Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Winner of The Heat in Greece Summer Blog Hop Giveaway
The winner of the anthology from Xcite, The Heat in Greece, is The Brunette Librarian by random drawing! Yay! Thank you everyone for visiting my blog and sharing your favorite things about summer! I really enjoyed reading all the variations and finding my own favorite things that I'd forgotten about.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Summer Delights, Giveaways, and Prizes
If you're stopping by today, odds are you came from Kitty Thomas's blog for the Blog Hop! Welcome to my humble little pleasure place on the internet!
Some of my favorite things about summer include all the little sensory delights I get to partake in that don't get to happen as much in winter. Everything's more relaxed, slow, colorful, and--personally--I find myself way more cheerful because of the little things. In the summer I can read outside on my deck surrounded by trees and sunlight while eating all manner of berries, melons, and other fruits that weren't seasonal in winter. I love the feeling of water as it's evaporating from my skin after a long dip in a pool. The taste of summer mojito while I'm surrounded by the city lights of Las Vegas for our annual summer trip. Too many good things to name them all come around summer time. A feast for the senses.
Which is why I've partnered up with Skye Warren for her Hot Summer Nights Erotica Blog Hop to give away lots of prizes in honor of my favorite season.
One lucky winner from all the comments throughout the blog hop will get a chance to win a 100$ gift card to Eden Fantasies, an adult sex shop online and an erotica goody basket including books from all the participating authors on the Hop. That's easily over a 300$ prize package, all for your opinion.
Also on offer is a free copy of my latest anthology with Xcite books, The Heat in Greece, including my steamy short story about an encounter between two strangers entitled, By Design.
The Heat in Greece by Bel Anderson
‘Don’t open your eyes,’ he says softly, his Greek accent sending shivers down my spine and his hand warm but persistent in the small of my back. ‘Trust me. Do not be afraid.’ How could a girl resist? Sun, sea, sand and … a virile young Adonis who is feeling just as maddeningly sexy as I am on this scorching Greek afternoon. Recklessly, I put my trust in this husky-voiced stranger and let him lead me blindly away from the beach and into the most deliciously sensual and orgasmic experience of my life. An experience that turns out to be all my fantasies rolled into one …
By Design by Elise Hepner
The last thing Elena, a bored, hotel desk clerk, expects on a slow day at work is a salacious note commanding her to meet a stranger in his room. The anonymous “Frank” describes in detail how he wants to watch Elena get off in front of him. The erotic possibilities are dangerous ‑ and wicked. Swayed by her recent break-up and her intense need to do something interesting with her life, Elena follows orders. And what she walks into changes her sexually forever.
As You Wish by Maggie Morton
Bari has given his wife a lovely anniversary gift ‑ complete sexual power over him for one night. It will be a night full of power and sex, a night where the power she receives over her partner shows Bari’s wife everything she’s been missing until then, including the right to do as she wishes to her husband, no matter what those wishes involve. But Bari doesn’t mind giving up his power, not in the least, and maybe, just maybe, his wife won’t mind taking it from him either.
Play It Again by Heidi Champa
The only way to celebrate your divorce is with a “re-bachelorette” party, or at least that’s what her friend Tammy has convinced her. But she really isn’t having a good time, surrounded by so many happy brides-to-be reminding her of what she once had. That’s until a handsome groomsman offers to reintroduce her to the sweetest of pleasure…
Melonhead by Giselle Renarde
When you’re a guy with brown skin, you don’t make it through airport security too easily. Jai’s luggage seems to get rifled through forty times per trip and that’s why he never brings along any of his sex toys. But Jai is a planner, and he knows a warm cantaloupe is heaven. His hotel room doesn’t have a microwave, so he reluctantly takes up the receptionist’s offer to heat up the contents of his big paper bag and bring it to his room. When she arrives, she isn’t alone. Jai has two female spectators, and they aren’t about to leave without a show.
All you have to do is answer me one question in the comments section. What sensual part of summer gets you really hot? Is it the taste of something? A certain smell? The feel of sand beneath your toes? Let me know you automatically get a chance to win my book and all the other prizes mentioned above.
Now venture onward to Under The Covers Book Blog for a chance to win another prize! Thanks for stopping by!
Some of my favorite things about summer include all the little sensory delights I get to partake in that don't get to happen as much in winter. Everything's more relaxed, slow, colorful, and--personally--I find myself way more cheerful because of the little things. In the summer I can read outside on my deck surrounded by trees and sunlight while eating all manner of berries, melons, and other fruits that weren't seasonal in winter. I love the feeling of water as it's evaporating from my skin after a long dip in a pool. The taste of summer mojito while I'm surrounded by the city lights of Las Vegas for our annual summer trip. Too many good things to name them all come around summer time. A feast for the senses.
Which is why I've partnered up with Skye Warren for her Hot Summer Nights Erotica Blog Hop to give away lots of prizes in honor of my favorite season.
Also on offer is a free copy of my latest anthology with Xcite books, The Heat in Greece, including my steamy short story about an encounter between two strangers entitled, By Design.
Blurb:
An Xcite Collection of erotic short stories with mixed themes including contemporary, m/f, voyeurism, fem dom, menage, sex toys.The Heat in Greece by Bel Anderson
‘Don’t open your eyes,’ he says softly, his Greek accent sending shivers down my spine and his hand warm but persistent in the small of my back. ‘Trust me. Do not be afraid.’ How could a girl resist? Sun, sea, sand and … a virile young Adonis who is feeling just as maddeningly sexy as I am on this scorching Greek afternoon. Recklessly, I put my trust in this husky-voiced stranger and let him lead me blindly away from the beach and into the most deliciously sensual and orgasmic experience of my life. An experience that turns out to be all my fantasies rolled into one …
By Design by Elise Hepner
The last thing Elena, a bored, hotel desk clerk, expects on a slow day at work is a salacious note commanding her to meet a stranger in his room. The anonymous “Frank” describes in detail how he wants to watch Elena get off in front of him. The erotic possibilities are dangerous ‑ and wicked. Swayed by her recent break-up and her intense need to do something interesting with her life, Elena follows orders. And what she walks into changes her sexually forever.
As You Wish by Maggie Morton
Bari has given his wife a lovely anniversary gift ‑ complete sexual power over him for one night. It will be a night full of power and sex, a night where the power she receives over her partner shows Bari’s wife everything she’s been missing until then, including the right to do as she wishes to her husband, no matter what those wishes involve. But Bari doesn’t mind giving up his power, not in the least, and maybe, just maybe, his wife won’t mind taking it from him either.
Play It Again by Heidi Champa
The only way to celebrate your divorce is with a “re-bachelorette” party, or at least that’s what her friend Tammy has convinced her. But she really isn’t having a good time, surrounded by so many happy brides-to-be reminding her of what she once had. That’s until a handsome groomsman offers to reintroduce her to the sweetest of pleasure…
Melonhead by Giselle Renarde
When you’re a guy with brown skin, you don’t make it through airport security too easily. Jai’s luggage seems to get rifled through forty times per trip and that’s why he never brings along any of his sex toys. But Jai is a planner, and he knows a warm cantaloupe is heaven. His hotel room doesn’t have a microwave, so he reluctantly takes up the receptionist’s offer to heat up the contents of his big paper bag and bring it to his room. When she arrives, she isn’t alone. Jai has two female spectators, and they aren’t about to leave without a show.
All you have to do is answer me one question in the comments section. What sensual part of summer gets you really hot? Is it the taste of something? A certain smell? The feel of sand beneath your toes? Let me know you automatically get a chance to win my book and all the other prizes mentioned above.
Now venture onward to Under The Covers Book Blog for a chance to win another prize! Thanks for stopping by!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Winner of Summer Kickoff Blog Hop!
The winner of the Summer Kick Off Blog Hop is....Tracey D!!!! Congratulations! I'll be emailing you soon to figure out prizes. Thank you so much everyone for your wonderful comments on my blog and thank you for taking the time to enter my contest!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Most Commanly Made Erotica Mistakes
1) Using words that aren't sexy. My favorite examples: moist, juicy, plowed, etc. Or referring to any kind of orgasm as ripping, pulling, or slipping through flesh. I was guilty of this in a lot of my beginning stories and now it's on the Watch-Out Edits list.
2) Keeping an intense focus on the action throughout the scene using all five senses. One of my favorite things to do is to use taste in a scene as much as I can. Don't recall where I read that writer's barely utilize this sense, but the notion stuck with me. It's a fun one to toy with.
3) Head-hopping. This can happen in any manuscript, but in an erotica piece staying in focused point of view makes all the difference. The reader wants to be in the situation with every turn of phrase, which is why sticking to one sole point of view of either the hero or heroine is the best choice. Don't try and do both unless it's longer than a novella so that a reader can become fully immersed in the sexy goodness and emotional intensity that each sex scene brings out.
4) Explaining the basic sexual mechanics without the passion. No tab A into slot B. If it's not working either come back to the scene when you're in the mood or cut it altogether. Half-assed sex scenes are worse than no sex scenes. The scene doesn't have to be dripping with emotion, but it takes a certain turn of phrase and involvement to make it sexy.
5) Leaving the sexual stakes on the side lines. Despite the fact that erotica doesn't have to a happy ending or even a definitive relationship, sex still changes people. This should be reflected in every single piece. No matter what happens in or outside of the bedroom with characters, they have a stake in the sex and that should be displayed and exploited at all times. The deeper an author goes, the more the readers will enjoy their story.
6) Purple prose. Believe me, I know finding different words for cock and pussy can be time consuming and tear out your hair inducing. But for the love of the erotica goddess, don't be swayed into using anything like man meat, love stick, or elongated shaft. If the basics and their normal acronyms aren't working for you then try restructuring your sentence and making it tighter. When in doubt, tighten, tighten, tighten. A valuable, if sometimes time consuming, lesson.
7) Don't write anything you're not passionate about because it's popular. Sometimes I think this is a no-brainer, but I've been known to dip my toe into the water and a lot of those manuscripts sit on my desktop in a folder--either unfinished or not up to my standards because I wasn't 100% into it. Don't take the time to write a story unless the premise turns you on, because when you get into the nitty-gritty of the piece and you're not feeling it, no one else will either.
8) Don't be afraid to push deeper no matter how deep you think you've all ready gone. And now I sound pretentious.
2) Keeping an intense focus on the action throughout the scene using all five senses. One of my favorite things to do is to use taste in a scene as much as I can. Don't recall where I read that writer's barely utilize this sense, but the notion stuck with me. It's a fun one to toy with.
3) Head-hopping. This can happen in any manuscript, but in an erotica piece staying in focused point of view makes all the difference. The reader wants to be in the situation with every turn of phrase, which is why sticking to one sole point of view of either the hero or heroine is the best choice. Don't try and do both unless it's longer than a novella so that a reader can become fully immersed in the sexy goodness and emotional intensity that each sex scene brings out.
4) Explaining the basic sexual mechanics without the passion. No tab A into slot B. If it's not working either come back to the scene when you're in the mood or cut it altogether. Half-assed sex scenes are worse than no sex scenes. The scene doesn't have to be dripping with emotion, but it takes a certain turn of phrase and involvement to make it sexy.
5) Leaving the sexual stakes on the side lines. Despite the fact that erotica doesn't have to a happy ending or even a definitive relationship, sex still changes people. This should be reflected in every single piece. No matter what happens in or outside of the bedroom with characters, they have a stake in the sex and that should be displayed and exploited at all times. The deeper an author goes, the more the readers will enjoy their story.
6) Purple prose. Believe me, I know finding different words for cock and pussy can be time consuming and tear out your hair inducing. But for the love of the erotica goddess, don't be swayed into using anything like man meat, love stick, or elongated shaft. If the basics and their normal acronyms aren't working for you then try restructuring your sentence and making it tighter. When in doubt, tighten, tighten, tighten. A valuable, if sometimes time consuming, lesson.
7) Don't write anything you're not passionate about because it's popular. Sometimes I think this is a no-brainer, but I've been known to dip my toe into the water and a lot of those manuscripts sit on my desktop in a folder--either unfinished or not up to my standards because I wasn't 100% into it. Don't take the time to write a story unless the premise turns you on, because when you get into the nitty-gritty of the piece and you're not feeling it, no one else will either.
8) Don't be afraid to push deeper no matter how deep you think you've all ready gone. And now I sound pretentious.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
The Obligatory 50 Shades Post
It's everywhere. It's getting kind of annoying. I've yet to read it because I don't want to be influenced by anyone's opinion when I pick it up ( which sounds horribly prissy, I know). And I'm at least happy that it's opened up the sexual world view of a lot of people who wouldn't have given a book about BDSM a second glance. Whether or not they continue to read the genre is on them. But I hope 50 Shades is a good enough book to get the readers hooked on what others have to write about in that same vein. *crosses fingers for readers and authors everywhere that they find what they're looking for in the stacks*
There. I've said my piece about the damn thing.
There. I've said my piece about the damn thing.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Viva Las Vegas
If you're reading this right now I'm probably sucking on some ridiculously alcoholic drink, writer-ing away on my netbook in the sun and humidity of Las Vegas. I don't have much planned for this trip. I'm hoping to catch a few Cirque shows and there will most definitely be a trip to In-And-Out Burger in my future. A whole blissful nine days of vacation. Catch you when I come back, inspired, and ready to rock!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Experimenting with Characterization
A good friend of mine gave me a super helpful tip the other day. When you're assembling character's for a book or short story, write down the top foremost things about their personality on a notepad. That way you have something to consult when you're looking for the right physical gesture for your hero or heroine when they're in a bind. It's a gesture cheat-sheet, if you will. It's been working for me!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Summer Kick Off Giveaway and Blog Hop
Hello everyone, today I'm hosting the Summer Kick Off Blog Hop with CataRomance.com, SensualReads.com and SingleTitles.com. If you're here that means you just came from Emily Heisler's Blog!
One of things I enjoy most about summer is that all my favorite television shows go off the air leaving me plenty of time to read. I'm more than a little addicted to TV so it's always a balance with my Hulu account and whatever 6 or 7 books I'm reading at a time. But now that it's summer, I can focus my efforts solely on reading. Which means a lot of organizing my To Be Read pile--a tradition I do every summer to kick off the sunny days on my back porch. I start a pile of books that I want to read first and keep the back-up's handy in a second pile near the bed refilling as needed.
Is there anything in particular you do to start off your summer right? Ritual's? Organizations? Vacations? Answer in the comments section and you'll be entered to win a copy of one title from my back list. This giveaway is open to any country so long as you have a valid email address and some way to read an e-book. The giveaway ends on the 10th of June. After you're done commenting please head over to Sascha Illyvich's Blog or click on the code below. Thanks for visiting!
One of things I enjoy most about summer is that all my favorite television shows go off the air leaving me plenty of time to read. I'm more than a little addicted to TV so it's always a balance with my Hulu account and whatever 6 or 7 books I'm reading at a time. But now that it's summer, I can focus my efforts solely on reading. Which means a lot of organizing my To Be Read pile--a tradition I do every summer to kick off the sunny days on my back porch. I start a pile of books that I want to read first and keep the back-up's handy in a second pile near the bed refilling as needed.
Is there anything in particular you do to start off your summer right? Ritual's? Organizations? Vacations? Answer in the comments section and you'll be entered to win a copy of one title from my back list. This giveaway is open to any country so long as you have a valid email address and some way to read an e-book. The giveaway ends on the 10th of June. After you're done commenting please head over to Sascha Illyvich's Blog or click on the code below. Thanks for visiting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)