Attempting to write longer stories

The Naughty Literati are planning a project for next year with longer stories in it, around 30,000 words or a little more. Most of my books are short. I get bored quickly and like a lot of action, so of the more than 100 books I’ve written 70% of them would be 25,000 words or fewer. And most of the longer ones got that way by accident. The characters kept running off on tangents instead of solving the problem and riding away into the sunset together.

Characters do that sometimes. Refuse to listen to the writer, I mean. There was this ghost… but that’s another story.

One classic case of my inability to write longer books was a Regency romance I began that was meant to climax at the Coronation of King George IV. I spent weeks researching that coronation—the clothing, the event itself, the people who were there and more. The coronation was a really big deal, costing twenty times as much as George’s father’s coronation, the equivalent of around 26 million dollars in today’s terms. All for a one-hour-long ceremony. I even planned to mention that George’s wife, Caroline of Brunswick, was banned by George himself from attending the event.

But hey, the characters refused to cooperate. My hero, the Reverend Barnabas Ridley was in such a hurry to marry the heroine, Georgina Arnott, that the book was finished in barely 20,000 words instead of my planned 45,000.

It was also finished well before the coronation, so I wrote the story of Barnabas’ sister, Theodora. But once again the main characters seized hold of the storyline and raced off with it.

Undaunted, I began the story of the stunningly beautiful Miss Sapphira Arnott, but the Earl of Mitcham appeared out of nowhere and took control of that. I never did write about the coronation.

So wish me luck with this new project. The plan is for one longer book to go in the boxed set. Not a series of three shorter ones that won’t be right for the group.

The Regency books mentioned above are the Virgins No More series, https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00YX5ANK0/kindle/ref=sr_bookseries_null_B00YX5ANK0

And the ghost?
Oh, he took over an entire series of books, the “Forever Yours” series.

https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Yours-Intensity-Complexity-Publishing/dp/1610342526/
or available separately as ebooks:
“Intensity”: https://www.amazon.com/Intensity-Siren-Publishing-Menage-Amour-ebook/dp/B003LSTKLI
“Complexity”: https://www.amazon.com/Complexity-Siren-Publishing-Menage-Amour-ebook/dp/B00440E0H6/
“Eternity”: https://www.amazon.com/Eternity-sequel-Intensity-Complexity-Publishing-ebook/dp/B004FV54L0/

Berengaria Brown

Confessions of a Slow Writer

by Katherine Kingston

I keep hearing from all the sites and newsletters for independent authors that the way to succeed is to write fast and put out a lot of stories. I understand that. As a reader, I always want more from my own favorite authors. There are several writers who don’t put things out nearly fast enough to suit me.

I don’t know that I’m anyone’s favorite author, but I’m definitely one who doesn’t write fast enough. I’ve been published for over twenty years, but in that time I’ve probably written a dozen or so novels and novellas and maybe two dozen short stories. Most of those have been published by Ellora’s Cave for the last ten years, but I’ve withdrawn everything from there.  I’m gradually re-releasing those, some as stand-alones and some in anthologies, but they’re all being re-edited and some rewritten a bit to make them more like my original vision.

I’m still writing new material too. Almost all of my stories in the Naughty Literati anthologies are written specifically for those. I have two novels that are in progress. One of those is close to completion.

But the truth is that I’m just not one who can put out a lot of stories quickly. I have a day job, a family, and friends that take up a lot of time. And there’s the need to promote the stories I have available. That takes up way more time than I’d like.

Add that to the fact that I’m not the kind of writer who can churn out a sentence here and a sentence there when I get a few minutes. I need to have the time and mental space to be able to sink into the world I’m creating, to give characters room to breathe and develop. I need chunks of connected, quiet time to make the stories come alive in my head so I can write them down for you.

One, Two, Three, Even More!

I’m utterly fascinated by ménage stories. My tastes run the gamut. Put together three or more people and have them navigate sexual and societal pressures, and you’ll have me riveted. I don’t have a particular preference for an established couple bringing someone new in, or three people new to a relationship together forging their way. I’ll read it all!

Unconventional relationships have become more mainstream in the last decade. Big Love and Sister Wives let us have a glimpse into polygamy, both fictional and real life. BDSM has come into huge mainstream appeal with the Fifty Shades books. Romance authors have been throwing open the bedroom door in their books. Publishers big and small have taken chances on books featuring ménages and have found readers clamoring for more.

So, what is it about ménages that appeals so much? Is it the idea that three people are willing to share their love? Is it that if two are good together, three would be even better?

One thing I’m particularly fascinated about is the social aspects of a ménage, especially how families react to the news that their relative has found love with not one, but multiple, people. Does the titillation factor impact acceptance? Do the family members worry about their loved one’s standing in the community, or professional life?

I’m just about to finish my summer story for the Naughty Literati, and in it, I feature a ménage that is as unconventional as it gets. I find myself having great fun examining what will happen in this grouping’s future. There’s a child involved, which always complicates things. But oh, how I love these sorts of complications!

What are some of your favorite ménage titles? Do you have a specific grouping that is most to your taste?

Look for Kismet in Naughty Heatwave, releasing this summer!

Sometimes a Fantasy #romance #LoveIsInTheAirAntho #NaughtyLovers

Fantasies make the world go round!

I don’t mean sexual fantasies, not really, though those are fun, too!

But regular old garden-variety daydreams can be just as much fun, in their own way.

I’ve always been drawn to the entertainment industry and have worked both with actors and musicians in various capacities over the last several decades. As a very shy person, I wasn’t always as drawn to the stage as I was drawn to behind the stage.

But there is a little part of me that always dreamed of performing. I got a very cool chance to sing backup for Meat Loaf (alongside some other fans) for his Storytellers appearance in the ‘90s, but my clip didn’t make it to the performance, though I can hear myself on the DVD.

So when I first heard about Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp, I was fascinated. Regular people like you and me can play music with rock icons in a camp setting, and then perform live at the end of the camp. Sounds like a pretty incredible experience, doesn’t it? I haven’t done it yet, but it is on my wishes and dreams list.

As I pondered plot ideas for Naughty Lovers, I started to get intrigued by the idea of a musician and a camper meeting up at one of these, their chemistry undeniable. And that was where Renaissance began.

Kira McGrath fronts a tribute band, and while she enjoys it immensely, she wants more from her music career. Her bandmates don’t take her songwriting seriously, and she’s at a crossroads. Should she continue on her current course, or should she try to break out and do some solo work, performing her own songs.

Kira’s especially excited to attend the camp because she’ll be working with Novell Vinge, who is a hugely successful writer in her world. At the last minute, though, Novell has an accident and has to drop out of the camp. There’s been no news of his replacement as of the start of camp, and Kira is very unsettled.

It just gets worse--or better!--when she learns that Sage Daniels will be the replacement counselor. See, Kira’s tribute band is called Cats by Day, and they’re a tribute band that plays the many hits of Nocturnal Lions, Sage’s band.

And to complicate things even further, the sexual chemistry between Kira and Sage is off the charts.

Uh oh!

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Will Sage look at Kira as an equal? Will Kira look at Sage as an equal?

How will they make beautiful music together?

You don’t have long to find out!  

As for me, I still haven’t done a fantasy camp, but I’m hopeful that I'll do one some day!

Thinking About 2016

By Katherine Kingston

Resolutions have always seemed pointless to me. If you need to resolve to do something, it’s probably not going to happen. Important changes require motivation and if you’re motivated to do something, it’s probably already happening. If you’re not motivated, it likely isn’t going to happen.

But I do like to take some time at the beginning of the year to consider where my life has been, where I want it to go, and what needs to happen to get me there.

The year past has brought some significant changes to my life, including two new grandchildren and cutting back on my day-job to part-time. Part of the reason for the reduction in work time is that I want more time for travel and visiting family members, and I want more time for writing.

I also have gotten back rights to all of my published novels from Ellora’s Cave. I’m in the process of self-publishing some of those. Some will be released as part of anthologies. And there are a couple I’m not sure what to do with.

All of them will be re-edited before release. I wasn’t always happy with the language I was required to use for EC and some stories had sex scenes shoe-horned in to meet their guidelines. I hope to restore all my stories to where I wanted them to be.

One of my goals for 2016 is to re-release at least eight of those stories. Another is to finish two novels I have in progress. And then I plan to continue to write new stories for the Naughty Literati anthologies. I already have ideas for two future stories. I intend to stay busy!

Deadline Fast Approaching by Regina Kammer

This will be a very short post because I'm on deadline for the next Naughty Literati anthology, Naughty Lovers. I'm still not quite sure I'm going to meet that deadline!

But let's just say I do meet that deadline...

The hope and expectation is that my next Naughty Literati story, tentatively titled "Swing Follies", will be the third story in my Steampunk erotic romance series, The Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles. In this installment Delia and Edward move their relationship forward and Sebastian falls in love. Plus we discover a little bit more about Edward's past and Newcastle’s Third-Wave Industrial Revolution.

Want to read Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles numbers 1 and 2 first? Of course you do!

Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles 1: One Cheek Or Two?

In an imagined Newcastle, an inventor and his new assistant discover mutual desire while testing a spanking machine.
Appeared in Valves & Vixens: Steampunk Erotica

Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles 2: Delia’s Heartthrob

Gadzooks! Valentine’s Day is fast approaching – what’s a scientist to do? Edward knows naught of romance. Can steam power prevail over chocolates to win Delia’s heart?
Appeared in Naughty Hearts: Eleven Naughty Romance Stories

Wish me luck!!

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website

Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica

Or Google+

Like her on Facebook

Connect with her on Goodreads

See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

How did it get to be December?

How did it get to be December? I swear it's only August. I just blinked and boom I hear Chicago singing Jingle Bell Rock on the radio! Hate it when that happens. Not hearing Chicago, but having the end of the year rush toward me so fast I feel like I'm driving Doc Brown's DeLorean.

One thing about December, though, is it's time for me to take stock in what I've accomplished this year. I wrote and published two stories with the Naughty Literati. Blue Plate Special came out in Naughty Flings and then Moon Dance made its first appearance in Naughty Escapes. I'd intended to have a new story in that universe ready for Naughty Reunions but the story just didn't pan out. Nothing wrong with the story itself just that it didn't fit the theme and trying to make it fit nearly broke my brain. I've been ripping out all the seams and rewriting it properly. I've got my fingers crossed that it'll be ready for the first anthology of 2016. So far it's had more names than Liz Taylor. At the moment I'm thinking of it as The School Teacher and the Rock Star. We'll see if that sticks. As for next year's Naughty Literati releases, we've got some great themes in store for 2016.

I really wanted a story in Naughty Reunions. That is a kickass anthology, as is Naughty Chances which released this month. I'm constantly blown away by the talented writers who make up the Naughty Literati. Sharing a table of contents with any of these authors is a high honor.

I also wrote and sold two stories to Dreamspinner Press this year. Lodestone is an m/m, science fiction paranormal story. I'm dying to get more of Alchemy and Nicholai's story out there. I love the universe and have another story, with different characters, underway, but it's a long one and may not even see submission until sometime next year. My other Dreamspinner release is The Stonemason in the Bare Studs anthology. That was one of those stories that seemed to write itself…while at the same time I sweated blood getting it out. It's also a rare, for me, standalone.

2015 has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. I launched Yet Another Penname (that would be Terry), moved, started three new universes, got bogged down in a story, broke free, sold to a brand new to me market, started ghostwriting (it's so much fun!) and have edited a few terrific novels that I wish I'd written. There have been many ups and downs, but I think the ups outweigh the downs.

I have plans for 2016, and if even half of them come to fruition, I'll have some terrific stories for you.

Hope you all have a lovely holiday season, no matter what you celebrate, or if you celebrate nothing at all.

Keep calm and read!

Terry Rissen

Welcome to My Worlds

@terryrissen

NaNoWriMo 2015 Winner! by Regina Kammer

Once again I am a NaNoWriMo Winner!

This was my 10th year participating in National Novel Writing Month. I wrote the foundations of The Viscount and the Veteran: An American Federalist Tale, the follow-up novel to The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale.

If you can't wait until The Viscount and the Veteran is completed, edited, submitted, and published and need your bisexual male/male romance fix now, I've got you covered with "Winter Interlude: An American Revolutionary Novelette" my story in The Naughty Literati's Naughty Chances: Take A Chance On Romance. "Winter Interlude" is a companion piece to The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale, delving into the relationship between Captain Samuel Taylor and Lieutenant Patrick Hamilton.

So what did I learn this year during NaNoWriMo 2015?

- It’s always best to end a day’s writing session with notes about what comes next.
Corollary comment: It is so great when the writing flows and a scene comes together, characters are changed, plot moved forward. But the previous night’s victory is dampened by the looming realization the next morning that, OMG, you have no idea what happens next.

- I really, really, really need to tamp down the inner editor. I try to by putting stuff I need to research or edit in [square brackets] and forgetting about it. It doesn’t always work.

- I am a combination of plotter and pantser: perhaps the word is “plotser” or “pantster”. But I do need that next-morning crutch of what comes next. So the pantser needs a plot plan, even if that plot plan is formulated a minute after the pantsing has finished.

- 50,000 words is basically a really detailed outline.

- I learn the same lessons year after year. I really need to pay attention to my inner writer!

If you want to see how my November progressed on Twitter, I've captured the tweets on my blog.

I encourage everyone who has ever wanted to write a novel to take the National Novel Writing Month challenge. If you can't wait until November 2016, the same organization runs Camp NaNoWriMo in April and July. Your voice needs to be heard and your characters need to come to life!

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website

Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica

Or Google+

Like her on Facebook

Connect with her on Goodreads

See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

An American Revolutionary NaNoWriMo by Regina Kammer

2015 will be my 10th year doing NaNoWriMo and I’m revisiting some of my favorite characters I’ve created during the event, plus adding another hero and heroine into the mix. Back this year are Clara, Sam, Constance, and Pat from The General's Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale. Joining them will be Clara's brother – Oliver Hastings, the Viscount Thornton – and a family friend, Lady Eleanor Ormundsley.

The story takes place in 1784, six years after the end of The General's Wife. It will also be a historical erotic romance, with a male/male relationship at its core. The working title is: The Viscount and the Veteran: An American Federalist Tale.

For more about the project you can visit my NaNoWriMo author page, or my NaNoPrep blog post, which has a couple of "inspirational" photos of the hero Oliver.

If you want to keep up with my progress I’m planning on having updates on Twitter and Facebook, but probably not so much on my blog. You can also check out my NaNoWriMo author page to see how I'm progressing in my word count.

The General's Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale and The Viscount and the Veteran: An American Federalist Tale both tie in to what's coming up next from me and the Naughty Literati! My upcoming story for our winter anthology Naughty Chances: Take a Chance on Romance will be "Winter Interlude: An American Revolutionary Novelette", a sort of prequel to The General's Wife. "Winter Interlude" is also a male/male erotic romance wherein we discover a little bit more about the relationship between Captain Samuel Taylor and Lieutenant Patrick Hamilton. (There's a little hint of this in the excerpt.)

Need your American Revolution erotic romance fix now? The General's Wife is available in mobi, paperback, and epub at these retailers:
Amazon USA, Barnes & Noble/Nook Press, All Romance eBooks, Kobo, iBooks (iTunes), CreateSpace (paperback), Amazon USA (paperback).

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website

Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica

Or Google+

Like her on Facebook

Connect with her on Goodreads

See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Writing is a career

If a writer wants to be taken seriously, they have to treat the job seriously. That means that the comments they make in public need to be professional. Of course, they can talk about their children, and their pets, and their garden, exactly as you might talk about such topics at work. But just as being rude to the boss at your day job may see you unemployed fairly quickly, so too being rude about your cover or your publisher may see you not getting any more covers or contracts.
Publishing is a small world. Everyone knows someone who knows someone. So switch off the internet before raving about how your heroine has long blonde hair and is overweight, and the cover model is a size zero with a bob cut. Spell check your blog posts. Answer emails from your publisher and their staff in a timely manner. In other words, you’re at work, so act in a professional manner.

And most of all keep writing.

Some days it’s natural to want to come home, sink into a comfortable chair, and relax. Do that. For half an hour. Then get your butt in front of the computer and start writing. Every page is one page closer to the end of the book. Even one paragraph is better than nothing.
I’ve been able to write a large number of books because I write shorter books. Mine are all under 45,000 words. This means fewer characters, less complicated plots, and the book as a whole is faster to write. The shorter length suits me. But that’s a matter of personal choice. The only rule is to keep writing. Every day if you possibly can.

I write for several different publishers as well as indi publishing. Because I write across different genres, I send each different genre to a different publisher. Writing several different genres helps me stay fresh and different, and writing for several different houses means I can have more books released than might be the situation at just one publisher. Of course, it also means that sometimes I have edits for several different books at once, which can be a headache. But overall, the system works for me.

Promotion can be a big drain on time. I have a blog and a website. I try to update my blog every week. I update Facebook and Twitter most days, sometimes twice a day. With chat loops, I read and respond to two loops I like, that have a mix of authors and readers. I go to at least one chat a month but these can vary from a special chat day that’s so busy it’s almost impossible to keep up with the posts, to ones where it’s like you’re talking to an empty room. I know often people lurk on loops but I really don’t know how helpful such chats are, either the incredibly busy ones or the almost silent ones.

I also guest blog from time to time, and enjoy visiting other people’s blogs and talking to the commenters. But again, it’s a big time commitment, first to write the blog, then to keep coming back and commenting. My hope is that every now and then someone will enjoy my blurbs and excerpts and be prepared to try one of my books.
Do I have the best plan to make my writing a successful career? I don’t know. All I know is that I’m doing my best to treat this seriously as my profession, to learn all I can, and to keep researching, keep learning and keep writing.

Berengaria Brown
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/

Definitions: What is Erotica? by Regina Kammer

Riffing off Suz’s post A Few Words About Writing Erotica, I’ve decided to offer definitions of erotica, erotic romance, and such. You can read the extended version on my blog.

Introduction

People frequently make broad assumptions about what it is I write. Friends, family, and acquaintances snicker about my "porn". Romance writer colleagues imbued with the cadence of traditional romance often bandy about the term "erotica" as if to signal the ugly otherness of erotic romance.

So I will attempt to answer the provocative question What is erotica? and by doing so answer corollary questions about misunderstood erotic-like literary variations: Erotic romance, steamy romance, smut, porn, and Romantica®.

Kammerotica Definitions, or The What is Erotica? Cheat Sheet!

Erotica
Erotica is a literary form where the core of the story is sexual in nature. As a literary form, erotica has plot, themes, character development, goals and motivations, conflicts and resolutions, and all those elements that make up a story. But all those elements deal with something sexual in nature. Typical themes include the erotic development of a relationship (e.g., a Dominant and submissive), or an innocent’s journey of sexual discovery, or a character’s exploration and development of their true sexual nature. One could not strip out the sex scenes and be left with a comprehensible story. The sex is the story.

But, blasphemy of blasphemies, I do not think erotica has to necessarily be arousing. Sometimes the erotic development of a relationship or a character’s journey of sexual discovery is sad, lonely, and depressing. Sometimes it is shocking. Sometimes it is sweet and romantic. And sometimes it is arousing.

Erotic romance
In order to define this, I have to define "romance". I'm not talking le Roman de la Rose or Arthurian chivalric knights, which are the roots of the idea of romantic love. No. I'm talking Romance Writers of America (RWA) romance.

Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

Erotic romance takes all the elements of erotica but has a love story at its core. An optimistic resolution to a relationship—a Happily Ever After or a Happily For Now—is essential in an erotic romance.

Sex scenes are not gratuitous in erotic romance. Sexual elements form the foundation of the plot, themes, and characters. One cannot simply strip away the sex scenes and be left with a comprehensible story. The sex scenes drive the plot and character development and push toward that culmination of a HEA/HFN.

Steamy (or Sexy, or Graphic, or Gratuitous, or Explicit) Romance
Steamy Romance is a romance with a lot of sex in it. Generally, there is a very good reason for at least one of the sex scenes—the moment when the hero and heroine (or whatever permutation of H/h the story has: two men, two women, three people, etc.) connect deeply and emotionally. But in a lot of steamy romances, one could tone down the sex scenes or fade to black before the sex scenes and the story would be sound.

Unfortunately, some steamy romance novels have too many purely gratuitous sex scenes. Personally, I find these sorts of stories rather boring. I want the sex in a story to have purpose, to move the story forward. Characters should change, relationships should develop, conflicts should increase or resolve — something has to happen because of the sex. I find it interesting that erotica and erotic romance is often criticized for having gratuitous sex. It’s actually the steamy romances that too often fall into that pit.

Romantica®
Romantica® is a registered trademark of the erotic romance and erotica publisher Ellora’s Cave. The term is exclusively used for their line of erotic romance. Because it is a trademark one should never use the term unless discussing an Ellora’s Cave erotic romance. Maybe one day it will be a generic term, but until then I strongly urge people not to use it out of context.

Smut
Depending on who is using it, this word can mean "erotica" or "literary porn" or "just plain porn". It’s a cute word that seems to be used mostly by erotica authors from the UK.

Pornography / Porn
In pornography sex scenes exist purely for the purpose of sexual titillation. Plot, character development, theme, and all other literary devices are generally missing in pornography. In fact, such literary effects are irrelevant and unessential. The entire emphasis is on sexual acts. "Literary porn" is really just well-written porn, but once the story starts to have some of those literary devices, porn starts sliding toward erotica.

Pornography starts with a set-up, e.g., pizza boy goes to a sorority house and sexiness ensues. Characters remain the same after the act is finished: there is no character development, no character growth, no conflict resolution. There is just pure sexual satisfaction—although I suppose that is a resolution of some sort!

What I Write

So, what is it I actually write? I write all of the above except porn—despite what my friends think. I offer a few examples below.

Erotica
My story in Naughty List, "A Night at Valley Forge", is erotica because a HEA is not an element.

Erotic romance
Most of what I write can be categorized as this. I like a happy ending! I like my characters to explore their sexual natures! My favorite novel of mine, The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale, is pretty much textbook erotic romance.

Romantica®
Because I’ve written for Ellora’s Cave, I’ve written Romantica with my Harwell Heirs series. The Pleasure Device, Disobedience By Design, and Where Destiny Plays are all erotic romance novels under the Romantica brand.

Steamy romance
Yes! I’ve actually written steamy romance! It surprised me too, because I never thought I would. My story in Naughty Flings, "Hot As Hades", is a story with hot sex and a Happily Ever After. I think the story would not be as good without the sex or with toned down sex, but I hesitate calling it erotic romance. Maybe you can convince me otherwise in the comments?

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website

Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica

Or Google+

Like her on Facebook

Connect with her on Goodreads

See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Ch..Ch..Changes

A few months ago I pulled all but one of my novels from Ellora’s Cave. It was a bittersweet move for me. They weren’t my first publisher, but at first they were one of the best of several I’ve dealt with.

Sometime back in 2000, I was invited to submit to this very new epublisher. An author friend had just signed with them, so I asked about her experience with them. She told me about a small, friendly publisher that was open to a variety of stories, but mostly interested in erotic romance. That worked well for me, so I sent them a novel I’d been working on for a while. To my shock, I got a positive response just twelve hours later.

Over the next twelve to fourteen years, I published eight novels, eight novellas, and three shorter pieces with Ellora’s Cave. It was good for both the company and myself.

But times change, and the publishing world changes even faster. Authors who want to continue to thrive have to be prepared to adapt.

So with some sadness and more than a little trepidation, I decided it was time to take my books back and venture out on my own. Over the next few months, I’ll start re-releasing some of my older books, re-edited and in some cases re-written, with new covers and blurbs.

But in the meantime, I’m also doing these wonderful anthologies with the Naughty Literati group and it’s being great fun!

Inspiration: A Naked Guy in Zurich by Regina Kammer

In my story "Window Display" in Naughty Escapes, the heroine, Laurie, an American Ph.D. student, trots off to Zurich to finish up her dissertation. Instead of the hoped-for peace and quiet, she finds distraction in a totally hot neighbor who doesn’t bother closing the curtains when he’s naked at home.

Many of my Naughty Literati co-authors chose rather exotic locations for their Naughty Vacation Getaway stories. Zurich is generally not considered an "exotic" or even "sexy" location in which to set a romance! Exotic or not, sexy or not, the story is based on a real-life event. Not my life, though. Inspiration came from an unlikely place.

I’ll go back to the beginning.

I became a National Novel Writing Month groupie in 2006 after I did my first NaNoWriMo that November. Writing a novel changed my life. Quite literally, really. I wanted to give back. At the time I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area — NaNoWriMo headquarters — so offered to volunteer for the organization. They probably thought of me as that crazy older lady who is rather awkward around strangers, but whatever. They were (and are) a great bunch and I met a lot of fun, interesting people.

One such person was Lindsey Grant. Lindsey is the sweetest, most gracious young woman I have ever met. She has said this is due to her Southern upbringing, but I think it’s her nature rather than nurture. I would see Lindsey at official NaNoWriMo events, then later at purely social events, and she would blush at the fact I wrote sexy stories.

Lindsey’s husband Pat works for a large tech company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. About three years ago, Pat transferred to the Zurich office of the company. Now Lindsey, like pretty much everyone who worked at NaNoWriMo, is a writer. Once she moved to Switzerland — a country she knew not much about, where they spoke a language she knew even less about — she began to blog about her move and transitioning to life in a foreign country.

I’ve lived abroad before, so I followed Lindsey’s blog about settling in and navigating a foreign country because it was part connecting with a friend and part connecting with my own memories. Lindsey confronted the basics of everyday life including finding housing with the help of a "relocation specialist". The specialist found Lindsey and Pat an apartment with a view. I’ll let Lindsey tell the rest of the story:

There is a window across the street from us, directly opposite our dining table, of all places, that happens to be paned with frosted glass. Alas, this frosted glass is not very frosty. Months ago, when I was getting pleasantly tipsy with our relocation specialist post walk-through, she had her back to this very window while we chatted. At a certain point, I was distracted from what she was saying by a very clear view of a naked man in the apartment opposite. He seemed to be vigorously styling his hair.
"That’s a naked man!" I blurted.
"Where?"
"There!"
"Oh my god, it is! That’s his shower." She turned and walked straight to the window, while I went the opposite direction, toward my own bathroom, blushing furiously.
"You Americans are so prude!" she laughed. "Look, he’s washing his willy. At least he’s clean."
I was dying inside.
Since then, as if by clockwork, Pat and I sit down to eat and the bathroom light comes on, the shower commences, and we get what we now affectionately refer to as, "the show." Poor guy. Poor us! And he’s not the only one on display. Across from our balcony is yet another building with a poorly frosted window through which we saw another neighbor nakedly doing her laundry. I suppose it can’t be helped. They may very well know that their windows, like the emperor's clothing, are doing little to protect their privacy. But I still feel like Rear Window goes Euro. And I just can’t stop blushing.

Anyone who has ever lived in a dense urban setting knows this sort of naked sighting happens all the time. But usually the sighting is not when the naked person is taking a shower. (This makes Zurich sound a lot sexier, doesn't it?)

The second I read that blog post I wrote up some notes for a short story. I even asked Lindsey for permission to use the premise for a sexy story, because Lindsey writes creative non-fiction, not romance (and definitely not erotic stuff).

So all that was two years ago. Then earlier this year, 2015, the Naughty Literati came up with a vacation-themed anthology. I had a great vacation story already written and submitted to another publisher long ago, but had never heard back from the editor. So I contacted the editor and discovered my (really awesome, I have to admit!) story was accepted but publication was delayed until 2016. Which meant I had to write another story.

Luckily, I keep all my notes and snippets of inspiration in a folder on my computer. That’s when the document called "Zurich" jumped out at me, and thus "Window Display" was born!

There’s a whole other plot line in my story, centered around my heroine Laurie and her academic research. Laurie's dissertation is about the Roman empress Sabina who was the wife of Hadrian (emperor 117-138 CE). I chose that subject purposely. During my research for my historical erotic romance novel Hadrian and Sabina: A Love Story, I discovered there was not much known about Sabina. (The reasons for this are spelled out in "Window Display" so I won’t go into it here.) Which meant I had a perfectly good never-before-done dissertation topic for my heroine. Plus, I got to add a touch of history to my contemporary story, which, for a historical romance writer, is always welcome.

My excerpt on the Naughty Literati website is my version of the first glimpse of the neighbor nakedly bathing.

Naughty Escapes is now available in ebook (only 99 cents!) and print. There are 11 wonderful stories from which to choose!

Reminiscing

On April 21 it was five years since Siren published my first erotic romance, “Intensity”. On 1 June my second erotic romance was released at a different publisher and in July I had an MF romance debut at a third publisher. Then in September my second erotic ménage was released by Siren. After five years publishing erotic romance I’m very aware that almost none of the authors I knew then are still writing. Or if they are, they’re using names I don’t recognize.
Today I have 110 unique titles published, not counting ones I’ve gotten the rights back to and self-published or made into anthologies, and not counting print books or audio books of ebooks. Five of the publishers I’ve been with have closed or I’ve no longer wanted to be associated with them. All but once I managed to get all my rights back in time. I’m still very happy writing for three different publishers, as well as doing some indi publishing.

Being part of the Naughty Literati is a new type of venture for me. I’ve self published some old books out of contract for which I’ve gotten my rights back. Some of them I even made into anthologies of similar kinds of books. I have one of male/male romances and another of lesbian romances for example.

I’ve written a story for each of the Naughty Literati’s boxed sets so far. A ménage for Naughty List, “Jewel’s Ménage Christmas”, and MM stories for the next three. “Chocolate-Coated Reunion” for Naughty Hearts, “The Loch Ness Monster, Romeo and Julio” for Naughty Flings, and “Fireworks at the Lake” for Naughty Escapes.
I enjoy reading across a range of genres so that’s the way I write as well, across genres.

Here’s a taste of “Fireworks at the Lake”.
Andrew didn’t want to spend the Fourth of July long weekend with the people from the office so he goes to Lake Superior instead.
There he sees Luke, a blond Viking who arouses every craving for love and lust inside him. But can he overcome his low self-esteem from when Rory rejected his love and open his heart to another man?

Excerpt
Andrew had spent most of the afternoon trying not to stare at the blond Viking stretched out on a lawn chair with the ripples from the lake running up and over his toes. The blond had removed his T-shirt and placed his Stetson over his face, but not before Andrew had seen the intense blue of his eyes and the sharp ridge of his nose. Since then Andrew had spent his time appreciating the Viking’s muscled arms and shoulders, his ripped abs and the long, long line of his legs—right down to the toes currently buried under an inch of water. Long, narrow toes, a fitting ending to the long, lean legs that disappeared inside baggy, knee-length shorts.
Likely, his view of the Viking was going to be the most exciting part of his Fourth of July weekend this year. Still, life wasn’t too bad. In fact, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. A bunch of the people from the office had planned to spend the day at a cookout in a city park. Andrew didn’t mind working with them, but he wasn’t ready to spend his vacation days with them as well, which was why he’d decided to come here to the lake for the three-day Fourth of July weekend.
Originally he’d planned to stay on the shore until the nine o’clock “family” fireworks display, then head back into the small tourist town for a meal before the midnight lakeside fireworks. But now his plans were liable to change. If the Viking stayed here, he’d stay. If the Viking went off with friends, that would be the end of his happy thoughts of getting to know the man. The only problem was, he hadn’t quite worked out how to get to know the blond yet.
Part of Andrew wanted to just sit and wait. The Viking had been lying there for a couple of hours already, and unless he planned to get quite wet, he’d have to move his lawn chair soon, as the tide was coming in. Likely when he stood up, Andrew could catch his gaze and say hello. Or something. On the other hand, it seemed rude to keep staring—or pretending not to stare—and not speak. But then, perhaps it would be safer to do nothing at all and just wait and watch. So Andrew waited and watched and tried to make up his mind what to do. Part of the problem was that his relationship with Rory had damaged his self-confidence.
He’d loved Rory passionately, far more passionately than Rory had ever loved him. Andrew had wanted them to live together, to settle down, to be a real couple, but Rory had never agreed to that. Gradually Andrew had realized that they were drifting apart, no matter how hard he’d tried to keep them together. Finally he’d understood that although Rory had been the man for him, he couldn’t fulfill Rory. After that had come a time of intense pain and anguish. A time when he’d wondered if he’d ever be enough to make another man happy. But that was last year, and Andrew was ready to try again. But only with someone who at least thought he might be able to love Andrew back.
Andrew stared at the Viking. He knew nothing about this man except that the blond was delicious eye-candy. However, something strong and powerful drew him to the Viking. Could this be his chance at happiness? Or would it be just another Rory who couldn’t return his love?

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Naughty-Escapes-Eleven-Vacation-Getaways-ebook/dp/B00ZJJ1QSC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434251533&sr=1-1&keywords=Naughty+Escapes

Berengaria Brown’s links:
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Website: http://berengariabrown.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1419237103&sr=1-2-ent
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Berengaria+Brown

Naughty Escapes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG3buFFmJrw

Write What You Know: Paranormal Edition by Regina Kammer

Beginning writers are often advised to “write what you know,” that way words and stories and emotions will resound authentically. The general public has glommed on to this aphorism and often conflates “write what you know” with “write your actual lived experience”. Erotica and erotic romance writers especially fall victim to this definition. We get a lot of “heh, heh” “snicker, snicker” at parties and such, because of course we’ve all done every blessed thing our characters have done.

Sigh.

The weird thing is that no one asks murder mystery writers if they’ve ever killed a person, or pseudo-medieval fantasy authors if they’ve quashed enemies to garner a throne, or vampire epic authors if they enjoy the taste of blood. Nope. It’s just the sex writers who get asked all the crazy questions.

Someday I’m just going to say, yes, if you’ve read it, I’ve done it, so why don’t you just go out and buy all my books, please, and then we’ll talk about time traveling back to 1777 New York and getting gang-banged by Hessians and a British general.

The truth behind writing fiction is far more interesting and fun. I’ve written about the weird experience of characters who refused to do what I wanted them to do, of characters who utterly drove a sex scene (and again), and having history spark my imagination.

As I delve more fully into unknown frontiers of writing, though, “write what you know” takes on a whole new meaning. I wanted to write Steampunk, but I know nothing about machines. Yet, I do know enough about the Victorian era to tweak it a bit. I wanted to write about Vikings, but my academic background is in the Late Roman-Early Byzantine period. Ah-ha! The Vikings paid a visit to Byzantine Constantinople. I thought about writing paranormal, and...

I got nothing.

I seriously do not understand things like shape-shifters and vampires, and it takes a really good writer to make those things sexy to me. I swore I would never write paranormal for these reasons.

I was taking a writing class a couple of years ago, and we had to post a link to an excerpt. I had only one polished excerpt to share at the time, from Hadrian and Sabina: A Love Story, an epic historical erotic romance, with four intertwining love stories. Upon re-reading the excerpt I suddenly realized: oh my god this is paranormal.

So I had already written paranormal, just not the kind of paranormal (e.g., vampires, shape-shifters) that’s really popular. It was a kind of paranormal I knew, with Greco-Roman gods and goddesses and a dream-like setting. I went back and re-read Hadrian and, lo and behold, there were other light paranormal elements, including a great four-way sex scene.

When the Naughty Literati were planning our anthology Naughty Flings with a springtime theme, I asked myself “what do I know about spring?” (because, um, you know, the whole write what you know thing). Hmmm...the end of winter’s frost brings a rejuvenation of the earth...agriculture...Demeter, the goddess of agriculture...who brings winter to the earth when her daughter Persephone is abducted by Hades...and spring arrives when Persephone is released. I’d written about all of that before, in Hadrian and Sabina. In that book I offered an alternate interpretation of the Persephone myth. And in "Hot as Hades" I offer yet another interpretation.

I had a lot of fun writing the story -- the paranormal story. I hope you enjoy reading it.

About the Author
Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, Amazon best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels have been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website http://kammerotica.com/
Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica
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See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

By The Seat Of My Pants

There are two primary ways to write, either you're a plotter or a pantser. Neither is wrong, all that matters is what works for the author. As the name implies, plotters plot and plan, many have the entire book mapped out in a detailed outline before they move on to the writing stage. Panster's are the opposite and typically have an idea of who the characters are and where they want the tale to start. From there they follow where the characters lead, writing by the seat of their pants.

I didn't learn that until I actually became an author. All through grade school and college, I thought there was something wrong with how my brain worked because I could not outline to save my life. Every time I had to write a paper, I had to complete the whole thing well in advance of when the outline had to be turned in. After writing the paper, I would then go back and write the outline required for the assignment from the finished paper. I had no idea there were many others who did the same thing. It wasn't until working on my bachelors degree that a teacher finally told me that being a pantster was normal for many people.

And then there's another wrench in the whole thing because some people can write various scenes out of order while others have to write in a straight line from start to finish. That's  me. I have to start at the beginning of a story and work my way straight through to the end. So I am a linear pantser. I start knowing who my hero and heroine are, what sub-genre or romance their world revolves around, what they do for a living and how they meet. I will have a general idea of how I want their relationship to develop, some obstacles I want to throw in their way and then I sit down and write.

Most of the time this works great but there are times I will get stuck and cannot see where they are going next. At those times I have to step back, do some thinking about their goals and motivations to figure out how to continue. Then there are those rare, wonderful times when writing feels as if you are channeling the characters, everything is just there and the author is merely a scribe, writing it all down.

I've had that happen once. A story came to me out of the blue. In first-person, which I had never written in that style. And it was from the hero's perspective. Going with the flow, I let the character drive and still to this day have no idea where his story came from. I wrote Sebastian's story so quickly, stunned by how it was just there. As if I'd channelled the character.

Recently, I had the rights to that story, Trip My Switch, reverted to me and did some revisions to re-publish. It was really cool to get back into the hero's head and discover that I still feel a strong connection to him. When I picked the manuscript back up it was instant and almost like visiting a close friend who will always have a special place in my heart.

Getting to design the cover for myself this time was a lot of fun for me. I spent days searching stock sties for the perfect trio for this naughty BDSM M/M/F menage. The revised story is in the hands of my editor and will soon be available for your reading pleasure. I hope you'll fall for Sebastian, Chris and Marissa as deeply as I have.

Happy Reading,
Nicole

Whipped by WIPs: One Writer’s 6 Step Approach to Binge Writing by Belle Scarlett

My proverbial writer's drawing board is, at any given time, populated by six (6) to ten (count ‘em 10) Works in Progress (WIPs) across multiple genres.  They often exist as disconnected mosaic pieces via various colored Post-It notes stuck to the broken coffee maker, the bathroom mirror, in the black hole that is my oversized purse, on the Cat… You get the picture.

I’ve accepted long ago that my writing process has an ordered messiness to it. (And I’ve just accepted that I tend use parentheticals and oxymorons when describing my writing process.)

Sometimes, a story idea springs forth from my imagination fully formed like Athena from Zeus’ forehead.  When that lightning bolt happens, I turn into a world champion, marathon typist.  It feels like I’m merely taking dictation for a story that is already fully fleshed from characters that are living, breathing people sitting next to me and tipping me off as to what they’ll say and do next.

I love it when that happens. I love it the way I love smelling the flowers before I see them. Or the way easing into a hot bubble bath with a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio makes me feel blissful.

For a writer, it’s pretty cool not to mention super convenient when a story cooperates in such a way that I’m just the hand scratching the magic quill across the parchment, channeling a work that’s already been created and dropped down from the ether for me to ink.

That’s happened to me maybe once.  When I blog, even less than that.

The rest of the time, I’m being whipped 24/7 by six (6) to ten (10) WIPs at a time. The only way I can finish them is one at a time and by binge writing them.

Here’s how it goes down:

1) TITLE

Without warning, a title with a connected theme rudely slaps me like swatter on a fly. That can be really inconvenient when I’m driving in tricky L.A. traffic or trapped in the dentist’s chair with a drill buzzing in my mouth.

For example, the title for my most recent Naughty Literati story for our summer release, Naughty Escapes, literally hit me while I was flying to Miami. The plane I was in hit some of the worst chop I've ever experienced. The overhead compartment popped open, vomiting a couple of laptop bags on my head. The laptops inside them were fine. My head, not so much. But that was insignificant next to the concern we were gonna crash.

Once we leveled out and the stewardess brought me my free Bloody Mary painkiller-slash-bribe not to sue anyone, it occurred to me that the Bermuda Triangle is off the coast of Florida, and wouldn't it be fun to crash my threesome M/F/M characters' plane there so they'd be forced to work out their relationship issues while castaway on a tropical island paradise? Maybe it was the Bloody Mary talking, but I felt that my new romance concept for The Bermuda (Love) Triangle was born thanks to getting a lump on my head. 

Moral of the story: Just like a free lunch, brain-storming titles always comes with a price. It's is a dangerous business; not for the faint of heart. 

2) GENRE

It becomes clear to me very quickly from the title and the theme if the project wants to be born as a romance novel, a mainstream novel, a feature film, a short film, a children’s book, a blog, or a bubble gum wrapper.  In this case, “Whipped By WIPs” just wouldn’t cut it as a Pulitzer Prize-winning erotica novel. So, blog it is.

3) FIRST AND LAST SCENES WRITE THEMSELVES

I know instantly how the story begins and how it ends. But, just like Jon Snow, I know nothing about what happens in between writing the opening scene and, “They all lived sexily ever after.”  The most difficult, 

time-consuming work happens after the twenty seconds it takes for steps 1-3 to occur to me.

4) DEVELOPMENT HELL

When a WIP is acting like a high-riding bitch, it’s hard to make myself sit down and stare at the dreaded Evil Blinking Cursor (a.k.a. EBC) until my forehead bleeds.  Luckily, there are all kinds of productive ways to avoid confronting bratty characters and reluctant plot arcs.  I clean the house from top to bottom. Then from bottom to top. Organize drawers and closets.  Re-grout the tub. Paint the kitchen. Hey, I’ll come over and re-grout your tub and paint your kitchen.  

Friends who stop by gape at my sparkling clean home and have to sit down in all astonishment.  “I bet Development Hell starts tomorrow,” they guess out loud.

I go shopping for healthy writing provisions like apples, oranges, and peaches. Lots of sparkling water. As back up I add to the shopping cart a bottle of brandy and put the pizza joint down the street on my speed-dial.  

Next, I go through the house, collecting a rainbow cache of Post-It notes crammed with ideas or bits of dialogue scribbled in my Southpaw clawmanship. I clear my social calendar for the next fourteen to sixteen days and call my family.  “Talk to you in a couple of weeks,” I say. 

By now they know this is code for, “If I don’t return your call, I’m binge writing.  No need to put my face on a milk carton or send in the National Guard.”

Finally, there is nothing else left to do, unless you count eternally Facebooking pictures of The Cat to avoid getting started on a new story.  I have this wild hunch my editors would disagree that “Catbooking” is an acceptable use of writing time.  I also wish Tweeting counted towards my WIP daily word count goal, but alas.

I’m finally forced to snuggle up with my laptop on the lounger on my patio with provisions and power cord at my elbow so that there are no excuses to get out of said lounger until I write the final scene.

After a TBD length of time in a stare down with the eternally blinking cursor, I make myself type a sentence. And the next.  If it’s crap, I give myself permission to write crap until the good stuff flows.  It always does, but it usually happens at last rather than at once.  As for the crap I wrote before that, that’s what the comforting delete button is for.

Toilet Humor

Once I’m in the writing groove, my characters stop acting like shy strangers passing notes in gym class and suddenly begin to talk to one another. In fact, I can’t shut them up much less predict what they’ll say and do next.  Plot snarls stop snarling at me. I suddenly know the mid-point plot twist and it’s bullet proof.  I know for sure I’m deep into my literary process when I get really mad that I have to get up to use the bathroom.

Cut to three days later.  I’m still surfing the writing jag pretty much in the same position and clothing as on day one. A periodic shot of brandy.  A couple of fitful snoozes in the lounger where my characters are now insistent guest stars in my dreams with confidential no quote deals all demanding the biggest dressing room. Then I wake from my fitful doze and start writing again.  

Eventually, I realize I’m out of necessary provisions like pizza and Fancy Feast and have been for about twelve hours. The pizza joint stops delivering after midnight and The Cat won't shop for himself.  Slackers.  

Throwing on a trench coat over my candy-stripped PJs and fuzzy slippers, I drive to the “Rock and Roll” Ralph’s.  I vaguely note curious looks from the rock stars who grocery shop there after House of Blues closes at 2 a.m.

Once in a while a kindly musician type finds me wandering in the diary aisle trying to remember what milk is.

“Hey, you okay?” Mickey Dolenz or Bret Michaels asks. 

I de-frag my story-drunk brain long enough to reply, “Yeah… I’m a writer.” 

Instant realization dawns on Mickey or Bret’s face. “Ah.” 

They grab a carton of almond milk or whatever and drift off toward the produce aisle.

5) BE CONSISTENT

Lather, rinse, and repeat the writing jag section for fourteen to sixteen days.

6) WRITING IS REWRITING

I re-surface in the real world and have to look at the calendar to see what day it is. The WIP is no longer a Work in Progress meting out to me forty proverbial lashes per day.  It’s now a fully fleshed story, with a cohesive beginning, middle, and HEA.  My initially shy, reclusive, and sometimes rebellious characters have become old friends I’d want to hang out with in real life.

I’m breathing the rarified air of a writer who just whipped a WIP into shape.  It’s way better than a hot bubble bath with a chilled Pinot Grigio in hand, or smelling the flowers before I see them.

I make myself step away from the story for a bit.  Getting out of my writing lounger is just as hard for me as getting into it.  I actually have to make myself not re-re-re-read it right then and there.  My favorite part of the writing process is in the polishing, finding the exact better word, quip, turn of phrase, or description to tighten and refine the novel, novella, feature film, short, blog, or bubble gum wrapper that I’ve just wrestled to the mat.  But revisions and tweaks will have to wait for a couple of days.  I have to let the first draft dust settle a bit.  And recover my eyesight.

I check my messages and emails.  I’m told by any number of family and friends that I will shower and change my clothes today.  I do, but only after sleeping for thirteen hours straight and updating The Cat’s Facebook status.