Guest Post & Giveaway with Karin Tabke, AKA Karin Harlow

Today I want to welcome National Bestselling author Karin Tabke AKA Karin Harlow.... Take it away Karin....

Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll!

I grew up in the 70s when the fallout of the sexual revolution was in free-for-all mode.  Rock and Roll continued the mantra that if it feels good, hellz, yes, do it, and drugs made it feel really good no matter what you were doing! Life was a big crazy orgy everyone was invited to.

I was caught in the middle of it.

As a child of parents who were married in the fifties, and maintained the mores of that era, I was, to put it mildly, sheltered. My parents weren’t worried about continuing the revolution. They were from a different generation, and liked it that way. Don’t get me wrong, I knew about the birds and the bees, but sex was just not something we talked about. 

So when my brother who is a year younger than me and far more worldly at the time (he was all of 10 and I 11) told me what a whore house was, I didn’t believe him. I was shocked and appalled that such a place existed and moreover that women would actually take money to have sex with men.  I mean really!

That night at the dinner table, my brother was sitting there with that smug superior look on his face because he was the worldly city mouse and I, his elder sibling, the naïve country mouse. I wanted to slap that look right off his face, so, I did what most girls would do when they wanted the truth, I asked my dad what a whorehouse was. And after he nearly choked to death in embarrassment he told me, “It’s a place where a man pays for a mate.”  He abruptly left the table.  That my father knew such things was even more upsetting to me than my brother telling me. When I looked across the table to my mom for confirmation that one, my dad just told me the truth and that two, he actually knew about such naughty things, I was once again shocked.  Because my mom had almost the same smug look on her face that my brother did!

Hello, who are you people! 

Needless to say, I was mortified on all accounts.  That’s what I got for living in a safe little box.  Years pass, I get into high school and while everyone in the world was having sex while doing drugs and listening to rock and roll, my peers weren’t (at least they weren’t telling anyone about it, really, how naïve was I?). I mean seriously, there was only one girl in my senior class who admitted that she, ‘did it.’ with a guy.  Again, Karin was shocked and appalled, but secretly fascinated. You see, I had discovered a dirty little secret of my own.  Kathleen Woodiwiss. 

The Flame and the Flower and The Wolf and the Dove changed my life.  I fell in love with the fantasy of romance and finally understood what all the hoopla about sex was.  It was a wonderful thing. If you were in love all the better.  It was a way to express your feelings, your trust, and your wild child.  The most perfect way to, le sigh, connect with your knight in shining armor.  Discovering romance novels was my bliss.  I devoured anything and everything remotely romance.  The floodgates were wide open and Karin was in love with love.  And not just the emotion of love, but mad passionate love scenes.  Not sex scenes.  There is a difference.  To me, love scenes are when two (or in some cases more than two) people who are in love come together and express that love through intimacy.  Sex scenes, though they can involve emotions, are more about the act of sex itself.  I write both and each has their place in my books.

The book I just wrapped up, BLOODRIGHT, book two in my Blood Moon Rising trilogy, has mad passionate love scenes, as well as crazy out of the box, hell, out of the building sex scenes!  It is the most emotional, angsty story I have ever written and because of the emotions involved, it became the sexiest book I have written to date.  And I love it.  I mean I loved writing that story. I loved the mad passionate love scenes, the crazy sex, the boiling over emotions, the hold-on-for-dear-life roller coaster relationships.  Because of the emotion involved in BLOODRIGHT, it turned out to be a love story that will stay with me forever.  Because while sex is sex, making love is where the heart is, and wherever the heart is, is where the real story lies.

So, a couple of questions if you feel like chatting. First of all, I would love to know if there was ever a question you asked one of your parents that floored them like my question to my dad floored him, and secondly, are you in it for the love scenes or sex scenes?

Karin will be giving away a copy of one of her masterpieces on her back-list so good luck!! 

You can visit Karin here:

http://karintabke.com/

http://karinharlow.com/

 

Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Sarah Kate

Today I want to welcome Sarah Kate.....

 

When it comes to erotica the physical side of things might be more the focus, the thing that everyone perhaps comes to erotica for, as opposed to romance, but I enjoy the use of feelings and sensations to experience who the characters are, good or evil, to give them more substance in their roles.

    Erotica does draw me in, though I don't read it in masses. The genre can be a hit or miss for me. Often it seems more two robots going through the motions in a sterile way, yet at the same time being "over the top".  Part of my attraction to erotica is because by reading good erotic fiction we can see how other humans deal with their own sexuality, allowing us to explore more into the sexual mind of others. By writing erotic fiction we can express our own sexual uniqueness, but also, depict wild and dark sexual thoughts, allowing us to take a glimpse into that world, and still be “normal people" when we walk away from it.
    I enjoy realistic depictions of emotion whatever the circumstance. Sometimes graphic or explicit language is entirely necessary to achieve this, other times it can risk ruining it. It's up to the writer to choose artistically what's needed for each scene, we just have to hope that it works for us as well.

    Regardless of genre, I want to be drawn into the story. For me,
that doesn't mean the plot has to be comparable to that of something on the New York Times best-seller list, but it must still have something there.  I enjoy the characters. Their emotions, reactions, and sensations all have to be relevant and believable.  I like something to have developed by each sexual encounter, so it's not just sex for the sake sex. Although, I have to say, sometimes sensation for the sake of sensation can be wonderful, in bed or on paper.

For the book give-away, I can simply email the eBook to whom ever the winner is.  Unfortunately since Amazon has blocked PWSC, we can't offer a direct to kindle option, though the winner can still side-load it of course :)
   
    URLs of note;
       
        webpage: http://sarahkatebooks.com
        Goodreads book page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12442978-pretty-when-she-cries
        Smashwords sale page: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81557
        Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/sarahkatebooks

Ends 9/3/11

Guest post & Giveaway with Sayde Grace on Writing Advice

Hello everyone! First let me say a huge thank you to Danielle for letting me stop by today and blog with you all! This week I sent her an email asking whether I should do book release promo stuff or writing advice. She said, writing advice, so blame it on her that I’m going to bore you all to death today!!

Usually when I write a blog or give a chat talk about writing I start with an intermediate level selection. It occurred to me that I’ve never actually given advice to readers who are trying to break into the writing field. So today, well, today we are going to discus TEN TIPS. Like the topic states, these are only tips. There is no right way or bad way for you to start writing. No one can tell you how you should write or what you should write. Those things you have to figure out on your own. However, there are lots of things that other writers, readers, agents, and editors can tell you. Let’s start here:

1.       No story is useless. If you have an idea floating in your brain, write it down. Even if you never look at it again, you’ll have an idea and can play with it if you want.

2.       Goals- God I hate goals!!! I think this is my most hated topic. Really, goals suck because human nature tells us we should shoot high. But then if we don’t meet that goal, well, it’s a huge let down. After two years of writing I’ve found I no longer set goals. Not in the traditional sense anyway. What I like to do is buy a book, put it on my Nook and tell myself that after I reach ten thousand words I can take a few days off and read my shiny new book. I hide my Nook with my daughter until its time. She’s a great watchdog over it as at six she loves to read the read-to-me books. By setting a reward point for myself I’m allowed to write at my own pace, when I can, and then take whatever time I need to read my reward. Usually, 10k is down in a few days if I’m working a few hours each day. Otherwise it takes longer but I get it done.

3.       Are you a plotter, pantser, or both?  Never let anyone tell you that you have to be one or the other. I fully admit I am a plotter who plots each chapter and tries like hell to stick to my plot guide. However, there are a few books that I’ve written where the plot guideline just didn’t work out. I tried to make it work, but the flow of my characters wasn’t matching what I’d written so I trashed my plot guide and finished the books as a pantser. Blending is just fine, make it work for you.

4.       Writing friends and/or groups. When I realized I wanted to write I searched the internet for authors I loved reading so I could read their blogs. What I found was that most had joined different writers organizations. I checked out several and found that because I wanted to write romance the most, I fit better with the Romance Writers of America organization. There I found a local group and started attending meetings. We meet the first Saturday of every month at a local library for a meeting followed by a program. Our programs are always writing related and I love going and talking to my writing friends. I also joined several online writers groups. This is a great way to meet others who can share their experiences with you.

5.       Keep a grain of salt with you. By now, if you’ve done 1-4, you’ve realized that you’re getting a lot of different advice and opinions. When I first started writing I listened to everything, tried a hundred different things, and cried, a lot! But having competed on different levels in the equine industry, I remembered that I had always taken things with a grain of salt and needed to do that now also. People are all too willing to give you tons of advice and tell you over and over what you need to be doing. However, you are the only one who can decide if that advice is right for you. Don’t be afraid to say, “thank you, I appreciate it.” And then never use that advice. That’s ok. You can do that if the advice doesn’t work for you.

6.       Keep a tablet of some kind around you. This is my most prized tip. It’s the simplest of simple too. I’ve learned over the years that I might have days of writing thousands of words a day and then something comes up where I can’t get my hands on a computer. Then I feel a huge amount of guilt over not writing. I began keeping a legal pad in my purse or truck. Since then, no matter where I am, I have the ability to write or plot or just tinker with my story. It’s a huge amount of freedom and I never face writers guilt.

7.       Professional jealousy. It happens to the best of us. One day you are writing away and then the next, you’re green in the face with jealousy. I’ve experienced this and nearly every writer out there has too. My critique partner and very dear friend will be the first to tell you that when she got her three book deal to Kensington I screamed and cried with joy for her. Yet, a few days later it hit me. Why not me? Where’s my contract? This is just human nature. I quickly got over the whines and told Rebecca that it had happened. She laughed and told me when I got my contract for my first novella she was jealous too. It happens, you just deal with it and remember that it’s okay to feel a bit green faced as long as you don’t hurt any feelings while being Hulk-like.

8.        Find your inner big girl panties and put them on. Rejections are a part of writer life. You may get two hundred rejections before you ever get a maybe or a yes. It sucks, it pisses you off, and you struggle with what to do. Well, you step up. Put those rejections behind you. You may find a certain book just isn’t right for the market right now, move on. Don’t dwell and don’t wallow. Get them big panties out and where them with pride!

9.       Published authors are published for a reason. Just because you read a story and it sucks to you doesn’t mean it sucked to the editor who bought it. Remember this because it’s very important. What it means is that you’re taste is not the same as that particular editors taste. So, if you hate everything a certain editor publishes, it’s probably a waste of your time and her/his time for you to query that editor. Research the heck out of each editor you submit your work to, it saves time, stress, and heartache.

10.   This list is too damn long, STOP READING AND WRITE!!

These are in no way any set of rules that one writer must follow. These tips have helped me along my journey. What are some things that seem to help you?

 Thanks everyone! And I will be giving away FOUR books today. If I only have one commenter than that lucky person gets ALL FOUR.  If I have more than that, we will just see how it goes! But FOUR books will be given away at midnight tonight, making someone’s weekend smoking hot! Have a great day and keep writing. Tell your story!

And of course, inspiration never hurts:

 Yes, This is Joe before True Blood!!

For more information about Sayde Grace and her work please stop by her website, http://saydegrace.com You can always find daily updates about her on Facebook and twitter.

Guest Post - Professor Gabriel O. Emerson Speaks By Sylvain Reynard

Please welcome Professor Gabriel O. Emerson on the blog today....

“Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende,

prese costui de la bella persona

che mi fu tolta; e 'l modo ancor m'offende.

Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona,

mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,

che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona.”

“Love, that can quickly seize the gentle heart,

took hold of him because of the fair body

taken from me-how that was done: still wounds me.

Love, that releases no beloved from loving

took hold of me so strongly through his beauty

that, as you see, it has not left me yet.”

-Dante, Inferno, Canto 5.100-103

With those words, I begin my seminar on Dante. 

Students enrol in my seminar for various reasons – some choose it because it fits their schedule, some choose it because they can spell the title.  Many students expect the class to be uninteresting because it’s about a dead poet.

Then I start talking about sex.

Talking about sex isn’t as exciting as, say, having sex.  When you talk about sex, your heart doesn’t pound, your breathing doesn’t speed, your skin doesn’t heat.

But talking about sex can leave you wanting more. That’s why I direct my students’ attention to Canto 5 of Dante’s Inferno, where he encounters the Lustful.

Most university students are familiar with lust. I simply expose them to aspects of lust that they’ve never encountered before.

During his journey through the Second Circle of Hell, Dante meets Paolo and Francesca.  Their story has the makings of a dramatic film – two lovers separated by deceit and a political marriage.  Their adulterous affair was precipitated by mutual attraction and story of Lancelot and Guinevere, another pair of adulterous lovers. But Paolo and Francesca’s romance came to a tragic end when they were discovered by Francesca’s husband, who killed them both.  (Parenthetically, it should be noted that Dante places Gianciotto, the husband, amongst the murderers in Hell.)

Paolo and Francesca are captured by Rodin in his famous sculpture, The Kiss, which depicts them engaging in a provocative embrace.   Notice how Francesca’s body is bent back with passion, while Paolo’s hand rests tantalizingly on the flare of her hip.  You’re meant to feel their desire.  You’re meant to feel as if you’ve surprised the naked lovers just as they are about to recline on the bed and make love.

My favourite painting of the couple is The Ghosts of Paolo and Francesca Appear to Dante and Virgil by Ary Scheffer. But if you look at the painting, you’ll notice that the artist has taken license with the text. Part of the lovers’ punishment, according to Dante, is being prohibited from touching one another for eternity. Scheffer has ended their physical separation.

Notice the desperation with which the beautiful Francesca clings to the naked body of her lover. Both Scheffer and Rodin emphasize the beauty of her back.  Scheffer makes the image more provocative by wrapping the lovers in a bed sheet, but he reveals less of Francesca’s body than Rodin.

Students will have to attend the next class if they want to hear more about the connection between the hidden and the erotic.

By the time I speak those words, I’ve persuaded most of the students that Dante is worth studying. And it’s only the beginning of the semester …

-Professor Gabriel O. Emerson

Department of Italian Studies

University of Toronto.

You can visit Sylvain Reynard on the following 

Website
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Also dont forget to pick up 

Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Virna DePaul

Today I want to Welcome the awesome Virna DePaul... Hi Virna!! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Danielle, thank you so much for having me as a guest on your blog!  When thinking of a topic for today, I thought I’d focus on an important aspect of writing: meeting new people, whether they’re fictional or not.

Writers often give considerable thought to the names of their fictional characters.  How it sounds, what it means, whether beginning letters are repeated with other names, and whether the writer’s history has left the name with a bad connotation.  In addition, writers might try to find the name that “fits” the character’s background and back story.  A character’s name is basically a “short cut” or “clue” to who the character truly is. 

When it comes to meeting readers, writers often develop relationships through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.  They’ll come to know readers/friends/followers by their handles.  Occasionally, we get to meet readers at conferences or other events, learn more about them as individuals, and make the type of connections you just can’t get online.  Some of these connections remain casual, but others become the base for something deeper.

Whether it’s a fictional character or a real online friend, writers develop their craft by opening themselves to a variety of people, places, and situations.  This includes being willing to explore the intricacies of both the hero and villain alike.  For example, as I work on the first book of my romantic suspense series for HQN, I’ve found my villain growing in complexity.  When I can truly feel a moment of compassion or sympathy for my villain, I know I’m finally beginning to dig deep enough into his or her character. 

I’ve never been a writer whose characters “talk” to me.  Beyond the names and characteristics I give them, they remain more like tools than friends.  But if I can do my job well enough, give them form and heart and soul so readers think of them as “real” and care about their struggles, it’s at that point they are actually given breath. 

I’m going to New York this week for the RWA National Conference.  I’ll be spending lots of time with my fictional characters, old friends, and hopefully new friends alike.  I love that my writing has given me the chance to meet people like Danielle and those friendships in turn provide me the opportunity to introduce more readers to my characters.  It’s a wonderful circle!

Virna will be giving away  a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter. Are you looking forward to any upcoming conferences or which author are you most looking for to meeting? 

Good Luck!!!

Bio: Virna DePaul is a former criminal prosecutor who writes paranormal romantic suspense for Berkley (Para-Ops Novels), and contemporary romantic suspense for Harlequin Romanic Suspense and HQN.  www.virnadepaul.com

Synopsis

United by fate. Bound by desire.

Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and otherborn – humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA – still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills.

CHOSEN BY BLOOD

Leader of an Otherborn clan, half-breed vampire Knox Devereaux would do anything to find a cure for the anti-vamp vaccine slowly starving his people into extinction. When the FBI contacts him about leading a team of hand-selected Others on a mission to reclaim the stolen antidote, Knox accepts. His new assignment places him in direct contact with Special Agent Felicia Locke, the beautiful human he’s craved since their very first meeting.

My Review Here 

Thank you so much Virna for stopping by and I look forward to having you stop by again soon. Hopefully I will get the chance to meet you soon since we chat so much and have a great time in NYC!!

Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Jules Bennett

 Today I want to Welcome Author Jules Bennett... Take it away Jules !!

Is there chaos in your life? Seriously? I kid you not I feel like I'm never home and I've decided I'm going to ask the bank to pro-rate my payment. I mean, I only sleep here (and not every night) and I'm never home during the day. I think a pro-rated bill is more than acceptable:)

In the month of June alone, I had a 3 day conference, a wedding that will have me gone 4 days (10 hour drive), RWA Nationals in NYC (4 days), bible school with my kids (5 days), dance recitals and practices (4 days) and that's not counting all the errands I need to run or the book I need to write.

Have mercy, I'm exhausted and the month is only half over.

So here's my question. What do you all do in your down time? Do you have something that relaxes you? You can't say reading...that's too easy:) Personally, I like to work out, but I'd like to hear what you do and maybe it will inspire me to mix up my down time routine!

I'll be giving away a signed copy of my October Harlequin Desire, FROM BOARDROOM TO WEDDING BED? to one random person who give me a good idea;)

I want to Thank Jules for stopping by. I greatly appreciate it and I hope she will stop by again. Good Luck at winning her new release :)