Today I am pointing you in the direction of the Hitting the Hotspot Blog. I tell you all about the fun and frolicks I had in Lincoln with Elizabeth Coldwell, Serena Yates and Total-E-Bound’s Claire, Nicki, Heidi and Emmy! It involved Thai food, Reindeers, Bathbombs, Thumbs and these yummy cakes!

It will explain why every time I hear the words ‘thumbs’ and ‘spreadsheets’ I crack up laughing. You will also find out why it is always Christmas in Lincoln! So what are you waiting for? Pop on over and check out my Blog right now!

TEB Ladies Do Lincoln »

Reading Like a Writer by K D Grace

When I read as a writer, what I read — no matter what it is — but especially if it’s fiction, becomes a whole different animal. I realized this after reading a particularly fabulous short story that completely enthralled me for the course of several thousand words. And when I came back to the real world, I found myself not only analyzing what made the story so amazing, but analyzing how I as a writer read it differently than I would if I weren’t a writer.

I don’t think any writer can approach a story without viewing it, at least to some degree, on the level of the writing. As I analyzed my story reading style, I realized two things. First of all, I always think back over the story after the fact and try to figure out what made it work for me or not. That process within itself can’t keep from changing the story. In a way it becomes a story of multiple plots and constructs the writer never intended, but my mind can’t keep from creating. If in my analysis there are lots of changes I would make, things I would have done differently as the author, at some point it becomes my story, the one I’m writing in my head, and no longer the story the author intended.

For me, the big clue to how I esteem the story is the point at which I begin to analyze. If I’m analyzing the story as I read it, then it’s clearly not going to get five stars on the K D story critique scale. The sooner I begin my analysis while I’m reading, the fewer stars the story or novel rates from me, until at some point it becomes an exercise in editing and recreating it as my own story rather than reading for pleasure. When that happens, the whole process becomes a different experience than the one the writer intended.

If, however, I get totally lost in the story, then my whole internal landscape changes. The writer in me is temporarily replaced by the fascinated little girl who simply loves a good story. When I am pulled in, rough and tumble, to the world the writer has created for me, the story becomes multi-dimensional and experienced twice, sometimes thrice over, sometimes even more. When I’m in the queue at the supermarket, or in bed waiting to fall asleep, when I’m waiting for the bus, I can have the secret pleasure of reliving that story over and over.

Being pulled in is the first part of experiencing a great story. The second part, the analysis part, happens after the fact. When the story moves me, excites me, changes me, then my analysis of it is a different process. Because I don’t feel I can improve on it, analysis then becomes taking the story into myself from a write’s point of view. In other words, what is it that makes this story so fantastic, and how can I incorporate some of that fantastic -ness into my own writing?

A perfect story, a story that pulls me in and devours me whole is a lingering experience. I’m a firm believer that a good story should somehow change the reader. But a good story should also change the writer. A good story should be like discovering a view from a mountaintop that we didn’t know was there before, a view that changes everything, the waterfall we didn’t see, the storm we never expected, the castle that dominates the landscape. A really great story has the potential to make me a better writer, a better weaver of story, a better seer of nuance, a better wielder of my craft.

But a good story should change more than just my views of my writing world. It should touch and stimulate in ways I would not have expected. It should open up the landscapes in my unconscious and my imagination. In some ways, a good story acts as a Muse, and that is the pinnacle of what a writer can glean from a story. I won’t say that doesn’t happen with badly written stories as well, after all the Muse chooses her own time and place. But with a good story, somehow the appearance of the Muse seems more numinous, more dressed for the occasion.

For me, the most powerful element of any story is the key relationship and how it expresses itself. That expression is often sexual, and a well-written sex scene carries with it the weight of human emotion. It carries with it the drive to reach that magical point where two become one, where we are as close to being in the skin of ‘the other’ as it is possible to be. The power of sex and relationship in story can hardly be overstated. Even in mediocre stories, the power of love and relationship can still pull me outside of the editor-me and into the roil of the archetypal story of human need. To me, that means we erotica writers wield one of the most powerful tools in the writing craft; sex in story. Use it poorly and it just sounds stupid and crass. But use it well and it will be the moment in the story that the reader remembers while in the queue at the grocery store, while drifting off to sleep, while waiting for the bus. And it will be remembered with that ache of commonality of all humanity, the driving force within us all. Keeping that in mind, I don’t think it’s any wonder that so many writers fear writing sex.

Thank you, Victoria, for having me as guest on your fabulous site! I’ve had a fantastic time!

It’s Silver Flash day, yay! Today’s prompt is “I am the pilot of the storm.” I had to change it a little to work with the past tense but it is in there!

To quickly recap Antique Seduction started with Richard wanting to buy an item of furniture from Elizabeth’s Antique shop. There has been some kissing, some flirting and some exhibitionistic masturbation in front of a roaring fire. I think we all know what is coming next!

We laughed and kissed and lay together talking about silly things all through the night. We knew we had something amazing between us and no, I don’t mean the antique cabinet. Love blossomed that night.

And that was the last episode of Antique Seduction! Something new will come your way next Wednesday. Did you enjoy Richard and Elizabeth’s story?

If you want more wonderful flashing fun then check out the blogs of these people:

Julie Hayes (M/M)

Lindsay Klug (M/F)

Lily Sawyer (M/M)

Sui Lynn (M/M)

Pender Mackie (M/M)

Ryssa Edwards (M/M)

The trials of writing m/m romance and the joys

I love writing gay romance. For me, there is nothing more beautiful than falling in love, especially between two men. The hardest part is outside my immediate family and my best friend, no one even knows I write.

So when my first book came out, I didn’t really have anyone outside my family and my friend to share it with. And while my family is supportive, no one reads romance (except for my little sister who is 17 and is NOT allowed to read my books yet) so it didn’t really matter to them.

So I’ve built an online group of friends I can chat and have fun with and they are really awesome. I love the authors I’ve made friends with online and in person. And I could go on and on about the joys of writing m/m. I love writing sex and my characters are forever encouraging me to indulge writing them having sex.

I also love the moment when the couple (or threesome) realizes this is the person they have to be with. They’re in love and birds are singing. Okay, maybe I’m getting too fairytale-ish but that’s what I like to write. Cute, sexy man meets his Prince Charming.

Love isn’t always a fantasy but sometimes we have that day we take with us for the rest of our lives, through the heartache of our lives. For Tristan, that moment was when Jamie kissed him for the first time on that hot August day. And ten years later, he has the chance to fall in love again. Is he up to letting his heart go one more time?

Thank you, Victoria, for having me by! And I hope you all enjoy it.

Trust in Me

Excerpt:

I found it sad and horrible this was all my life boiled down to. At the end of all of it, I was trying to feel what I had felt when I looked at him. The anger bubbling up within me was simply the pain of being rejected that next morning.

I didn’t say a word to the provocation. I just finished my toast, which created a lump in my throat. I charged the bill to my room and then stood up. I took two steps, then leaned down so only he would hear me. “I don’t know if you are a closet case or what, but you don’t have to worry about me outing you. I’ll be your dirty little secret.” I took a deep breath to steady my voice. “Let’s just treat each other with some sort of civility.”

I couldn’t wait around for his agreement, because the way he looked up at me, those blue eyes of his wide and his lips parted, was driving me to the brink of insanity. I wanted to kiss him until I was drowning again. It took every ounce of strength to turn and walk away.

Hello all, How is your Saturday going? I’ve had a lovely relaxing day of kids films and playing with lego -pretty perfect eh? And I’ll tell you something else which is pretty perfect, this awesome review of The Victoria Blisse Collection from Letters Around Midnight. She has something awesome to say about each story individually and then about the collection as a whole. As you can purchase the stories individually too, I’m going to give you a little snippet from each part of the review.

“The story is well written and you find yourself really feeling for the character as she is run through every emotion in the book of broken hearts.”

“Cassie and the reader are whisked through Cassie’s sexual liberation at break neck speed. The full panoply of sexual experience is there in one story without ever sounding contrived. A great piece of story telling.”

“This a story you have to read with the “smell” check on. From “vinegar” to “vagina” I challenge anyone to read this story and not smell it as it happens.”

““Till the End” is a good old office romance with an older woman younger man twist, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it has any less impact than the three stories before it. A great story with a great ending that wraps up not just this, the last of the four tales, but the whole book leaving you with a positive post orgasmic glow.”

If you’d like to read the whole review then pop over to the Letters Around Midnight Blog and check it out! Remember all the above titles are also available for kindle, ipod, nook etc. Just search your preferred store and I should pop up!