What I Enjoy Most About Writing?

Boy was I excited. The cover with my penname on it. Essentially, my name in lights as if I were the director of a large film or the lead singer of a successful band. Wow! Me? I couldn’t believe it. Although a short story, that began this long winding road of ups and downs, gnashing teeth over edits, struggling to get the most out of my characters and sulking a little over so so reviews. (More chocolate and liquor please) *laughs* Thats how authors deal. And after all that, here I am, two years later and still excited over putting out the next book.

What I Enjoy Most About Writing

Author Sharita Lira

It’s been nearly two years since I started this journey. Doing something I did sparingly as a teen and then turning it into a budding career. I never thought I could be a published author, putting out my own books for others to read and enjoy until December 2010 when my first sole author story hit the market.

Oh the joy when I see the newest cover, and then when I get the edits, I smile instead of grumble. One step closer to the finished product going up on Amazon, All Romance, and or Bookstrand. Whew! And then comes promotions, blogging, spending a few bucks on cover ads, and yes the reviews which have gotten better than so so. More like, okay, we see what you’re trying to do but… *laughs again* Not many of those either. Seeemingly more people enjoy what the muses of Sharita Lira are doing and let me know it through comments and reviews. Thanks so much.

Which brings me back to my topic. What do I enjoy most about writing? The answer? EVERYTHING. I’ve learned a lot since I started and continue to the more I do it. Every book has been better than the last and soon I’m embarking on my first self-published work to come out in October. 

Am I nervous, hell yes. Scared? Yes! But I have to try it. It means I’m entering new territory in my career and I must at least go on my own one time. Well, I’ll be doing it more than that but against one of my fave editors wishes I am going it alone.

Oh the joy and pains of being a published author. Sometimes we writers throw our hands up when the royalty statements come or when the reviews are less than stellar we sulk again but we love it don’t we? We wouldn’t trade it for anything. To see our names up “in lights” sort of speak is what we live for.

Creating a world around characters we ourselves made is just the tip of the iceberg. To me, nothing is more exciting than this process.

Being a published author is what I’ve dreamed of. I couldn’t  be happier. 

Something New on the Menu Series Book Four
Sugar Daddy
Rawiya

Blurb: Matthew Davidson wants a MAN! The setting shifts away from the America’s to Britain where Matthew and his childhood friend, Devon Peartly attend a cooking school to obtain their cooking certificates. The young man wants a partner so badly, he decides he’ll try an online dating service in hopes of finding a black man that can take care of and satisfy him romantically.

He finds that man, Antwon Bantu on an online dating site and is instantly intrigued. Little does Matthew know that Antwon is involved in a “convenient” marriage and is seeking a younger partner so he can finally get on with his life. Instead of confessing the truth, he decides to hide it, fearing he’ll lose the chance with Matthew if he informs him. To complicate things, Antwon’s wife claims to be in love with him. Antwon must choose what’s more important; loving Matthew or saving his impeccable reputation as a top barrister in the London courts?

Which will he choose?

In this scene, Matthew is expecting a called from Antwon and can’t help but be nervous.

After school, Matthew did everything he could think of to keep himself busy until nine pm. He cleaned, did all his homework, cooked dinner, and talked Devon into leaving for the evening even though his good friend wanted to stay and hear the conversation. He couldn’t wait to hear that voice. Just thinking about the rich deep tone made his hardened muscle swell underneath his sweats. “Damn, what time is it?”

Nearly eight thirty; just a half an hour till he’d hear the voice of his potential new man. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t into Caucasians at the moment. Matthew assured himself he’d make Dlovr change his mind very quickly.

Matthew went into his room, trying to relax and get his wits about him. He lay on the bed he’d just made up, holding the phone in his overly busy hands. “Damnit, I’m so nervous.”

It had been awhile since he was this overjoyed about talking to someone new.

He just has to be the one.

All the signs pointed to him being the one he’d been searching for, with the only tiny detail being his preference for black or Latino. Nothin’ against men of the colored variety but I’m quite entertaining.

Gripping his cell tightly, he smiled to himself and stared at the screen. What would Dlover sound like? Matthew hoped he’d have a deep voice like Barry White, along with a slow hand. “Mhph.” A face like Denzel wouldn’t hurt! Although Matthew did say that looks didn’t matter that much, he had to wonder if Dlover was at least an average looking bloke. What if he’s butt ugly but real sweet? Just the thought made Matthew shudder. “We’ll cross that bridge when I see the picture.” He bit his lip and placed the handset face down in his lap. “C’mon nine o’clock.” This waiting period made Matthew even more uncomfortable. One by one, he began biting his nails on one hand while the other fidgeted with his curls. All kinds of what ifs ran through his brain. What if I’m not able to sway him? What if he’s pissed when he sees I’m not the man in the photo? What if he is butt ugly? Matthew shook his head and sighed. This had to be the longest half hour of his life. “Maybe I should call him, maybe…”

Jarred from his deep thoughts, Matthew nearly jumped out his skin when his phone blared the simple ring tone. His palms slightly moist, he wiped them on his trousers. Attempting to relax, he took a deep breath, and pressed the green button. “Hello?”

“Hi there, is this Choco?”

Matthew grinned and drew up his lips. A slight bit of guilt came over him. Choco eyes and hair but not skin. “Yes it is, is this Dlover?”

“It is indeed. How are you?” The smile came through the headset making Matthew’s smile grow wider. Not quite Barry White but still sexy. He licked his lips and propped his cell on his shoulder. “I’m good. My name is Matthew by the way. And yours?”

Silence then the voice came through once more. “Antwon. It’s good to talk to you, Matthew. I have to say I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Yeah me too.” Making himself comfortable on the couch, he shifted and stretched his long legs out over the coffee table. “I have to be honest, I’ve been quite nervous about talking with you all day.”

“Same here. Maybe we could calm each other down. It’s not like we’re meeting one another in person… yet.”

The last part of that statement caused Matthew’s heart to skip a beat. Yeah they weren’t meeting but what would occur when they did?

Hopefully he’ll still like what he sees.

Amazon, Are, Smashwords

Check out the rest of the series here on Amazon

Ann Jacobs: My First Sale to Ellora's Cave

I had been suffering a two-year-long dry spell. Oh wait, it had been three years since my last sale to one of the revered New York publishers--but just two years since the last book had come out. I was tearing my hair out, wondering what I had to do to succeed in the crazy business of publishing!

At the 2002 RWA convention, I was grousing about getting turned every way but loose by editors who kept saying my sex scenes were too explicit for the delicate ears of readers. I'd gone through two agents who had tried and failed to sell my proposals. Now NY Times bestseller Angela Knight told me about Ellora's Cave, then a fledgling epublisher that actually wanted steamy, explicit romance they had dubbed Romantica (TM).

Having heard nightmares about ebooks earning their authors literally not enough to buy lunch at McDonald's, I had trouble believing Angela when she said she was earning more with EC books as with the novellas she'd published in Secrets. Since I, too, had been one of the authors who had an erotic novella published in one of the Secrets anthologies, I knew there was gold out there.

Being even more greedy than I was skeptical, I bundled up a complete novel that had made the rounds in New York with a contemporary erotic novella I had proposed for Secrets, and emailed them to Ellora's Cave. After all the rejections I'd been getting, I didn't have a lot of hope...but within two days an EC editor came back with offers for both projects!

I accepted, not expecting a lot in the form of actual money--no advance but a promise of 35% of the proceeds. After all, it had been all that time since I'd made a sale to one of the big six--and I couldn't quit writing even though the prospects seemed slim.

That was in October 2002. I immediately got into edits for the novella, Commitment--and commissioned to write another one about a magician (long story, for another time) that became Illusions. These two stories were originally published in late November 2002 in a collection entitled Love Magic.

My editor also wanted a Quickie--a short story meant to lead into what would be my first full-length EC novel, Firestorm. Love Slave also was released in late November, a few days after Love Magic--back then releases weren't scheduled a lot in advance or limited to one a month.

In early December I got my first royalty statement--and check. I could hardly believe my eyes. In less than a week those two projects had earned me royalties that were upwards of $500, and my editor actually apologized that the check wasn't bigger.

I was thrilled--sold on epublishing, Ellora's Cave and writing what I'd always loved. I no longer had to water down the sex scenes or write heroes' dialogue and narrative using euphemisms no self-respecting male would utter! I could indulge my dirty mind and write all manner of kink, from anal play to threesomes to improbable off-planet hot stuff with my first effort at futuristic later on--in 2003 (Gates of Hell).

Here I am, ten years later, still misbehaving at EC and loving it, celebrating the release earlier this month of SHOTGUN RELATIONS, book two in a brand-new, sizzling western contemporary series tweaked with BDSM and menage scenes I wouldn't have dared to write back in the day!

See you all again next month! Your comments (if you include your email address) may win you a download of your choice of any of my ebooks. I'll be checking them after Romanticon and picking a winner.

Ann Jacobs
http://annjacobs.net
Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/authrannjacobs

Title? Title? I don't need no stinking title!

How do you choose what title to use on your finished manuscript?  Does it suggest itself to you during the course of your writing/rewriting/editing?  Or do you sit and look at it, trying to think of a pithy selection of just a few words that will encapsulate your book neatly and entice readers to try it?

For most of my published books, the 6 Reyes Romances, and my 2 stand-alone contemporary romances, I chose the titles myself.  But for my 2 romantic suspense novels, I had to turn to my family.  Keep in mind that none of my in-their-early-twenties kids read romance novels except for occasionally checking out one of mine.  So they don't have any idea what the popular titles are any more than my husband, who also reads lots of other books, but only romances written by me.  So when I ask them, they listen to my short explanation of who the main characters are and the story arc, then they fire suggestions at me. 

Since they refer to what I write as "Mom's porn", though I prefer "smut", they often suggest titles that sound much more erotic than what I write!  I write romance novels with a bit of naughtiness.  I've read enough erotic romance and erotica to know that's not what I write! So I reject the titles that sound like a porn movie, lest I disappoint a randy reader.  Then I consider their other choices. 

This worked wonderfully, I thought, when I wrote Secret Love, about a female spy who breaks the rules by falling in love while on active duty.  Then I went onto Amazon, excited to see my new book there, and when I typed in the title in the search line, I found 4 other books by different authors, with the same title!  Surely this was an anomaly, I thought. 

Then I needed a title for my second spy novel, about a retired female spy who is drawn back into the world she thought she had left for good.   2 male spies are assigned to guard her 24/7 from the psycho-killer she thought she had put away forever when her testimony put him in jail. She falls in love with one of them, but they both pursue her.  I kept thinking of titles with the word "spy" in them, but my oldest son suggested Undercover Lovers.   I thought it was an excellent title!  But apparently so did 9 other authors, 8 of whom used the singular lover...but all of their titles pop up when you search Amazon for Undercover Lovers.  Heavy sigh.

That same oldest son just tried to explain to me about how savvy techies are able to game the search engines, and tag their items with zillions of words to ensure that no matter what you are looking for, their products will appear.  I just got off of work and that sounded too complicated for me to grasp!  Oh well...

My next book will be published November 1, and it's about the Mayan prophesy involving the end of the calendar in 2012.  It also has vampires and a 5,000 year old Mayan vampire mummy.  And a conspiracy to dull the intelligence of the human population for nefarious purposes.  I agonized over this title also, and even called it unnamed Mayan romance in my files.  But when I was offered a contract, they needed to have a title to put on it.  My quandary had to end quickly!  I chose  Prophesy of the Undead.  Ah, great!  Nothing pops up with that title on Amazon!  I guess I'm going to have to check there from now on before I choose my titles for my next books. 

How much do you feel a title grabs your attention or causes you to want to read a book?  Or are you more interested in the cover?  I think I've been extremely lucky with the cover artists I've been assigned.  I just wish there was such a thing as a title artist!  Don't you? 

Please visit www.fionamcgier.com and feel free to comment on the creativity (or lack thereof) involving my titles.  Hey, I truly enjoy writing the best books I can...everything else is much harder!

Making a Trailer

Okay. I've had book trailers before. Only thing is, I paid somebody else to do 'em. When my editor asked if I wanted to link one to LOVERS' FEUD, my next (July 18) EC release, I figured it couldn't be terribly hard to put together something using Windows Live Movie Maker.

After all, other authors have managed to make good trailers, and I'm not a complete moron--not quite.  At least I didn't think I was, until I started on this project.

So what did I need? Some royalty-free photos, preferably free ones. I found them after a few hours' diligent searching, only to discover they needed a trip through Photoshop to get them to the correct sizes for the video. Add another hour or so...and some major cropping of a Jimmy Thomas (Romance Novels Covers) shot I bought to use on a self-pubbed short story a while back. You see, Jimmy has dark hair, his female model's a blonde...but Bye and Karen, my hero and heroine, have pretty much the opposite coloring.

Next, I played with putting photos into frames in the software. That went pretty easily until I got to one crucial photo which took up only a fraction of the center of a frame. Oh well. I could live with that. Too bad it had to go into two frames to make the text make sense.

The text was easy, thanks to my wonderful editor who pretty much wrote the blurb that I shamelessly copied onto the trailer. (It wouldn't have been half as easy if I'd had to create the text from scratch, because I suck at writing blurbs and anything else shorter than a scene in a novel, LOL.)

I took a deep breath and saved the trailer. Then I played it, only to discover it was way, way longer than a single-book trailer ought to be, so I went back to the drawing board and cut the length of each frame until the whole thing played in a little over a minute. That was better.

The silence was deafening, though, so I searched out some free music. The piece I found seemed to work with the pictures and the tone of the text, and it fortunately only required a credit for its use.

The trailer was done, ready to hawk LOVERS' FEUD on Facebook, YouTube and hopefully my website. Unfortunately my website requires a different format than the one Windows Live Movie Maker produces, so the trailer is still waiting for me to find a way to convert it to whatever format my Joomla website requires. That's a project for later, after I finish edits for MOUNTAIN HEAT and turn in the next book in the Caden Kink series, SHOTGUN RELATIONS.

What do you think? Should I keep on making trailers or bite the bullet and pay somebody else to do it? Best comment, whether it's a bashing or a compliment, gets a free copy of LOVERS' FEUD on its release date!

Ann Jacobs
http://annjacobs.net
https://www.facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/authrannjacobs

 LOVERS' FEUD, book 1, Caden Kink series, coming July 18 from Ellora's Cave

A Little BDSM Psychology

Some people say BDSM play helps both Doms and subs cope with various traumatic experiences in their pasts. Many believe that submission in BDSM power exchange helps the sub overcome an inferiority complex and social phobias. This is especially true in the first and last books in my popular BDSM western series, HEART OF THE WEST.

To me, one of the most attractive beliefs about the psychology behind BDSM is that the Dominant partner is driven by his/her desire to please his or her partner(s). This is true in most erotic romances with a male Dom, in that he creates settings where the participants can explore the submissives' fantasies. As a matter of fact, it's also true in most cases when the Domme is a woman. I like to think my Dominant characters have exhibited this desire in all of my BDSM romances.

 

It seems to me that the reason so many women readers love the male-dominant BDSM fantasy is that, while the Dominant controls a BDSM relationship on the surface, the actual dynamics of the relationship are controlled by the submissive. The sub sets limits as to what can and can't be explored, and he/she has the power to call a halt to a scene at any time by using a pre-established safe word. There are hard limits--things the sub absolutely will not allow--and soft ones, which may be off limits but may sometimes, in the heat of passion, be permitted. Limits, both hard ones and soft ones, change over time, as the partners become more attuned to one another.

While not many people in the vanilla fantasize over being hurt as a form of sexual play, it is very true that when a person is sexually aroused, all kinds of sexual stimulation can produce pleasure...up to a point, of course. That's why many BDSM practitioners follow "three sacred rules" about their play: it must be safe, sane and consensual. I try hard to make all my stories follow these rules, and to reveal more than just the mechanics of BDSM play when I write scenes that match each character's personality, hangups, and so on.

I just finished writing LOVERS' FEUD the first book in my new western series for Ellora's Cave. Each of the three novels goes more deeply than I've gone before into the characters' motivation to choose BDSM play, either acting out their kinky fantasies as Bye and Karen do in LOVERS' FEUD, living a 24/7 loving Dominant/submissive relationship in SHOTGUN RELATIONS, or learning not everybody who seems vanilla is vanilla in WILD CHILD, which will be book three. 

Check my blog (ann-jacobs.blogspot.com) and Facebook pages in the coming weeks for outtakes and excerpts from these hot, heartwarming novels! I'll be announcing some contests closer to the release of LOVERS' FEUD.

Happy reading!

Ann Jacobs
http://annjacobs.net
https://facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
MOUNTAIN HEAT, a Blush Romance coming soon from Ellora's Cave

Romance Deal Breakers

          What are your romance deal breakers? I’m talking about offenses so horrific you will put a book down without finishing it. Forever. I know, harsh.

            I’m one of those people who grew up reading anything and everything. As a child I would read cereal boxes if my mom wouldn’t let me bring my book to the table. As a tween I trudged through Uncle Tom’s Cabin even though I hated it. I had already read all the classics assigned in high school before I got there. Kids used to meet me in the hall and ask, “Have you read this? What’s it about?” Yes, I was a living Cliff’s Note.

            Since I have become the mother of tweens I no longer can simply muddle through. Some things stop me cold. Have the tweens murdered my tolerance? I don’t know.

            As a young adult I loved a historical romance novel where the husband takes his wife by force. (It wasn’t part of their mutual fetish. That is a different kettle of fish.) I was really young so I will give myself a break. If I had come across the same scene today I would have closed the book and possibly thrown it away or at someone.



           I don’t like infidelity. If the main characters are cheating on each other and it isn’t for their mutual pleasure, I stop reading. Other forms of fiction are different. I can handle a clandestine affair or two if there isn’t necessarily going to be a big HEA.

            Unless the story is a ménage, (I do read and love them.) I don’t want to actually read about the characters having sex with other people. Just mention it as an aside if it is important. Other than that, nope.

            Have I become too picky? Maybe, but everyone has their own set of likes and dislikes. What are your romance deal breakers?

Stormie

http://www.stormiekent.com

http://stormiekent.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/StormieKent

http://www.facebook.com/stormie.kent

Why do we Read?

Hey everyone! I'm Charlene Lokey w/a Charlene Roberts and I'm a new member author here at SSND.

A little bit about myself - I live in Toronto, Canada. My mom's retired and lives with me, I'm currently single (and enjoying it!) And trying my best to find another job in my current admin field, or just tossing it all in and doing something completely different. Freelance writing and editing is looking better and better.

Tell me, what compels us to read?

I know that I like a fantastic story. But why read it, when I could probably find its equivalent in a movie, documentary or TV series? It's hard to explain, but I love the feel of a book in my hands. I like knowing that I can open it at any time. And there's something more complex, more layered in a book. Granted, there are shows out there that do have elements and layers of sophistication, but a book is different.

Why? I don't know.

Not the answer I even suspected! Maybe it's knowing how much work the author put into their story. Or how a story can drag me in and not let go until I read that last word. Or how the story's description is so vivid I want to live there.

I also read because I like to spend a few hours away from the the real world--curled up on the couch, a cup of tea or hot chocolate at hand, my cat at my feet and all electronics turned off. Reading allows us the opportunity to "get away from it all"--a chance to recharge and renew ourselves in comfortable silence.

What do I read, you ask? Besides romance, I love fantasy and sci-fi myself--alternate worlds, different civilizations, the perfection of elves! I'm currently reading Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara from her Chronicles in Elantra series. The description of her alternate world is so detailed, I'm surprised we don't have anything like that now! I'm on book 4 and I think there are 8 books so far in the series which I will get to at some point.

Horror stories are good too, but I tend to frighten myself to the point where I can't get to sleep! :( If a horror book can do that, then it was a darn good read!

As romance authors, what other genres do you enjoy reading? Also, has it broadened your view with regards to your writing?

I look forward to talking to all of you about writing and reading!

She Was A Soldier Too - Our Iraq Veterans Are Coming Home!

She Was A Soldier Too

By Diane Wylie

Author of Secrets and Sacrifices, Jenny’s Passion, Lila’s Vow, Adam’s Treasure,

and Moonlight & Illusions

"I am a soldier too."

You may remember those poignant words spoken by Jessica Lynch of the U.S. Army's 507^th Maintenance Company when her rescuers came to get her from the Iraqi hospital where she was being held prisoner during the early days of the Iraq War.

While women today can openly enlist in the military, women in American history had no such freedom. Some women were allowed to serve as nurses or camp followers, or sometimes they acted as spies. In fact, during the U.S. Civil War, women like Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow became household names due to their daring exploits spying for their chosen armies. Lesser known in our history is the role of a woman as a fighting soldier.

Many people today never realized that nineteenth century women from both sides of the Civil War put aside their wide skirts and bonnets, cut their hair, donned trousers, and passed themselves off as men.

            But, how could a woman sneak into the army in 1861? The answer to that question and many more are explained in Elizabeth D. Leonard’s fascinating book called All the Daring of the Soldier-Women of the Civil War Armies.

            In her book, Leonard claims that "probably somewhere between five hundred and a thousand women, who disguised themselves as men, enlisted as full-fledged soldiers during the Civil War." Ms. Leonard continues to cite well-documented cases, complete with names like Sara Edmonds, Rosetta Wakeman, and Jennie Hodgers, who became Yankees, and Anna Clark and Malinda Blalock, who became Rebels.

There were many reasons women enlisted in both armies, knowing they would be marching off to war. Like the men, some women felt called to service by patriotic duty, some to escape their dreary lives, and some to earn a much-needed paycheck. But, unlike the men, some women enlisted to follow their loved one, unable to bear the idea that he should be gone from her side.

            Whether true story or fictional, the story of a female soldier during the Civil War captures the imagination. The image of the Southern woman of the time has been established for many by the book and movie, Gone With the Wind. The idea that Scarlett O'Hara would have dressed in a man's clothing to march off to war is inconceivable! However, many Southern women did just that. In Secrets and Sacrifices, Charlotte “Charlie” Garrett, follows her husband into the Confederate army and becomes a crack sharpshooter for the Twenty-Fifth Virginia infantry.  

            To understand how women could enlist during the, mid-nineteenth century, military life must be taken into consideration. So great was the need for recruits on both sides, that a physical examination, if performed at all, was very perfunctory. Sometimes the exam was nothing more than demonstrating the presence of a trigger finger or opening one's mouth to show teeth strong enough to tear open a powder cartridge.

            When a female enlisted, some may wonder, wouldn't she be noticed right off, short hair or not? Certainly, women were generally smaller in stature, had more highly pitched voices, and were quite beardless. But, there were so many young men and boys signing up, some as young as fifteen, that one more smooth-skinned, small boy would not attract undue notice. Because of the way people dressed during that time period, the mentality of the day was, "if it wore pants, it was male."

            If this lady could make it past the enlistment process, what about the physical demands on a soldier? Since army recruits of the time came from all walks of life, a male clerk struggling to handle his gear would draw no more attention than the young "boy" doing the same. Like the male recruits, these women learned to carry forty to fifty pounds of gear—gun, bayonet, scabbard, ammunition, blanket, canteen, cooking implements, rations, clothing, etc. One can only imagine how many troops had sore muscles, male or female.

            Then there was the question about personal hygiene and bodily needs. Camp life for both Confederate and Union troops was not terribly restrictive, thus enabling a woman to take care of her needs by just walking off into the trees and brush, away from prying eyes as Charlotte had to do.

In addition, the uniforms of the day were loose fitting to accommodate many different body types…and she, like all other soldiers, would normally only receive one. Therefore, soldiers of the time rarely changed their clothing. While smelly, another problem for the lady soldier was solved.

            Then there was the strictly feminine issue of a young woman's monthly cycle. In her book, Leonard puts forth the argument that many women soldiers probably became lean and athletic from the long arduous marches and simply stopped menstruating. Or she might have managed to dispose of the evidence of her menstrual periods by burying it or sneaking it in with the similar-looking cloth from the hospital tents.

            With all of these ways to escape detection, did the women get caught? Some female soldiers were discovered . The most obvious end to some military careers came when the woman was wounded during battle. In some cases, however, a female soldier gave herself away by an inadvertent act such as her "unmasculine manner of putting on her shoes and stockings." Charlotte, of Secrets and Sacrifices, had to learn to spit and burp as the men around her to try and blend in. One woman gave herself away by displaying proper table manners! Nevertheless, some female soldiers wanted so badly to remain in the army that, upon being put out of one regiment, she would simply assume a new name and reenlist in another.

But some women were never detected. One lady, who called herself, "Otto Schaffer," survived the war and lived out the rest of her life as a man. She spent most of her days living as a hermit. The Chicago Times-Herald published the story of "Schaffer," the war veteran's death when a bolt of lightning destroyed "his" cabin. It was the coroner who discovered the old soldier's secret, and "his" identity as a woman was revealed at last.

One cannot help but admire the gumption of these women who, like Charlotte, simply wanted to be with her husband, and the others, who chose to fight for what they believed in, like Jessica Lynch. The brave ladies of the Civil War, and those who continue to fight today, deserve to be remembered and recognized for their sacrifices.

           

Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier-Women of the Civil War Armies, New York, NY, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1999.

Wylie, Diane. Secret and Sacrifices. Ladsen, SC: Vintage Romance Publishing, 2006.

Author Diane Wylie at the Baltimore Book Festival

Every year the Maryland Romance Writers take part in the annual book festival here in Baltimore. It is a great event with lots of authors, panels, speakers, and vendors. I hope you will come and join me (the picture above is me at a previous BBF) and hundreds of other authors and booksellers at the

Baltimore Book Festival

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Address:

MOUNT VERNON PLACE
600 BLOCK NORTH CHARLES STREET
BALTIMORE, MD 21201


Website:
http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/

Admission is FREE! Prizes and basket giveaways are available!

Diane will be taking part in these 3 events:

12 pm - Readings & Raffles: Janet Mullany, Diane Wylie, Juliet Martini, and Teresa Hearl (readings and basket giveaways)

3 pm - Making the Most of Publishing with Small Presses & E-Pubs (panel)

5 pm - How Did Monsters Become Good Guys (panel)

The Next BIG Thing

Everyone is looking for the NEXT BIG THING. If you’ve seen the promotional ads for the new TV show looking for the next big idea in a new restaurant, “America's Next Great Resaurant”, you know what I mean. Who doesn’t want to invent the next pet rock or Rubik’s cube and make millions? You know you wish you were the one to do it. Well, authors are just as guilty. I know I am. We want to be the one to write the next Da Vinci Code, Twilight, or Harry Potter stories. It can be the source of great angst, especially among authors like me who are published with small independent publishers. We want our special stories to be read far and wide. We want people to love them and make them into a movie. We want them to be translated into foreign languages so people overseas will love them too. Is this a crazy pipedream or what?


I’m starting to think it is crazy simply because nobody really knows exactly what the public will respond to. If they did know, those people would already be bizillionaires over and over again. It’s like my husband’s graphic design business...he gets people who want something done like a sign or a logo, but they don’t really know what they want until they see it.

Voila! An epiphany! That’s the problem with writing the next big blockbuster. Nobody knows what they want until they see it.

So we soldier on, toying with different ideas, running them past friends and family to see what they think, and expanding the plot until we finally have a book. We think it is the next best thing since sliced bread and so do our friends!

Next comes the reality check…actually submitting the book to agents and editors. Now you’ve gone and done it! You’ve opened the flood gates and opinions start rolling in from the outside world—the publishing world where even J.K. Rawlings had rejections. Oh, yes. The rejections come. Most of them are vague, like “not for me” or “not what I’m looking for at this time”. But once in a while you can get a rejection that gives an author something to go on. I got one rejection for my latest manuscript where the editor told me that the conflict between the hero and heroine wasn’t strong enough. Now we are getting somewhere! I can make them fight with each other more. Sure, I can do that! But with the glut of authors vying for publishing spots, we often don’t get a second chance to fix the story and resubmit to the same editor. They’ve moved on to the next story, which the editor is hoping will be the next big thing.

So we learn from our mistakes, shore up our broken egos, try our best to fix what is perceived to be wrong, and submit the story to someone else.

And so it goes…

~Diane

P.S. My manuscript was accepted by Vinspire Publishing. Look for MOONLIGHT AND ILLUSIONS to come out soon. Yippee! Celebrate for a few days and then…

Hmmm…I wonder what the next big blockbuster story idea might be?

If you are interested in seeing what I come up with, you can sign up for my newsletter at http://www.dianewylie.com.

SEX-Why is it so controversial?

I have asked myself this many times and still I have no answer. As a human being, there are biological imperatives we are born with, connected with having physical bodies. We have to eat and drink or we will die...that leads to having to eliminate. We also have an inborn drive to procreate, which reaches a fever pitch at some point in our lives...in men when they are awash in hormones and hard 24/7, and in women when their biological clock demands that they try to get pregnant. Some are born with a low sex drive and can take it or leave it, some are born with the kind of sex drive that doesn't allow them to ignore it. Not a choice...a condition of biology.
What I totally don't understand is why we are not supposed to talk about sex. Or write about sex. When in reality, trying to suppress people from talking about, reading about, watching other people, and having sex, just results in twisting what should be a normal biological drive that is easily satisfied, into a travesty that little resembles what it should be.
When you feel urges you can satisfy yourself...unless you are taught it is forbidden, in which case you will try to ignore those impulses until that is all you can think about.
When you are attracted to someone you can choose to have sex or not to have sex. If you are a man, you are thought of as a stud if you do have sex with many women. If you are a woman, you are called nasty, insulting names if you have sex with many men.
SIGH.
Why is sex so different from other appetites? We not only eat and drink openly, we celebrate it by going out to restaurants to do so. No one thinks of that as odd or prohibited. So why is sex considered so "nasty"? For women, that is, not for men.
I blame religion and the tendency of people to want to tell others how to live. Religious people don't want anyone to enjoy their bodies because they figure that's not the important part of you, though I have never understood how doing things to make your body feel good impacts your immortal soul. And personally, I have no interest in learning what anyone else does in their bedroom or any other room of their house for that matter. So keep your nose out of my sex life, I'll ignore yours, and we will all be the happier.
As for why I write graphic sex scenes, I do so because I'm telling the story of two people who fall in love, and to me having sex is a natural, normal part of falling in love. Everyone in the world will/has fallen in love at some point in their life. Or in lust. That is universal. So why does it make some people so uncomfortable to realize that? Why is it that the people who are most interested in poking their noses into the prurient details of other people's sex lives, and in trying to be sure that no one enjoys it, at least not in the way they feel to be wrong, are the ones who are shocked at the idea of reading about it?
Hypocrisy much?
I guess I'm just confused as to the whole shame thing that is supposed to accompany writing erotic romance, or romance of any kind. If I wrote books that involved cutting to surf waves washing on the beach after the hero and heroine kiss, would that be alright? Boring, yes, but acceptable? If that's what you enjoy reading, there are books written for you. But I got bored with euphemisms and suggested activities that are never shown, back when I was in high school...and that was a long time ago!
I don't write porn or one-handed reads, unless some scenes in my books inspire you in that direction, in which case, I'm flattered and you're welcome. I write stories about real people who have dreams and aspirations, and lives of their own. When they fall in love it will involve sex. Not ONLY sex, but it will be there. If you don't like to read graphic scenes, don't read my books. But if you do, I hope you enjoy mine as much as I enjoy writing them!

Fiona's website is: www.fionamcgier.com, where in honor of St. Paddy's day, her first page blog this month involves what she learned from her Dad about the religious strife in Ireland.

Prescription For Love, the 6th book in her Reyes Family Romances series, is available as a free download at: http://smashwords.com/b/18367
Blurb: Enrique Reyes was named after his grandfather, and together they visited his hometown in Mexico, where Enrique is now happy being the doctor. The only thing he is missing is a wife. When Tanora Doyle, a bi-racial research biologist arrives in town, he is intrigued. But will the baggage she carries keep them apart? Or can Enrique cure whatever ails her, and solve his problem as well?

And coming April 1st from Whiskey Creek Press/Torrid will be her latest stand-alone novel:
The Reluctant Bride

Veterinarian Pamela Wilson always used to run away from home to get attention from her status-conscious, preoccupied parents. Years ago she met a man who loved her unreservedly, but her parents didn't approve of his blue-collar job, so she ran away from him too. When the ambitious lawyer she's marrying answers a phone call while she's walking down the aisle, it's the last straw! She runs away again, this time to a cabin her parents don't know about, owned by the mechanic. Does he still own it and is he still single? Will she finally stop running away and make the right decision for her future?