I am behind, it seems a way of life as of late. Or maybe not. You see, I am actually not behind for the first time in months, but it still feels that way. Perhaps because I am in between contracts and that makes me feel a bit out of sorts. Perhaps because my day job keeps taking over my nights and weekends and making it almost impossible to get out new proposals. Perhaps just because I have been behind so much I can't recognize what it feels like to be on top of things.
Anyway, I was supposed to post yesterday and update the blog covers then, too. But I didn't remember. So I just updated the new books for May. Aren't they lovely? Yeah, I thinks so, too. And this month I actually get to pick a few up and read them. Lovely indeed! As much as I enjoy writing, I think I still prefer reading even more. That I have gotten to do some this month has been wonderful. It also has had me thinking...
How do you feel about playing with your food? Now personally I am one of those who feels anything goes in a sex scene, particularly in terms of erotic romance. If it sounds like the characters are having a good time and it's presented in a believable manner, it works for me. But going by some recent reviews--both my own and others--not everyone feels this way.
So what do you think? Is it okay to play with your food? Or have your lover do so for you? Now obviously some foods really are sort of gross to consider, but the basic fare you might see pop up in a sex or sexy scene?
Can you believe it is the first of September? Where has the year gone? Where are all those extra days I had to write this summer, so making my October 1 deadline would be a breeze? Oye!
Since Crystal blogged about the glory of writing "The end," I thought I would blog about the frustrations of writing "The Beginning." As I understand it, not everyone angsts over the beginning of a story. In fact, some love that fresh page/fresh slate feeling, where the world is clean and new and anything can happen. I do like the idea it is a new book, perhaps a new genre, and the potential is endless. But the actual process of starting a new story usually has the makings of nightmares for me--literally. I spend those early days writing the opening scenes again and again, dreaming about just how awful they are, losing countless hours of sleep, until finally a workable opening begins to take shape.
With my current Aphrodisia WIP, Sweet & Sinful (Aug 08), I spent two weeks and went through thousands of words and no less than seven openings before I finally found one I was willing to have published with my name on it. To whet the whistle (and force me to start my day by thinking about this book the way I must do), here are the opening lines...
She’d finally done it. Turned her porn star dreams into reality. Freshly showered with a fluffy white robe wrapped around her, Courtney Baxter exited the motel suite bathroom and beamed at the naked male ass asleep on the coverless bed.
Of course the good part about all this rewriting is along the way I learn a great deal about my characters. I tend to be a pantser, and often know essentially nothing about my characters when I start a book, which might just be why I struggle with that opening so much. The great thing about this is each new scene usually comes to me as much of a surprise as to the reader. And each new one depends so much on my mood when it is being written. What I believe will be a feel good sex scene may end up being a steamy scene which is interrupted right at the good part by a peeping tom with murder on his mind.
Fortunately I am past the beginning of S&S, and now it is the middle I am trying to not let sag. I do find the middle exhilerating in many ways, as this is the point where I get to toss in some major twist, or new conflict. Heighten the plot and the reader's interest. The middle is my time for fun and to let my warped imagination soar. So for today I will be happy, creative, and hopefully put out a huge word count that is excellent and witty from the first draft.... Mind you, I did say hope!
As for that opening, I have roughly two weeks before I have to write another one. I plan to spend the days between now and then blissfully ignoring that personal nightmare.
A lot of people (authors and others) helped me on the road to publication, and so I try to give back by helping others. One thing that I do is volunteer my time to judging writing contests. I am currently judging a contest where I find myself struggling with a couple of entries. My concern is that I am aware of the scores given by the other judges on the same entries, and mine are much lower--something unusual for me. The problem I see is that the characters within the story are very passive, or at the very least reactive. And so this leaves me wondering, how do readers feel about the proactive versus the reactive or passive character?
To explain, the reactive character is the one who responds to things as they happen to her or him. While the proactive character is the one who sets out to accomplish things instead of waiting for fate (often in the form of another character) to take a hand. To me a mark of a strong character is that they are proactive, that for the most part they don’t have a fatalistic attitude, or at least if they do, by the end of the book this is resolved and they are now proactive.
How about you? Do you see being proactive as something all main characters should be, or set out to attain? Or is it okay to let the characters simply react to the unfolding story, so long as they do so in a sufficient manner?
And on a whole other note, Happy Birthday!! Quite a few of the Aphrodisia authors are Leos, and either celebrated their birthday this last week or on the cusp of doing so. May the year ahead be the best yet!
Conflict in erotic romance is a truly interesting thing. In most any other genre, a healthy dose of both internal and external conflict is a must. But with erotic romance, I often see where one or the other is getting away as a stand alone. For example, a story might be based on the internal conflict (those internal issues each struggles with) keeping the primary characters apart solely. Or it might be that the primaries are separated by external conflict (those external forces at work to keep them apart) and there is no real internal conflict. In particular, I see this a lot with the shorter story, the novella.
As I embark on writing my next Aphrodisia, I am left wondering about this whole conflict deal. Is erotic romance different in that both internal and external conflict really aren't needed, particularly in the case of the shorter story? Or does the average reader still prefer to see strong conflicts of both kind at the heart of the plot? And in keeping with this theme, is a heavier plot preferred in a shorter story over a more sexual one? Or when reading erotic romance, are the internal (or external) conflicts and the hot sex that derive from them truly the nature of the beast?
Just exactly how rocky do you want the conflict in your novels?
