Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

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?

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!

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 ????

I hope you’ll forgive me, but today I’m going to plug a new release that isn’t an Aphrodisia. It’s a charity anthology, with all proceeds benefiting a shelter for abused women. The book is Dreams & Desires 3: A Collection of Romance and Erotic Tales, published by Freya’s Bower.

You can read some great stories and support a valuable cause.

I’ve posted information and purchase links on my website.

Check it out:

http://www.susanlyons.ca/books/dreams_and_desires3.htm

My story is titled “A Forever Cowboy.” City girl Carly loves her Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos, so what made her buy a pair of cowboy boots and why does she dream of horses and sexy cowboys? It’s time to find out. And so she goes to Sundance Ranch and meets a seductive cowboy named Riley, and learns there is truth in dreams.

Here’s an excerpt. I hope you like it.

He ran his hands up my back, under my cardigan, and I shivered as need raced through me.
I stepped closer, touched his back. The well-washed cotton of his sweatshirt was an annoying barrier. I lifted the hem and stroked his lower back, feeling his strength, his warmth.

But he turned to me, laughed softly, came to kiss me. The passion flared again in an instant, and the doubts vanished. God knows what I was doing, but, right now, it was the one perfect thing, the thing I wanted more than anything else.

Here’s hoping all your dreams and desires come true!

Have you ever acted on impulse? I’m not talking about sneaking an extra cookie when no one’s looking, or tossing a handful of candy bars onto the conveyor belt at the grocery store. I mean an act of wicked indulgence, with an audience.

While in public, most of us (writer’s especially) tend to curb the urge to actually commit an outrageous act of daring. Even though we’re very good a thinking them. Instead, we weave them into our heroines and heroes, living through them just a little bit along with our readers.

But, writer or not, once in a while we need to shake things up. Get our hearts to skip a beat and smile like we ate the biggest canary on the face of the planet. Well, last fall I did just that. And it was fabulous.

Let me explain…

The day was perfect–gray, windy, a touch rainy…just right for a Highland festival. But the weather was merely the perfect backdrop. Bagpipes, bodhrans, and whistles filled the air, adding excitement to the day. The Clans were called. The games ceased, temporarily, and men assembled to parade across the grounds, kilts swishing with each step, chests forward, banners held high.

The Highland Festival and Games had officially opened. Much to my delight. Now, just to let you know, I’m half Irish, but there is a wee bit o’ Scots running through my veins and my husband decends from one of the oldest Scottish Clans still in existence. So each year we go, set up a booth, break out the banners and swords and chainmail. It’s a grand time.

Then came a call – judges were needed to determine which single, kilted man had the “bonniest knees”. As a writer of historicals, Scottish and Viking and other time periods of old, I went all giddy inside. Now I had never actually seen the contest take place, only heard the cheers from a distance and watched the winner announced.

Little did I know.

At the urging of my family, yes, even my husband, I volunteered. I can do this; I can look at bare male knees peeking out between wool stockings and plaid tartans to pick the nicest pair. Duh. Well, imagine my surprise when I, a willing volunteer, found myself pressed into a chair and blindfolded. I was to judge all right, but not by sight. I had to judge by feel.

My face turned red, matching my hair. My freezing cold hands began to shake, but inside, the butterflies of anticipation took flight. Hey, I had permission to do this. In fact, with even the kids urging me to volunteer, you could argue that they had twisted my arm.

One by one a line of young, single men paraded in front of myself and several other ladies, standing patiently as each pair of female hands blindly reached forward, at best in their general direction, to “squeeze” their knees. Scots men are brave.

The smile never left my face.

Now what has all this got to do with writing? Well, aside from a great deal of fun, I dared to act. I chose to do something I would never ordinarily do – and with an audience no less.

As writers we tend to linger in introverted, creative worlds. But we do need to live life in order to create more believable characters. Don’t pass up a chance to smile, or laugh, or cry. We will be better for it, and so will our characters.

And know this, you can take great joy in feeling your way through.

~Annalise Russell

www.annaliserussell.wordpress.com

On Saturday I presented a craft workshop for my local RWA Chapter. It was on point of view and tense – i.e., do you write in first or third person, past or present tense, and which characters get a point of view? Sounds kind of ho-hum, but it got me thinking about how far romance novels have come.

Once upon a time (of course this was long before I was born, wink, wink), they were always written from the woman’s point of view, in third person past tense. “Nurse Wimpy gazed starry-eyed at the handsome Dr. Studly, and wondered if he’d ever deign to speak to her.”

But you know what? We women always want to know what guys are thinking – in our real lives, and in our romance novels. Or maybe the guys just wouldn’t settle for being silenced by women writers. However it happened, heroes started to get a point of view. But still, in the third person past tense. “Jason stared at Esmeralda, shocked that she’d rejected his gift. What the heck was wrong with the fancy food processor he’d given her for Valentine’s Day? It had all the latest gadgets.”

In the last few years, you may have noticed some different styles in romance. Chick lit made first person popular, and to some extent present tense as well. “I stare into the mirror and can’t believe that one little slice of death-by-chocolate cake has somehow morphed into five extra pounds around my waist. Note to self: give up food for at least 2 days.”

Now, more and more, first person and/or present tense are finding their way into romance. Aphrodisia is a great line for this. The editors pretty much trust to the authors to figure out the right voice(s) to tell the story.

And I think that’s what it comes down to. When I’m writing, it takes me a while to get to know my characters, but once I do they tend to speak in pretty clear voices. Sometimes it’s third person, sometimes first. Sometimes it’s past tense, sometimes present. Sometimes the heroine wants to talk and sometimes the hero does.

As a writer, or a reader, do you have a preference? Do some styles work better for you? Or do you even notice the craft stuff?

Well, to begin, I’m posting from the island of Oahu in Hawaii, specifically my son’s home in Kaneohe where I’ve been watching my adorable almost two year old granddaughter, Ella. Mommy is away for a week, which means Dabba (me!) has both her thirty year old son and Ella to feed and spoil and play with. I’d planned to write when Ella went down for a nap, but I quickly discovered that chasing a toddler is exhausting work (proof that motherhood is truly for the young!) and I’ve been napping along with Ella.

Today, though, I “worked.” Well, sort of…there is a wonderful romance expert at the local Borders book store, here in Kaneohe. Kellie Chang is absolutely amazing, and she’s gone above and beyond the call of duty! It’s obvious she loves the romance genre and she is a font of information about the various authors and titles. I’m convinced that if every bookstore had a Kellie clone, we’d all enjoy our shopping experience a whole lot more. For the second time, now when I’ve been to the island, Kellie has organized a little gathering with many of the romance readers she’s gotten to know at her store. Today there were thirteen of us at the local IHOP, munching away and gabbing about books and having a wonderful time.

That’s us in the photo–Kellie is third from the left, back row, standing beside her parents. That’s me on the far right, back row. Work? I guess so, if you can call spending over two hours with a fascinating group of women who love the same books and authors I do, work. Yes, it was a great chance to promote my books, but it was even more fun just being surrounded by readers who love the same stories. We ended up with a quick trip to the bookstore where I managed to add to my TBR pile, and it was really hard to leave, knowing it will be months before I see them again.

This is one of the things I love most about a career as an author–the interaction with readers. I feel so lucky to have these opportunities to sit and visit and get to know people who read my books and those who don’t, but who love to read romance just the same. My thanks to Kellie for organizing such a special time for all of us today.

And totally off topic–I just read Vonna Harper’s blog–what a thrill, to finally be sharing an anthology with a talented author who has been a friend of mine for so many years. Ain’t it great, kiddo?

Damn but I love my job!!!

I’ve never in my life seen so many people trying to avoid my eye. Come on, folks, I’m not a gang member or a beggar, I’m just a romance author at a book signing.

This weekend I attended two multi-author signings. These were put on by bookstores where I’m guessing the customers do actually read and enjoy books. Wouldn’t you think they might like to talk to an author or two? Apparently not. Or is it that they’re scared that if they come anywhere near us and our books, they might have to – gasp! – buy one? God forbid, a fate worse than death.

Well, of course we’d like to sell books but mostly we’d just like people to be friendly and talk to us. If they take a bookmark or excerpt, or buy a book, that’s a bonus.

So, what’s the deal with signings? Why doesn’t anyone want to talk to me and my fellow authors?

At the end of the second signing, yesterday afternoon, two of us asked the store manager that question and he said, “That’s crazy. I mean, you can talk to romance authors about anything!”

Yes! He knows us. He GETS us! Now the question is, how do we get that same message across to readers? I suggested that next time we put up a banner saying, “Romance Authors – you can talk to them about ANYTHING!”

What’s your experience with signings, as a writer, reader or bookseller? If you do signings, why? Are they good or bad experiences? What do you think makes for a good signing or event? I’d love to know, because I have a bunch more coming up!

(Before I stop, I’d like to say thanks to the great store managers and staff at Borders Express in Cascade Mall, Burlington, and Chapters Metrotown in Burnaby, who were so wonderfully supportive this weekend.)

Susan Lyons (www.susanlyons.ca)