Behind the Character: Aunt Celeste from Keeping It Up

 

Celeste Barros was inspired by two amazing women: Auntie Mame and Mae West. Who better than a sexually liberated, intelligent, independent, fashionable, and powerful woman to teach not just Holly Barros, but me how to be fabulous and fearless?

Celeste is everything I ever wanted to become when I was a young woman and she is everything I wanted in someone who could show me the way to be fabulous and fearless!

Women need mentor figures to show us how to become what we want. Role models light the path to our dreams, dammit, I wanted Holly to have the best one ever. Someone who knew love and heartbreak as well as how to make herself heard AND someone who had the platform to make the world a better place.

My question for Celeste was, what were *her* struggles and wounds? In Keeping It Up, we learn how the early death of her beloved husband scarred Celeste. She had been able to create a wonderful life for herself afterward, full of love and intellectual pursuits. Like many women, though, Celeste had trouble receiving. She had become so skilled at giving and giving that she had forgotten to be vulnerable.

Which is why I was thrilled to discover who she really needed: Grayson Browne.

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Celeste is (much) older than Grayson. Do you like reading May/December stories? Let me know so I can write more of them!

 

 

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Behind the Character: Holly Barros from Keeping It Up

Sometimes, people ask me, "Where do you get your characters from?" Naturally, my first instinct is to say, "Why, from under the sofa cushions, of course!" Which makes me look like a jerk and nobody comes away happy. Rather than give in to my over-the-top Dad Joke impulses, I wanted to write a newsletter series about where characters come from.

The first character I want to talk about it Holly, from Vamping It Up and Keeping It Up. I really identify with Holly, because in my youth, I also made a man the center of my life, wearing what he liked and doing what he thought was fun (hint - it wasn't fun for me). I wanted to write a story about a woman discovering who she really was without him. Women's power is one of my favorite themes in my writing, and I come back to it frequently. I was desperate to write a story about a woman learning to love herself.

It took me a while to get to know Holly. I knew she was going to be of Latin descent (part Portuguese, part Central American). I wrote and wrote, trying to find a way to show that her parents loved her, but also wanted her to take the safe path in life. We deserve to choose our own adventures instead of having them chosen for us.

We also deserve to believe in ourselves and to use our voices about what matters to us. Holly needed to find her voice. And she sure was shy about telling me who she wanted to be. I got very excited when I realized that her secret desire was to go into politics. Women are woefully underrepresented in politics and that shy Holly wanted to break out of her cocoon and step onto the world stage made me so happy!

I also wanted her to have the world's greatest mentor to teach her confidence. Enter Holly Barros and Aunt Celeste.
 (To be continued....)

I made Pinterest boards for Vamping It Up and Keeping It Up!
Live Like Celeste
Vamping It Up
Keeping It Up

 

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Have you read Vamping It Up or Keeping It Up? Can you tell me what you liked about the books? What do you want to see more of in light-hearted erotica? Authors loooooooooooooove feedback. :)

Thank you!

Writing Sex: Know Thyself

 

For the final installment on writing sex, I'm going to ask some questions about your tastes. I think it is important to know what your boundaries are about sex in fiction, so let's get started.

1. What do you hate about writing sex?
2. What do you hate about reading sex?
3. What do you love about writing sex?
4. What do you love about reading sex?

What do these preferences tell you about how you are going to craft love scenes?

Let me know if you'd like your answers to go up on my blog.

Enjoy!












 

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Writing a Love Scene: Safer Sex - yes or no?

 

The AIDS crisis forced writers to talk about safer sex practices and it turned into a debate. Some authors state that their readers know that this is fiction. They think barrier methods ruin the flow. Some insist that not acknowledging the potential consequences of sex lowers the stakes, turns the characters two-dimensional, and throws the reader out of the story. Your choices depend a lot on your world-building. Are you in outer space with all bad germs eliminated? Do diseases not bother the undead?

I say that you need to have your safer sex choices remain consistent. If your heterosexual characters don't use condoms or gloves, neither should your gay or bi characters.

Exercise One:  How do you feel about safer sex in fiction?

Exercise Two: What are your favorite ways of writing safer sex?

Let me know! I'll post your answers on my blog.











 

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Writing a Love Scene.

 

I started writing love scenes before I even knew what happened past a kiss. Instead of trying to figure out how to grope a boy's butt, I would write what (I thought) was flirtatious conversation. Naturally, it was really dreadful.

The world needs your truth. I want everyone of feel powerful and confident about writing sensuality, no matter the heat level. Joyous, consensual sex is under-represented in fiction. That goes double for representation of people of color, sexual minorities, or people with disabilities.

I go into deeper detail on how to write arousal and intimacy in The Arousal to Zipper Workbook. This series of newsletters share some the exercises found in that book.

Sex is about your characters saying, "Yes," if not "HELL, YES!". The world needs more fiction saying "HELL YES!" to their sexual experiences. This is a chance to think about the ways we can say yes. Does the scene call for a slow, measured pace, such as encouraging the less-verbal, less-assertive character to say what they want out loud?

How do your characters (especially in your work in progress) say, "Yes"?

Write me back and let me know! I'll post your answers up on my blog. :)

 

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Multiverse Con is online this year!

 

On October 16, 17, and 18th, the amazing Multiverse Con On Line will be happening. Multiverse Con started last year in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was thrilled to be one of their presenters. Due to Covid-19, the con is taking place in the far-flung lands of Kwarentynia. Again, I am honored to be joining the Con. I'll be moderating the Girls Rule 2.0 panel (last year, this was *the* panel) and contributing to the How to Write a Memorable Villain.

Here is the con schedule.

I'll also be running mentoring sessions. If you need help writing sex, dealing with rejection, or avoiding burnout, check this out here.

 Please join the party. We can't con together, but we can still enjoy ourselves remotely. Come on in, the water's fine. :)