Be sure to stop by this coming Wednesday to chat with Kensington Brava author Sharon Cullars! I first met Sharon online while blog hopping, and once I bought her paranormal romance The Object of Love, I was hooked. Again was just as fabulous!

Here’s Sharon’s bio:

I’m a Chicagoan bred and born, a woman in a midlife flux who has always loved reading. Now a new writer, I’m still learning the ins and outs of the business. Before writing AGAIN (Kensington/Brava, May 2006), I self-published a paranormal mystery in 2002 entitled CELIA. Although a dismal marketing failure, CELIA was a jumping off point and a learning experience for me. Since then, I have published a few online short stories and also have had a story included in MASQUES V, an anthology of horror fiction that includes works by Ray Bradbury, Gary Braunbeck, Poppy Z. Brite and Richard Christian Matheson among others.

In addition to AGAIN, I have another novel and novella coming out with Brava and consider myself fortunate for the opportunity. Although I like writing romance, I am writing a couple of books on spec, including a historical mystery and a horror story. My reading life includes all genres, which has influenced my writing style. Hopefully my readers will enjoy.

Check out Sharon’s sizzling bookcovers:

You know how they are.  Stubborn, single-minded, and ready to bunny-bump at the drop of a hat.  No matter what you think, how you feel about it, or what your personal plans might be.

They’re your hero and heroine.  And they want to have sex.
NOW.

If you let them go at it every 2-3 pages, you’ve probably got porn.  Plotless porn.
If you keep them too far apart indefinitely, you’ve got a frustrated reader and a dent in your wall.

So, if your lovers are right on the verge of the big sex scene, and you’re all for creating sexual tension but not quite ready to have “it” happen, here are a few suggestions for creating that metaphorical cold shower.

1) An impromptu argument or misunderstanding.  A good hot-blooded fight, written well, can be nearly as arousing as sex.  And a lot less complicated.

2) Your lovers are interrupted by someone walking in—usually an ex, authority figure, or seven year old child who still isn’t potty trained.

3)Inconvenient circumstances, place, or lack of latex party hats.

4) Interruption by some imminent threat or danger, like the C-4 explosive rigged to the headboard.

5) Fear of sex—somebody is impotent, premature, frigid, too aggressive, or too large to fit (which we’ve all experienced in everyday life…uh-huh…).

6) Inclination to maintain the status quo—don’t want to lose friendship, distrupt life or business, or deviate from the plan to save the family homestead.

7) Memories of past guilt or failure.  She’s an ex-nun dominatrix, this is his first experience since his sex-change operation, they remember they’re first cousins, etc.

8) The hero suddenly acquires a bad case of being honorable, just as he has the heroine buck-naked, hyperventilating, and ready to climax with the slightest warm breeze.

9) They both breathlessly agree that there isn’t time at that moment to do it RIGHT.  And after all, a quicky isn’t really what they want from each other.

10) Consummation might mean enraging their gods, producing a demonic offspring, or keeping the current ruling political dynasty in power.

The following is an excerpt from a rejection letter I got a couple years ago on the first couple chapters of a new opus, and what follows that is … well, you’ll have to read it to believe it:

(more…)

I stink at talking about my books. They are 1.) romances 2.) fantasies 3.) have shape shifter alpha male heroes uh….okay, that’s all I have. So, when I saw the announcement that I would be talking about Wild Hunt, my initial reaction was “Crap, what am I going to say?”

I really was hoping to blog about either something Southern fried—being from the Ozarks I totally get beauty of anything Southern fried, or chica—which is half of one of my favorite endearments for my daughter. (The other half being bonita.)

But then it hit me…I won’t blog about the book, how I wrote it, blah, blah. I’ll blog about the beings in it and which you and I would most want to be.

So, here are the choices…

1.) Hellhound – hellhounds are shape shifters (human to massive dog with a hellish addiction to blood lust). The males are very alpha. No female hellhounds appear in Wild Hunt, but I have a Bite coming out this fall that features one. The females are survivors.

2.) Valkyries – The heroine of Wild Hunt is a Valkyrie. In my world, Valkyries pretty much stay in Valhalla

these days, and they don’t necessarily love it. They have gone from the days of glory as warriors to just serving the spirits of fallen warriors. But they do come with some cool gear—flying horses and feathered capes that also give them the ability to fly. They also are perfectly capable of kicking butt.

3.) Norn – Norn are the fates of Norse Myth. In my world, they can read rune stones and cards. They can also speak to animals if they are in contact with some part of the animal. This talent comes in handy for my one Norn character in Wild Hunt when she and a hellhound both want the same thing… They also deliver a child’s fate to him/her at birth.

4.) Witches – You probably can figure this one out for yourself. One thing that is somewhat unique about my witches is they can store power. So when magical things happen around them, like a hellhound shifting from canine to human, they soak up the power to use later. Then they get to blow things to bits—always fun.

5.) The ErlKing – The ErlKing runs the Wild Hunt—a hunt where a pack of hellhounds in spectral hound form hunt down beings and steal their souls. There is only one ErlKing at any given time. I don’t go into his history a lot in the book, but the way I see him is a bit like Tim Allen in the Santa Clause…except major scary and wearing a helmet made from a boar’s head. In my mind the ErlKing was at one time a normal man, elf, whatever, then he somehow got hold of the horn and called up the hunt. That act made him into the ErlKing. He lost his soul to the hunt. Now he is the hunt, and he has some major powers, not the least being the ability to control a pack of hellhounds with the curl of his pinky.

And that is it, no humans, elves, trolls or giants in this book.

So, which one would you want to be? Which do you think would be most useful in modern life? I’m leaning toward Norn because I just think it would be cool, and because I think of them as being kind of catlike. But there are certainly days that shifting into a hellhound would be darn useful…

You can read an excerpt here, visit Lori Here or buy her book here!

Good news Tuesday . . . I sold another book to Samhain. It’s a contemporary western–ish. More details to follow.

It’s been one of those weekends. The DH has been working at the Basketball play-offs. Left over two-weeks ago–and will be home after the series is over–whenever that happens. The A/C went out Friday night (and it was 101 ° here yesterday) SHEESH! So selling the book is wonderful news.

I know summer time is slow for most folks. Getting writing done is becoming more tricky–BUT I had my notebook in my big green handbag, that everyone thinks is ugly, and wrote after me and two of the kiddos got out of a movie (Kung Fu Panda) waiting for the other two to get out of theirs (Zohan). It was kinda fun to write in a place you might not think of writing, seemed less inhibited since all I could do was wait for 1 and 2. Hmm . . . . have to see where we end up next and make sure I have my notebook!

Anyhoo . . . . Anyone else have some good news to share?!?!?!

Please join us on Wednesday when the lovely and talented Lori Devoti joins us to talk about her new book WILD HUNT!

Alongside his hellhound brethren, Venge Leidolf was summoned to start the Wild Hunt anew. But in this dreaded pursuit of souls, Venge sought to free himself from his infernal bondage—by claiming the heart of a fierce Valkyrie.…

Geysa never questioned the alluring gifts that set her apart from the other Valkyries, or her hatred of hellhounds—until Venge fell under her spell. Drawing the alpha hellhound so close made Geysa doubt her every instinct. To stop the Hunt, the two blood-born enemies would need to cast aside old vows and allegiances. Only then could no one question the strength of their union….

Lori Devoti grew up in southern Missouri and attended college at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she earned a Bachelor of Journalism. She, however, made it clear to anyone who asked, she was not a writer; she worked for the dark side—advertising. Now twenty years later, she’s proud to declare herself a writer and visit her dark side occasionally by writing dark paranormal romances and urban fantasy novels with a little death and a lot of adventure.Lori lives in Wisconsin with her husband, daughter, son, an extremely patient shepherd mix, and the world’s pushiest Siberian husky.

You can read an excerpt here!

I’ll be the first to admit…I love, love, LOVE a really good villain.  And as writers, I think we all know the importance of them in the story.

But if you really want to make him intriguing to your reader, you might consider giving him a pet.

Maybe a kitten.  Or a puppy, teddy bear, love of nature, or make him a tormented author—anything that might humanize him a bit will not only make him more appealing to your audience, but more memorable and believable (at least, as far as you wish him to be).

Hannibal Lector may have been a psychopathic killer, but he was a very soft-spoken gentleman with a taste for fine wines.

Barnabas Collins?  One of the first sympathetic vampires.  Why?  He not only despised himself for what he was, but carried a torch for the love of his life for several…er, centuries.

The Frankenstein monster.  Poor fella didn’t ask to be put together out of spare parts.  One of the most horrendous scenes in the film is when he accidentally drowns a little girl.  What makes him sympathetic is that a few minutes earler he’d been sharing flower blossoms with her.  He not only can’t help what he is, but hasn’t the wisdom, experience, or power to change.

Monsters like Ted Bundy are another story.  A complete sociopath, incapable of remorse, he felt perfectly justified in everything he did because he believed what he wanted was all that mattered.  And although fascinating in his own way, he isn’t someone I’d like to carry with me for long after the book is finished (unless it’s a particular kind of horror story, of course).

If you can give your villain as much character and extra dimension as possible (without having him take over), your readers will probably thank you for it.
And eagerly look forward to the next one.  I know I do.

Any more ideas on making your villains…well, appealing?

Your novel has just been bought by your dream publisher. Then another miracle happens…

Your editor has given you final approval on your cover. The art department is waiting for your instructions. You know your story. The themes. The characters. The conflicts. Describe your ideal book cover. What’s it look like? Maybe it’s a depiction of the most compelling scene in your story. Or perhaps it’s a meadow filled with wildflowers. A dark alley. A box filled with jewels. A cartoon cover. What are the colors? If your hero, heroine or both are on the cover, what are they doing?

I’m rebelling.

Us less-confident types expend a lot of energy on positive affirmations, calming pep-talks and, occasionally, a lot of money on our alcoholic beverage of choice (mine’s white wine, but I’m always happy to make friends with a champagne cocktail or a margarita). We aspire to be positive, well-groomed, well-balanced individuals who have conquered their self-defeating behaviours and spring, light-footed, through a world of flowers and dreams in full bloom.

Reality falls somewhat short of that aspiration.

Instead, we feel more like we’re hanging on to our sanity with our ragged , unpainted fingernails, as we stagger, creased and unwaxed, from one near-crisis to another. Flowers in bloom? HA! The cat’s been sick on the carpet again…

All that energy spent on trying not to say, “Gad, I suck!”

I am reclaiming that energy. I am embracing my suckage! My suckness is an integral part of the person I am, and an irrefutable part of my mental processes!

I had my first book published this week. No amount of snide self-doubt or first-timer ignorance can take away from how truly, wonderfully, f a n t a s t i c that feels. Seven years of hard work in the face of occasionally overwhelming odds, and I can hold my book in my hand and know that somewhere out there, it’s being taken down from shelves and bought and read.

And you know what? That book doesn’t suck. It really doesn’t – reviews, editors, readers are telling me so (one particular reviewer begs to differ, but – heh - what do they know? *wink* ).

But it did suck. Oh yes. And the process it went through as a result of that – it’s Stages of Suck – brought it to publication in the form it’s in now.

If my first draft hadn’t sucked, I wouldn’t have rewritten it. If that rewrite hadn’t unbalanced the ending, I wouldn’t have changed that. And if that change hadn’t made the middle less-than-its-best, I wouldn’t have reworked that, either.

Its suckness has made it what it is.

Rather like me, in fact.

You see, I quite like me. I don’t say that in a, “I am fabulous, dahlink,” sense (please note the creased, unwaxed, barely-sane notes above, which are 100% accurate), but in a, “I find me quite a nice person to spend time with,” sense. And harassed and un-manicured as I am, I retain enough sense to know my suckage is an integral part of the me I quite like.

It’s quite a revelation.

And like all good revelations, it has to be shared. So, my fellow suck-sisters, throw off the shackles of the hated positive affirmation oppression, and embrace your suckage.

To paraphrase the sainted Yoda, “Use the Suck, Luke.”

So, tell me, what was your latest, “I suck,” moment, and how can you embrace it? C’mon now… be brave….

Anna Louise Lucia’s first novel, Run Among Thorns , a romantic suspense published by Medallion Press, is out now!

In a crisis moment of her life, Jenny Waring did something exceptional.

She killed three armed men.

“Excellent… an all-round compelling escape.” 4 ½ stars, Romantic Times

I love TV. . . I mean I really LOVE TV. From the moment I could watch TV, I have been addicted to it. As a child, there weren’t near the choices my kids have now (we were just discussing this over the weekend–no Disney Channel, no Nick). You only got to see cartoons on Saturday or the occasional Disney movie on Sunday nights. During the week the only kids programming was PBS–and I sat there for all three or fours hours it was offered, from Sesame Street, Electric Co., 3, 2, 1 Contact to the Spanish show that came on at the end–I watched it every day–didn’t understand a word of the Spanish show, but I was ever faithful!

Eventually, I graduated to Black and White 60’s reruns. I could tell you about any and every episode of Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy or Beverly Hillbillies. And let me tell you how devistated I was to learn Ernie from My Three sons was not only way older than me, but way, WAY older–and bald. 

My watching habits have changed–and increased. I love have soooo many channels now. Some Saturdays, I will veg in my room and hoard the TV. 

The other night, I was watching a cheesy movie at 1 A.M. and kept thinking, “This is a great story line.” Yes, it was cheesy, but some was because it WAS 1 am and my mind was a tad on the mooshy side and some was there were ways they could have gone to give it a little extra . . . edge. My mind warped ahead how it would make a good book and how to twist it to make it more interesting. I always try to come up with the “internal thought” running through their head. Something a TV watcher is without that a reader benefits from. (but at the same time a TV watcher get the mood music so it’s a trade off)

I realized I actually do that with a lot of my TV watching now. Everything is food for the grist! It doesn’t matter if it is a topic on The View or a CSI episode, anything can be worked into a story. So really, my watching TV now is . . . RESEARCH!

My kids . . . yeah, they proabbly watch too much TV, but I have one or two budding writers, so really, I am just helping them in their training–That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

(Don’t even get me started about actors who say, “Oh, I don’t really watch TV.” WTF!

 . . . Whatevah)