Thanks so much to Tanya and the Chicas for having me. And a shout out to Theresa Monsey, matchmaker supreme. It’s cool to see so many Samhain authors here. My CP, Liz Kreger, is a Samhain writer, and her books are awesome.

At the American Title V contest, this round (the fourth out of five) is about dialogue. But I think more important than what we say is what we don’t say. It’s our characters’ body language.

According to psychologist and workshop teacher Margie Lawson, ninety-three percent of communication is nonverbal. In my dialogue, I use a lot of voice cues and body language. I work hard on getting emotion into my books, and often words alone don’t do the trick. They can’t do the trick. We lie with our words and reveal with our bodies.

I enjoy writing passages where the body language denies the dialogue. It adds depth to a scene. Here’s one I just made up:

“I’d love to go to your place.” Shanna smiled at Richard, but her gaze traveled to Zach, who was talking to Rachel, his eyes eating her up like she was his favorite triple-cheese-with-sausage pizza. Clenching her teeth and blinking her stinging eyes, Shanna followed Richard out of the nightclub and into the night as cold as her heart.

Last December, I bought THE DEFINITIVE BOOK OF BODY LANGUAGE by Allan and Barbara Pease. It’s packed with great information to use in a book. My characters smile, grimace and frown –simple gestures. But there’s much more I can use to convey emotion. A woman smoothing a dress over her thighs to show her self-consciousness. A mouth-covering gesture to hide a lie. A character holding his hands palm out to show he isn’t hiding anything and can be trusted. (A favorite for politicians.)

The book also covers signals that the sexes use when we’re attracted to someone. When men see someone they want to impress, they smooth collars, brush imaginary dust off shirts, rearrange clothing. Don’t let this preening fool you. It’s all about the crotch. According to the authors, the most direct sexual display is the Thumbs-in-Belt gesture that highlights the crotch. That’s when men are standing. When they’re sitting or leaning against a wall, they spread their legs to show their crotch. They’re saying: “Look what I got, honey. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

They probably don’t realize baboons do the same thing. The authors say this about baboons: “By spreading their legs to give others a full view of the size of their wedding tackle and giving it the occasional adjustment from time to time, they can constantly assert and reassert their dominant status.”

Sound like someone you know?        :shock:

Slightly craftier than baboons, some men dangle a large bunch of keys or the long end of a belt in front of their crotch. It gives them a reason to reach down for adjustments. Other times they won’t bother with symbols, they’ll just reach down and adjust their package. The authors say: “The implication is that his genitalia are so large and cumbersome that they need constant attention to prevent the cutoff of blood circulation.”

Sure, we fall for that, don’t we? We must. The population keeps growing and men keep grabbing their crotches.

I don’t think I’ve used a crotch grab in a book. Nor have any of my heroes spread his legs – while dressed. Or had keys dangling from belts. But my heroines notice the hero’s equipment. We hear a lot about tight buns, but in the end it’s not what’s in the back that counts, it’s what’s up front.

In my American Title V dialogue excerpt on RT’s website, my heroine deliberately checks out the hero’s crotch. It’s not an invitation, it’s a dare. When you read this, the excerpts will be up, but I’m writing this on the previous Friday. You can’t believe how nervous I am about what the judges might say about my risqué dialogue. I hope you’ll check out the excerpts and make your own decision about DEAD PEOPLE.

And vote!

When you write dialogue, do you have long back-and-forth stretches of dialogue? Or like me, do you usually add vocal cues and body language?

–Edie Ramer

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NOTE FROM TANYA:  You can visit Edie at her website, Love Conquors, and Magical Musings.  Also remember to check out the current round of the American Title V Contest (Best Dialogue Scene) beginning February 16 and running through March 1.  To vote for Edie send an e-mail to votes@romantictimes.com and put DEAD PEOPLE in the subject line.