Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

I’m scheduled to blog on the 4th, and while it’s only nine p.m. on the 3rd here in Hawaii, it’s already 3:30 a.m. on the East coast, so guess I’d better get my groove on! I’m over here babysitting the grandkids and having way too much fun, though I’m reminded by every ache and pain in this old bod that motherhood is definitely for the young. I’ve got our daughter Sarah here with me, along with her five year old, Gracie, and believe me, I could not do this without them.

Sarah’s got three of her own–eight and under–and watching her handle her three year old niece and one year old nephew along with Grace is truly impressive. I wasn’t that good when I was a mom, and I only had two. Obviously I raised her right–either that, or she’s got more of her dad’s genes than mine! Anyway, while Sarah and the girls are off seeing the sights of Oahu, I’ve been watching Owen sleep (two naps a day doesn’t leave much room to go play!) and working on HellFire, the second book in my DemonSlayers series.

It’s coming along well, though I’ve not gotten as much written this week as I’d hoped. I have done a lot of editing on the bulk of the story that’s finished, and I’m at a point where I”m working down toward the end of the book which is always fun, since I never have a clue how they’re going to end until they do.

DemonFire, the first one that comes out in March, totally threw me for a loop. Things happened in the end of that one that were totally unplanned, but they definitely set the tone for the rest of the series. I’m really enjoying working in two worlds–the one with my sexy Chanku, and the one with the sentient crystal swords and a demonic invasion of Earth.

I know that fans of Wolf Tales are going to love the next in that series–Wolf Tales 9 is all the “how we met” stories I haven’t covered yet–Jake and Lucien Stone, Mik and AJ in prison, Anton’s early years with the circus and how he met Oliver, and how Anton and Stefan first met. Again, I discovered things in the writing that I didn’t know before, and I think you’re going to be as surprised as I was!

Anyway, I do hope my Wolf Tales readers will also be willing to give DemonFire a shot. It’s my first mass market release, and while it is paranormal, it’s not erotic–though I have to admit, it’s definitely sexy. I don’t think I can write a romance without a really sensual side to it.

So that’s my question tonight–how important is the really graphic sex in your romances? Can you get just as involved in the book when the pairings are only heterosexual without any kink or twists? Let me know what you think!

PS: Leave a comment for a chance to win a book, and if you already have the series, I will hold your name and send a copy of Wolf Tales 9 when it releases in December.

Some things are indelibly written in our DNA, like handedness, eye color. . .and our sense of humor. I believe, just as most writers will say they have no choice, writing chose them, for some of us (like me, for instance) writing with humor is not a choice. It happens, in spite of any contrary intention. My husband always tells me I look at things “differently”. I’m going to assume, for his safety, he means it in a good way.
In a creative writing class, years ago, I had what I considered a brilliant idea for a romantic suspense story. It had it all: sexual tension, hot love scenes, stalking, home invasion etc. I even wrote what I considered the ultimate creepy scene where the psycho ex of the heroine broke into her house and exploded a rat in her microwave. Why did my instructor wipe tears of laughter from her eyes as she read it to our class? Well. . .upon the heroine’s grizzly discovery, her very next thought was she wanted pizza for dinner. Now, the instructor thought this was hilarious, that my heroine saw all the exploded rat guts and it made her crave pizza. My intention, however, was—besides being grossed out by the mess and the act—she realized she could never cook in that microwave again. I guess humor is in the eye of the beholder.
I write humorous erotic romances, pretty much by accident. I didn’t intend to write humor, although, now that I think about it, sex can be kind of funny. By the way, husbands in general—mine in particular—don’t share your humor when you laugh during sex.
I’ve always had a fascination with sexual “aids”—you know, sex toys, edible underwear, body frosting, that type of stuff. I used that in my February 2008 book, MAKE ME SCREAM, with a hero who wrote catalog copy for sex toy manufacturers. Having no personal experience with such things, I made up the toys, which was a lot of fun. I did, on occasion, sample various body frostings—strictly for research, of course. Did I mention I have a sensitivity to certain chemicals? Someday, I swear, I’m going to write a heroine who attempts to be adventurous with body frosting and has her tongue swell. But, for now, it’s so not funny.
How about you? What’s happened lately to make you laugh? Leave a comment and you could win a copy of my latest release, a Christmas anthology written with Crystal Jordan and Lorrie O’Clare, UNDER THE COVERS. My story is ESCAPING CHRISTMAS and has a heroine who finds herself in more than one humorous situation. Go figure.