Archive for the ‘writing’ Category

I sat down last night to fiddle with some notes for a menage I’m planning to write. I know I wanted a sci-fi treasure hunt theme. I had no idea the background of this story or really much about any of the characters, except the names I’d given them during a previous and very abreviated session. Now, let me pre-empt this tale by saying that I’m trying out a new writing program yWriter5. Last night was really the first time I’ve used it in great detail to actually write a scene. I think I like it. I feel very much like I’m doing free writing and not bogged down by what it looks like on the screen. I also have to be aware of my own spelling gaffs, since I haven’t downloaded the spellchecker on it yet.

But I digress.

Anyhoo, as I’m writing the “ideas” section,  just letting my mind unfold and doing some free writing in the program, I came upon this beautiful myth unfolding about this civilzation that may or may not share common ancestry with the ancient Egyptians. (I say this because the myth I came up with pretty much sounds like it could have come from the Nile region.) – Though, I doubt very much I’ll even mention Earth or the Egyptians in this story.  But the entire time I’m writing this background legend, I’m amazing myself with my storytelling abilities. I looked around the living room (I was on my netbook at the time) to see if any antennea or microwaves were feeding me information from some alternate universe. No. I was alone save my dog whose only mission in life at that moment was to lick her butt.

I knew then that this story is going to kick some major arse.

Then I started writing the first scene in a shady bar room in a shit side of the galaxy, and what comes out is kind of quirky and funny. I like what I have so far, but it’s not the sensuous read I thought it would be. At least not yet. But I like it. I like the way it flows and the outragous characters that inhabit this little corner of the story. And I especially like my smart ass heroine who has totally taken over the scene like she’s Buckaroo Banzi with tits.

So, even though this might not fit the publisher it was meant for originally. I think it will be a very good story when it’s completed. It might not even make it into a menage if the heroine doesn’t want it to. I think I’ll be taking cues from her on this one. She seems pretty competent and smart, and she’s hell with a cyber-blade.

-Kate

Yes, I know I’m promo-ing another book. This is special (not that all of my books aren’t special in my heart) but this is my first release of contemporary romantic suspense. Yay!

Here’s a tag from an early review -

“This story is action-packed, with unexpected twists at every turn. The imagery sparkles with originality” – Alicia Croft at Got Erotic Romance Reviews

Blurbage -

Ancient artifacts. A vengeful assassin. A beautiful woman. For Section agent, Lucius Capri it’s just another day on the job.     

Romy Douglass, the abandoned daughter of Florida millionaire, Miles Douglass, the jade and emerald idol is the last in a long line of similar gifts from her father. Dubbed by Romy as the Tin Gods, the statues are daily reminders of Miles’s failure as a father and her disappointment as a daughter—that is until the night they’re stolen and her house vandalized while she’s on a date with the sexiest man alive.   

Lucius Capri thought his assignment for the covert government agency titled, the Section, would be a quick snatch and grab to reclaim the priceless South American artifacts stolen by Miles Douglass. Who knew from his first contact with his mark, Romy, that nothing about the case or his feelings for her would be business as usual? With the statues missing and the infamous assassin, El Lobizon, on their trail, Lucius must decide which is more important, closing the biggest case of his career or allowing himself to fully trust the woman he’s come to love. 

 Until next time, Kate

Greetings, chicks readers! It’s been forever. I have been abuzz with activity lately. From a lengthy bout of company descending on the Glass household to the bustle of real life GROAN-up jobs to the flurry of activity surrounding the Carina Press launch and the publication of two books, I have been a bouncing Gin! Whew. Add laundry (not the fun/dirty kind – that comes later), a batdog that chewed a hole in the door of a hotel room last weekend (if she wasn’t so cute, I would have murdered her), a few rounds of unplanned car repair and various and sundry other small catastrophes, let’s just say I am a pooped little writer.

I have also been neglecting all of my lovely chickies. Let’s catch up and remember that though I’m the one typing these words, the other ladies here are VASTLY talented and need some of your love!

Neith – http://scorchedsheets.com/elise-logan/
‘Nez – http://inezkelley.com/
Kate – http://www.mystickat.com/

Go check them out and find out what they are up to in the world of writing. And buy something, won’t'cha?

Me? I have a little book coming out in THREE DAYS called “Coin Operated”!

Here’s the blurb:

When Elijah Elliot leaves a cushy job at a prestigious Atlanta advertising firm to strike out on his own, he recruits co-worker Beatrix London as his business partner. She’s smart, capable and, turns out, mouth-wateringly tempting. Now Eli has to keep his hands to himself, despite the very vivid daydreams he has involving his deliciously attentive associate. Daydreams that involve less administrative duties and more “yes, sirs” – less clothing and much more personal “activity reports”.

Bea’s attention to detail has only part to do with her work ethic. From the moment she first laid eyes on Elijah, Bea has had some pretty lathered-up fantasies about her brooding coworker. When a racy new advertising campaign sparks a test of their boundaries, Bea pushes Eli to cross the line he’s drawn between them – the one that keeps him from doing all the hot, sinful things she imagines he’s capable of.

A kiss that could ignite a cubicle’s carpet leaves Bea wanting more than Eli is willing to give. Eli’s reticence isn’t strictly an objection to a little office hanky-panky; his desire for Bea runs to the darker side of vanilla, and the gentleman in him just can’t seem to embrace the inner beast. But during a sexy showdown in a laundry room, everything comes out in the wash– hot, steamy and coin operated!

Carina launch is just around the corner. I will be appearing all over hell for interviews, I have several reviews out or upcoming and while you’re at my website, why don’t you enjoy a top-secret, super-hidden excerpt from Coin Operated?

No, not a secret baby, don’t start rumors.

Even better news, the cover for the second installment in the “Dirty Laundry” series,”Talk Dirty To Me”, cowritten by myself and the fanfreakingtastic Inez Kelley, will be out in July! Want to see the cover? Of course you do!

The blurb, you ask? I shall provide:

“Tell me what you want. Talk dirty to me.”

I have a confession. I prefer dirty men. Yep, give me a blue collar guy any day over a starched white collar hero any day. Not that there are not some areas that are in the middle, there are. Like security specialist (that icon of RomSus) or even Police officers, etc. Those types of professions I don’t normally associate with any collar, actually. Hmm, that group needs a name. Let’s call them the middle men for sake of argument.

Now, I get the appeal of white collar dudes, I do. I have written a few. There is something soothing about a guy sitting in an office, making deals, making money (face it, the $$$ is what white collar is about), the thrill of the legal and business game. These men are lawyers, business tycoons, leaders of industry, the historical viscount, etc.

I get all that.These men are usually very intelligent, somewhat ruthless and have shark-like instincts. They hold power like a sword and wield it with razor-sharp precision.  Good hero characteristics if you don’t make them dull as dishwater or an alphahole.

The Middle Men bridge the gap between the stuffed shirts and common man. They are not so out of reach as to be unattainable but they are a not the everyday Joe. They often are required to have a great body to do their jobs but they are not the kind that come home daily sweaty and grease stained.

They are in command(shades of white collar) but have to do the work themselves (blue collar). They are often the saviors of the day. Firemen, police officers, body guards, etc make up this delectable group. This is a nice balance and I think a greater number of heroes fall into this category.

Still at the end of the day, I prefer those men who have worked with their hands. The salt of the earth type, if you will. A blue collar guys knows his worth and his value isn’t attached to his bank statement. He isn’t afraid to get his clothes dirty to help out a stranger, and sometimes gets kicked in the teeth by daily life.

His hands are rough, he drinks beer not wine and may have told an off-color joke or two in his life. He is approachable, understood and attainable… and yummy. He is the farmer, the mechanic, the logger, the construction dude.

What ‘class’ of hero do you prefer?

Yeah I am cheating but work with me here, I am low on coffee this morning.

So, what’s up with you? Anything exciting happening in your life? Share with me. Entertain me.

Me? Lots of things are bubbling behind the scenes. First and foremost is the launch of Carina Press on June 7th. That is going to set the ball rolling for my summer. I have THREE stories coming out with them this summer, one a co-write with our chickilicious Ginny Glass. Here look at this…

Did your heart beat just a little faster? Mine did. Love that presentation and the cover art is gorgeous!

Speaking of gorgeous…

I want to marry that video. Is it not simply stunning? Goldenheart Winner Jeannie Lin designed it and OMG, love it!

And just because he is so… so… well, you get the idea. I leave you with this guy.

"Soul Fire" from Samhain Publishing

Alright, I’ll admit, I’m not infallible. I’m human. I make mistakes and I learn from them and move on. Therein lies the heart of this post. Consider it a cautionary tale for those of you who may think to do this in the future. Take some advice and don’t do it, no matter how much your mind and body screams for you to. No matter if your muse is standing over your shoulder with a rubber hose threatening you. Simply turn around and give them a hearty face shove.

So, here is what I did that I will never do again–at least to the degree I did it this time around.

Using place holders instead of writing the love/sex scenes.

See, it seemed a good idea at the time since I just wanted to finish the book with plot and characters so I could go back and reread and edit and get the book out the damn door. I thought, hell, I’ll just put holders in the love scenes (bright red ones with notes as to the intent of the scene character-wise) then I’d go back during editing and fill them in. Big mistake. Huge. I can’t even express the mental fatigue I have now after writing 7 love scenes in 5 days each one 1k-2k long. In a word, I’m spent. In order to keep things fresh I kept pushing my personal writing boundries. While that is not necessarily a bad thing while writing an erotic romance, it sure makes you sit and stare at the screen, scratching your chin and wondering what the hell you’re going to write next. Then there are the emotional issues during lovemaking. Now, I have done this before on a much smaller scale. One or two scenes only and not always sex related and I had no trouble going back in. Thus, I thought this instance would be fine. Man, was I mistaken. Hard.

I try to have some revelation of character during each love scene. I don’t want it just about tab B in slot A and choreography without meaning. I want the deep emotional responses for my characters as well as physcial fulfillment. Not always easy to accomplish, but better when you are writing linearly and not jumping around. Of course, I went back to a scene or two before the love scene so I knew what was going on and place the action in context, but still. Ugh. I’m one that has always prided herself on letting the sex play grow organically from the plot and characters. Gratuitious action generally turns me off. So, why do I feel, even though I had those place holders there where the sex should have been had I written linearly, that the scenes are in fact extraneous?  Maybe this is just a fear derived from working the way I did on this book. It’s not like me at all. And you  know what? I don’t think I liked it.

How many of you take things out of order and then have to go back and lace things in? Did it seem like a struggle or did you embrace it with open arms? Please let me know, I’m really interested in how it worked for you.

-Kate

Yep, you heard it here first. I can’t tell you how upset this makes me.

Now, I realize our state is in big trouble financially and Governor Christie needs to cut the fat somewhere in order to get us back in the black, but honestly, this is not the way to do it. Does the legistature not realize how many people use a library for services? Especially in times when it is so very tight financially every where else. It’s great to go to the library and pick up a movie or a book instead of spending the 40 bucks to go to the local theatre.

According to the article I read some of the libraries – a good portion  – throughout the state will close . Others services will be cut drastically. Things like inter-library loans, the Braille Center (are you kidding me! How can they cut that? – that’s my WTF moment for this week!), loss of eletronic databases and services. It’s unbelievable.

I’ll let you know more as information becomes available.  What are they? A bunch of book haters?

-Kate

So, chicks readers, have you been following the Carina Press poll to choose the name of the hero in Inez and Ginny’s upcoming release “Talk Dirty To Me”?

If not, here are the details:

Author vs. Author: Name that Hero!

Are you dying to know the outcome? (Drumroll please…!)
Out of 229 votes, JARED won out over JACKSON!

The breakdown was:
Jared: 121 votes
Jackson: 108 votes

So Inez won. Sort of. After much cat fighting, stiletto swinging and a bout of near-epic jello wrestling in a kiddie pool, we settled on “Jarod” as the spelling for our hero’s new name.

What do you think? Love? Hate? Indifferent?

Even though Inez was clearly the victor here (because let’s face it, she’s just plain awesome), we are both excited as heck for our upcoming Carina releases and can’t wait for you to meet Professor Jarod Reed in one of the first (among many to come!) of the Carina Press “Dirty Laundry” stories.  Stay tuned, because there will be more fun stuff as release day approaches!

13 lines from LIPSTICK ON HIS COLLAR , coming soon from Samhain Publishing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Large, powerful and rough-skinned, his hands framed her face with a gentle touch, spiraling a jagged awareness through her. With one touch, he brought all those feelings of tenderness and promise back. Oh, I’m in major trouble here. Falling in love with Bram would be far too easy.

“Will you tell me your name?”

It sat on her tongue but she held it. The lure of still being his anonymous lover thrilled her with a secret wickedness. She pressed her breasts closer to his chest. “No…but if you guess it, I’ll admit it.”

His mouth quivered with a hidden smile. “What else do I get if I guess right?”

“What else do you want?”

He dropped his head to nibble at her jaw and devilish want dropped his tone to a husky, hungry level. “You, on your knees, in front of me, your lips around my cock.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*wink* It is a scorcher!