I’m pleased to say that Emma Sanders, author, CP and dear friend has gifted me with a blog award. This is a neat award because it’s not only a little kudo, it’s “blog with a purpose”. I’m not sure my blog is anymore than my personal ramblings, but I’m happy to think someone thinks it has a purpose! Emma’s one of my CPs and without her help, I’m sure I wouldn’t be a published author. She’s been wonderful reading through and critiquing all my stuff (and one of my last books had a minor hole in the plot and she found it!)and I love her for it!
The rules are:
1. nominate 5 blogs which haven’t had this award before (I thought this would be difficult, but I’m having a really hard time choosing only 5 *sigh*)
2. each of the blogs must have a purpose
3. the nominated blogs must make a link back to this page
4. the logo from the award must be put on their blog and it must link back to this blog!
But you know me, I never follow the rules. I’m going to give you links to 5 wonderful blogs and I hope you enjoy going there. I will not however, wrestle the authors and ask them to link back here or post to 5 other blogs. Mostly because I’m breaking another rule. I’m linking to more than 5 blogs and a couple of them already had this award.
1. Tip of the Quill – Jennifer Linforth is the author of the upcoming “Madrigal” series. Her first book is a continuation of the Phantom of the Opera and is due out from Highland Press in the fall of 2008. She blogs on wonderful historical topics and LOTS of phantom information. She’s also one of CPs who keeps me on track. I’m not sure I could do this whole publishing thing without her in my corner.
2. Under and Over – Denise Rosetti is a multi-published author from Australia who always has wonderful writing snippets or just fun stuff on her blog. I love going “down” there to visit. She’s just a very neat lady and willing to share herself with new writers like me!
3. Alien Barbeque – April Martinez is head of the art department over at Liquid Silver Books. I love visiting her blog because she always posts the beautiful book covers she has designed for LSB and other publishers. The woman is very talented. (I would have linked to Anne Cain, my very talented cover artist, but she doesn’t have an active blog … both very talented ladies!)
4. Roxy’s Flog Blog – Roxy Harte is a very talented erotic author. She’s helped me on more than one occasion with information on certain scenes involving bondage. But, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea … on her blog she shares her personal struggles and triumphs in publication. It’s just fun to pop over there and see what she’s up to.
5. MS is a crappy disease that can really drag people down. But there is nothing more uplifting than visiting the blogs of people with this disease that get up every morning, smile at the world, and keep going despite their disability. Mima’s Doings and Disabled Not Dead are two such wonderful woman who persevere despite their circumstances.
6. The Redneck Romance Writer – (I told you I couldn’t just pick 5) Jennifer Leeland (McKenzie) is a awesome writer I met through Liquid Silver. She has a wicked sense of humor and a heart the size of Texas. I visit her blog nearly every day. (Don’t yell at me Jen … I know I should be writing the sequel to “Healer’s” … but sometimes you’re too much fun to hang around!)
And Mima is so sweet, she gave me another award “You Make My Day” for my blog, but try as I might, I can’t get the picture to post… you all will just have to believe me! Really … she did!
I am so pleased to welcome erotic author Denise Rosetti all the way from down under. A multi-published author, she has agreed to stop by for a chat about her latest release… Strongman: Book 3 in the Phoenix Rising series. (ISBN: 978-1419914973 a male/male fantasy available now through Ellora’s Cave.)
When the credits rolled up for Brokeback Mountain were you in tears? Denise Rossetti was.
Then she got mad – two souls who were destined to be together, so much love, so totally wasted. All because of the society those men lived in. But what if a similar situation occurred in another place, at another time? In a world Rossetti knew well? Her writer’s brain started churning…
Enter Stage Center – Fortitude McLaren, a hard-bitten mercenary who’s had a gutful of mud and blood and death. Brought up in the bigoted society of the Straight Church on the fantasy world of Phoenix.
Enter Stage left – Griff, acrobat and knife-thrower, lithe and athletic, a man with a gift for friendship, for caring.
Put the players together and you get something like this…
When Fortitude McLaren joins the Ten Nations Fair as a roustabout, he’s shocked and angered by his hunger for Griff, a circus performer. Fort regards manlove with indifference and contempt.
Not for him. Never for him.
Although Fort fights with everything in him, Griff affects him like no one else. It’s not just his strong, supple body, the big mercenary is irresistibly drawn by the openhearted friendship the other man offers so freely.
Fort may have found a friend, but the cruel memories of his childhood are the greatest enemy of all. When a job for Jan the Aetherii puts Griff in danger, Fort discovers what’s really at risk-everything he is and everything he’s ever believed in. To save Griff’s life and preserve his own sanity, Fort must not only fight the battle in his soul, he must win it.
About the Author: When Denise Rossetti was very young, she had an aunt who would tell her the most wonderful fairy stories — all completely original. Denise grew up, as little girls do, but the love of stories has never left her.
These days, she lives in a comfortable, messy old house in the Australian suburbs and writes erotic fantasy and paranormal romance. Her work is intense, lyrical and excitingly different. One reviewer called it “erotically intelligent, intelligently erotic”.
Rossetti is currently published by Ellora’s Cave and Avon Red. THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW, the first book in her erotic fantasy quartet for Berkley Ace, will be released on 4th November 2008. She has also a story appearing in the Berkley Heat anthology, UNLACED (2nd December 2008), together with authors Jasmine Haynes, Jaci Burton and Joey W. Hill. She’s thinking of changing her name to Jenise to go with the flow.
Rossetti is small and noisy and dreadfully uncoordinated. She tends to wave her hands around a lot, which can be unfortunate if the tale she’s telling happens to have explosions in it!
Denise agreed to let me ask questions about her book, her writing habits and her personal life… silly Denise.
What advice would you give to aspiring erotic romance writers?
Hoo boy! There’s SO MUCH advice out there – and really, I shouldn’t add to it! But I guess I do have a couple of observations to make, can’t help myself. *sigh*
The first is that if you want to write erotic romance, you must be a WRITER, first and foremost. If you don’t get that right, not all the graphic sex scenes in the world will save you. The second is that you need to be completely at ease with whatever sex you’re writing. If you’re out of your comfort zone it will show. There’s a whole lot more in an article I wrote called Some Write it Hot: Musings and Myths about Erotic Romance
Back to being a WRITER. If you’re an aspiring author, take it or leave what I’m going to say, okay? Because if you take on board too many opinions and “systems” and bloody RULES, you’ll end up second-guessing yourself – every word, every phrase. I really abhor “how to write” books, even though many of them are both logical and insightful. But that’s because my head doesn’t work that way. You do what’s best for you, right?
Always remember that reading is a totally subjective experience and so is writing. One person’s “desert island keeper” is another’s “wall-banger”. Therefore, it’s essential that you stay true to yourself, and to your “voice”. Your take on the world is unique, no one writes quite like you. Celebrate your voice!
I know it may be unPC to say this, but I actually believe in talent. Yes, OF COURSE, hard work and persistence is important and will help you to improve, but there’s a “spark” you have to have in the first place.
After that, the only way to learn to write is to write! There’s no more magic to it than that. So, for what it’s worth, here’s my advice –
1. Write
2. Read
3. Trust your gut.
4. Write some more
5. Read lots more
6. Then write more and more and more and…
7. WRITE!
See what I’m getting at? *smile* You need to write in order to gather enough experience to know what the “rules” are so you can break them. You need to be confident enough in your own voice that you can accept constructive criticism with genuine gratitude. (Criticism? We’re supposed to listen when someone says they don’t love our baby as much as we do? Oh, yeah, that’s what editing is for…)
What’s your writing schedule like?
A routine – if only… *sigh* The problem with my entire life is that I have next to no routine. And it would help so much if I did. I’m the Queen of Procrastination ruling over the Land of Clutter. I’m catastrophically untidy, to the point of losing things I really do need. As far as I’m concerned, putting something “in a safe place” is a recipe for disaster!
When I do have a writing day, I fluff around until lunchtime at least, doing emails, surfing and stuff. Heck, I don’t even know what it is that I do, except waste time. I usually start writing after lunch and if I’m serious, I have to move the laptop from the study to the bedroom because the wireless access doesn’t work in there. I sit on the bed with one of those tray table things over my legs. The dog lies on the floor and the cat lies on me. Everyone’s happy.
Funnily enough, despite the fact that I’m so careless with physical objects, I’m a very slow, very deliberate writer. I don’t often get carried away and have words simply flow out of my fingers. I have to dig for every single one, which means I need to concentrate. I have a timer on the computer and I turn it for 45 minutes. When it goes off, I’m allowed to check my email. (Did I say I need a 12 step program?) It’s amazing how little I can write in that time. Around 5pm I have this incredible desire to doze off, but the cat comes in and head-butts me until I fix his dinner. The dog just grumbles. So I yawn and go on. By 8pm, I’m firing on all cylinders and if I’m on a roll, sometimes I go ’til after midnight.
What do you wear while you’re writing?
Most of the time I just want to be comfortable, but every now and then, I’ll fish out my special purple dress. It’s one of those pseudo-medieval numbers, with long sleeves, a scoop neck and a floor length skirt. I like the way it swishes. And if I’m having an especially difficult time, I’ll throw a shawl over my shoulders. It’s really a delicate, open-work baby blanket my grandmother knitted for me a very, VERY long time ago. *smile* It always reassures me that I’m loved and that I can do this.
Do you have a “secret or private” drawer, box, shelf, etc. And, if you do, name five things in it.
Brace yourself! I actually have a three drawer bedside table. Five things? Okaaay…
1. A set of Tarot cards. Sadly, I’m too left-brained to let go and be truly intuitive with the Tarot, but I’m totally fascinated by it. I do use the cards for meditation and visualisation, even for plotting sometimes! I love my Robin Wood deck, it’s so beautiful, so rich in Pagan symbolism.
2. Writing stuff – pens and pencils, notepads, USB drive, backup CDs (not paranoid at all, oh no), dictionary and a thesaurus. The thesaurus is the New Oxford and it’s so huge (weighs 5.5 lbs!) that when I heave it onto the bed, My Beloved refers to it as the “co-respondent”.
3. The “smellies” – an oil burner, tea light candles and essential oils. Also a cigarette lighter. (No, I don’t smoke.) I love bergamot and lavender and rose and add a bit of lemongrass for mental stimulation when I’m writing.
4. My “comfort/inspiration” books. I have to have my own, of course, because they’re so precious to me – I print out the ones that are still in ebook. But I also have “Menage” by Emma Holly and “Natural Law” by Joey W. Hill, plus the occasional Georgette Heyer or whatever else I’m reading at the moment. Not that I have much time to read any more. *very deep sigh*
5. Music stuff – the radio/CD/Cassette player and CDs. Plus the remote control. Very handy.
6. The TMI things. You know what they are, because you have them too. And that’s all I’m going to say! *wicked grin* Oh, and spare batteries.
Thank you Denise for sharing yourself with us. Click Here to read an excerpt of Strongman from Ellora’s Cave. And to learn about my guest from Australia please visit her blog, website, or her MySpace page.
I’ve got her tied up… er… visiting for a couple of days. Please feel free to ask her questions about her books, her sex life and her writing.
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