I was talking to an artist friend at a party recently, and he mentioned listening to some author interviews where they described how they create their characters. He was astounded that some authors create very detailed backstories and personality inventories for their characters, including information that never makes it into the final novel. He asked if I did the same.
I confess I do not. Continue reading
I’m a really slow writer. Really slow. It’s a combination of: I can’t actually type very quickly, and I think too much. Thoughts pile up in my brain because I cannot type (or write) them down fast enough, and the thoughts at the bottom of that pile get compressed so much so I become, quite literally, at a loss for words. Continue reading
Oh, how I love my villain in The Pleasure Device, Dr. Julius Christopher.
But is he really a villain? He’s sexually aggressive, a little kinky, and far too ambitious, but deep down inside there’s a little spark of humanity. I’ll be exploring that little spark in Book 3 of The Harwell Heirs. But for now, with Book 1, The Pleasure Device, you get to see his villainous side. Continue reading
Another snippet from my most recent release, The Pleasure Device, book 1 in my Harwell Heirs series. Last week our heroine Helena had her first glimpse of the hero Nicholas (who looks a lot like Ioan Gruffudd. Lucky girl.) at her first ball during the London Season of 1879. This week our hero has his first glimpse of Helena across the room at the very same ball. Continue reading
Another snippet from my most recent release, The Pleasure Device, book 1 in my Harwell Heirs series. At the point in the story where this snippet takes place, the reader has already met our hero Dr. Nicholas Ramsay (in all his orgiastic glory), but our heroine Helena has not. So, really the title of this blog post should more correctly be “Nicholas from Helena’s point of view”. Continue reading
I’m back for Snippet Sunday* after a hiatus. During said hiatus I published The Pleasure Device, book 1 in my Victorian-era Harwell Heirs series, and turned in book 2 (title reveal! You saw it here first!: working title Lord Petersham’s Contract now called Disobedience By Design), to my publisher, Ellora’s Cave. So, of course I’m going to promote The Pleasure Device! Continue reading
Whew! I just finished Book 2 of my Harwell Heirs series on Friday December 13th and sent it to my editor at Ellora’s Cave. While I was editing and polishing that manuscript (working title: Lord Petersham’s Contract), I wrote 50,000 words of Book 3 in the series (working title: Miss Danby’s Condition) for November’s National Novel Writing Month. This intensive period of writing solidified a belief I’ve had about writing erotica from day one: sex is driven by the characters and not by the author. Continue reading
I’ve mentioned my 2011 National Novel Writing Month novel, Dr. Christopher’s Device, a few times. I’m totally excited that it will be released on November 27, 2013, by Ellora’s Cave as The Pleasure Device. In October, one of my short stories (actually a short, short work of flash fiction), “The Demonstration”, was released as part of Go Deeper Press’s Dirty Little Numbers anthology.
What I’ve not told anyone yet is how the two stories are related. Continue reading
National Novel Writing Month begins in 12 days – but who’s counting?
This will be my eighth year doing NaNoWriMo, and my seventh book. Continue reading
About a year ago, some friends of mine (with writerly connections) established a restaurant in my neighborhood. Their presence in our ‘hood was highly anticipated, and we residents watched assiduously and patiently while they turned an old laundromat into an eatery. They opened one day to little fanfare, and with a limited menu, but for a week they were packed to the gills with friends and neighbors.
Then they closed for two days. The “soft launch” was over. They re-opened to reviewers and the general public with a full menu and all the managerial kinks worked out.
And thus it is with the 5th anniversary edition of The General’s Wife. Continue reading