Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Where to Draw the Line: Romance vs. Erotica
In honor of the release of my second novel, Betrayal Bites - yes, release date is today! - I decided I wanted to delve into the discussion of when a novel is categorized romance, and when it's slapped with the label of erotica. Personally, I think I write romance, and there's always heavy paranormal elements to it. But then I got to thinking, maybe what I write could be considered erotica? I mean, if a love scene is built up to, and then the big 'penetration experience' is missed or only implied, that's considered romantic, right? I've begun to think that's no longer the case. While writing Betrayal Bites, I have to admit, my goal was to make the reader want to go and find their lover and go at it, I wanted to make the reader so hot they had to do something about it ;) Is that erotic? I don't think so. For me, and how I look at my writing compared to others, well, I think the best way to look at it is if there is penetration, fine, still romantic, but the inclusion of toys, and I'm not talking to pain inducing kind in the BDSM novels that are now rampant in the top sellers' lists, I'm talking stimulation toys, 'enhancing' items that help explode one's level of pleasure they experience during love play, now that's erotic.
Because today is a big release day for me, I wanted to also include the back cover blurb for Betrayal Bites, available at www.soulmatepublishing.com, and amazon and BN.com in the next few days!
Blurb: Sydney Sedrick, cursed with the powers of the Selected, is monitored by the vampires and werewolves who covet her abilities to rid the city of one another. Sydney receives a summons to attend the Blood Rites Ball, an Elder vampire ceremony to determine her fate. The Midwestern Werewolf Pack demands her loyalty, while Blake, the heir to the wolf pack, is adamant she is his life-mate, meant to be together, forever. To make matters worse, an insider is betraying the vampires, leaking information to the rogues, who want Sydney dead.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
For The Love Of A Gypsy Lass - by - Juliet Chastain
Greetings, fellow romance readers and writers. I am in the middle of writing a series of short stories called Gypsy Lovers. One has been released and more to come each month. These are sexy 99-cent novellas, set in the Regency period about Gypsies and the English men and women love them.
I wanted to do some stories in which totally inappropriate, culturally, and socially mismatched men and women find love together. I've always been fascinated by the Romani people, Gypsies, who for a thousand years traveled around Europe and were very separate from, and often despised by and even persecuted by, the people among whom they lived.
A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover is available at Breathless Press!
Amazon
All Romance eBooks and at many e-book stores
For Love of a Gypsy Lass will be released soon and available as above
To learn more about upcoming stories or about me: julietchastain.com While you're there, check out my other short romances: The Captain and the Courtesan and The Cry of the Wolf. You can also find me on www.facebook.com/JulietChastain or Twitter@julietchastain
In the first book, A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover, we have Lady Lucy-Ann who is a hellion. She does not want to be a proper lady although her relatives require it. What she wants is to roam free and swim and fish and ride astride. And most of all she wants to be with her childhood sweetheart the handsome Gypsy, Liberty Wood. Liberty is the caring kind of man who will do anything for the people he loves, but he's also a gambler, a horse trader, and an adventurer. Of course, he adores Lucy-Ann but is a totally unsuitable suitor.
In the second book, For Love of a Gypsy Lass, we have a bored-out-of-his-skull English nobleman, Lord Harry Beresford who has simply had it with his luxurious and dull existence and the noble and dull ladies he is supposed to court. He falls hard for an itinerant Gypsy singer called Talaitha Grey. He assumes she can be easily seduced by his wealth and prestige, but to his surprise she's not the least bit interested in any of that—although she is, against her will, attracted to the man behind it all.
Somehow these characters must find their way to happily ever after—and they do so in unexpected ways.
And Thank you Juliet for taking time out of your very busy writing schedule! Can't wait to see what's coming next!
I wanted to do some stories in which totally inappropriate, culturally, and socially mismatched men and women find love together. I've always been fascinated by the Romani people, Gypsies, who for a thousand years traveled around Europe and were very separate from, and often despised by and even persecuted by, the people among whom they lived.
A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover is available at Breathless Press!
Amazon
All Romance eBooks and at many e-book stores
For Love of a Gypsy Lass will be released soon and available as above
To learn more about upcoming stories or about me: julietchastain.com While you're there, check out my other short romances: The Captain and the Courtesan and The Cry of the Wolf. You can also find me on www.facebook.com/JulietChastain or Twitter@julietchastain
In the first book, A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover, we have Lady Lucy-Ann who is a hellion. She does not want to be a proper lady although her relatives require it. What she wants is to roam free and swim and fish and ride astride. And most of all she wants to be with her childhood sweetheart the handsome Gypsy, Liberty Wood. Liberty is the caring kind of man who will do anything for the people he loves, but he's also a gambler, a horse trader, and an adventurer. Of course, he adores Lucy-Ann but is a totally unsuitable suitor.
In the second book, For Love of a Gypsy Lass, we have a bored-out-of-his-skull English nobleman, Lord Harry Beresford who has simply had it with his luxurious and dull existence and the noble and dull ladies he is supposed to court. He falls hard for an itinerant Gypsy singer called Talaitha Grey. He assumes she can be easily seduced by his wealth and prestige, but to his surprise she's not the least bit interested in any of that—although she is, against her will, attracted to the man behind it all.
Somehow these characters must find their way to happily ever after—and they do so in unexpected ways.
And Thank you Juliet for taking time out of your very busy writing schedule! Can't wait to see what's coming next!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Effective Dialogue Tags by Ann Montclair
I have a problem. I like dialogue tags. Why simply “he said,” “she said,” when he can “shout,” “aver,” “repudiate” or “concur”?
My editor taught me this simple lesson. The more complicated the dialogue tag, the more the author is telling not showing. In fact, she believes no dialogue tag is the best dialogue tag. It should be clear from what is being said who is saying it and how.
‘“I don’t care about you,” he frostily declared before exiting the room.’ is better as ‘”I don’t care about you.” His shoulders rose as he inhaled sharply, turned his back, and strode out the door.’
The first way tells, and the second way shows. Big improvement, huh?
I love big, fancy, complicated words. Being a professor, they are my cache, my favorite currency. But if my reader needs a dictionary to read my book, I’ve failed. I can expound in the classroom, but in my novels, I have to be clear, concise, and evoke emotion. And since frustration is not what I’m after, the fancy dialogue tags had to go.
If you read my newest book, you’ll see I’ve learned her lesson…well, almost learned it anyway. I’m a work in progress, and I hope as time goes by, my writing and my stories get better and better.
Ann’s latest book is One Wet Summer
Maura Fields loves her uncomplicated, independent, single life, but things quickly change when a summer vacation opens the door to an unexpected world of passion and desire. Wealthy Savannah hotelier Ben Driscoll had his playboy lifestyle upended when his ex-wife died, entrusting him to care for their daughter—a child he sequesters and vows to protect from future heartache and disappointment. Can the wall Ben has built around his heart withstand the assault from the intriguing, beguiling Maura, or will it crumble, leaving him vulnerable to the undeniable attraction and unbridled need to make her his own?
One Wet Summer is available at--
Musa Publishing
http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=285
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/One-Wet-Summer-ebook/dp/B008600R6S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1337956948&sr=1-1
All Romance ebooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html
Please visit her at http://www.annmontclair.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AnnMontclairFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/AnnMontclair
Ann, thanks again for taking time out to visit my blog today, I absolutely love your discussion on dialogue tages! Great tips from a great author :) Can wait to read One Wet Summer!
My editor taught me this simple lesson. The more complicated the dialogue tag, the more the author is telling not showing. In fact, she believes no dialogue tag is the best dialogue tag. It should be clear from what is being said who is saying it and how.
‘“I don’t care about you,” he frostily declared before exiting the room.’ is better as ‘”I don’t care about you.” His shoulders rose as he inhaled sharply, turned his back, and strode out the door.’
The first way tells, and the second way shows. Big improvement, huh?
I love big, fancy, complicated words. Being a professor, they are my cache, my favorite currency. But if my reader needs a dictionary to read my book, I’ve failed. I can expound in the classroom, but in my novels, I have to be clear, concise, and evoke emotion. And since frustration is not what I’m after, the fancy dialogue tags had to go.
If you read my newest book, you’ll see I’ve learned her lesson…well, almost learned it anyway. I’m a work in progress, and I hope as time goes by, my writing and my stories get better and better.
Ann’s latest book is One Wet Summer
Maura Fields loves her uncomplicated, independent, single life, but things quickly change when a summer vacation opens the door to an unexpected world of passion and desire. Wealthy Savannah hotelier Ben Driscoll had his playboy lifestyle upended when his ex-wife died, entrusting him to care for their daughter—a child he sequesters and vows to protect from future heartache and disappointment. Can the wall Ben has built around his heart withstand the assault from the intriguing, beguiling Maura, or will it crumble, leaving him vulnerable to the undeniable attraction and unbridled need to make her his own?
One Wet Summer is available at--
Musa Publishing
http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=285
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/One-Wet-Summer-ebook/dp/B008600R6S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1337956948&sr=1-1
All Romance ebooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html
Please visit her at http://www.annmontclair.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AnnMontclairFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/AnnMontclair
Ann, thanks again for taking time out to visit my blog today, I absolutely love your discussion on dialogue tages! Great tips from a great author :) Can wait to read One Wet Summer!
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