When the Sex isn't Working... and Other Author Tales

Grabbed your attention with that post title, didn't I? I hope so. 

I'm neck-deep in the middle of a story and I know where it's going. I know how it'll end. But sometimes I have this problem... I know the general plan, but I skip the sex. I know, crazy, right? Skipping

the sex? I have to be nuts. Or maybe you're thinking... then why not just write the story without the sex? Yeah, that's not how the characters play things. They like it hot.

So...I end up having a problem. I have the story done, like I do with a WIP (Work in Progress), but I can't get into the mood to write the hot spots. 

What is an author to do? 

I won't lie. I have some go-to choices to get me in the mood. Sexy pictures, photos of celebrities that I appreciate, videos and some movies like The Normal Heart. But other times, the characters just don't want to cooperate. 

Then what's an author to do? 

I tend to set the story aside for a few days until the characters talk. Sometimes it's a few days. Other times it can be more than a week or two. I hate that. I like to write the story and finish. I don't like when they lag or hang around, unless there will be a second story or something along those lines. 

So this author will sit back and wait for the characters to tell me exactly how they want to have sex. I've got the start, but maybe they want the door closed for now. I'll let them. Eventually, they'll talk to me and tell me exactly what's going on. Hey, I've got horny toads for characters. They always tell me about the sex. 

Maybe you can help me...any thoughts on getting into the mood? Any suggestions you have for writing hot when the characters won't cooperate?

While we're both waiting on the characters, how about a taste from one of the books in the Battle Scarred series, You Complete Me:

Battle Scarred 4: You Complete Meby Megan SlayerM/F

Paranormal, ContemporaryNovellaLoose IdArt by Mina CarterAn AllRomance Ebooks Staff Pick!

I’ve got your back, if you’re willing to trust your enemy. 



Hagan Dean thought he was helping his friend. He was playing the role of savior…except he ended up left for dead in the sunshine. Vampires and sunshine don’t mix. Even worse? A Hunter—one of the sexiest women he’s laid eyes on—is ready to kill him. He’s got a lot to survive for and the odds are stacked against him, but he’s a fighter. Will the Hunter let him live another night? Or is this vampire destined to fry into a pile of soot? 

Emily Cross is a born Hunter. Her life’s work is to keep the balance between the Supers and the Supers who have stepped out of line. She’s never been keen on the Rogues taking over the Hunters. She doesn’t want to kill all the Supers…she is one! When she finds a nearly charred vampire in the woods during one of the hunts, her thoughts turn from killing to keeping him alive.

Will these two opposites come together to find common ground in order to help end the war? Or will the passion crackling between them tear their worlds apart?

Available right now from Loose Id!

http://www.loose-id.com/battle-scarred-4-you-complete-me.html

http://www.amazon.com/You-Complete-Battle-Scarred-Book-ebook/dp/B01DUTFWF0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_351_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51JVlvaP8SL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_OU01_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=1P59XXC97R6VD0VVMPVW

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-youcompleteme-2014455-143.html

Now for an excerpt:

Copyright © Megan Slayer, 2016“Hey? What’s taking so long? I doubled back past your cottage to make sure you’d gotten home, but you weren’t there.” He leaned on the window frame. “Huh?”“What do you mean?” She tugged the elastic from her hair and regathered the ponytail. “I just took my time. I thought I heard something and had to hide. The noise left, and I was about to follow.”Ben frowned. “Em, you’re not being yourself. You’re always the first one in and the first one out. No straggling. You’re being very secretive. What’s wrong?”Beside the fact he’d come on too strong? She appreciated him acting human rather than like a jerk, but she still wanted him to get the hell away from her. “I’m just tired and moving slower.”“Are you pregnant?”She slumped against the side of her Jeep. “Pregnant,” she blurted. “How in the hell did you come to that conclusion? Slowing down one time automatically means I’m pregnant?”“When Cassadee had her baby, she was so slow on everything, and it made her useless as a hunter.”Emily sighed. She remembered her friend well. Cassadee’s hesitation during a hunt had cost her life and left her daughter without a mother. Emily wished she’d been there to help.“I’m not pregnant. Not even a spark with someone, nor am I thinking about hooking up. Thanks for your concern. I’m leaving right now. Follow me if you want.” She slid behind the wheel of her vehicle. “Ready?”“There are vampires in these woods. I would hate for you to get hurt. I’m on you like glue.” He nodded and kept right up behind her.Emily pulled onto the paved road and gripped the steering wheel tightly. If Ben only knew what she had in the back of the Jeep. He’d flip out. Good thing she’d installed heavy tinting on the windows. Good thing, indeed.

~~~~~

Megan Slayer - It's Always Fun to Squirm
http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm

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When Words Go Wild!

by Nancy Gideon

It started out as such a good idea. A break in my By Moonlight series while I figured out how I wanted to wrap up the storyline in a satisfying bow. I’d do a spin-off batch of novellas tied to the House of Terriot, that rowdy, dangerous clan of warriors living far away from my usual New Orleans setting in their mountain top compound at Lake Tahoe led by volatile new king. I mean when you’ve got twelve hunky shapeshifter princes deserving of their own storyline . . . why waste them. So I picked my favorite four of the dark and deadly half-brothers and went to work. Such fun! How hard can it be, four books 30K words . . . until the first book, PRINCE OF HONOR, came in at 96K. I guess the novella boat has suddenly expanded into a line of luxury cruisers.

I’m half way through PRINCE OF POWER, Book 2 and have already sped past 40K. So it looks like my powerful princes each get their own full novel starting in October!

I didn’t realize until I started tinkering with cover ideas that the acronym for House of Terriot was H.O.T. and these princes live up to that expectation. Deadly, Damaged and Delicious and . . . HOT! Here’s a teaser to tide you over until September 25 when I plan to have Book 1 up for pre-order. . .

Excerpt

Heat pounding off his body burned against the backs of her fingers as they bunched the bottom of his tee shirt, shucking it off him with a violent pull. Her palms prowled chest and shoulders, pausing for him to identify each unfamiliar scar.

At his collarbone: “Cale’s lesson on how to use a blade.”

At the glorious swell of a bicep: “Stephen. Bar fight he started and I had to finish.” Probably because he was too drunk, though Turow would never say so.

Across the hard ridge of his abdomen: “Sparring with Rico.”

Tongue dampening her lips, eyes glowing, obviously turned on by the catalog of combat, Sylvia let her fingertip follow a thin line across his left pec as she purred, “And this one?”

“You. Where you broke my heart.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nancy Gideon on the Web

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How Blogging Helps

Before writing last month’s post, I didn’t have a good title for my sci-fi novella. Usually, I don’t have that problem. Titles generally come easy for me. A couple haven’t, but none like this one. The story started as a short story on The Roses of Prose blog, called “Christmas in Space.” Considering my story was the only science fiction and the others all contemporary, I felt out of place. A non-conformist.

But, as I’ve written before, the story stayed with me. I wanted to know more about these characters who were about to embark on a one-way trip to a planet far, far away. In fact, so far away, it was out of our solar system. I admired the bravery of the six astronauts, much the way I admired the real astronauts who’d ventured so far into the space between Earth and its moon. Only the real astronauts knew they were returning—returning to friends and family. My fictional astronauts weren’t.

Even worse, at least in my mind, they would be put into cryosleep for 99% of the trip. I mean, what’s the use of traveling out of our solar system if you don’t get to see where you’re going and where you’ve been? I’d want to see Neptune, Pluto (even if it isn’t a planet anymore), and beyond. If I felt that way, surely my characters would.

Getting all these thoughts out on blogs, helped me understand what my characters were going through. Writing the story was not a problem. Coming up with a title was. I went through various ideas, none of which set well with me. I asked writer friends for help. Though they gave good suggestions, again none resonated with me. Or made me feel as if it would work.

Finally, I had to title last month’s blog post here. Easy, peasy. I talked about their mission. They were heading out to explore a Goldilocks planet for Earth’s inhabitants, a place of refuge for those living on a dying planet. They were determined to find a New Earth. Hence the title of the post, “Mission to New Earth.”

That’s when the lightbulb popped on over my head. Mission to New Earth was a perfect name for the book. Forget the Christmas angle (though that’s still in the story). It was more than a Christmas story. Besides, more religions were represented by the astronauts than Christianity. In real life, astronauts come from all faiths, all nationalities, all races. Why would my characters be any different?

So, thanks to posting on this blogsite and others, I’ve learned more about my story than doing character analyses, filling out personality charts, or any other methods of learning about my characters. Perhaps it’s reducing an idea to 500 words that really helps. It made me focus on what’s important.

Mission To New Earth, which will be released on August 31^st, is available for pre-order at Amazon for 99 cents. https://amzn.com/B01JXZR0AK

Diane Burton writes science fiction romance, romantic suspense, and mysteries. She blogs here on the 13^th of each month. She is also a contributor to The Roses of Prose blog, posting there on the 30^th. On Mondays, she muses about various topics on her own blog.

Authors on a Dime is Your One Stop Publishing Shop

Hot Off the Press!

Happy Book Birthday Moon, Mist & Magic!

Get ready to be enchanted by mythical beasts, magical creatures, and moonlit nights. Enjoy your favorite author, and perhaps discover someone new, in these five fantastic tales of paranormal romance woven with moon, mist, and magic…

Featuring stories by Maureen L. Bonatch, Abigail Owen,

 J.C. McKenzie, Sharon Saracino & L.A. Kelley

Available Today! 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Chapters | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Did you notice how fabulous the cover is for 

Moon, Mist & Magic? 

Then, once you snag your copy (print or ebook!) you'll be able to enjoy the stories from five authors. It's been a joy getting to know these authors better and work on the an anthology together.

But...Moon, Mist & Magic would never have come together if it wasn't for one of the authors- Abigail Owen.

Abigail designed...well, just about everything for Moon, Mist & Magic from the cover to formatting, to—all the multitude of little things an author would need to know, to publish a novel. Since Abigail is well versed in all of these tasks, she completed them effortlessly. She made it look easy (take it from me, it's not easy, lol- unless you have an Abigail—and now you can!)

Look no further! Let's hear all about what Abigail can do from...

Authors On A Dime

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We know how many different tasks can pull an author’s focus away from the important stuff (writing!). Let us help you out by taking on those tasks for you. Select from our à la carte services lists for editing, publishing, graphics, and social media. Or take one of our workshops to learn how to do for yourself. Let us help you!

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Like most writer's I've always been a writer, but I've considered myself an author for about nine years. In that time, I've published seven novels, two novellas, and several stories in anthologies. With more to come, of course. I love what I do! I consider myself a hybrid author as my path as taken me both through self-publishing and traditional publishing through a small press.

In addition to my writing, I've spent the last sixteen years in the tech industry, accumulating skills like web design, efficiency, project management, customer service, etc. A few years ago, I completed my MBA. One of the best experiences in my life.

Recently, the two halves of my life--my professional life and my author life--converged. I started a business! I admit this is both a terrifying and an exhilarating prospect. However, when opportunity presented itself, I found I wanted to blend the skills I'd accumulated over the years with my passion for writing and publishing. I've teamed up with several people who've helped me in my own writing career. Some are published authors, some not, but all with skills that help authors. I can't tell you how excited we are all to start this venture!

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Authors On A Dime offers a multitude of services at prices we hope you will find easy on the pocket book. We offer a wide array of services to select from, including some listed below. 

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Abigail Owens of Authors on a Dime

About the Author:

Maureen writes stories in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania that boast laughter, light suspense and something magical in the hope of sharing her love of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary world. She writes Paranormal Romance and Fantasy.

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