Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

Last week I watched two movies: Up in the Air and Lars and the Real Girl. At the end, one left me smiling and the other left me sad and annoyed.

You probably know Up in the Air (yes, the one with George Clooney). It’s about a man who fires people for a living. He travels all over and is perfectly happy in airports, on planes, and in hotel rooms. From the outside, we’d say he lives a lonely life, but he doesn’t see or feel that there’s anything missing. This man clearly has some serious issues, though we never really learn what they are. Then he meets a woman and, as any good heroine should do, she shakes up his life. He goes through a character arc, which is the part I always love most in a story. He grows into a more fully developed person who’s not only capable of loving, but wants to love and be loved.

Lars is a similar story. He has some serious emotional issues, though he, too, seems pretty oblivious. Except, maybe he’s not because he doesn’t just bump into a woman – in fact he ignores the charming girl who’s attracted to him – he actively seeks a relationship with (wait for it) a full-size female doll he orders. He believes she’s a real woman, and he, too, goes through a character arc. He becomes a more fully developed person who’s capable of relating to, and loving, a real woman.

The whole doll thing in Lars was hard for me to relate to, but the ending of the movie satisfied me. Lars grew enough that he no longer needed the doll and he wanted to be with the real girl, who had very patiently waited for him to arrive at this stage. I foresee a truly happy ending for those two, and that gives me a nice warm glow. Both Lars and his real girl went through a rough time, they dealt with it courageously, and they earned their just reward.

Not so with poor old George Clooney. This movie, too, has an element of unreality because, hello, can you imagine anyone rejecting George? Well, the woman in the movie does. And okay, not all love is requited, even if you do happen to be gorgeous, smart, and sexy. What really bothers me, though, is that the movie ends with him back living the way he used to, but now the airports no longer feel like home. They feel empty and lonely. And that’s it. Period. Leaving me going, “Oh come on, the man learned his lesson and he grew. He’s a better person. Give him his just reward!”

Now, I’d like to believe that soon he bumps into another woman, and this one’s the right one for him. I’d have even settled for a hint of that in the movie. But no, the screenwriter, director, and producer chose to leave us with an at best ambiguous, and at worst dismal, ending. They are obviously not romantics! No romance writer would have left things that way.

Does anyone else have comments on these movies? Or other movies or books with endings that left you unsatisfied or unhappy?

It’s the middle of July and I think my brain’s gone on holiday. Well, actually, it’s in the Greek islands, occupied with writing a book that will come out next summer. Usually, it’s capable of multi-tasking, but not today. Which means I can’t think of a single thing of interest to blog about. If your brain is as lazy as mine, maybe you’d rather just read a little excerpt anyhow.

So that’s what I’m going to do. This is from Sex Drive, the first book in my Wild Ride to Love series – and a Cosmo magazine Red-Hot Read. Theresa and Damien meet on a flight from Sydney, Australia, where they join the mile-high club, then he persuades her to share a sexy stopover in Honolulu. They’ve just come back from an afternoon walk on Waikiki Beach.

This one comes with a hotness warning, so if you’re 18 you’re not supposed to read on. LOL. Like that would have stopped me when I was a teenager…

Preceding Damien into our room, I thought that the day so far had been one treat after another. The last being my passionfruit gelato and his chocolate macadamia nut ice cream cones, which had melted faster than we could lick them. Hands and mouth sticky with gelato, body glossed with sunscreen and sweat, the promise of sex ripe in the air, I said, “I need a shower.”

He let go of one of my breasts and I watched his hand drift down, stroke over my abdomen, drift through the auburn curls of pubic hair, and I tensed in pleasant anticipation.
And I’ll leave you there because, after all, foreplay is half the fun!

So, how’s your summer going? Are you being lazy or productive? Is your brain capable of multi-tasking any better than mine? Whatever summer holds for you, I hope some lazy days with good books are on the agenda.

Today I finally got around to browsing the May issue of Cosmopolitan, which I just happened to have on hand because my first Wild Ride to Love book, Sex Drive, was their Red-Hot Read.

And I read an interesting factoid. Well, not a factoid because it was only the result of one study and, having studied psych and anthropology, I know how flawed “scientific” studies can be. All the same, it led to some interesting musing . . .

The study suggested that men with higher IQs are more likely to be monogamous. Okay, stop and think about that. Is your guy a smart guy? Then chances are, he’ll stick with you.

Well, of course he will, because you’re fabulous, right?

All right, that’s my quickie explanation, but wait, let’s hear what the study said. Their conclusion was based, sort of, on evolution. Did I mention I studied anthropology? Evolutionary theory makes sense to me. Most of the time.

In our prehistory, the basic male drive was to mate and procreate, so his DNA would go forth and prosper. (Hmm, did I just mix a little Star Trek in there? But I think you catch my drift.) If a man was monogamous, he’d knock up one woman, she’d spent 9 months pregnant, then it’d be a while before he could get her pregnant again. He just wasn’t putting a ton of babies out there in the world, so for a man, promiscuity made evolutionary sense.

OK, fine, but wouldn’t that make you think the bright guys are the ones who screw around? No, not according to the new theory. The bright guys today are the ones who realize all this evolutionary stuff is no longer relevant because having sex with a bunch of women no longer equates with any reliability to having a bunch of babies. So, really, there’s no point.

Well, except maybe having a bunch of fun… Though apparently the author of the study didn’t consider that concept.

Not that I’m saying, by any means, that sex with a lot of people beats quality sex with one person who you’re really committed to. After all, that’s pretty much the essence of romance.

Now, I’m probably being completely unfair to the author of the study. I haven’t read his report, only a teeny synopsis in Cosmo. But that snippet did get me musing (and gave me a blog topic, which is always a good thing!).

So, to muse on . . . If there’s any truth to the notion that guys with high IQs are more likely to be monogamous, couldn’t there be lots of other possible reasons?

Such as, they have the brains to wait until they’ve found the right woman, and then they have the brains to treat her right and stick with her rather than let some other man get her.

Or, smart guys choose smart women, and they realize that if they screwed around their mates would be clever enough to find out – and there would be major consequences.

Or, guys with high IQs grow up and realize that they’ll be happier and more fulfilled building a life with one partner rather than randomly screwing their brains out and never growing up.

Well, those are just a few of my theories. I bet if we all sat down and drank a few cosmos, we’d come up with a bunch more. So, hoist your cyber cosmo and tell me what you think. Do smart guys tend to be monogamous? What’s your theory?

A couple of nights ago, I attended Stars on Ice, a gala figure skating exhibition. I totally love figure skating, especially the dance and pairs. To me, those couples and their performances are the essence of romance. What more could you possibly want?

A man who’s incredibly strong–strong enough to lift his lady over his head and carry her safely across the ice. A man who’s tender–tender enough to set her down with infinite gentleness. A man who’s agile, coordinated, gymnastic, and graceful, without ever losing his power and strength. A man who’s good looking, wears great clothes, and presents himself well. A man who can entertain and connect with the audience, who can feel and interpret music, who can convey passion, humor, whatever emotion the particular piece calls for. What more could any woman possibly want from a hero?

And then there’s the woman. Graceful, elegant, beautiful–and just as strong and coordinated as her partner. She can do everything he can (well, except lift him over her head!), make it look easy, and look gorgeous while she’s doing it. Very definitely a heroine to be admired.

As for the couple, they portray the magic, the special bond, that’s romance. The way they gaze into each other’s eyes, the way their bodies move together and apart, the way they can reach for each other’s hand without even looking, knowing it will always be there. To me, skaters like Jamie Salé and David Pelletier (Olympic gold medalists from 2002), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Olympic gold medalists from 2010), and Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon (twice world silver medalists) give me the same warm glow in my heart as reading the happy ending of a wonderful romance novel.

They also symbolize everything that’s beautiful and admirable in a relationship. Because it’s not just their intimate connection and the romantic face they show to the world, it’s all the individual work and teamwork that goes on behind the scenes. They are incredible athletes with the discipline to commit to a lofty goal and follow a brutal training schedule. Together. Hand in hand, as partners.

Not surprisingly, a number of pairs and dances teams fall in love off the ice, too, and marry. I think it’s wonderfully symbolic that when Marie-France and Patrice married, the couple who had trained and skated side by side walked each other down the aisle. Side by side.

Sometimes the marriage proposals even happen on the ice. When Chinese skater Hongbo Zhao proposed to his long-time pairs partner, Zue Shen, it was on the ice at the end of the performance where they won the 2007 World Championship.

Aw, isn’t that romantic?

My book Sex Drive (from Aphrodisia) has been chosen by Cosmopolitan as their red-hot read for May! (By the way, that’s the issue labeled on the front, “The Sexy Issue – So much hot stuff!”) How cool – sorry, make that seriously hot – is that?

Why me? People have asked how I managed this. Sheer luck. I had absolutely nothing to do with it, except of course that I wrote the book. As I understand it, publishers send their sexy books to Cosmo and the magazine picks the ones they want to excerpt. My guess is, they liked mile-high sex! Well, who wouldn’t? My heroine and hero, Theresa and Damien, sure had fun joining that club.

So, surprise number 1 was hearing that my book had been chosen. What a total thrill! I was in Cabo San Lucas when I picked up the email from my publisher, and I promptly celebrated by going to the bar and ordering – what else, but … a cosmo. Yum!

Surprise number 2, which wasn’t such a big one because I’d already heard about other authors’ experiences, was how much Cosmo changed my writing. In the end, I can maybe sort of recognize my characters and scene. LOL. But that’s fair, because one of the most important things with any kind of writing is to know your audience. When I’m writing a book, I have 300+ pages to develop character, emotion, and story. Cosmo has a page and a half to provide a sexy excerpt for their target audience.

If you’re interested in how my 7 page scene differs from their 1.5 pages, you can check out the original of my scene on my website at http://www.susanlyons.ca/books/sex_drive_excerpt.php (along with another excerpt from earlier in the book).

For the most part, I understand why Cosmo edited the way they did. But here’s one thing I totally don’t get. In my book, the flight from Sydney, Australia to Vancouver, BC, stops in Honolulu – and hero Damien, a thriller writer who has a reading scheduled in Honolulu, persuades the no longer buttoned-up sociology prof Theresa Fallon to “lay over” with him. In the excerpt, Honolulu has become L.A. Uh, pardon me (and nothing against L.A.), but I think Honolulu’s a way more romantic, sexy venue. After all, Damien and Theresa do have sex on the beach – as in, Waikiki! So, what was the logic for switching Honolulu for L.A.? If you have any theories, I’d love to hear them.

Sex Drive is the first book in my sexy “planes, trains, automobiles, and a cruise ship” Wild Ride to Love series about three sisters who travel home to their baby sister’s wedding. Along the way, they find romances of their own—and learn that the journey to love truly is one wild ride! The second book, Love, Unexpectedly, is out this month from Kensington Brava under my pen name Susan Fox. There’s info on both books (and all my other titles), including book videos, behind-the-scenes notes, discussion guides, recipes, my monthly contest, and other good stuff on my website at http://www.susanlyons.ca. I hope you drop over for a visit.

In less than two weeks, I make my debut under a new pen name, Susan Fox, writing for Kensington Brava.

Oddly, my launch book, Love, Unexpectedly, is the second book in a series that I started as Susan Lyons with Aphrodisia, with the book Sex Drive in December 2009. So, I’m doing my best to get the word out. If you’ve enjoyed my Susan Lyons books, check me out under Susan Fox as well. (And no, I’m not the same Susan Fox who writes for Harlequin Romance, and no, I don’t know if she’s still writing.)

Let me tell you a little about Love, Unexpectedly. It’s the “trains” segment of my sexy “planes, trains, automobiles, and a cruise ship” Wild Ride to Love series. The heroine, Kat Fallon, is one of the four sisters introduced in Sex Drive (the “planes” book). When I wrote the first book, I got a pretty clear handle on all the sisters.

So, I knew that Kat (who’s a PR director at a luxury hotel in Montreal) really wanted love, marriage, and a family, yet had terrible luck with men. She fell quickly and passionately for “larger than life” guys (a NASCAR champ, a gold medal skier) and the relationships never worked out.

For Kat, I wanted to write a very special love story. Sometimes, we fail to see what’s right under our nose. Personally, I love romances when best friends turn into lovers (do you know the song “Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You” by Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson? – love it!), so that’s what I gave Kat. But not the “When Harry Met Sally” kind, where they were like middle-aged squabbling spouses from the beginning – but a romance with excitement and passion as well as trust and true friendship.

There’s a twist, in that Kat’s neighbor and best friend, photographer Nav Bharani, has been in love with Kat for quite a while. She doesn’t see him that way, though – or at least, she tries not to. He’s the closest friend she’s ever had and, given her disastrous track record with lovers, she refuses to risk her friendship with Nav.

So, Nav needs a game plan to break out of the buddy trap and win her. And that’s where the trains come in!

I love those old movies like “North by Northwest” and “Silver Streak,” where strangers meet on a train and fall for each other. Trains can be pretty darned romantic! So, when Kat takes a cross-Canada train trip from Montreal to Vancouver for her baby sister’s wedding, the desperate Nav grabs the opportunity.
To spice things up, I gave him a dramatic strategy to open Kat’s eyes and make her see him differently. He has a make-over and transforms himself into an exciting “stranger,” a Bollywood movie producer, the kind of man she typically goes for. If she opts into playing “the stranger game” (pretending he really is the movie producer rather than her old friend), she can explore her secret passion for Nav without consequences. She can have the stranger on the train, and her best friend when she returns home.

Well, of course it’s not going to work out that way! For Kat and Nav, once they start their wild ride to love, there will be no turning back.

So, tell me, what do you think of “friends to lovers” romances – either in real life or in books or movies? And how about train travel? Do you see it as romantic, or slow and boring?

I’m so sad to hear that one of my favorite writers has passed away. Dick Francis died on Valentine’s Day, at the age of 89. He was born in Wales, was a very successful jockey, then turned his hand to writing mysteries. More than 40 of them, and they almost always had something to do with the world of horse-racing.

I think I’ve read every single one of his books, and I’d happily read them again. And again. They’ll be on my keeper shelf forever. Yes, I love horses and I always enjoy a good mystery, but the real hook for me is his heroes.

Oh my God, do I love his heroes! They’re not always the biggest, most muscular, super handsome guys. What they are is strong in all the ways that count. They’re leaders, the kind of men who solve problems and save lives, who are intensely loyal and passionately devoted to doing the right thing. They have guts and integrity. And they never boast. They’re the quiet, unassuming kind that always comes through in a crunch. They’re also dead sexy and have a dry sense of humor.

Is it any wonder that every hero I write has a lot in common with the heroes in Dick Francis’s books? Of course, mine do tend to be super handsome because, after all, I write romance rather than mystery and we women do like our hot guys!

My January release, Sex on the Beach, has three sexy heroes. It’s a collection of three interrelated novellas all taking place in Belize, in the week before a destination wedding.

The first hero, Free Lafontaine, is an unusual sort of hero because he’s actually trying to stop his best friend from getting married – but he’s doing it for noble reasons: he believes the bride is a money-grubber and he’s honouring a promise to his friend. Of course, he’s going to realize he’s dead wrong – with a little help from wedding planner Sarah McCann!

The second hero, Ric Nunez, is the perfect man for Tamiko Sato, the fragile victim of sexual abuse. He’s gentle and sensual, and awakens the passionate woman inside her. Every woman deserves a lover like Ric!

And then there’s the third hero, James Moncrieff. When he was married to Giovanna, he was a stuffy professor who was definitely not the right match for the vibrant but immature Italian girl. Now, though, he’s about to show his ex that he’s a far different – far sexier! – man.

What I want to hear from you is, who are your favorite heroes? Writers who you’ve loved for years? What makes for a perfect romance hero?

By the way, I’m thrilled to announce that my December book, Sex Drive, is a Fresh Pick at Fresh Fiction today, and it will also be Cosmo “red hot read” for May!

Happy reading, and happy Olympics!

I do! As I write this, the rain is pouring down outside my window. OK, that’s Vancouver, BC, and that’s pretty much the story in winter. For me, I prefer this to snow (though snow is definitely prettier!) because when it’s raining the temperature is at least above freezing, and I hate being cold. Here’s a photo of Vancouver, BC in winter. Lovely, eh?

Often, I think that I’d rather do away with winter. Except, then I remember a kids’ book I once read. Did anyone else read the Pookie (the rabbit with wings) books, about all those cute woodland creatures? I loved those books! In one, Pookie Puts The World Right, he makes the mistake of wishing there’d be no winter. Well, of course that totally messes things up, upsetting the whole balance of nature. So, okay, I guess we kind of need winter. I try to remember that, as the rain pours down.

The thing is, I thrive on sunshine and warmth. I inherited that from both my parents, who had the habit of pulling me out of school in winter and driving down to Mexico.

Anyhow, it was this kind of thinking that, once upon a time (as they say in those wonderful kids’ books), led me to the idea for my January release from Berkley Heat, Sex On The Beach. (Yeah, the drink. And yeah, the other kind too – LOL.)

It’s set in Belize. Seriously, wouldn’t you rather be in Belize right now?

That’s exactly what I thought. And what do people do in Belize? A lot of them get married. In winter, tropical places are prime for destination weddings, where the bride and groom invite their family and close friends for a tropical holiday plus a wedding celebration.

That’s the setting for my book. And no, the bride and groom aren’t one of the couples, though they have a subplot and lessons to learn and teach. The book features three different romances.

In “War of the Sexes,” wedding planner Sarah McCann learns that the groom’s best friend, Free Lafontaine, intends to save his pal from the mistake of marriage. It’s an all-out war between the sexes – a war that just might have two winners!

In “Sex With the Proper Stranger,” model Tamiko Sato comes to the wedding as arm-candy for the groom’s deep-in-the-closet uncle, so what’s she to do when resort manager Ric Nuñez proves far too tempting? Is Ric the man who can heal her wounded heart?

In “Sexy Exes,” Giovanna Moncrieff and her ex, James, mix as well as Italian olive oil and English tonic water, so it’s embarrassing – and exciting! – to discover the flame of passion still burns. Is true love possible the second time around?

I had a lovely time escaping to Belize while I wrote that book. I hope readers will enjoy the same kind of mid-winter escape.

So, what I’d like to know today is, how do you feel about winter? If you’re a skier or snowboarder, you probably love it. Personally, I’m a walk-on-the-beacher – in summer, in bare feet! What do you like or hate about winter? If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?

And hey, while we’re at it, what are your favorite kids’ books? As well as Pookie, I’ll put in a plug for the Penelope books, written by one of my local writing friends, Sheri Radford. You can check them out here: http://www.sheriradford.com/ They don’t have rabbits with wings, but they have a spunky little girl heroine with lessons to learn, and some great artwork.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a sexy post here at the Aphro site. I figure, it’s the season to be jolly, and what’s more jolly than . . . sex in interesting places!

When I started my Wild Ride to Love series, the concept was that three sisters would travel home by planes, trains, and automobiles to their baby sister’s wedding – and along the way, each would have a sexy romance. Fun idea, isn’t it? A physical journey, and the sexy journey of falling in love.

So, I started writing the first book, Sex Drive, which is out this month. Repressed professor Theresa Fallon, the eldest sister, lives in Sidney, Australia, so of course she has to travel home by planes to Vancouver, BC. One flight from Sydney to Honolulu, then another from Honolulu to Vancouver. And of course I had to give her an ultra-sexy seatmate, in Damien Black, thriller writer and one of Australia’s 10 sexiest bachelors!

Well, there they were, eating and drinking and flirting, on that first very long flight and . . . well, it’s an Aphrodisia book so we know the in-flight entertainment is going to get down and dirty, right? On a plane. Have you ever done it on a plane? There’s not all that much room, or privacy, is there? And yet, somehow Theresa and Damien manage. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Still, I couldn’t imagine restricting their sex scenes to the confines of an airplane (I have an imagination, but it’s not that creative!), so I gave Damien a stop in Honolulu for a reading/signing at a bookstore, and he persuades Theresa to overnight there with him. And that opened up other interesting possibilities. Yes, the hotel room has a bed, but Waikiki Beach by moonlight just begs for a little skinny-dipping, don’t you think? What’s better foreplay than skinny-dipping?

[Want to view a book video of Sex Drive?]

I’ve written outdoor “maybe we’ll get caught” sex before, particularly in Champagne Rules. I’ve written firehall and firefighter training center sex in Hot in Here. Sex on the front deck of a sailboat; that’s in “Too Hot to Handle” in Men on Fire. Hmm, what are some of the other ways that inventive lovers can find to hook up?

Time for you to get into the act. What have you done, read, written, seen, imagined? What’s the most inventive place you can think of to have sex? Let’s share some spicy stuff and heat up this holiday season!

We all want our heroes to be heroic, and traditionally romance readers love heroes who are SEALs, covert ops guys, police officers, and firefighters.

Okay, but seriously… What’s it like to be in love with a man who risks his life on a regular basis? To have kids with him and hope he’ll be around to see them grow up? To hope that when you both swear those vows “till death you do part,” that death is going to be a long, long way off?

Do women just try not to think about it, or do they recognize the fear but find the strength to handle it?

In my November story “Too Hot to Handle” (in Men on Fire), heroine Jade Rousseau’s dad was a cop. When he was almost killed on the job, she and her mom were so traumatized that her mom persuaded him to switch to a desk job.

Jade herself became risk-averse. If you play it safe, you can’t get hurt, right? Well, her beliefs are challenged when her girlfriends “buy” her the wrong guy at a bachelor auction. She needs a faux fiancé and wants a nice, traditional white-collar guy. Instead, she gets sexy Quinn O’Malley.

Quinn lives on a sailboat, rides a motorbike, and – oh, yeah – he’s a firefighter. Not only a firefighter, but one who has a personal vendetta against fire. It claimed his family, and it’s not going to take any more lives if he has anything to say about it. So, on the job, he’s a risk-taker.

What does a woman like Jade do when she starts to fall for a man like Quinn? Well, to find out how that particular romance turns out, you’ll just have to read the story. Okay, you know how it turns out – it’s a romance, after all! – but to find out how the two of them resolve their pretty major differences, you’ll have to do some reading. If you’d like to start with an excerpt, go to the MEN ON FIRE page at my website: http://www.susanlyons.ca. I also have behind-the-scenes notes, blurbs for all 3 novellas, a discussion guide, and recipes for the “it’s raining men” cocktail and decadent chocolate Nanaimo bars!

Anyhow, what I’d like to know today is how you feel about high-risk heroes and the women who love them. Or, in reverse, women in high-risk occupations and the men who love them. In fiction, and in real life, what kind of person does it take to love someone who endangers their life on a regular basis?

And, as a reader, what’s your favourite kind of hero: the high-risk ones, the billionaires, the brilliant scientists, the doctors who save lives, the lawyers who fight for justice, or ????