Tag: Life

writing romance

7,634 Non-Porn Reasons to Be Proud

I put up with a lot of shit because of what I do for a living. Things like my friends introducing me as a porn writer, to the point that one guy actually believed I write porno movie scripts. I had to show him a book to prove they were actual real books with actual stories. At a book signing a woman looked at the cover of one of my books and said, “I like story in my books.” Um, excuse me? Do I know you? But hey, you know what, I’m a working writer and have been since the day I graduated college with my BA in English. That means I write for money. I write what sells. I write for the market, whatever that market is. If I get the opportunity and find there is more income to be made writing porn scripts, I’ll write porn scripts. Recently threesomes sell like hotcakes. I began writing threesomes and started to receive royalty checks that could actually pay my mortgage. Of course that doesn’t matter to the people who write or read ‘serious’ literature. Whatever. My point here is that though I’m not opposed to writing porn, I don’t write […]

Romance Novels

What Erotic Romance Writers Read

Fair warning, the answer is going disappoint you. I’m sure you look at what I write (that being erotic romance novels) and you think I’m reading the hottest books around, when I’m not out there in real life trying out all the crazy things in my books. Yeah, I know what you all think and you’re wrong.

Of the last 4 books I read, 2 of them (and 1 more on order right now) were non-fiction (and none of them were the Kama Sutra either). The sad truth is becoming a writer has changed what kind of reader I am. When I do devote time to reading, it is usually for research in one way or another. Yes, 2 of those past 4 books read were fiction romance but I read one because I tour with the author for book signings and I felt like I should be familiar with her work, and I read the other because it was from a publisher that I considered subbing to and it’s important to read books in a publisher’s catalog to make sure they are a good fit for you, so I count the motivation to read both of those as research as well.

Don’t cry for me though, as I sit toiling away, reading non-fiction books for research because no matter what the motivation for picking up those books, I truly enjoyed reading every one. At least parts of each book have stuck with me on a deeper level. What were these books? While I do not want to be a reviewer in any shape or form, I will pass on the titles and the parts that impressed me enough to stick with me.

Life

A Call for Troop Support

This next week is going to be busy with not one but two new eBook releases for me. I don’t want today’s post to get lost amid the marketing hubbub of promoting my books, but I also don’t want to delay this very important post either, so here it goes… Those who have been around here for awhile have heard me talking about my military muses. The stars aligned during October of 2006. By some twist of fate, I joined BooksForSoldiers.com and happened to stumble upon and respond to a request for care packages from a certain soldier deployed in Ramadi, Iraq at the time. It is so long ago, and so many care packages ago, I’m not even sure what the request was for. I believe Sean was building a library in the MWR and requested books. Being a newly published author at the time, I had books, and I sent them. The thank you email he sent me back started a friendship that has lasted nearly 4 years now. It also spurred a collaboration. Sean’s tales of war have inspired 3 of my military romances, and his fact checking keeps me on track during my writing in that […]