Hello to the Willamette Writers who came to my workshop.

On Saturday, August 4th, we all met in Portland and shared an amazing forty-five minutes together. I am so bummed we ran out of time.

As promised, here are my notes from the craft section of From Arousal to Zipper. Let's begin!

Now, how do we take your observations, your ideas, and your passion and put it into clear, gorgeous language?  Through craft.  In fact, I would say that craft matters the most in a sensual scene because the stakes are so high. Everything is heightened when arousal is on the line.

III.            Craft, craft, craft. Sexy writing doesn’t mean lazy writing. You still have to pay attention.

a.      Spelling, punctuation, verb tense.  This part kind of goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway. Like an accidental knee to a tender part, messing up here can really spoil the mood. Just saying.

b.     Point of View (POV)

                                                    i.     Quick recap: First person (I), Second Person (You), Third Person (He/She/They)/ Omniscient and Limited. The POV character is the one whose eyes the audience sees through. Make this person the one with the most to lose.

Valerie pinched the bridge of her nose. “You shouldn’t trust me.”

“I do lots of things I shouldn’t, darling. Do not fear.” He held up the forgotten bag of croissants. “If you put out, I’ll give you your sugar.”

Valerie snorted laughter against her sleeve. Clever man. 

“We can try, at least,” John continued. “Do you feel nothing for me?” 

She knew herself to be brave. What price would this choice demand? Did she have the courage to embrace everything this love had to offer as well?

She sucked in air, giving herself a rush from the oxygen.

Screw fear.

“I feel much for you,” Valerie answered and held out her hand.

                                                  ii.     Head hopping Going from one person’s POV to another back and forth can be really confusing. Don’t use it to avoid going into a character’s heart. Try to do it as little as possible. Use an extra return to mark different POVs.

                                                iii.     Using POV: The POV leads to how you use dialogue and monologue. Characters are rarely silent. What do their inner and outer conversations reveal during sex? Love scenes are about being cut open and vulnerable emotionally. The through line of confession emotions pushes and draws the plot along. This is how you integrate the emotions into sex.

c.      Emotions: Emotions lead to the body language and blocking. Action will logically follow how they feel. If she is feeling shy, she will look away and blush. If he is uncertain, he will rub the back of his neck. The blocking carries you to who will take the lead and what the subtext is to the scene.

                                                    i.      Feelings are more important than the action. When you write, ask the important questions: Did he make her feel good? Does she like him? Why did he lick his partner – because he wanted to? Or because of some internal quid pro quo?

                                                  ii.     Emotions lead to body language. Excite your readers’ emotions with details on how someone loosens their tie, licks their lips, or how they draw attention to their bodies. This is really makes your writing pop. For example: Bryan was turned on. Versus: Bryan’s cock pressed against his trousers. Desperate for relief, he faced the wall and shoved his hand under his waistband.

Extra note: Check out The Emotion Thesaurus by Ackerman and Puglisi 

                                                iii.     Double check your blocking. Use a pillow or a big stuffed animal and act it out to get all the limbs, tentacles, or fins in place. Make sure your positions are compatible with your characters’ physiology.

d.     Embody the sensations as much as possible – tight lungs, heat between the legs. WHERE do you feel arousal, where do your characters feel arousal? Ignore sexual stereotypes of “Men” and “Women” and figure out this individual character.

e.      Language: Also, the emotions will lead to variation in your writing – not just sexual variations like in a chair or on a horse (!) – but how long your sentences will be and how the language gets used (will he start off prim and then get more raunchy?). You have to know your characters and what language they would use for intimacy. Some people are demure. Would they use penis or thingy? Some people are blunter. Would your character be very clinical and use words like pudenda or phallus? Are they dirty and nasty to say cock and cunt? Perhaps they are more playful, like va-jay-jay and peen. Think about your character’s age, where they were raised, their family, the geography of their life. What brings them to this point in time where they want to have sex with the other characters?  For example, Julia Child, a chef, said, on taking something from the oven, “That’s as hot as a hard cock!”

f.      Geography. What happens at a rubber event in London is going to be very different than a young, inexperienced couple in rural Iran.

g.     Read it out loud.

h.     “Chekov’s Underpants”. "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."  Anton Chekov stated the importance of not wasting your time on inessentials. If you mention the color or state of someone’s underpants in one section, you’d better be sure to mention them coming off. If one character admires another’s lips, those lips better show up somewhere doing something hot.

I really hope this helps. If you have any questions, please leave a message or email me at LindaMercuryRomance @ gmail.com (no spaces, natch).

The most important books for writing romance.

My favorite titles.

I wanted to talk about my favorite books on writing. Every author has her go-to's for inspiration and help, and here are mine.

How can one live without Joanna Russ's How to Suppress Women's Writing?

People love to denigrate our genre. This book gives an insightful and quirky look at how much and how little attitudes towards women's words have changed. It taught me just what kinds of horrible internalized sexism colored what I wrote, how I viewed other women, and worst of all, what I did to myself.

Find it here: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/rushow



Making a Literary Life by Elizabeth See.
A far greater writer than I'll ever be says this:

If everyone who wants to be a writer would read this book there would be many more good writers, many more happy writers, and editors would be so overwhelmed by sweetness they would accept many more good books. So what are you waiting for? Read it! Ursula K. Le Guin

Find it here: http://www.carolynsee.com/Books/literarylife.html



Write Away by Elizabeth George.
From Publisher's Weekly:

Here's a useful book for the novice writer battling the fears and insecurities that attend when she contemplates her first novel....George illustrates her points with passages from both her ownworks and those of numerous writers she admires (Martin Cruz Smith,Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris), this remains more of a how-I-do-it book than a how-to-do-it book. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unlike PW, I'll say that this book is good even for experienced writers. I love her examples - they illustrate her points brilliantly.

Find it here:http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/books/write_away.htm

The most important romance specific book on my shelf is Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women by Jayne Ann Krentz.

"In Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, Jayne Ann Krentz and the contributors to this volume—all best-selling romance writers—explode myths and biases that haunt both the writers and readers of romances.

In this seamless, ultimately fascinating, and controversial book, the authors dispute some of the notions that plague their profession, including the time-worn theory that the romance genre contains only one single, monolithic story, which is cranked out over and over again. The authors discuss positive life-affirming values inherent in all romances: the celebration of female power, courage, intelligence, and gentleness; the inversion of the power structure of a patriarchal society; and the integration of male and female. Several of the essays also discuss the issue of reader identification with the characters, a relationship that is far more complex than most critics realize."

Find it here: http://jayneannkrentz.com/dangerous-men-and-adventurous-women/

I feel that the most important book on my shelf remains Against Our Will by Susan Brownmiller. I'm not going to kid you - this is a painful and devastating book, whether you have been a victim of sexual assault or not. But it endlessly reminds me of what I feel is the great gift that romance gives every reader: That her pleasure is central to life, that her consent should never dismissed or belittled, and that each of us deserves to be heard.

Find it here: http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/susanbrownmiller/html/against_our_will.html

Creating a Writing Life

Owner Maggie and her daughter, Jordan

The coffee shop/tea shop is a cliche for a reason. Writers go there not just for their caffeine fix, but for the warmth and the chance to be around other people working.

Like the also-popular library, a comfortable coffee shop is an essential place for your literary life. The synergy all those laptops and people reading is a shot in the arm for your own work.

So let's explore some wonderful places to write and refresh yourself. Especially The ClockWork Rose Tea Emporium. 

If this doesn't make you want to write a story of derring-do, nothing will.

C. Morgan Kennedy and I

My friend C. Morgan Kennedy, a steampunk fan, discovered this gorgeous place. The owners, Maggie and Harold, have lavished love, attention, and thoughtfulness all over their gorgeous space. All the little details in the tea shop inspire and encourage a writer (ok, *this* writer) to take care with all the small details that make a scene sing.

Look at those gears!

How can your writing not soar under pretty balloons?

Something about warm beverages and delicious, carefully made treats (seriously, try the scones) keeps people (ok, *this* person), alert and refreshed even during the most difficult writing tasks.

Seriously. Everything is delicious.

Harold, Maggie's Husband made nearly all their steampunk decor.

The awesome, tempting shop.

If you have to write, scout out a local coffee house or tea shop. Find a place with comfortable chairs, delicious baked goods, and excellent beverages. I promise, it will always lift you up and renew your enthusiasm for your projects.

Welcome back!

Me, confused and irritated.

Hello, again! I've taken the last few months for a complete re-working of my blog direction. Since I started this blog in 2009 (wow! SEVEN YEARS of blogging), I've been scattershot, talking about what catches my eye for the moment.

I found myself getting irritated with that approach. I wanted to be more focused, more dynamic. I looked through my life and saw some themes that I want to explore.

Beauty is everywhere.

I believe that self-care, self-love, and beauty are necessities. I want my blog to reflect strategies and thoughts on how to bring more of these into our lives.

Audre Lord, spelling it out for us.

I want everyone to be able to create the literary life they want. I think we should be able to have a live that is harmonious between our make-a-living day and our dreams, especially for women. Double especially for women of color.

This will be a space for the curious, the sex-positive, and the explorer.

Lucy, the mother of us all.

Let's play!

How you can get out of your way and write already.

The Shanameh,the world's longest epic poem by a single author.

I meet many people who want to write. They yearn to express their thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and opinions. Yet, something holds them back. Here's a few ways to get out of your own way and write already.

1.  Keep it secret, keep it safe.  Too many of us show our work to the wrong people, too soon. When your work is in a beginning place, it is like a delicate seedling. It needs encouragement (sunshine), kindness (water), and the proper nutrition (feedback). Your first draft is not the right time to show it to that certain someone whose respect you have been wishing for.  At first, treat your writing and dreaming like a precious, radical secret. Later on, when you become a sturdy tree, you can open it up for more critical input.
2. Tell the truth. If someone had wanted you to write nice
   things about them, they would have behaved better. Naturally, change their details, change their names, change the planet, if you want, but those evil teachers, horrible bullies, and nasty parents are your characters. Use them.
3. Lower the stakes. Don't try to write a book that people will study for the ages (for some reason, men get caught up in this trap more than women). Focus on getting words on paper by any means you need, like hand writing, keyboarding, or by making something up on your Facebook page during your break time. Make it fun, make it whimsical, make it crude, if that is your personality type.
4. Fake yourself out. You don't need hours of uninterrupted time to write well. Set a timer for 9 or 13 or 20 minutes and write stuff down, even if it's, "I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say." 
5. Surround yourself with other writers, especially fun, generous, and enthusiastic ones. Look for people who believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, who care about your success, and believe in celebrating all milestones, especially rejections. Do I even need to say that you need to be one of these people, too?

And when you are ready, edit the hell out of that manuscript and publish it!

***

Come read my books!

What's up in the new year?

Back in 2012, Kensington Publishing Corporation published my very first novel, Dracula's Secret.

And by Halloween 2016, I will re-release Dracula's Secret (and the rest of the Blood Wings trilogy, too), revised, re-edited, and resuscitated.

To get myself back in the mood for Valerie Tate and her wacky hi-jinks, here are some of the photos I used for character references.

The Coat.

Valerie and her dragon coat. I love her strong nose and her ability to admit her vanity.

I really enjoyed writing such a dark leading lady. I wonder what this revision will reveal about her.

Those lips could light my way any day.

Daniel Craig and his beautiful mouth were the inspirations for Lance Soleil.

I wanted a story where the hero was the light bringer to the heroine. She needed redemption and he was the one to show her the rest of the way.

Let us not forget The Car.

And of course, Ilona, Valerie's Shelby Mustang. What hot, dangerous woman doesn't own a bad-ass car? (by contrast, I own a Prius)

Taste Testing Curse of the Spider Woman.

My latest book, Curse of the Spider Woman is live! Unsure if you want to buy it? Here is the Prologue!

Buy at Amazon.

Prologue

“Look at that! The great god Hades gathering flowers on the riverbank like a lazy milkmaid.” The lieutenant of the Heirs of Socrates sneered. “Our emasculated Gods no longer care about the people of Greece.” Despite the touch of silver in his own hair, the lieutenant knew himself to be virile and manly. Not the sort who would wander like a barefoot hippie to appease his spoilt wife. 

His superior officer spoke. “They will care after today.” Pale blue eyes gazed over the valley of the River Styx. Nightmares, horses made of black smoke and red hooves, champed at their bits. “Easy, girls.” The general’s strong, competent hands gathered the reins for the chariot. “We charge as soon as he reaches for the narcissus.”

The lieutenant squinted. Distance in the Underworld was deceptive. What had once been a properly somber gray light was tinted with the gold of spring; another one of Hades’ ridiculous ideas to honor his wife, Persephone. No deity should cater to a woman in such indulgent ways. Instead of the traditional ash and cinders, the underworld now sported daisies, roses, and aromatic herbs like rosemary and thyme. The lack of tradition hardened the lieutenant’s resolve. 

Capturing Hades was the pivot point for the next phase of the Heirs’ plan to purify the land.

Hades plucked a daffodil. He caressed the cup-shaped center. A whiff of flame, and the flower transformed into a spray of yellow diamonds on an emerald stalk. 

The General slapped the reins on the night mares. “It is time.” The chariot surged forward down the slope, a streamer of red, black, and bronze as the nightmares unleashed their full speed.

The lieutenant’s gloved hand rose in the air, signaling the troops behind him to ready their weapons.

“Today we get the Gods out of the way of what must be done,” he stated. “We charge in, three, two…GO!”

All the troops on horseback charged, their mortal mounts slower but no less eager for the fight.

They had the element of surprise on their side, but Hades, King of the Underworld, was not some helpless, minor deity. All the dead, no matter their afterlife, obeyed his command. The land here itself responded to his desires. Never had he been defeated. The black-robed, black-haired god, his arms full of blooms for his beloved, waved a hand.

 The ghosts of the fiercest fighters of all time – Alexander the Great, Quintus Fabius Cuncator, the 104 Timberwolf Infantry – surrounded Hades. The land itself groaned and birthed skeletons, each armed with semi-automatic weapons.

Hades saluted the oncoming enemies. “Defend our land.”

 Unexpected bullets ripped through the offense.

 “Shit, shit, shit,” the lieutenant muttered. Guns? Where did an ancient God get guns?

 Salt peter and sulfur assaulted his nostrils. In front of him, scores of his troops fell, the horses screaming and the men writhing in agony.

The General swung a spiked ball on a chain, crumbling three skeletons with one blow. “We are not defeated yet,” his leader’s strong voice shouted. “We are not weak paper to crumple at the first resistance.”

Bolstered, the army rode on.

The shock troops trampled the skeletons, temporarily breaking them apart. Behind them, the second wave scattered the precious dragon’s teeth into the blood-soaked dirt. The general had traveled alone into the land of Colchis to find them. Giant soldiers sprang from the ground, the same ones that had defended the Golden Fleece from Jason and his Argonauts.

 “Attack.” Hades shouted and gestured with his staff. He placed his helmet of invisibility on his head and disappeared. The reformed skeletons engaged the dragon’s troops. Neither yielded, neither gained.

“Hiya!” With the skeletons busy, the general’s nightmares raced to where Hades had stood. The God was old and smart. Fortunately, the leader had done the proper research.

Invisible was not intangible.

A gloved hand dug into the pouch on the side of the chariot and flung what was found there. Fine, glittering dust flew into the air, coating everything and everyone in an incongruously pretty mist.

Not six feet from where had he had stood, Hades brushed at himself. The general dared much and grabbed the King of the Underworld. The Lieutenant removed the helm of darkness and swung his own club.

Hades fell insensate to the floor of the chariot.

“To the Caucasus mountains. I have the chains. They held the Titan Prometheus. They can tame this uninterested god.”

***

Hades twisted within the ancient manacles chained to the side of the mountain. The rocks reeked of old blood, viscera, and eagle droppings from the generations of Prometheus’ captivity. The old iron bit into his wrists, chewing away at his skin. Even though he healed as fast as he was damaged, blood dripped from the cuts. He was used to the cool shadows of his kingdom. The bright sun brought tears to his eyes and heated his black robes until he baked inside of them.

Zeus! He mentally shouted. I’m captured and trapped. Come rescue me with your lightning bolts.”

No response.

Brother, he cried again. Someone wants to destroy Greece.

Nothing. As God of the Sky, Zeus saw everything. Hades panted, panic nibbling at his psyche. What could have happened to his younger brother?

Poseidon. Where are you? Bring your earthquakes and topple this mountain to the ground. Together we can stop these horrors.

Again, silence. Something had gone wrong.

And Hercules was long dead, a mighty shade in the Elysian Fields. There were no heroes left that could break these chains.

Small black dots moved fast against the wind.

“And here come the eagles,” the lieutenant crowed. “They must be hungry after their long fast.”

The god gritted his teeth. There would be no respite from this torture.

The birds landed, clawed their way through his abdomen. These were not the enormous noble beasts of his brother Zeus. They would not carry a message to the lord of the sky, warning him of the Heirs of Socrates’ plans.

Their sharp beaks tore his skin open and they feasted on his liver. He made not a sound. His dark-eyed gaze held the enemy general, challenging his captor to witness what they had started.

The General broke the staring contest and turned to the white-faced army. Over the eagles’ triumphant noises, Hades heard the leader exhale.

“Forgive them, my Lieutenant. They are not yet inured to the realities of the necessity to overthrow the government and make Greece great again.”

“I will remind them we needed the Gods crippled to prevent any interference.”

“We don’t want a literal Deus ex Machina.” The General wiped at blood streaked forearms. “Phase Two is complete. Now, we start Phase Three.”

Buy here!