit the others in this Backlist Blog Hop!

Memorial Day and a Memorial...2013

In the United States, Memorial Day is the day when we stop and remember and give thanks to the men and women who have died for our country.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the War Between the States (1861-1865) to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.  By the 20^th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who’ve died in military service.

I give thanks to those who've died in service.  And although my father didn't die while in service, he devoted his life to the Army and I wanted to share my last memories of him:

This weekend is particularly hard for me because my father served in the Army for twenty-two years, retiring as a Master Sergeant.  I lost my dad, James Cowsert, last year in a way that still leaves me sleepless.  I held his hand and watched for four hours until he drew his last breath.  I was the one that called time on him, 2:15 on a Monday afternoon.  And he knew he was dying.  There wasn’t any peace or blessing that his pain was almost over.  I saw a man who wanted to live but his body just wouldn’t let him.  When my father died, I was holding one hand and my step-mom the other and I laid my head on his chest and cried.  I cried for an hour, until his body began to harden and his skin turned pasty.  Then I forced myself to walk away because I would have stayed like that for days. 

It’s been fifteen months and I still cry at the drop of a hat.  I don’t know how to put behind me the heartache I went through during the four hours I had to watch him die or the crap I went through to make sure his final wishes were carried out.  My boyfriend tells me I was lucky that I got to say good-bye, to say my peace to him, but no one should watch their parent suffer and fade away like I did. 

So on Monday, Memorial Day, I will say a little prayer in my heart, giving thanks to all those who have died in service to this country, and I’ll send a special thought to my father, wherever his soul may be, for giving twenty-two years. 

Writing Menage Stories

**Now that is something I did not expect to hear. I actually look at the man in front of me and I see items I do not recognize as being from this world: wires in his ears, a gun too futuristic looking to be real, and a posture of pride shining through discipline. The first man lets me go gingerly, and I turn quickly to face them, making sure my back is clear. Both men are tall with identical musculatures, in what I used to call the suave David Beckham look—corded muscles and bulging sinew. One man is white, with close-cropped dark hair and light eyes, though I can't tell the specific color in the darkness. I can see a dimple flashing in his right cheek. The second man is black, though his skin isn't very dark—more like a creamy mocha. He has beautiful chocolate-colored eyes with lashes that make me envious. I realize both men are staring at me with peculiar expressions.

 

Writing two Alpha men falling in love with one woman is like making a circle out of a triangle by hammering one edge at a time.  You have to shape the dialogue, mold the emotions, and smooth out the rough edges.  The characters have to make sense as does the love between them. 

I like writing two men who are complete opposites of each other, but who balance each other out.  Two sides of the same coin.  One can’t exist without the other.  To me, those are the type of men who would fall in love with the same woman and not be too scared, jealous or emasculated to be in a ménage relationship.  Those types of men are sexy, ther're breathtaking, and I love creating the dynamic between them.

 

 
**So I do the next best thing. I stop fighting, making my body limp, and I crash to the ground like a heavy bowling ball. The sudden deadweight in his arms makes my captor swear and fumble forward. It is just the tiniest, most minute shift, but I take advantage and rear up my head to smack into his face. It isn't hard enough to break anything, but I hope it makes him see stars long enough for me to twist from his grasp.

With two strong men, only a strong female can complement them and make the circle complete.  She can be soft but underneath that has to be a woman not afraid of taking what she needs and being honest about what she wants.

There are many types of ménage out there and different formulas for every writer as well as every reader.  My ménage books are either MFM or MMF and in my opinion, writing two men involved who find a female for a trio is a trickier because of the established emotional connection between the two men.  Writing in a woman without leading to excessive jealousy or anger between the characters has to be thought out and planned well.  In the two MMF books I’ve written, I did address the issue of jealousy because I think that’s a logical, natural progression of feelings and I like exploring that avenue. 

Of course, there is also the menage that I've not written about, the FFM story.  Two females are interesting dynamic twist to the menage story because females handle certain issues differently than men.  Perspectives can change, emotions can be wrung a little more tightly.  I've read two FFM books by my fellow Siren author, Rachel Clark, and she writes thought provoking and interesting characters.  You can check out her books here:  http://www.bookstrand.com/rachel-clark

The desire to have two men love, desire, protect and sexually fulfill their woman is a fantasy many have.  And yet it’s not necessarily the sex that draws us in, but perhaps a primitive knowledge inside us that knows love isn’t always black and white, that sometimes a heart is big enough to beat for more than one person.  

**Excerpts from my novel, Spirals.

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Updates: 

1. My MFM trilogy, McKnight, Perth & Daire, is now available!  Book 1 is Otherworldly, Book 2 is Hereafter, & Book 3 is Breathless.

2. Coming soon is Star Mates, to be released on June 5th! 

Blurb:

Emmarie Tice is a singer in small town Claring, Missouri.  While coming home one evening from practicing at a wedding reception, she is abducted by a UFO.  She awakens from her cryo sleep when the ship crashes upon an asteroid and is rescued by the handsome Captain Pell Raiden.

She soon learns humans are nothing more than slaves in the new world she finds herself in.  Pell is part of a waning resistance movement, and he’s angry because the appearance of an Earthling proves that the technology to bring humans to the Amarante System, the one his parents died trying to destroy, was still operational.  But despite his anger, he is drawn to Emmarie, and the two find a love that transcends space.

But a traitor is in their midst, one who acts on selfish desires, and puts Emmarie in great danger.  As she struggles to find a footing in this new world, she has to hold onto the one thing that refuses to die…her love for a rebel captain who left her to finish what his parents started.

 

3. My sequel to Love Story for a Snow Princess has been picked up by Siren for an August 2013 release!  Titled Once Upon a Love Story this will be an inter-racial MF erotica romance letting Caleb find his happy ever after! 

Blurb:

Caleb Tasker lost his wife to cancer but it took him a long time to put her memory to rest.  Deciding he needs a vacation, he accepts the gracious invitation of living in his friend’s Malibu home for an over due holiday.

Delilah Ward grew up in rural Mississippi and ran away when she was sixteen, moving to Los Angeles with thoughts of being anything but the person she was born to be.  But reality settled in quickly and the bright lights of Hollywood soon faded into the dark abyss of dancing on a darkened platform.

Caleb is used to love being easy and Delilah is used to fighting against everything.  They have nothing in common except a wildfire attraction that won’t let go of them.  But when tough choices need to be made, will they both be able to be honest to what they really want?  

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The Observance Psychology of BDSM

*Please note: while the title of this blog may say "Psychology" do not expect an in-depth psyche evaluation here.  It's just a blog.


I've recently started reading books immersed into the BDSM lifestyle.  Not because I'm personally drawn to the thought of being a Dom or Sub but because of the psychology behind it.  A friend gave me an article from Marie Claire (Jan. 2013) The Joy of Submission (as told to by Erin Zammett Ruddy) about one woman's experience being a submissive.  One sentence stuck with me: "I love that Fifty Shades of Grey has gotten women talking more honestly about their fantasies, but I hate that the book perpetuates the notion that a Dom must be messed up to be into this kind of sex".  The article states she shares her life with a Dom, who is married but hasn't told his wife, while she is very open to her husband that he isn't all that she needs.  From what I've come to understand, trust is an important aspect of BDSM so I was a little confused by her reasoning.

Aren't we all, as humans, a little messed up in one way or another?  Some of us go to therapists, some of us medicate our troubles away with either pills or another substance.  And some of us want to be collared, tied up and whipped.  Chocolate and vanilla, as apropos as that.  We are all needing something or someone to help fill whatever void we are looking for, whether it be emotional, physical or material. My first BDSM book was The Reluctant Dom by Tymber Dalton (I did a book review on it below) and I'm very thankful that I picked this title first since it introduced a way of life from the POV of a character who didn't understand.  As he went through his journey I began to understand as well.

Now, I've not personally talked or interviewed a Master or slave but I've researched (as any author is wont to do) and have come to the conclusion not everything is black or white. Of course, I'm talking about literature so to have a book you have to have drama.  Fifty Shades of Grey may perpetuate Doms in a harsh light but you wouldn't have a book without internal conflict and personal growth, so there you have it.  Take the fiction with a grain of salt.

I don't think I would ever personally want to become part of the lifestyle but that doesn't mean I wouldn't

want to visit a munch or a play party.  (See? Lingo.)  I find the art of Shibari beautiful even if I don't really want to be on the receiving end.  And I don't know if I could ever be comfortable going through the day naked.  Of course, not everyone who is into BDSM lives it 24/7.  Fantasy, after all, is usually a part time endeavor.  But now I find myself looking at people's necks, wondering if the necklace with a heart lock pendant on it is actually a day collar.  Because that would be cool.

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Okay...I forgot I signed up for Hump Day Hook so I apologize for that!  Here is my paragraph below, from my book "A Man After Midnight":


“Why?”  He countered.  “There’s nothing wrong with a little role playing.  A little voyeurism.  Maybe even a little pain.”

“Only perverted people like that kind of sex,” she said in a low tone.

“Then you must be perverted,” he said with a chuckle.  He picked up her hand, twinning their fingers together, and brought her hand to his mouth and licking the back of her fingers.  “You never answered my question.” 
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Please visit the others for Hump Day Hook at: http://humpdayhook.blogspot.co.uk

Book Review: The Reluctant Dom by Tymber Dalton

The Reluctant Dom by Tymber Dalton

http://www.bookstrand.com/the-reluctant-dom

WARNING: SLIGHT SPOILERS

I had bought this book a while ago but never read it because of various reasons.  And I’m glad I waited because this book packs an emotional punch that doesn’t let go of you for a long time.  I connected to the characters of this story, not because of the BDSM theme, but because of the raw emotions Ms. Dalton managed to capture beautifully with words. 

Kaden is dying and he turns to his best friend, Seth, to take over being his wife’s (Leah) Master.  Seth is completely surprised by their lifestyle, living the BDSM way 24/7, and he’s not sure if he can cope.  But Kaden needs him and he agrees to move in, not only to help care for Kaden but to learn.  And he has to learn everything from the ground up, from all the lingo to handling the different whips to dealing with his guilt over loving Leah.  They have to cram a lifetime of learning into a little more than a year.

And they also have to cram all the love in that short amount of time too.  Ms. Dalton handled a very traumatic and heartbreaking turn of events for Kaden into an amazing love story.  Within the first few pages you understand immediately the depth of love Seth and Kaden have for each other.  It’s not a male/male romantic thing but more of a twins-brotherly love.  And Seth loves Leah while Leah has always loved Seth. 

The journey is sometimes difficult to follow...not from context, but from the tears that will flow.  Ms. Dalton wisely told the story from Seth’s POV, so those of us who don’t quite understand the BDSM lifestyle or the need to feel the “bite”, we learn to relate as Seth learns.  We grow to see why Leah needs to have a Mastier, why she needs the bite of a whip across her ass.  But this story is less about Leah and more about Seth’s process of dealing with the impending loss of his best friend, how he feels about “stepping” into Kaden’s shoes, and coming to terms on how strong he needs to be.  He goes from being a fuck-up in life to a Dom.  And it’s told absolutely brilliantly! 

I recently lost my father and I sat by his bedside, holding his hand, watching as he took his last breath.  I know how it felt and the eventuality of Kaden’s fate hit my heart like a ton of bricks.  All the while I knew what was coming, but like Seth I kept hoping for a miracle.  I’m sure Ms. Dalton had a box full of Kleenex next to her as she wrote this book, and I can’t sing her praises enough. 

I’ve always admired Ms. Dalton’s work and she’s a writer I aspire to be like one day.  This is one book I’ve got to have in paperback so it’s a permanent addition to my personal collection.  Put down “Fifty Shades of Grey” and pick up a real book…this book!