Tag Archives: writing

NaNoNoMore: Artificial Intrusion

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I have a story to tell. The first year I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), 2006, I told a computer programmer friend of mine about the event. If you don’t know, NaNoWriMo is a seat-of-your-pants, self-motivated challenge where you write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. By writing 50,000 words, you become a NaNoWriMo “winner”. My programmer friend said she could write a script in a few minutes that would repeat a word 50,000 times, so would that make her a winner?

Um, no. Continue reading →

Inspiration: Antiquities, Accents, and Together Alone

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This is my Discovering Her Delight inspiration post. Warning! There are spoilers ahead for the book. If you don’t mind spoilers, read on. If you don’t like your romance spoiled, read Discovering Her Delight first!

An Initial Inspiration

I started the notes for Discovering Her Delight way back in 2014 (then known as Discovering Her Desire). I knew it was going to be a story centered on an archaeological expedition, I just wasn’t clear on the specifics. An archaeologist friend of mine had a bizarre idea: what if the hero had to write on the heroine’s back?

So I held on to that thought, and it continued to inspire the story. Why would he need to do this? Under what circumstances? And how would he do it in 1881? Continue reading →

NaNoPrep2023: The Rebellion Begins

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I have participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) since 2006. So this November, 2023, will be my 18th NaNoWriMo.

Holy Wow. That’s a lot of novels.

No, really, it is. I have nine (yes, 9) unfinished novels. And they are really good novels. Eight are related to existing series. (The standalone is 2021’s Super Sekrit Steampunk novel.)

So I came to the conclusion that I really, really, REALLY need to finish these novels. And I really, really need to spend my NaNoWriMo November writing time to achieve this goal rather than starting more new novels. Continue reading →

Sex and the Seasoned Romance

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In 2018, I was on a Seasoned Romance panel at the Emerald City Writers Conference. My topic was “Sex and the Seasoned Romance”. I was recently reminded of this presentation when another author posted a rather shocking comment in a seasoned romance author discussion group I am no longer a member of:

“I would not write an erotic romance about an older couple…simply because there’s a level of maturity that makes their sexual relationship much deeper and more meaningful, because of all they’ve been through.”

Uh…that’s exactly why an author can write a seasoned erotic romance! Or even just sex scenes featuring seasoned characters.

I’m still trying to get my head around what this author might have meant. Does she think “erotic romance” means lots of vacuous, meaningless sex? Because that’s not what an erotic romance is at all. In fact, the “maturity that makes their sexual relationship much deeper and more meaningful” feeds into what an erotic romance is: a sexual journey leading to a happily-ever-after. Continue reading →

NaNoPrep2022: Steampunk Rebel!

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This year has been a difficult one. My mother died unexpectedly. My father continues to live under hospice care. So I’m taking it easy with my 2022 National Novel Writing Month November effort. Which means I’m going to, yet again, be a NaNo Rebel.

What’s a NaNoWriMo Rebel you might ask? Someone who bucks the NaNoWriMo tradition of writing 50,000 words of a brand new novel during November. The team over at National Novel Writing Month has FAQs in their discussion forum. Continue reading →

NaNoPrep2021: Sooper Sekrit Steampunk Romance

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It’s October and once again time for NaNoPrep. “Preptober” is the time when authors all over the world prepare their National Novel Writing Month novel. This year my novel is called The Sooper Sekrit Steampunk Story. Yes, it will be Steampunk! Yes, there will be romance! But, I only have sort of an idea of what’s going to happen! Continue reading →

Getting to know me: Betty Bolte’s Musings 2020

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This re-post of an interview I did with romance author Betty Bolte is the fourth in a series of blog interviews I’ve done over the years. The first post explains my purpose.

Betty Bolte’s Interview

Today’s post is from a 2020 interview I did for Betty Bolte’s blog to promote Resistance. Betty is one of the authors who participated in the Common Elements Romance Project, and she generously offered space on her popular blog for her colleagues. Continue reading →

Heat levels vs. erotic romance (and erotica)

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In one of my writers’ groups the subject of heat levels in romance came up, and how to describe romance novel sexy times (or lack thereof) on some sort of scale.

You probably think this is an easy discussion, right? Ha!

There is literally no industry standard for heat levels, and yet romance readers constantly want to know what to expect sexiness-wise between the covers.

Having no industry standard means everyone has their own opinion including one particular retailer which randomly puts romance books into their “Erotica Dungeon” even if said romance book is not erotica (plus erotica is not a heat level — more on that below). Continue reading →

Getting to know me: Gemma Snow’s Interview 2017

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This re-post of an interview I did with erotic romance author Gemma Snow is the third in a series of blog interviews I’ve done over the years. The first post explains my purpose.

Gemma Snow’s Interview

Today’s post is from a 2017 interview I did for Gemma Snow’s blog to promote The Westerman Affair when it was originally published by Loose Id. I met Gemma Snow virtually as a fellow Loose Id author. Loose Id is a now-defunct publisher, and both Gemma and I have republished our books.

The Interview

I got to sit down with Regina Kammer to talk writing, inspiration and her new book, The Westerman Affair! Continue reading →

NaNoPrep2020: Pantsing Adam and Lydia’s story

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Welp, it’s October 2020 and time for NaNoPrep2020, otherwise known as Preptober. Also, it’s the absolute end of October and I really just started prepping my NaNoWriMo novel this week. Ugh, sigh.

But, I have a premise, I have the fake NaNo cover, and I think farming is over for right now. (Okay, well, farming never ends, but it sometimes takes a seasonal break. By the way, did you know I was a gentlefolk farmer?)

This year I’m totally pantsing it. I have a vague premise of a story involving Lydia and Adam from The Vicereine, the sex club in my Art & Discipline series. The title is tentatively A Model Alliance.

Who are Lydia and Adam, you might ask?
Continue reading →