Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

Life is truly a series of ups and downs. It so often seems that with each up must too come a down. Well the last week has been no exception. Fortunately, the downs seem to have passed over and only the ups remain. You just have to love it when the good outweighs the bad, huh?

So first on the list of the goods was receiving cover flats for Escape To Ecstasy. The bad side was they came with page proofs. Technically, proofs are not a bad thing, as they mean publication isn’t too far off. But they do mean stopping my current project to read through them. Ah, but that is part of the job, so I won’t complain about it. As for the flats, I LOVE this cover! I saw a mini black and white of it about a month ago in the Kensington catalog for early 09, but this was my first view of the real thing. It’s truly gorgeous!

The hot guy in a low-riding towel is a plus to be sure, but what I love just as much is the awesome color scheme and the background picture which actually captures my story’s setting. Now you would think all covers should do that, or at least convey something about the story within, right? But the reality is not all of them do. Maybe even not many of them. And, too, the cover copy was quite nice itself.

One thing the copy didn’t mention is that Treah, the second hero, owns the escape resort in question and that his leading lady is an old flame not truly a resort client. Then also for Chris, the emotional battle he faces over a tragic past. These to me are central plot points, but I do accept that with the hot stuff, they like to market the hot stuff content first and foremost.

Now with all this gushing, I should have a cover pict to share, right? Well I don’t yet. But I can tell you where to find one and to read all about the cover copy, too. Check out Escape To Ecstasy’s page on the Kensington Books’s site. Then when I get home from the weekend on Sunday, I will add much larger cover art and some steamy excerpts to my author site.

Some other good, recent news, is that I received my contracts for the next firefighter anthology, due out next fall. This one I get to share with truly amazing fellow Aphrodisiacs–Susan Lyons and Rachelle Chase. I will be getting to work on my story for this anthology next week, so if you belong to my newsletter group, expect an excerpt soon!

Then yesterday brought another new contract–wahoo! The details of this one aren’t quite ready for prime time, but I am thrilled about them and will be sharing all about it at the first allowed opp.

Of course other good news is that I am about to enter the third trimester of pregnancy. Getting very excited to add another baby girl to the family (won’t digress on the getting very huge part), and too for taking 8 or 10 weeks off from the day job. Now wouldn’t it just be incredible if the baby was a sleeper and I got to spend some of that time writing? A girl surely can dream. The other kids are also back to school, which is always a nice thing in a bittersweet sort of way. I do love fall but the winter months can do wonky things to my body to be sure.

That’s about it from this end. How are things on yours?

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com
SWEET AND SINFUL, Aphrodisia ~ In stores now!

I am behind, it seems a way of life as of late. Or maybe not. You see, I am actually not behind for the first time in months, but it still feels that way. Perhaps because I am in between contracts and that makes me feel a bit out of sorts. Perhaps because my day job keeps taking over my nights and weekends and making it almost impossible to get out new proposals. Perhaps just because I have been behind so much I can’t recognize what it feels like to be on top of things.

Anyway, I was supposed to post yesterday and update the blog covers then, too. But I didn’t remember. So I just updated the new books for May. Aren’t they lovely? Yeah, I thinks so, too. And this month I actually get to pick a few up and read them. Lovely indeed! As much as I enjoy writing, I think I still prefer reading even more. That I have gotten to do some this month has been wonderful. It also has had me thinking…

How do you feel about playing with your food? Now personally I am one of those who feels anything goes in a sex scene, particularly in terms of erotic romance. If it sounds like the characters are having a good time and it’s presented in a believable manner, it works for me. But going by some recent reviews–both my own and others–not everyone feels this way.

So what do you think? Is it okay to play with your food? Or have your lover do so for you? Now obviously some foods really are sort of gross to consider, but the basic fare you might see pop up in a sex or sexy scene?

~ jodi

http://www.jodilynncopeland.com/

It happened again . . .

Another month has blown past and barely without my notice. I have to say when I was young my mother used to tell me to enjoy all those times when I swear I was bored to death because once I got older I would wish I had free time to just sit and be “bored.” The older you go, the faster life goes by. Know what? She was right. Since I can’t seem to find a way to add more hours to the day, I’m just doing my best to fit it all in and the occasional “boring” moments as well.

February, however, was not a boring month at my house. My little girl and I both had the pleasure of battling pnuemonia that resulted in the house being a massive wreck and me getting way behind on deadlines. The spinoff of this is that I am now going to spend March not sleeping in order to make deadlines. Good thing I love this job, at least most of the time. You know, like when my characters aren’t waging a war against me by refusing to speak completely?

Fortunately not all of February was bad. Being sick did mean I got to catch up on reading and spend a lot of time with my daughter. And it also meant the release of my latest Aphrodisia, Handyman. Like Body Moves this one is very close to my heart in that the events that triggered the hunky heroes to resort to selling their bodies to make ends meet were based on the current experiences of my life. And, no, that is not to say to my husband turned to a gigilo lifestyle. But he did have to take a new job that has him away from the house all of the hours when the rest of us are not.

February also came with some great reviews for several of my books, including Handyman. And a wonderful opportunity by another of my publishers to be included as their feature author for their monthly subscriber newsletter. This last came to me quite short notice and it has me in quite a quandary that I am hoping you all can help me with.

Here’s the task at hand…

In 150 words talk about myself in such a way that interests readers, tells them something they hopefully don’t already know about me, and has nothing to do with writing. Where on earth to start? What would you like to know (about me or another author if you already know me well)? What could I put into those 150 words that would make me feel more “real” to you as a person and not just a name on the cover of a book?

Thanks for the input!

~ jodi

http://www.jodilynncopeland.com/ <--Check out the new contest and HOT (For It) new cover!

For those who have not yet heard, this post will probably come as a shock. Dawn Thompson (a.k.a. Dawn MacTavish), author of Lord Of The Deep and many other great stories, has passed away after a lengthy battle with several different sicknesses. She fought to get better and had hopes of returning home to her beloved cat and close friends, and writing many more stories. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and she died peacefully and painlessly early Friday afternoon.

Along with being a wonderful lady, Dawn was a columnist featured in numerous women’s special interest publications for over thirty years and, more recently, a terrific author of romantic fiction. She wrote across the publishers and sub-genres of historical romance, from fairly sweet regencies to scorchingly sensual paranormals. Her stories garnered excellent reviews and numerous awards, including recently being nominated four times for the 2007 PEARL Award for excellence in paranormal romantic literature. Dawn’s latest Aphrodisia offering, The Dream Well, was released as part of the Eros Island anthology in late January, and is a great example of her deft ability to mix lust, love, and deceit for a memorable conclusion. Her next offering is part of Sexy Beast IV, releasing later this month.

Though not an extrovert by any means, Dawn touched many with her eloquent style and nearly 20 books in the last few years alone. Dawn’s last request was simply to be remembered. For those who knew her, remembering her will come easily through the memories of much happier times. For those who never had the pleasure of meeting her, I encourage you to pick up her novels and see first-hand the magic she brought to life through the written word. Dawn has five new books out from Kensington, Dorchester and Highland Press in 2008. Please do pick one up and, along with all of the Aphrodisia authors and many, many others, remember this talented lady.

My, what a topic starter. I could go just about anywhere from here… Break out into song, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn’t have to wait so long…” Except, I can’t carry a note to save my life and I would hate to see all your lovely ears bleed. Then I could do the, Wouldn’t it be nice if it wasn’t already December, because I can’t remember much of the eleven months that came before this? Except, why dwell on what has already happened when there are so many delightful moments yet to come? Oh, yeah, and I could do the, Wouldn’t it be nice if there were smoking hot man covers coming out of Aphrodisia, but !hola! have you seen the winter lineup? My poor laptop screen will never be the same for all the recent tongue-worship of those hard-bodied male specimens.

This “Wouldn’t it be nice” pertains to the fact that authors don’t always get to write or do those things they want to do. Personally, I have a couple of series that I would love to finish and that I know, from various emails, readers would love to see me finish as well. The thing is, I can’t finish those series for the time being. Writing for multiple publishers means agreeing to certain contract terms that generally take away your rights to do the same length and genre of work for another publisher. Really, you can’t blame a publisher for not wanting to invest their time and money in you only to have you turn around and go elsewhere. But at the same time, it can be disappointing for the authors as much as the readers.

Then, too, is the reality of the author who changes genres. Why, when an author is so amazing at writing contemporaries or historicals, do they suddenly plunge into paranormals? Well, because that is just what the marketplace is buying. As authors, if we don’t produce books that sell–even if the genre might not be our top pick–we won’t have a very longlasting career.

So what can be done about this realities, other than saying, Wouldn’t it be nice if I could finish off those two series and write the historical I have been angsting to write since finishing my last one several years ago?

For the first item, not much can be done, outside of writing free stories to continue on those two series. Unfortuantely, very few authors have time to write an entire free full-length story, let alone several. So what about a short story? If an author is unable to continue a series in full length per contract obligations, would you as a reader be content with seeing a free short story or stories to tie up lose ends and see remaining characters happy together? Or would you prefer to wait it out, until the author can legally finish the series?

As for the second item, an author’s ability to write in a genre that the general marketplace might not be so strong on. That all depends on the readers. Obviously an author who is selling well in a genre is going to be able to continue to produce in that genre despite the rest of the industry. However, those sales need to be direct, which means bought as a new item instead of a resale. The reality with erotic romance is when it comes to paperbacks, they are almost always released in trade format. This means mucho $$$. I sure can’t afford many books when they are going for $10-15 each. What about you? Do you read erotic romance in trade format regardless of the pricetag? Would you be apt to read more if they cost less?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to be done for the price issue either, outside of having the books release in massmarket format as opposed to trade. Definitely not an overnight thing, but once again it is something that readers control. The book industry is dependent almost completely on the reader, and so what the bulk of the readers want, the bulk of the readers ultimately get. What this means to you is do express yourself.

Every publisher has a way for readers to contact them, generally by a customer service email. Share your thoughts and feedback. One reader won’t make magic happen, but as with anything else, if enough share the same opinion, it will eventually make a difference. And maybe, eventually, I can even afford to buy all those hunks over there on the left-hand side of this blog. Okay, so not the hunks, but at least the books they are on.

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com

My, what a topic starter. I could go just about anywhere from here… Break out into song, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn’t have to wait so long…” Except, I can’t carry a note to save my life and I would hate to see all your lovely ears bleed. Then I could do the, Wouldn’t it be nice if it wasn’t already December, because I can’t remember much of the eleven months that came before this? Except, why dwell on what has already happened when there are so many delightful moments yet to come? Oh, yeah, and I could do the, Wouldn’t it be nice if there were smoking hot man covers coming out of Aphrodisia, but !hola! have you seen the winter lineup? My poor laptop screen will never be the same for all the recent tongue-worship of those hard-bodied male specimens.

This “Wouldn’t it be nice” pertains to the fact that authors don’t always get to write or do those things they want to do. Personally, I have a couple of series that I would love to finish and that I know, from various emails, readers would love to see me finish as well. The thing is, I can’t finish those series for the time being. Writing for multiple publishers means agreeing to certain contract terms that generally take away your rights to do the same length and genre of work for another publisher. Really, you can’t blame a publisher for not wanting to invest their time and money in you only to have you turn around and go elsewhere. But at the same time, it can be disappointing for the authors as much as the readers.

Then, too, is the reality of the author who changes genres. Why, when an author is so amazing at writing contemporaries or historicals, do they suddenly plunge into paranormals? Well, because that is just what the marketplace is buying. As authors, if we don’t produce books that sell–even if the genre might not be our top pick–we won’t have a very longlasting career.

So what can be done about this realities, other than saying, Wouldn’t it be nice if I could finish off those two series and write the historical I have been angsting to write since finishing my last one several years ago?

For the first item, not much can be done, outside of writing free stories to continue on those two series. Unfortuantely, very few authors have time to write an entire free full-length story, let alone several. So what about a short story? If an author is unable to continue a series in full length per contract obligations, would you as a reader be content with seeing a free short story or stories to tie up lose ends and see remaining characters happy together? Or would you prefer to wait it out, until the author can legally finish the series?

As for the second item, an author’s ability to write in a genre that the general marketplace might not be so strong on. That all depends on the readers. Obviously an author who is selling well in a genre is going to be able to continue to produce in that genre despite the rest of the industry. However, those sales need to be direct, which means bought as a new item instead of a resale. The reality with erotic romance is when it comes to paperbacks, they are almost always released in trade format. This means mucho $$$. I sure can’t afford many books when they are going for $10-15 each. What about you? Do you read erotic romance in trade format regardless of the pricetag? Would you be apt to read more if they cost less?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to be done for the price issue either, outside of having the books release in massmarket format as opposed to trade. Definitely not an overnight thing, but once again it is something that readers control. The book industry is dependent almost completely on the reader, and so what the bulk of the readers want, the bulk of the readers ultimately get. What this means to you is do express yourself.

Every publisher has a way for readers to contact them, generally by a customer service email. Share your thoughts and feedback. One reader won’t make magic happen, but as with anything else, if enough share the same opinion, it will eventually make a difference. And maybe, eventually, I can even afford to buy all those hunks over there on the left-hand side of this blog. Okay, so not the hunks, but at least the books they are on.

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com

Can you believe it is the first of September? Where has the year gone? Where are all those extra days I had to write this summer, so making my October 1 deadline would be a breeze? Oye!

Since Crystal blogged about the glory of writing “The end,” I thought I would blog about the frustrations of writing “The Beginning.” As I understand it, not everyone angsts over the beginning of a story. In fact, some love that fresh page/fresh slate feeling, where the world is clean and new and anything can happen. I do like the idea it is a new book, perhaps a new genre, and the potential is endless. But the actual process of starting a new story usually has the makings of nightmares for me–literally. I spend those early days writing the opening scenes again and again, dreaming about just how awful they are, losing countless hours of sleep, until finally a workable opening begins to take shape.

With my current Aphrodisia WIP, Sweet & Sinful (Aug 08), I spent two weeks and went through thousands of words and no less than seven openings before I finally found one I was willing to have published with my name on it. To whet the whistle (and force me to start my day by thinking about this book the way I must do), here are the opening lines…

She’d finally done it. Turned her porn star dreams into reality.
Freshly showered with a fluffy white robe wrapped around her, Courtney Baxter exited the motel suite bathroom and beamed at the naked male ass asleep on the coverless bed.

Of course the good part about all this rewriting is along the way I learn a great deal about my characters. I tend to be a pantser, and often know essentially nothing about my characters when I start a book, which might just be why I struggle with that opening so much. The great thing about this is each new scene usually comes to me as much of a surprise as to the reader. And each new one depends so much on my mood when it is being written. What I believe will be a feel good sex scene may end up being a steamy scene which is interrupted right at the good part by a peeping tom with murder on his mind.

Fortunately I am past the beginning of S&S, and now it is the middle I am trying to not let sag. I do find the middle exhilerating in many ways, as this is the point where I get to toss in some major twist, or new conflict. Heighten the plot and the reader’s interest. The middle is my time for fun and to let my warped imagination soar. So for today I will be happy, creative, and hopefully put out a huge word count that is excellent and witty from the first draft…. Mind you, I did say hope!

As for that opening, I have roughly two weeks before I have to write another one. I plan to spend the days between now and then blissfully ignoring that personal nightmare.

~ jodi (visit me today and tomorrow at Amy Smith’s Blog)

Now tell me, who does not love lots of spanking? Spanking brand new books and websites, that is!

I was trolling around BarnesandNoble.com and what did my wandering eyes see, but that the September books are already shipping! Guess I won’t have to wait to dive in with The Lord Of The Deep, or drop by The Pleasure Palace for some sinful fun that I can only hope involves plenty of Sexy Beasts fighting over who gets to Touch Me first. Ah, the fantasies….

But of course when I am waiting for them to arrive I will be having a rolicking good time with the August books–Nicholas (AKA, holy hot bod!), Blood Rose, Built, and Ceremony of Seduction.

I haven’t had the chance to read the August books yet, but if you have and need something else to pass the time while you wait for those smoking hot September releases to arrive, drop on by my spanking new Body Moves site and check out the happenings.

A lot of people (authors and others) helped me on the road to publication, and so I try to give back by helping others. One thing that I do is volunteer my time to judging writing contests. I am currently judging a contest where I find myself struggling with a couple of entries. My concern is that I am aware of the scores given by the other judges on the same entries, and mine are much lower–something unusual for me. The problem I see is that the characters within the story are very passive, or at the very least reactive. And so this leaves me wondering, how do readers feel about the proactive versus the reactive or passive character?

To explain, the reactive character is the one who responds to things as they happen to her or him. While the proactive character is the one who sets out to accomplish things instead of waiting for fate (often in the form of another character) to take a hand. To me a mark of a strong character is that they are proactive, that for the most part they don’t have a fatalistic attitude, or at least if they do, by the end of the book this is resolved and they are now proactive.

How about you? Do you see being proactive as something all main characters should be, or set out to attain? Or is it okay to let the characters simply react to the unfolding story, so long as they do so in a sufficient manner?

And on a whole other note, Happy Birthday!! Quite a few of the Aphrodisia authors are Leos, and either celebrated their birthday this last week or on the cusp of doing so. May the year ahead be the best yet!

~ jodi

Conflict in erotic romance is a truly interesting thing. In most any other genre, a healthy dose of both internal and external conflict is a must. But with erotic romance, I often see where one or the other is getting away as a stand alone. For example, a story might be based on the internal conflict (those internal issues each struggles with) keeping the primary characters apart solely. Or it might be that the primaries are separated by external conflict (those external forces at work to keep them apart) and there is no real internal conflict. In particular, I see this a lot with the shorter story, the novella.

As I embark on writing my next Aphrodisia, I am left wondering about this whole conflict deal. Is erotic romance different in that both internal and external conflict really aren’t needed, particularly in the case of the shorter story? Or does the average reader still prefer to see strong conflicts of both kind at the heart of the plot? And in keeping with this theme, is a heavier plot preferred in a shorter story over a more sexual one? Or when reading erotic romance, are the internal (or external) conflicts and the hot sex that derive from them truly the nature of the beast?

Just exactly how rocky do you want the conflict in your novels?