Saturday quickies

I had ideas for two blogs this morning, but we’re going carpet shopping today so I don’t have time to explore them fully.  So here’s what occurred to me today.

First thought: I understand escapism. I saw a good quote on a bumper sticker: "Reality is for people who lack imagination." Imagination is my escape from reality, from judgment, and sometimes from plain old boredom. Writers choose to share their imagination with others and risk being judged for it, but if we don't share, we're not happy. I'm not anyway. I need an audience. My audience understands and that's why I write.

Second thought: Celebrate every success, large or small, and when you don’t have any successes, celebrate someone else’s.  So yay for book releases! Yay for impending book releases! Yay for book sales even if it’s just one or two! Yay for time to write! Yay for ideas when there’s no time to write! Yay for people who understand!

I was a cheerleader in high school so let me know what you have to celebrate today, and I’ll cheer for you.  Yay for new carpet!

Don't tempt me. Oh okay, go ahead.

I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it. ~ Mae West

I felt compelled to write about temptation today.  I have no will power. The best and worst part about working and writing at home is the refrigerator.  I can’t resist snacking so I don’t keep snacks in the house. When I get the munchies I usually end up eating something weird, melted cheese for example.  Not melted over anything, just melted.  Yum.  If I do for some reason have snack food available, I eat it all at once to ‘get rid of the temptation’. Yeah, sure. So I avoid food temptations by avoiding them or eliminating them.

One temptation I don’t bother avoiding or eliminating is men.  I’ve always been a lusty girl.  My first celebrity crush was Jon Baker from CHiPs. He was cute and sweet, an all-around good guy hero.  Then one summer my mom dragged me to a sci fi movie I never heard of and I abandoned my good guy crush in favor of my first bad boy—Han Solo.  (Han shot first!)  Wow.  The rest of my girlfriends liked Luke, but I wanted Han.  I’ve always been the different one. When I was in college, away from my mom’s no rock music rule, I discovered Richard Marx and Jon Bon Jovi and my long hair fetish was born. 

So what’s my point? I don’t really have one. This is just an excuse to daydream and post pics of yummy (to me) guys.  I could go on about Bruce Campbell  (told you I was different), Brendan Fraser (yummy mummy slayer), and Christian Kane (OMFG), or Drew Barrymore (I’m open-minded) but I gotta get something done. 

What was I doing again? ;) Who was your first crush (male or female)? 

Have a great day!

Teacher judged for writing erotic romance

In case you missed it: http://snydercounty.wnep.com/news/news/parents-english-teacher-writes-racy-novels/58743

I don’t know where to start.  There are so many directions I could take. I’m trying to collect my thoughts on this subject, but my brain is fried from formatting all morning, so forgive me if I don’t make much sense.

As a romance author: my first thought was what if it happened to me?  I’ve blogged about my mom’s and my friends’ uptight, fundamental ideas.  If Judy Mays were a teacher in the community where I grew up, my friends and family would be among the first to ostracize her.  If they found out about me, I have no doubt they would condemn me just as quickly. How would I react? With my head held high, dammit.

As a mom: I will not shelter my daughter. I will do my best to protect her, but I will not forbid her to read things I may or may not agree with.  I will teach her to think for herself.  She can read my books if she’s interested in them. 

As a human being: this really is none of my business. Why does it matter what adults do in their free time? As long as she isn’t doing anything illegal or hurting anyone, I don’t need to know about it.  And no, erotica isn’t illegal or harmful.  Sex is a great stress reliever.  Maybe if more adults got laid more often, they wouldn’t need to take their frustrations out on other people.

As a romance reader: where can I get her books? Here’s one place: Amazon Kindle

And here’s more: Copia Romance All Romance

Here’s her website: http://www.judymays.com/judymaysbiography.htm

It’s good to see the romance community coming together to support one of our.  Maybe we can teach the world a thing or two about love. 

Yeah, I'm a tease

I found these interview questions on Erotica for All. I don’t know when I’ll be featured on their site, so I thought I’d post a few of them just to get you excited. ;)

• How did you start writing erotica?
• I’ve been reading romance novels since I was in junior high.  My mom took them away from me, but that just made me want to read more.  After I got married, I got a subscription to Playgirl magazine and I spent more time reading the stories than looking at the pictures.  Really!  I wrote three short stories, sent them in and two of them were published, one as Fantasy of the Month.  I’ve been writing sex ever since.

• What’s your favourite published work of yours and why?
• My favorite published book is Tell Me You Want Me. It was my first novel and I fell in love with the bad boy hero (he’s a lot like my husband).
• Who is your favourite character from one of your stories and why?
• Jack Wheeler from Tell Me You Want Me and Secret Storm.  He’s a man with a dark past. On the surface, he’s charming and sociable, but underneath there’s a terrible secret haunting him.  He’s scarred physically and emotionally.  He intrigues me and he’s great in bed. ;)
• How do you get yourself in the mood to write?
• I daydream. 
• If you get writer’s block when you’re writing, how do you get around it?
• Two things: write stream of consciousness until I get the problem worked out, or take a shower.  I get great ideas in the shower.
• If you could bring one of your characters to life, which one would it be and why?
• Jack – I want to check out the scars on his body. 
• What’s your favourite genre within erotica and why?
• I like erotic romance. That’s what I write.  I write contemporary, but I read historical, especially Scottish historicals.  I love men in kilts!
• What’s the biggest writing challenge you’ve ever taken on? Did you succeed?
• Writing my first novel.  No, publishing and selling my first novel.  Writing was the easy part.  Selling it, especially when you’re self-published, is a HUGE challenge.

If you’re an erotica author, you can submit profile information to Erotica for All.

My mother told me to be a good girl

…but she never told me why.  All my life, I’ve always done what I’ve been told. Do your homework, Jane. Get good grades, Jane. Stay away from boys, Jane. 

Today I met this guy…Austin Sinclair.  I know who he is—campus heartbreaker, troublemaker—all around bad boy. He doesn’t know me, of course.  Why does that bug me?  It’s not like I’m looking for a guy.  It’s my senior year, and I’m focused on my career. I have no time and no need for men.

So why can’t I stop thinking about him?  He called me baby, sweetheart. God, that made me feel….  Anyway, I told him I wouldn’t go out with him unless he found out my name. I have nothing to worry about. He won’t bother.  Guys don’t chase after a girl like me.  I’m boring.  I’m plain. I’m a good girl.

But I don’t want to be good anymore. When Austin pressed his body up against mine (wow) I wanted to be bad—really bad—and somewhere, deep inside me, a bad girl came to life. Even if I never see Austin again, I’d like to know that bad girl better. But you know…I keep hoping he will find out my name. I’d love to see what happens then.

Meet Jane Elliot’s bad girl in Tell Me You Want Me available now on Kindle and Nook.        

Tell Me You Want Me - Kindle

Tell Me You Want Me - Nook

Tell Me You Want Me is featured on Indie eBooks today!

Tell Me You Want Me - Indie eBooks

The bad boy appeal

I wrote the original version of this post while Lost was still on the air.

I watched the season premiere of Lost last night. Sawyer, the con man, is one of my favorite objects o’lust. He makes me hot in ways I can only begin to describe. Every week my husband asks me what I see in him (are you blind?) and other than the obvious fact that he’s gorgeous, the most appealing thing about Sawyer is that he’s a bad boy.

Yes, Sawyer and all bad boys can be pretty dangerous, but there is just something about them that makes many women wet, not just me. Let me see if I can explain why a bad boy appeals to me.

·         No strings attached. A bad boy is not marriage material. He’s not even relationship material. He is raw sex.

·         He’s dangerous. You don’t know what kind of trouble he’s going to start, but you can bet it’s gonna be a thrill ride.

·         You can’t control him. He doesn’t ask you what you like in bed. He tells you. Sometimes he doesn’t even tell you. Talk is overrated.

·         He doesn’t make love or have sex with you. He fucks you. He fucks you well.

·         He’s not afraid to get a little rough. A broken bed frame and a bruise or two means you had a good night.

Austin Sinclair, from Tell Me You Want Me, is a charming bad boy.  Playful and fun, his only threat to you is losing your heart.  His naughty personality was inspired by my husband.  Jack Wheeler, from Secret Storm, is a man with a secret past. Potentially dangerous when he loses control, he has a few bad boy moments—in the shower with Sara, for example.

Why is all that appealing? Bad boys appeal to my sexual nature at its most basic level. Primitive, animal, urgent.

I know there’s more, but I’m finding it hard to think straight at the moment. ;-) Who is your favorite bad boy?