Merry Christmas!

Romance isn't Porn.

This blog post was inspired by someone who is on my case saying that romance novels are porn. I know romance novels take the heat for this and it just gets under my skin since I write romance. No other genre takes this much heat for what the author writes. There's a big difference between porn and romance.

*Porn degrades a woman as a person. For the most part, the man doesn't care for the person; he's just scratching an itch and same could go for the woman.

*It's meant to get the reader turned on.

*If you took away the sex there would be nothing there...no character development, no plot...nothing at all.

* Romance novels don't degrade woman. I'm sure there are some that do, but they are rare. There's a story there to be told.

*They have external and internal conflicts that they have to overcome to get their 'happily ever after.'

* If you take away any of the sex scenes there's still a story there; it doesn't affect it one bit. It can still hold its own.

It's an author's choice if there are going to be any sex scenes in the book at all. The same goes for if they're open door or closed. Personally, I write open door ones and I'm not ashamed one bit about it. Everyone has sex and people need to stop being so uptight about it. Even those who write in the erotic genre of romance, it's not just scenes with sex thrown in for the hell of it. It's to help bring the hero and heroine along, it helps push the plot along. If it doesn't then it sure as hell doesn't need to be in the book.

Another thing...just because the author writes the stuff doesn't mean she does that in real life. Like if an author writes about bondage, it doesn't mean that she does it, or has ever done it. Romance novels are FICTION stories that the author makes up. Sure, something in her life might inspire the story, but it doesn't mean all of it is from real life experiences.

My husband has no problem with me writing it. I think if he had anything to say about it, that since I switched to writing romance, things have gotten better between us. He has no problem helping with research.

Sure, a woman might get a tingle reading a really hot, emotional sex scene. At times it helps us connect with our emotions. Isn't it better if instead of going somewhere else for love after reading that that she turns to her husband?

If you don't like romance, that's fine. Everyone has their own preferences, but don't start attacking romance writers. It really won't do any good; we won't stop writing just because it bothers you. We write for those who like to read a good love story...about a couple overcoming odds, and finally in the end the hero gets the girl. Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

For authors:

Do you take a lot of heat for what your write?

For readers:

What do you love about romance novels? What brings you back to reading them?

Short Story - Arizona's Sleepover

This is too cute not to post. My oldest daughter, who I refer to as Pumpkin wrote this short story today. She's bored from being out of school due to the snow storm that slammed us.

Once upon a time there was a ten-year old named Arizona. One day at school Arizona asked her friends if they wanted to come to her house for a sleepover.

"Yes!" they all said together.

When Arizona got home she had to get ready. She whispered to herself, "this goes here, that goes there. Perfect!"

Then, the doorbell rang, Ding Dong! Arizona opened the door and all her friends came in. They all ate chocolate cake, ice cream, chips and dip, and the best of all, Arizona's famous double-decker chocolate -melt-in-your-mouth fudge cake! Then, they all told scary stories, and then, they all did everything they wanted to! Finally, they went to bed.

They all lived happily ever after.

The End!

Revise & Resubmit

Today, I received a revise and resubmit on a full manuscript that I had out. After a few moments of panicking, I sat and read through the editor's notes, and really it's not as bad as I thought at first. Some punctuation and grammar things that need to be fixed before moving forward, and a few conflict issues. After reading through and letting everything sink in, I know I can do this!

The editor and I have been emailing back and forth tonight about the black moment, and I see what changes she would like, and it can be fixed. Sure, I'll more than likely have to re-write a few chapters, but it will be so worth it if she offers me a contract. She said I created a very compelling romance and strong characters in Erin and Kyle. She also said that this work would give me a stronger story, as well as a more emotionally satisfying one. Oh my, can it really have a more emotional impact? I was crying like a big freaking baby at a few spots. Bad enough if you come out of your office, and your husband asks why are you crying. You try explaining about having to rip out Kyle's heart and all, and the man looks at you like you've finally gone over the edge.

As I was writing this blog post, I just received the thumbs up for the Black Moment from her. So, for the next month at least, I will be locked in my office with my tissues and re-writing.

Anyone have any tips they'd like to share about revisions?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the states, this is one of my favorite holidays. Even though both mine and my husband's families are in other states. My family calls and we talk as we're cooking. Except this year, oh yes still calling and talking, but the stomach bug/colds have hit our home. So this year I'll be cooking tomorrow I want to make sure everyone is feeling better to enjoy.

My two oldest Pumpkin (10) and Twinkle Toes(8) will be helping me in the kitchen this year. That will be interesting I'm allowing extra time for cooking while I teach them everything, and they help out.

What I'm thankful for:

* My faith

*My family

*Our health ( even though we're battling a bug right now.)

*Being able to stay at home and write

*Great Friends

There's so much for me to be thankful for that these are just a few of mine. What are some things are you thankful for, or what foods do you enjoy having on Thanksgiving? Tell me I really want to know.

I'm Thankful For Doctor's

An unedited excerpt from Road to Recovery.

It hit Kyle in that moment; hell, it didn't just hit him, it slammed into him like a semi-truck that he loved that woman. She was the first thing on his mind when he woke up and the last thing at night before bed. He’d let her so damn far into his life; he didn't even let his ex wife past the front of his heart. He’d never given himself fully to her, but with Erin, he’d laid everything on the line for her.

Who was this man that had swooped in and taken her heart? Every part of her fought against the magnetic pull of letting him in, and in three short days, he’d busted through more of her walls than she wanted to happen. Erin never thought that she’d ever find love, and it had been under her nose all this time

CBC Romantics are doing our first traveling blog; Heroes We Are Thankful For.

Seriously, what woman hasn't looked at a doctor and taken a double take? I mean, come on, the way the scrubs fit tightly across their muscles and how the pants just seem to hold their butts just right. I really never gave it much thought until I started helping in a hospital as a teen, and boy, was it hard not to see. Or, when I went to my first OB-GYN appt and the doctor was hot. (Shh don't tell my husband,, he might go all alpha on me. He knows what doctor I'm talking about.)

What woman doesn't want a man who takes his work seriously and isn't afraid to jump in, and doesn't care if he ticks someone off? And heroes like that just makes a woman's heart flutter against her chest. He has to act quickly in an emergency, and she knows that if something serious ever comes up, he'll be able to handle the crisis without giving it a moment's thought. Sure, a lot of them are alpha and have an arrogance about them, but you always know that's not how they really are; at times they have to wear a mask to get through certain cases.

Some of my favorite shows on TV are medical shows. I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan. I like the scene where Christine Yang goes after Owen Hunt outside the bar. They had been fighting their attraction to each other and had to over come some things, but it all burst right there. He kissed her and pressed his body against hers, pinning her against the brick wall. And when they looked at each other, you could see how much they loved one another, and that he'd do anything for her.

And who could forget the arrogant Mark Sloan. He's known for sleeping around and using women, but when it comes to Lexie, he wants to do better and be a better man, but he screws up and tries to get her back. One of my favorite scenes with them is where Mark comes out of a patient's room and Lexie is working at the nurse's station. You can see the tension between them and she moves over and kisses him.

What kind of hero are you thankful for? Tell me I really want to know.

Comment and follow my blog, and then take a peek at these scrum-i-licious heroes from the 7 other CBC gals. Don’t forget to leave a comment on their blogs.

Melinda Pierce

Christine Bell

Ella Dane

Donna Shields

Calisa Lewis

Kristina Knight

L.C. Chase

Short Story

I'm starting something new on my blog and the first thing I'm going to be doing is writing a short story . To begin, it will be a series for the first few weeks. It will always be romance, but there might be aspects of sub-genres weaved in as well. This is where the readers come in: for the first week you get to pick who the hero is. Here are your choices to choose from:

A. Law Enforcement

B. Doctor

C. Cowboy

D. Teacher

To vote leave a comment I'll leave this open until Thurs. Nov 11.

Awakening!

Today is the release day for one of the Twinkes of CBC group. This is book two in her Wolves of Pray series. It's a really good book, and if you've not read book one you need to. She's over at fellow CBC member's blog Melinda Pierce where Sean Mulaney, the hero of the book, is doing an interview in Christine's place as she's a busy woman. From today until Sunday, you could win a book or a 10 pg critique for an aspiring author.

She's also over at Joanna St James doing another interview and giving away two books. So head on over to those two blogs to enter these great giveaways.

To find out more about book two and to order it, head on over to Cobblestone Press,

Book Blurb:

Sean Mulaney’s beloved mate Sara is dead and her killer’s trail has grown cold.

Eaten up by grief and guilt, it’s an effort just to get through the day. Now, after a year in mourning, his animal instincts have reawakened. As Sean struggles to control the need clawing at him, along comes Chandra and she wants more than just passion.

But if she refuses, she might blow her one chance to convince him that she can rock his world and fill the empty space in his heart. Will Sean let love in, only to risk having it taken away again?

Music & Writing

Music can relay things so well when we can't find the words to say what needs to be said. They can touch someone's soul deeper than anything else at times. I don't know about anyone else, but for me I have to write with music playing. If I don't have music I just can't write. I'm starting a new book and looking for music for the playlist. It becomes even more important during editing. The only noise I can handle is the songs playing. While writing the first draft I can deal with kids yelling, coming to interrupt every few moments...no big deal. I've been known to take my laptop into the living room and hold conversations with my family while writing. But when it's time to edit, then all of that stops and I lock myself into my office with just the songs. There might be times while editing that I listen to the same song over and over for one season until it's just right.

The other day while starting chapter one of the new book, I couldn't think of anything to listen to and was having trouble with writing. That is, until this song by Chris Young came on and it hit me. This is how my hero is feeling.

Crazy thing is, my character's name is Chris as well, but I'm thinking of changing his name. Now he's not an alcoholic, yet this song just screams his character how he has bottled up his feelings for the heroine It's a reunion story and a lot of painful stuff they're going to have to get through for their happy ending.

Then this song came on and it's on the nose how she feels about him even though she doesn't want to admit it. She's still pissed at him and rightly so, but she's still in love with him even though at first she doesn't want to admit it. The only question is, can she get over him blaming her for the miscarriage.

So, do you have to have music playing while writing or does it need to be silent? I'm looking for some new songs to add to this playlist. Any suggestions?

Happy Release Day for fellow Crit Partner!

Today is the day that Christine Bell's debut book comes out! "Pray" is the first book in her "Wolves of Pray" series with Cobblestone Press. To celebrate her release she's holding a contest.

Blurb

Strong-willed photojournalist Amalie Baptista is appalled by the legalization of wolf hunting in Montana. She hopes that photographing these savagely beautiful animals in their element will call attention to their plight. Her mission ends almost before it begins when she is attacked by one of the very creatures she has vowed to save. Suddenly, Amalie finds herself in the midst of a world she thought only existed in horror movies.

Alpha male Liam Albrecht is breaking all the rules for the captivating Amalie, risking his place within the pack as well as his own life to protect her. He’s already lost his beloved friend and pack member to a sadistic hunter who still remains at large. Now, as discord among the area packs reaches a fever pitch, he must find a way to save the woman of his dreams from the monsters among them.


Excerpt

Amalie's cheeks burned as realization set in. Liam hadn’t left because he didn’t want her. He’d left because he did. Too much. She was at once pleased and embarrassed. Pleased he wanted her as much as she wanted him, but embarrassed she’d heard what was surely meant to be private.

The door opened a few minutes later and Liam came out fully dressed in a pair of gym pants slung low on his hips and a t-shirt that clung to his broad chest. She couldn’t meet his gaze as he dragged a chair next to the bed and lowered himself into it.

“I apologize. I wasn’t as quiet as I might have been, and I can tell by the way you’re fastidiously avoiding my gaze that you heard me. I hope I didn’t embarrass or disgust you, but trust me, it was a necessary evil.” He flashed her a rueful smile.

Amalie forgot to breathe for a moment as she took his full measure. The smile, combined with his disarming honesty and damn sexy body, stole her wits. She’d been far from disgusted by his activities, and was only disappointed she didn’t get to watch. Not that she was going to tell him that.

All of a sudden, she was really hot again.

Pray!

My fellow Chapter by Chapter critique partner sold the first two books in her shifter series, TheWolves Of Pray. Congratulations Christine Bell...we're so proud of you! Pray is the first book in theseries. She doesn't have a release date yet. Her second book Awakening should be releasedshortly after that.

Go check out her new blog: http://chrisbwritin.blogspot.com/ Also check out the cover that anotherfellow Twinkie member Ella Dane did for her until she gets the official cover for Awakening.

Book 2

Well, I finished writing book number two while waiting to hear back from a publisher about HerDecision. Waiting for sure is the hardest part, but I'm keeping busy with kids home for summervacation and working on the book. I've put it aside for at least a week, then I'll get it out and startediting it. I so can't wait for my critique partners to get this one. I really enjoyed writing it and kindof sad it's over with now, but also relieved that it is, too. I'd set a date of June 30th to be donewith it, but it took longer with kids home, but at least not by much.

I've been itching to get back the book I was working on before this, tentatively called TheRunaway. I was loving writing that one, but it was also a pain at times, too. That book pushes meout of my comfort zone. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just not something I ever thought I'd write.The more I work on that book, I just fall more and more in love with it. It's been two months sinceI've worked on it, and I'm just ready to get back to work on it. I've got a lot of work to do on itsince my computer crashed a couple months back, and I lost three whole chapters plus someediting I'd already done on it. But I won't let that get me down; I'm going back to the plotting wallin my office and plot the rest of this book out. This is hard for me, I'm a panster when writing untilthis last book, I plotted it out, and it really worked for me. I didn't get stuck anymore, and notknowing where the book needed to go. I did make sure to leave room for the characters to takeover, and boy, did they ever, so they still shocked me on some things. I have an idea where thisbook needs to go and will work all that out in next couple days on my plot wall and be ready towrite on it then.