Tuesday, July 13, 2010
It's Here!: Money, Honey Rip Roarin' Book Tour with Susan Sey
Welcome to the Money, Honey Blog tour, in which author Susan Sey celebrates the July 6 release of her debut novel by counting down the Top Ten Most Common Reactions an ill-groomed stay at home mom receives when confessing her secret career as a romance novelist. Ahoy the Pirate Ship Revenge! Thanks so much for helping me launch my beloved debut novel Money, Honey! It’s a risky endeavor, launching a career in these uncertain times. Happily, I have a sense of humor about the whole thing. You write unpublished romance novels for any length of time, especially contemporaries –the subgenre least likely to sell, WOOT!—you laugh or you cry. Up to you.
Me? I laugh.
And just to prove it, I’ve been keeping a Top Ten list. Every time I confessed my unlikely ambition to a stranger, I made a mental note of how this news was received. If nothing else, I figured it would make for a great blog tour someday when (not if) I published. And I was right!
At the Revenge today, we’ll be discussing Response #5: “It must be embarrassing, writing sex for a living.” (I saved you guys a good one. If you’re interested in hearing about the other nine, feel free to check out http://www.susansey.com/pages.php?ID=5 for details.)
So, let’s unpack this one. There are a several assumptions at work here, all of them unflattering & most of them untrue.
Assumption #1: Writing romance is unseemly because it has sex in it.
Not only do I disagree with this assumption, I actually feel bad for people who make it. And do you know why? Because the assumption within the assumption here is that sex is dirty. And that’s just sad. I mean, can you imagine believing this? That sex is, by definition, dirty & shameful? Call me a harlot, but I think sex is beautiful. Sex between people in love—or falling in love—is a gorgeous, transcendent, transformational thing. The only thing that can make it ugly is context & intention, which leads us directly to….
Assumption #2: Romance is porn for women.
Oh, heavens. Porn is sex between strangers, people. It’s purposefully stripped of emotion, connection, or context. It’s sex *made* dirty. Romance novels have sex in them, yes, but it’s sex that celebrates connection. It’s a physical manifestation of a hard-won emotional intimacy, an outer expression of an inner tenderness. And I’m sorry but that is NOT the same thing. Read Mary Balogh if you don’t believe me. She’s the queen of the Bad Sex Scene, in which her characters have sex too early, before they’re in love, & it’s painful and awful and bordering on tragic. Susan Elizabeth Phillips does a bang up (heh) job of this, too. After they fall in love, though, it’s a different story & the sex scenes that ensue prove it.
Assumption #3: I’m making a living writing this stuff.Oh, crap, are you serious? Yeah, me & Dan Brown. We’re raking it in. They issue you a villa in the south of France with your publishing contract, didn’t you know? Okay, seriously now. I write *contemporaries.* Getting a contract alone was a miracle. I don’t expect to make any money. Not until somebody comes along and blows up the genre the way Anna Campbell blew up the historical genre with her first Regency Noir a few years back. Would I love to be that girl? Hells, yeah. Am I planning to be? Um, not really. If I’m making enough money to help out with college tuition by the time my 7 year old graduates from high school, the universe & I will be square.
Assumption #4: Writing sex is cheap & easy, and you wouldn’t need to go there if you had any real talent.
Oh, please. Like all action scenes, sex scenes are incredibly difficult to write. (If you do them right, anyway.) A sex scene isn’t just about sex any more than a fight scene is just about the punching. You don’t punch somebody because you feel like punching them. You punch them because you have a goal & they’re in your way. Sex scenes are the same way. Characters have sex because they have a goal—they want physical or emotional gratification, they want power, they want to prove something to or about themselves, they want to distract, entice, entrap, endear, connect, something. Sex gets them closer to the goal. Period. And when you write a sex scene, it needs to work on every level—the physical action, the emotional punch it packs & the power struggle. Who’s getting what out of this? If the reader finishes the scene & doesn’t see where the plot moved forward, you didn’t do it right. (Revisions! Yay!)
So here’s a sexy scene from Money, Honey to prove my point. There’s a lot more going on here than just sexual tension. It was a ton of fun to write. Hope you enjoy it!
Patrick frowned and took his first step backward since Liz had stepped out of her car. Those bluebell eyes of hers had gone all calculating, and he had to squash the heady little zip of adrenaline that look always sent racing through his veins. God, he loved a woman with a plan. Liz’s plans had never gone well for him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate a woman with guileless eyes, a china-doll face and a crafty, devious mind.
“What now?” he asked warily.
She blinked, as if she’d just realized he was standing in her doorway, as if they hadn’t spent the last ten minutes toe to toe, hissing at one another. Then a smile curved her lips, a smile so packed with carnal promise that his mouth went dry. “Come inside, Patrick.”
He obeyed, his brain in high-analysis mode while his body was just hopeful. He fell back on the habits of a lifetime and slouched easily against the foyer wall. Act like you know what you’re doing, like you have every right in the world to be exactly where you are, and people believed you. His ability to exude superiority had bought him considerable time in many a sticky situation over the years, and he was counting on it now. Because Liz had a new angle here, something he couldn’t quite figure out.
He gave her a lazy grin, something slow and easy and somehow southern despite the fact that he’d been born in Iowa and had never spent more than a few weeks at a pop below the Mason-Dixon. “What now? Are you going to offer me some sweet tea? Because busting into your house all afternoon surely was a thirsty job.”
His breath backed up in his chest when she laid her small, cool palm against his jaw and smoothed her thumb over his cheekbone.
“You had a little something,” she said. “Just there.”
His entire system surged to attention, making the space between their bodies suddenly supercharged and electric. But a part of his brain hung back, wondered. She’d sounded like the Liz he knew, all brisk and direct, so why was she touching him like the Liz of his dreams? Something was off.
His body didn’t much care. It was still hung up on the part where Liz was six inches from his mouth and looking suggestible. He forced himself to speak, had to really dig for an appropriately amused tone. “Liz. Darling. What are you doing?”
She leaned in, eyes wide, the faintest hint of calculation still swirling in the deep, deep blue. “I’m saying yes,” she breathed.
Then she kissed him. If he hadn’t already been leaning up against the wall, he’d have sagged there for sure. He’d kissed Liz enough lately to anticipate the punch of it, to know that it would be sweet, sharp and addictively hot, that it would have him dancing perilously close to the edge of control. How could he have possibly known she’d been holding back all this time?
But she had been. Must have. Because this kiss was like nothing he’d ever experienced. It was like being there for the birth of a star. Blinding light, incinerating heat and a merciless gravity that had him helplessly circling her like a planet in orbit. He felt his arms band around her, his mouth open to the demand of hers. The edges of reality blurred, and his entire world narrowed to her. Just her. A curvy little angel with a gun and a badge who was pressed up against him and kissing him like the fate of the free world depended on making him happy.
And she was doing a damn good job, because he was extremely happy. He tried to loosen his grip on her, show a little finesse, but she wriggled against him and said it again. “Yes.”
He lost track of his thinking. He didn’t know exactly which of them had opened the buttons of her ugly suit coat, but he slid his hand inside to find her breast. She made a hot little noise against his mouth and arched into his hand until he could feel the jut of her nipple through her shirt. Lust pounded through his veins in a steady, accelerating pulse, and he brushed his thumb over her nipple until her head lolled forward and her breathing went ragged.
Which was nice, because his own wasn’t so steady, come to think of it.
“Yes,” she said, her forehead against his shoulder, both hands fisted in his shirt. Patrick glanced toward the living room, dismissed the curvy lady couch and the hardwood floor. That wouldn’t do. He wanted a bed. A big one. He slid his hand from her shirt, vaguely disturbed at how difficult it was for his body to process the command from his mind to let her go.
“God, Liz,” he said, shaken. “I want—” He broke off. He couldn’t define exactly what he wanted. Her body, yes. And Lord, that mouth. Everywhere. But more. There was something primal and possessive racing through his system. Something that made him want to mark her, own her, claim her.
“Yes,” she said again. “Yes, yes, yes.” She chanted it like a mantra, her eyes closed, her pulse beating like mad in the delicate hollow of her throat. And it pierced the fog of desire just enough for a chilling note of doubt to creep in.
It was all she’d been saying, yes. It was all he’d wanted to hear from her for years. So why did it feel wrong?
So, let’s hear from you now! Do you have a favorite author for sex scenes? Somebody who does this action-on-all-levels thing particularly well? I offer you Mary Balogh, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Jenny Crusie as my personal heroes in this category. Who do you love? Five lucky commenters will win a copy of Money, Honey for their very own!
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160 comments:
Wait! I don't get a private Caribbean island in the contract?
Damn!
Even if I write about the Caribbean and pirates?
Jeez!
;-)
Favorite author for sex that fits into the scene? Hmmmm! Well, Eloisa James, Gail Carriger and yes, Jenny Crusie...and Kim Harrison.
Book sounds fun, Susan. I'll search for it to download to my Sony next electronic book shopping spree!
Congratulations on the debut, Susan! Some of my favorite authors are Lisa Kleypas and Elizabeth Boyle.
Wow. My morning coffee tastes a lot hotter than usual today!
Welcome aboard Susan!
I looked for your book at 'Diesel' and liked the plot summary:
FBI Agent Elizabeth Brynn reluctantly goes undercover with "retired" professional criminal Patrick O'Connor to bust a counterfeiter-only to find herself tempted by him to get under the covers.
Trouble is I have to be American to buy it. The book trade is part of a global market and it seems nuts to me to restrict sales in this way .... your publisher is nuts that is, not you!
I totally agree with all of your reactions to the assumptions. I imagine that everyone else on the ship will as well. You are among friends here. :D
If I may, I would like to add assumption #5 Romance and Sex offer fantastic opportunities for humor.
Mary Balogh and Jennifer Crusie are two of my favorites so it would seem that you are my kind of author!
I loved your example 'sex scene' as well. If only I could buy the book to find out how Liz progresses under covers. 8)
Congrats on your debut release, Susan. My favorite authors for sex scenes are Julia Ross, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Laurens and Toni Blake.
Hi Susan! Congrats again on the release of MONEY, HONEY. I read (and loved!) the ARC and am now looking forward to buying a copy of my own. I know I'll be wanting to visit Patrick again...and again...and again. ;-)
Stephanie Laurens writes great sex scenes. I recently read THE BRAZEN BRIDE and let's just say I didn't have to worry about using up any hot water in the shower that night! :)
Elizabeth Hoyt is another favorite for great sex scenes.
Congrats on your release, Susan, and welcome aboard the Revenge!
This book sounds amazing and I've heard great things about it. Can't wait to get my hands on it. :)
Hot love scenes, huh? In historicals, I agree with PJ; Elizabeth Hoyt's love scenes are great. So are Anna Campbell's.
Paranormal, I love JR Ward's. Something about her writing is so immediate and so consuming.
I'm not even done reading this whole blog and I just wanted to say before the office distracts me that if there was "I like this blog because it is awesome" button, I would hit it several times.
Susan Sey, I don't even know you and I heart you. Welcome aboard the ship and CONGRATS on your release.
Okay, now I have to finish reading. And someone might want to find the smelling salts for Chanceroo. She fainted behind the bar.
I know--we totally need a "I love this blog because it's awesome" button on this blog. Can we get one at Staples?
Anyone else snickering at the fact this is a blog about sex and we keep congratulating Susan on her release? (I've seriously been reading a lot of sex scenes lately. Sorry!)
Authors who do it for me: Lisa Kleypas; Elizabeth Hoyt; and Eloisa James (it's usually so bad, and then it's so good). Those are just the ones who stand out for those particular scenes. However, SEP and Jenny Crusie are so good with the emotional impact and characterization that by the time you get to the sex, it's really, really good even if it's not as hot as I think Lisa Kleypas is. *LOL*
Susan, congrats on your book -- I'm definitely buying this one! I love the excerpt, and your analysis of the "assumptions" is the best I've ever seen.
Congrats again! And I hope you blast the contemp romance field wide open -- mine is on sub right now and I would love for mine to follow right through that door. :)
Second Chance wrote: Wait! I don’t get a private Caribbean island in the contract?
Damn!
I know, right? Oh, the disappointment.
And will I be booed off the ship if I admit that I haven't gotten around to Kim Harrison yet? I'm too wrapped up in making my way through JR Ward (okay, I recently discovered her, too) & the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
One word on that?
Yum.
Renee wrote: Congratulations on the debut, Susan! Some of my favorite authors are Lisa Kleypas and Elizabeth Boyle.
Thanks, Renee! It's been a long time coming!
And I'm not super familiar with Elizabeth Boyle but I love Lisa Kleypas. She came to speak at our chapter once & was so very, very nice in person, too. I love it when authors you love turn out to be lovable people, too, don't you?
Quantum wrote: Mary Balogh and Jennifer Crusie are two of my favorites so it would seem that you are my kind of author!
I loved your example ‘sex scene’ as well. If only I could buy the book to find out how Liz progresses under covers. 8)
Hey, Quantum! I'm so sorry you're being blackballed by Berkley for living somewhere outside their comfort zone! I love to get my work in the hands of people I think might like it & this situation makes me gnash my teeth.
but I totally agree on the Mary Balogh + Jenny Crusie = gods who walk on romance novel water. :-)
Jane wrote: Congrats on your debut release, Susan. My favorite authors for sex scenes are Julia Ross, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Laurens and Toni Blake
Thanks, Jane! Those are great authors you listed! What do you like about their particular sex scenes? I feel like every author has her own particular signature, & it's fun to try to pick them out of a line up. Is there something you love about each one?
Assumptions #1 & 2 are very unfortunate untruths.
I see Elizabeth Hoyt mentioned and I definitely concur, other favorite include Sarah Mayberry, Rachel Gibson and Victoria Dahl.
Best wishes, I DO hope that you and the world will be square by the time your little one goes off to college. :-)
PJ wrote: I know I’ll be wanting to visit Patrick again…and again…and again. ;-)
Oh,Thanks,PJ! That's the best review an author could get!
PJ also wrote: Elizabeth Hoyt is another favorite for great sex scenes.
I do love me some Elizabeth Hoyt! She's represented by the same agent I am, & honestly that was a big part of my feeling really confident about signing with her. I figured if she loves Elizabeth Hoyt, we're on the same page.
Marnee Jo wrote: Paranormal, I love JR Ward’s. Something about her writing is so immediate and so consuming.
God, I know! I just discoverd her and am already three books. I just finished Zsadist's story last night & hoo boy. Talk about heating up the sheets. Something about him reclaiming his sexuality was....
Okay, I ought to stop right there if I'm going to keep it PG 13. Suffice it to say, yes. I'm a JR Ward fan. :-)
Sin wrote: Susan Sey, I don’t even know you and I heart you. Welcome aboard the ship and CONGRATS on your release.
Awww, Sin, thanks! I heart you right back, & am honored to be aboard this very fine ship. :-)
I told Hellion a day or two ago how I'd saved my sex blog just for you guys because I wanted to share it with an audience that would get it and appreciate it. I'm so glad to be right, & among friends.
You have the same agent as Elizabeth Hoyt? *sighs enviously* That's awesome.
I love Hoyt's love scenes because they seem so earthy and raw almost--and Lisa's scenes because hers always feel so much more emotional and INTENSE. Lisa, I think, writes very emotionally intense books and that comes across in her love scenes.
Hellie wrote: Anyone else snickering at the fact this is a blog about sex and we keep congratulating Susan on her release?
Ha! You know I *had* noticed that but wasn't going to say anything until somebody else went there first. So THANK YOU for going there first because holding in the snickering was killing me. :-)
Hellie also wrote: However, SEP and Jenny Crusie are so good with the emotional impact and characterization that by the time you get to the sex, it’s really, really good even if it’s not as hot as I think Lisa Kleypas is. *LOL*
I'm in such agreement, I'm nodding at my computer & muttering, "Exactly!" as I read. Soon I will be raising my fist & shouting, "Right on, sister!"
It's all about the emotion & the characterization. Porn is about strangers having sex. Romance novels are incredibly personal & emotional & connected & if an author does the love story right, if she does the characters right, OMG, the sex will blow the doors off.
That's my goal, anyway, not that I ever get there. (heh. another orgasm joke.) I bow to JC & SEP & LK.
Donna wrote: Congrats again! And I hope you blast the contemp romance field wide open — mine is on sub right now and I would love for mine to follow right through that door. :)
Oh, Donna, I would love to be that girl but I don't think I'm "hook-y" enough to make it happen. However, if you'd care to do it (and I'm rooting for you!) I'd have your back. :-)
If you don't mind sharing, who's looking at your MS? I'll send good juju your way!
Scorpio M wrote: I see Elizabeth Hoyt mentioned and I definitely concur, other favorite include Sarah Mayberry, Rachel Gibson and Victoria Dahl.
Oh, I love all those authors! I'm not as familiar with Sarah Mayberry but Rachel Gibson and Victoral Dahl are Must Buys for me. If you can make it in the contemporary market these days, you must be doing something right & these ladies definitely are.
Plus VD gave me a lovely cover quote for Money, Honey. So I heart her even more.
Okay, ladies, I'm off to exercise the children. Back in an hour or two!
Hellion wrote: I love Hoyt’s love scenes because they seem so earthy and raw almost–and Lisa’s scenes because hers always feel so much more emotional and INTENSE. Lisa, I think, writes very emotionally intense books and that comes across in her love scenes.
Exactly! I don't know if I could've put my finger on it this way, but now that you put it out there, I totally get it. They have such different approach, both appealing but very different.
Now I'm jonsing to get out my Hoyt & Kleypas collections to compare notes. :-)
Don't I know it that writing the sexy scene is difficult! After reading your excerpt, I can almost see where I go wrong. LOL I love your deep POV in the hero's mind and how your scene is so much a part of the story. Even if I don't know the context, I see what you mean that there is more going on than sexual tension. What a great way to integrate the conflicts. :) Now I have to find out what's happening next. What is she up to?
I'll have to read the book to find out, which I definitely will. Great blog and congrats! :)
Hi harlot! Well you did say to call you one in your post :)
Susan, great post. I've been loving your assumptions blogs. They are very entertaining. And everything you said about contemporary romance not selling, the historical authors were saying six years ago. What goes around comes around...
And where's my villa?!?!
Okay, back to your question. I think Lisa Kleypas writes wonderfully emotional love scenes.
Money Honey is packed and ready to be read by the pool on the ship. I can't wait to crack that one open!
Ahoy, Revengers! Swinging over from the Lair to say hey to Susan Sey. (Had to do it, it was there...)
Hellie, you said: Anyone else snickering at the fact this is a blog about sex and we keep congratulating Susan on her release? (I’ve seriously been reading a lot of sex scenes lately. Sorry!)
As if I wasn't snorking already from Susan's take on things THAT put me over the edge into outright guffaws.
Just one of the wonderful perks of the Good Ship Revenge. Snork.
Before I digress any further, let me just say that I LOVE THIS BOOK! Patrick? YUMBO!!! And the dialogue? Brill. Love. It.
As to sexy writers, love me some JR Ward. I think Anna C does a great job and so does Donna MacMeans. Nora R's Roarke and Eve keeping it alive in marriage? Whew! Fan me now! Grins.
Now, I'm off to make sure I do my pages for this (finally) rainy day, but I'll pop back in later.
OH, yeah, Christie just reminded me, I need to call you..."HARLOT!!!"
Grins.
Just doin' my bit...
Susan says: I just finished Zsadist’s story last night & hoo boy. Talk about heating up the sheets. Something about him reclaiming his sexuality was….
OMG. I loved Zsadist's story. Actually, her first five or so books are better than the last few, I think. I thought Rhage's book was great too. But you're right; her sex scenes are absolutely steamy. I wanna grow up and write sex scenes like that.
I also forgot to mention in the last post that I think these assumptions and your rebuttals are great. I hate that there's a portion of society that approaches our genre with their judgmental hats on. Especially frustrating as most of those folks haven't even READ a romance novel. They should at least wait until they know what there talking about before they start talking.
I feel like I'm in the Amen corner as I listen to the roll call of writers who get sex scenes right--Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypas, Elizabeth Hoyt, Anna Campbell, SEP . . . Definitely yes! Oh, and Julia Ross-I do miss her books. Judith Ivory is another.
Recently I was introduced to the books of Meg Benjamin (published by Samhain) and she does a fantastic job of the head-heart-body connection in her sex scenes.
Rhage's book is my fav of the series. I loved Z's book too. JR Ward is pretty spectacular with the sex scenes. I think Susan Johnson does a helluva job too. And Pamela Clare (Um, all I have to say is her shower scene in Hard Evidence is still my favorite sex scene to this day) and Tara Janzen.
I tend to skip reading sex scenes. I know. I know. I dunno what's wrong with me. I enjoy reading the connection but I tend to speed read as well and skim over them for emotional plot progression and not read the mechanics.
Kim Harrison is one of my fav. writers. When you get a chance Susan definitely give her a chance. There is not a lot of sex in those books but KH is a stellar writer and hooks people in so tightly its hard to put the book down and walk away.
I'm so glad you saved this blog for us. I love to talk about sex and write it.
And Hells, I didn't even realize about the "release" until you said something. I'm slippin'.
Ahoy Pirates! Glad to be catching one of my favorite people on your blog today! Ahoy there, Susan!! I love your analysis on sex in romances and their need to not just be about sex, but to drive the plot forward!! Sex played a major, major, major issue in my newly sold erotica, The Surrender Of Lacy Morgan. Each scene had to drive the conflict and the story further! You nailed the whole concept on the head for me!!!
Oh, and Susan, since Money, Honey is my treat for finishing my website searches, (check out my blog on the Bandit site on 7/28 for details of that), I chose NOT to read the excerpt here past the second paragraph. I want to read it in context of the story!! :), But I LOVED what I read!!
… So why did it feel wrong?
Oh you wicked, Wicked Creature! I can’t believe that you left me hanging like that!
Wicked.
You write unpublished romance novels for any length of time, especially contemporaries –the subgenre least likely to sell, WOOT!—you laugh or you cry.
Ask me and I will say “I am a hard core Historical Romance Fan.” And yet …if you ask me who my favorite author for sex scenes I will answer …
Susan Elizabeth Phillips! I have read every single one of her books. Have loved them all. Because not only are her sex scenes great. All of her scenes are Great! And yet I say “I am a Historical Romance Girl.”
WTH?
Have I been wearing my (literary) corset so tight I cannot see the obvious?
Makes me wonder if contemporaries –the subgenre least likely to sell- are the least likely to sell because readers don’t realize how much they really enjoy them. Hmmm … something to think about.
I can't believe I am late for this party! This is what happens when you fail to turn on your alarm. Grrrrrrrrrrr..... Nothing like getting to work over two hours late.
NOW do you people understand why reading this book totally threw me off my revisions this weekend? LOL! And I haven't even gotten to this scene included here. (Though I've read enough to guess what's going on between the lines.)
What Susan does in this book is what I aim to do and then seeing her comment here about not being "hook-y" enough just seals the deal. I can't find a hook to save my life. LOL! But if a retired professional thief teaming up (again!) with a by-the-book FBI agent isn't a hook, then I'll eat my Bo'sun whistle!
The other day I said this book is White Collar meets Castle and I stand by that. Patrick won me over immediately, Liz keeps me guessing, and Susan is totally my hero.
And I didn't answer the questions. LOL! For me, Crusie is perfection, so that goes without saying. SEP is the standard, and Kleypas totally raised the bar when she dove into the contemp pool.
For great sex scenes, I have to go with Nora. I don't think she gets near enough credit for how well she blends sex throughout the story, always revealing the evolution of relationship and how it changes from hot sex to something more and into making love. Plus, they're just damn hot. I've done the twirl in the cold air on my balcony at one in the morning more than once because of her books. LOL!
Ahoy Pirates! Yo HO me lil Harlot! ;-)
Smoov, your excerpt was BRILLIANT! You know I'm in the midst of my blog tour also and haven't had a chance to read ANYTHING (except blog comments) for two weeks. COLD CREWEL Harlot to leave me with such a great scene. And yes, I agree, writing a sex scene is one of the biggest challenges in any book!
But SUPER CONGRATS on the launch of Money Honey! I know it will be the first of MANY in a fantastic career!
AC
Hi Susan!
You know my doctor, a woman, said she thought Romance was porn for women in my last appointment - but I believe she meant it as a compliment. Reading a good sex scene allows us to transfer those earthly cravings for connection and commitment to the one who means most to us. i know my husband knows and appreciates when I'm writing a sex scene or reading a particularly good one. Yeah - he definitely appreciates it.
I've been waiting for Money, Honey ever since you announced you sold. You're one of those people that you just know - reading their emails - that they have a writer's voice that deserves publication. I was planning to dig into Money, Honey this weekend - but my copy has disappeared! I suspect my daughter absconded with it. It best be returned intact or that girl is going to find her self homeless! (grin)
Sorry about that. I posted from my Mac and it send the comment wouldn't go through. I copies and reposted from a PC and I see it went through twice (d'oh). Feel free to discard one of those. Thanks.
Got your back, Donna. :)
You really need to run down the daughter of yours. A good tackle would teach her not to run off with the good stuff! LOL!
I've never seen a conversation about sex get so quiet on this ship. I'm thinking that scene was too much and everyone has retired to their cabins. ;)
Sorry for disappearing, but I'm trying to finish these revisions, and every day I say, "THIS will be the last day and then I'll be done." Sob. I have to keep modifying the date.
And Susan, I was ignoring your question, but my superstitious lizard-brain self is afraid to say out loud where my book is out on sub. LOL In fact, my lizard-brain thinks I've already jinxed myself by SAYING that it's out. LOL
Oh, and I also tweeted about this so that everyone will come rushing over here!
Ooops -- lizard-brain can't type. I meant to say "I WASN'T ignoring your question". Yeesh. MORE revisions to do. LOL
Hi, girls! I'm back! I've put the children under lock & key...um, I mean into quiet time...for an hour so let's get busy!
Melissa wrote: Even if I don’t know the context, I see what you mean that there is more going on than sexual tension. What a great way to integrate the conflicts. :) Now I have to find out what’s happening next. What is she up to?
Ha! I'm so glad you asked! Liz has A Plan. It's a good plan, sort of, in that it leads to plenty of hot sex. But in terms of solving her problem? Not so much. And that's all I'm going to give away. :-)
I was worried you'd gotten sunstroke! Glad to see you're back!
Christie Kelley wrote: Hi harlot! Well you did say to call you one in your post :)
I did, indeed. And proud of it!
I’ve been loving your assumptions blogs. They are very entertaining. And everything you said about contemporary romance not selling, the historical authors were saying six years ago. What goes around comes around…
From your lips to god's ears, Christie! Now who's going to volunteer to blow this thing up like our own Foanna did a few years back? Not that I'd enjoy weathering the sort of firestorm she had to, but...well, I'm all for opening up the genre. I'd take one for the team if push came to shove. I think I'd have to write hookier, though. I have no hook. Hookless. sigh.
And where’s my villa?!?!
Shoot, if you find it, see if you can find mine, too.
Have fun on your cruise! Hope you enjoy Money, Honey while on the high seas! Looking forward to Orlando!
Jeanne Adams wrote: Swinging over from the Lair to say hey to Susan Sey. (Had to do it, it was there…)
Ha! And that, darling duchesse, is why we love you. :-)
Glad you love Patrick, btw. I'm nursing a killer crush myself. But shhhhh. My husband doesn't know. It wasn't too obvious, was it? :-)
Jeanne wrote: OH, yeah, Christie just reminded me, I need to call you…”HARLOT!!!”
Grins.
Just doin’ my bit…
To quote one of my favorite writers: SNORK.
I think I’d have to write hookier, though. I have no hook. Hookless.
Oh, don't sell yourself short, Sus. You're a great hooker, I'm sure. You've got the harlot thing down--what's a hooker?
Marnee Jo wrote: I wanna grow up and write sex scenes like that.
sigh. You & me both.
Marnee Jo also wrote:it's especially frustrating as most of those folks haven’t even READ a romance novel. They should at least wait until they know what there talking about before they start talking.
I think that's a decent rule of thumb for life in general. Why are we so quick to attack things we don't know or understand? It's got to be some function of our lizard brain that fears ambush around every corner.
Janga wrote: Recently I was introduced to the books of Meg Benjamin (published by Samhain) and she does a fantastic job of the head-heart-body connection in her sex scenes.
Ooooh, I haven't heard of Meg Benjamin! A new-to-me writer! Yay! Samhain does print, now, don't they? Because I don't have me an e-reader yet, though my heart does desire one. I keep reminding my husband that my birthday IS in August....
Sin says: I tend to skip reading sex scenes. I know. I know. I dunno what’s wrong with me. I enjoy reading the connection but I tend to speed read as well and skim over them for emotional plot progression and not read the mechanics.
Exactly! That's how you know the whole emotional jump this scene is supposed to provide isn't happening. I do that with my own writing--when I find myself skimming the sex scenes, I think, "Oh, well, crap. I wrote this. If even I'm skimming it must totally blow."
REvise, revise, revise.
Sex alone just isn't enough. Maybe it's because I've been married a while now, or maybe it's because I'm looking 40 in the eye but sex by itself just doesn't interest me the way it once did. I want the whys. I want well-motivated sex. I want sex with high stakes. I want both players all-in, or I don't want to read about it.
Call me a snob but there you have it.
Sheesh. I'm a snob AND a harlot. Some kind of day I'm having.
It’s got to be some function of our lizard brain that fears ambush around every corner.
But what do they have to fear from us? A bunch of sex crazed women? OMG, the TERROR. A woman might have sex with you at a moment's notice! Worse, she might be kinky and want to tie you up...or give you a BJ...or BOTH! What is wrong with people?
And worse, why are other women so threatened by women who read romance novels? I mean I've been on bad dates with guys who have accused me of reading porn--but he was a chromosome from being a girl anyway so I'm not concerned about him--but women who sneer and go, "You read porn" really annoys me. It's not a story about sex, but even if it were, what do you have against sex or me liking sex?
Suzanne Ferrell wrote: Sex played a major, major, major issue in my newly sold erotica, The Surrender Of Lacy Morgan. Each scene had to drive the conflict and the story further! You nailed the whole concept on the head for me!!!
And I can't tell you how desperate I am to get my hands on Lacy when she's finally released! I've only read a snippet but whew! Hot! And super well-motivated & character driven.
For those of you not lucky enough to have read an excerpt from Suz's new book, I've got two words for you: rabbit scene. That is all.
So proud of you, Suz!
Suzanne Ferrell wrote: Money, Honey is my treat for finishing my website searches, (check out my blog on the Bandit site on 7/28 for details of that)
Oh, Suz, I don't envy you that task one little bit. Trying to built my website was one of the hardest, most stressful things I've ever done. Plus expensive! Yikes! And Money Honey is your reward for that? I'm ridiculously flattered. I really, really hope you enjoy it!
I may not be a harlot but they do call me Sin. lol
"If even I’m skimming it must totally blow."
The teenage boy in me giggled a bit. I'm sure it was the same when Hells read about the "release" this morning. Though, she probably snorted Mountain Dew.
I am constantly paranoid my sex scenes are childish and utterly ridiculous. I tend to compensate for that by making it somewhere only people who aren't married have sex. Like against your front door. Dark alleyway. In a vehicle during a stakeout. Bathroom at your local McDonalds... I mean, the list goes on. And only adds to the ridiculousness of it. Sex in general is hilarious. Only people with a good sense of humor understand the hilariousness of awkward moments.
So do awkward moments in sex scenes detract from the scene itself or lend towards the emotional bond between the H/H? Anyone have any thoughts?
So do awkward moments in sex scenes detract from the scene itself or lend towards the emotional bond between the H/H? Anyone have any thoughts?
Eloisa does awesome awkward sex. *LOL* And it always adds to it.
Also, in Lisa Kleypas' newest Love in the Afternoon, the H/H are fooling around and she turns over on her stomach and tells him to get on with it. She thinks people have sex like animals do--and there is this whole AWKWARD bit of laughing that goes on before it is all straightened out. But I found myself more endeared to Beatrix for not knowing better and Christopher for handling it so well. Apart from the laughter.
Julie says: Have I been wearing my (literary) corset so tight I cannot see the obvious?
Ha! This is a great analogy, and one only a die-hard historical girl would come up with. I love it.
I love historicals, too. Something about the total escape from the restrictions of the here & now, I think. We all read to some degree to get away from reality & it's so helpful when a story is set in an alternate place & time. It's also a lot easier to write an unapologetically alpha hero in a historical. And a marriage of convenience plot. Two of my very favorite conventions, by the way. They don't work at all in a contemporary setting.
But I prefer a contemporary for strong heroines, snappy banter & sex scenes with two equally powerful players.
I'm a fan of awkward moments. Goodness knows I've experienced enough of them, we're really well acquainted.
I have to confess, I giggled at both the "release" bit this morning (which I caught before Hellie pointed it out) and the "...it must totally blow." How could you not snicker at that? LOL!
Susan, I am the queen of the hookless. You are nowhere close. Trust me on this.
I think everyone in their life has experienced one of those awkward moments. I mean, there are plenty of opportunities for them, especially in a new Tab A to insert into Slot A situations. Sometimes the first time(s) are awfully awkward.
I liked that as well Hellie. I was reading that book on the plane (way out to Phoenix, and the guy sitting beside me kept giving me the look everytime I snortled with laughter) and I nearly choked laughing when I came upon that.
Love the awkward sex scene...been badgering the Bo'sun with one I'm trying to make work involving a kama sutra pose that goes wrong...but in a good way! Trying not to write too much information, just enough...
Which begs the question...how much is enough? I know I tend to skim sex scene set up. Call me twisted, but I actually find too much build up just slows me down.
I think I just confused myself...
In honor of Susan...new drink! The Hook Seys! (pun intended). Several rums blended together until the original attraction seems hard to pinpoint...but it's there and delicious.
Bo'sun writes: But if a retired professional thief teaming up (again!) with a by-the-book FBI agent isn’t a hook, then I’ll eat my Bo’sun whistle!
Good lord, don't eat the whistle! Think of all the unintentional whistling as that thing makes its way to the inevitable end.
I'll admit the thief + FBI agent = sexy tension thing, that could be a hook of sorts. But what I meant was more that I write character driven books. I don't have any big 'thing' I do that would blow up a genre. Like Anna Campbell coining a new subgenre (Regency Noir) or Mary Janice Davidson & her Undead thing. I'm just, you know, writing my little love stories.
Bo'sun also wrote: The other day I said this book is White Collar meets Castle and I stand by that. Patrick won me over immediately, Liz keeps me guessing, and Susan is totally my hero.
I've been hearing this more & more lately, the White Collar/Castle thing! (Not Susan is my hero, though I like that one, too, & wouldn't mind hearing more of it, especially from my kids who totally ignore me).
I haven't seen either show, & MH was written back in 2006, so no influences there. But I'm so glad MH is hitting the market when these shows are hot so maybe it'll fall on fertile ground.
Maybe my luck is changing? (said the girl who wrote for 7 years in the Category Least Likely To Sell.)
Bo'sun wrote: For great sex scenes, I have to go with Nora. I don’t think she gets near enough credit for how well she blends sex throughout the story, always revealing the evolution of relationship and how it changes from hot sex to something more and into making love.
I KNOW! Nora is my personal hero, really. And if I ever work up the courage to say hello to her at a national conference some time, I hope I have the nerve to tell her so.
And I'll tell her I love her shoes, too, because they're awesome.
Aunt Cindy wrote: You know I’m in the midst of my blog tour also and haven’t had a chance to read ANYTHING (except blog comments) for two weeks. COLD CREWEL Harlot to leave me with such a great scene.
That's me. Cold, cruel harlot. You can call me CCH for short, if you wish. :-)
And congrats right back atcha, AC, on your new release! The Wild Irish Sea is going to be my reward for surviving this blog tour! Hope you're surviving your end over there.
Susan, you make me want to hug you. That's exactly my situation. I write character driven stories - contemporaries at that - where regular people (read: no vamps or demon slayers) deal with regular issues (read: no one saving the planet). I'm trying like heck to write my pitch for Nationals, and it's REALLY HARD to make this sound HOOK-Y.
Donna MacMeans wrote: Reading a good sex scene allows us to transfer those earthly cravings for connection and commitment to the one who means most to us. i know my husband knows and appreciates when I’m writing a sex scene or reading a particularly good one.
Well, sure. :-) I would never say sex scenes aren't titillating but it's like you said--the point is connection, where with porn the point is disconnection. When women read a juicy sex scene (or write one), we're just jumpstarting the engine. And I have to tell you, boys like getting into a warm car. :-) Their engines warm up so much faster than ours. They like it when we take care of the warm-up ourselves.
Hi Susan! Yo ho ho to all you pirates!
I have been telling everyone who'll listen (and quite a few who won't) how FREAKING FABULOUS this book is!!! I spent the whole book breathless, the tension is so high between these two.
Hmm, sex scenes. I have to say Loretta Chase and Liz Carlyle write fabulous ones. But as you say, the steamiest scene is nothing without the reader's investment in the characters and the characters' emotional investment in each other.
THanks for a great read, Susan! I wish you every success with your wonderful debut.
Donna Macmeans wrote: I’ve been waiting for Money, Honey ever since you announced you sold. You’re one of those people that you just know – reading their emails – that they have a writer’s voice that deserves publication.
Awww. [sniffle] This is so kind, Donna. This why I love my banditas. Some of us published really soon after that 2006 GH final that brought us all together & some of us had to wait a while & some are still waiting. But the unflagging support and love and confidence we have in each other is utterly invaluable. I've been lifted out of the pit of despair by these ladies more times than I can count.
Smooches. Big, wet ones. :)
Oh...blast. The Warm Car...yes, that has to make it on the drinks menu.
When women read a juicy sex scene (or write one), we’re just jumpstarting the engine. And I have to tell you, boys like getting into a warm car. Their engines warm up so much faster than ours. They like it when we take care of the warm-up ourselves.
That is going in the Revenge Comment Hall of Fame.
Bo'sun, I was so thinking the same thing. We really do need a Revenge Comment Hall of Fame.
Bo'sun said: I’m thinking that scene was too much and everyone has retired to their cabins.
Oh dear. Get back out here! All of you! You can do that later! Now we TALK! Later you can do...whatever you were doing. :-)
Donna wrote: And Susan, I was ignoring your question, but my superstitious lizard-brain self is afraid to say out loud where my book is out on sub. LOL In fact, my lizard-brain thinks I’ve already jinxed myself by SAYING that it’s out. LOL
Oh, I completely respect the lizard brain. If it says, "shhhhhh," we all shhhhhhh.
[quietly] but I have my fingers crossed for you.
Phew I need a drink. :lol:
As the only man aboard I claim the honor and privilege of toasting the birth of a lovely new romance sex Goddess. Pirates, a new star is born!
To Susan Sey
She did it her way
With stunning release
Such a delectable feast
A new star has burst
Into our romance universe
Please raise your glasses
To Susan Sey, May she write romance forever!
Bottoms up and down the hatch. :D
Hellion said: I was worried you’d gotten sunstroke! Glad to see you’re back!
And thrilled to be here! Those kids of mine are worse than sun stroke. Man, I miss naps. Mine, theirs, ours. Now they just bicker from the minute they wake up until the minute they go to bed, & sometimes they bicker in their sleep. (bunkbeds, you know.)
So, whew. Thrilled to be doing quiet time aboard the Revenge!
And, please, some of you more experienced moms out there, reassure me: my kids are 3 & 7. They'll outgrow this, won't they? Won't they??
I love it when Q writes toasts. *sighs*
Hellion wrote: Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Sus. You’re a great hooker, I’m sure. You’ve got the harlot thing down–what’s a hooker?
Harlots vs. hookers: It's the Money, Honey.
Sorry. :-) To quote Jeanne, it was there. I had to.
Seriously though, I would like to be a better hooker. Somebody needs to teach a class at nationals about that. How to be a better hooker & get paid for it!
That sounds like a class you should teach. *LOL*
Funny enough, I think I've taken that workshop. LOL!
Hellion wrote: but women who sneer and go, “You read porn” really annoys me. It’s not a story about sex, but even if it were, what do you have against sex or me liking sex?
You're getting nothing but a hanky wave & an "Amen!" from this corner. People fearing women's sexuality goes all the way back to Adam & Eve. I don't get it either but it's out there. It's not going to stop me from owning my own sexuality or teaching my girls to, but I am careful who I talk to about it.
But, veering off a little, remember that dock scene from Crusie's Welcome to Temptation where Sophie tells Phin she's in charge of her own orgasm & he's like, "Shut up because I'm in charge of this one. Now lie back & take it like a woman" or something like that?
Whew. I love a guy who knows when it's okay to be alpha.
My sister is 41 and I'm 38. We still bicker if we're in the same room too long.
Afraid growing out of it is NOT going to happen.
Ahoy, Harlot!!!
:D
Seriously, I am so proud to be sharing a room at conference with CCH....and if she brings Patrick with her, all the better! I'm half way through Money, Honey and LOVING it!
My brother sneers that I'm writing "smut"...and then proceeds to claim that I will buy him a new truck when I sell.
ROFLMAO.....
OMG! I love that scene on the dock. But then, I ADORE Phin. He's my dream man, which explains why I will die single. *sigh*
But, veering off a little, remember that dock scene from Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation where Sophie tells Phin she’s in charge of her own orgasm & he’s like, “Shut up because I’m in charge of this one. Now lie back & take it like a woman” or something like that?
I think my brain just blanked a little. I need to dig out that book again. I know I have it SOMEWHERE.
Sin asked: So do awkward moments in sex scenes detract from the scene itself or lend towards the emotional bond between the H/H? Anyone have any thoughts?
This is such a great question because it's a total "it depends." For me, romance is a lot about escaping reality, so I want the to be better, hotter, less awkward than the real deal. Because I agree--the real deal is pretty funny if you think about it.
Then again, if it's too perfect, you roll your eyes & set it aside. Nobody's vulnerable enough if it's perfect. There's nothing at stake if everybody's totally secure.
So I need a balance. Enough awkward to make it real, enough perfect to make it happy fantasy land.
What do you all think?
Bo'sun wrote: Susan, I am the queen of the hookless. You are nowhere close. Trust me on this.
Maybe we can sit next to each other in the How To Be A Better Hooker and Get Paid! class I hope they're holding at Nationals.
Sin also wrote: I am constantly paranoid my sex scenes are childish and utterly ridiculous.
Oh, me too. Absolutely. Writing something that raw is always going to be revealing, no matter how removed you are from your characters. You have to splat your heart right out there where people can ridicule you from the safety of the cheap seats.
I'm convinced humiliation is just one of those things you have to be willing to endure to make it in this business.
And I'll bet your sex scenes are great, too.
I shall save you a seat!
Hellion wrote: She thinks people have sex like animals do–and there is this whole AWKWARD bit of laughing that goes on before it is all straightened out.
Oh my. I think I'm going to have to buy this book just for that scene.
That's so sweet of you to say. That totally goes into my reasoning of why I heart you without really even knowing you.
Hm, I'm a pirate harlot.
I agree on the awkward moments during fictional sex. While I may skim sex scenes, and I *want* the sex scene I'm reading to seem like the perfect moment between the H/H, I think it's okay to make the characters more "human". Though, I will put my foot down to some of the more, um, embarrassingly awkward moments that happen. Laughing about a foot in the wrong place is completely different than mentioning noises in regions that are better left undiscussed.
And writing sex, at least for me, seems like one of the most personal things about writing. We've talked about this a lot on the ship and writing is personal but you have to see it objectively which is difficult when you've been busy pouring your heart out on page for months at a time. I write first person so maybe it's just me writing in my FP POV that gets me all tangled up.
2nd Chance wrote: Which begs the question…how much is enough? I know I tend to skim sex scene set up. Call me twisted, but I actually find too much build up just slows me down.
Ha! Great question! What do you guys think? Is there such a thing as too much sexual tension? Are there books that make you yell, "Enough, already! Do it, for god's sake!"
2nd Chance also wrote: In honor of Susan…new drink! The Hook Seys! (pun intended). Several rums blended together until the original attraction seems hard to pinpoint…but it’s there and delicious.
A drink? For me? Wow! How cool! Plus I do love a good rum. :-) Bring it on! It's only 3:30 pm here but I got up early so it's close enough to happy hour.
"And I have to tell you, boys like getting into a warm car. Their engines warm up so much faster than ours. They like it when we take care of the warm-up ourselves.
Agreed. My all time favorite comment.
But obviously not enough for me to stop drooling over the books.
There are some moments in Kim Harrison's books that I find myself screaming at the book "DO IT ALREADY!"
But it's mostly tension that will forever go unresolved between two characters because one is afraid of the other. Annoys the piss out of me.
Bo'sun wrote: you make me want to hug you. That’s exactly my situation.
Hug away, darling. We contemporary girls have to stick together. I have absolutely no answers for you but if you want to practice your pitch on me at nationals, I'm all ears.
Christine Wells wrote: I have been telling everyone who’ll listen (and quite a few who won’t) how FREAKING FABULOUS this book is!!!
See what I mean about how wonderful my banditas are? You guys make me want to blubber. You get me in Orlando & get a glass of wine in me & here come the waterworks. I'm just warning you now. :-)
Bo'sun wrote: That is going in the Revenge Comment Hall of Fame.
Seriously? [preens] I do like a warm car. :-)
And on the drinks menu, too, 2nd Chance? Wow. I'm on fire today! Woot!
Ah, that's so sweet. You may regret making the offer (I'm a little spastik right now) but I'd love to have your input. Right now my biggest fear is not having a good pitch by the time I get there. But I am determined! Lightning will strike and something brilliant will show up. I hope.
Likely from someone else, but I'll take it however I can get it.
Quantum wrote: As the only man aboard I claim the honor and privilege of toasting the birth of a lovely new romance sex Goddess. Pirates, a new star is born!
OMG, a TOAST? I'm...speechless. This is so great! I feel like I won an Oscar! Thank you! I love you all!
Or maybe that's the Warm Car talking? I had a few earlier. 2nd Chance gave me one. Maybe two? Hell, I don't remember. I'm just really, really happy to be here.
Bo'sun wrote: My sister is 41 and I’m 38. We still bicker if we’re in the same room too long.
Awwwwwww. Well, there goes the next...rest of my life. [sigh] Maybe I'll develop selective hearing.
Joanie T wrote: My brother sneers that I’m writing “smut”…and then proceeds to claim that I will buy him a new truck when I sell.
Boys. They're so self-centered. :-)
If you do buy him that truck, make sure it's pink.
The Banditas are some of the coolest chicks going. Really awesome bunch. You ladies are the perfect example of perseverance and persistance and how you can judge a writer by the friends she keeps. The success achieved by your group is not a fluke by any means. I'm very thankful I stumbled over that blog a few years ago and have been fortunate enough to meet most of you in person.
BTW - When I met Susan, she made me laugh so hard my sides hurt. She really is this cool in person too. LOL!
Wait, Patrick is going to be IN YOUR ROOM?! I must have that room number!
Bo'sun wrote: OMG! I love that scene on the dock. But then, I ADORE Phin. He’s my dream man, which explains why I will die single. *sigh*
Oh, Phin. The shirts! Come to think of it, Patrick has a thing for really nice shirts...my homage to Crusie? Or my latent crush on Phin. Hmmmm.
We all deserve a Phin. Don't settle, sister!
Hellion wrote: I need to dig out that book again. I know I have it SOMEWHERE.
Oh, it's my favorite romance ever. I never have it in the house, though, because I keep giving it to people & saying, "This is the best romance ever!"
Definitely find it. So worthwhile!
Don't ya love a good guest!? We need a good nautical name fer this hall a' fame thingy... The Swinging Hammock? The Golden Brig? Hanging from the Main Mast? The Master of the Yardarm? Or Mistress...
Always plenty a' rum on the Revenge... Have another, Susan!
*leans on the bar, head resting on hand
It isn't that I don't appreciate foreplay, but I guess I'm more the main event sailor... And no, I am not a man. ;-)
Sin wrote: I write first person so maybe it’s just me writing in my FP POV that gets me all tangled up.
OMG, props to you. I can't imagine writing a sex scene in the first person! To try to put into language everything that's going that would sound natural spoken...sheesh. I totally admire that. I salute you.
I read it when it first came out, and I know I remember that scene, surely!--I think I was just a bigger fan of Bet Me because of the Krispy Kreme scene. *LOL*
Okay, quiet time is over and the kids are upon me. I know I'm not caught up on the comments but I swear I'll be back after piano lessons & library time to try again.
I'm glad I knocked back a few Warm Cars before I had to hit the road though!
Back in an hour or two!
But what I meant was more that I write character driven books … I’m just, you know, writing my little love stories.
Thank you, Susan! Because this IS exactly what I want in a Romance.
An intimate little love story driven by characters.
A writer can throw in all the Bells & Whistles & Big Whatever elements that he/she wants. But with out that basic little core love story? OhMyGawdddd! A story full of Bells & Whistles & Big Whateversis but no core … is like a buxom wench with out a corset and stays. Or in the contemp world … a decent bra.
With out that good, basic foundation?
The story just won’t hold up.
The story won't hold up, Jules, but what you just described was a topless woman, and every straight man I know just went, "What's the problem with that? I don't understand."
LOL! I was thinking Jules has a good point, but there's a difference between a simple white number from Wally World and a lacy bit from Fredrick's of Hollywood.
If you don't have the lace and bows, you have to find another way to make your white cotton look hot.
I think the analogy is backwards. The boobs are what make the show. The bells and whistles are the bra--all the lace in the world isn't going to make up for the fact that you've got a push up but nothing to show.
A nice bit of sparkle dangling between the girls can help out...
Why I’m A Reader Notta Writer
Sin wrote: I write first person so maybe it’s just me writing in my FP POV that gets me all tangled up.
Susan wrote: OMG, props to you. I can’t imagine writing a sex scene in the first person! To try to put into language everything that’s going that would sound natural spoken…sheesh.
Ooohh I Can use natural sounding language all right …. But somehow I think that sentences like “Baby, can you take out the garbage when you done.“ aren’t going to get me a book deal! LOL
Or any Fans1
Go, Donna! Go, Donna! Go, Donna!
Oh jeez ITs like the Chicken or the Egg.
Cept its which came first? the Boobs or The Bra?
And I iknow what SIN's answer is.
Yep.
She'd say ... The guy.
Are you saying I have to figure out how to prove I have good tits in my pitch?
Wow, what a great conversation today! Not that I had anything worthwhile to add. LOL But it was great to stop revising and come in and watch every once in a while.
*knocks back a couple tankards*
Okay, back to it.
Don't be silly. Sin would say, "Stick a gun in the damn bra and be done with it."
Are you saying I have to figure out how to prove I have good tits in my pitch?
Hey Terri, I'm Not touching that one. Or should that be twooooo ...
Bo'sun said: Wait, Patrick is going to be IN YOUR ROOM?! I must have that room number!
Um, sorry mate......but the bunks are only Queen size there in the Swan and only enough room for me boyo and...me :D
Even Susan will have to knock before coming in :D
BTW, thank you for all your kind words for the Bandits! We HEART our BB's!!!
You're a mean, mean woman, Joanie T!
LOL!
Bandita love is easy to give. Y'all give it right back. :)
The Pirates heart the Banditas. That's just how it rolls 'round here.
Crap, forgot to end the italics.
Right, because something SHARP in there is a better option.
Uh, no. LOL!
You have to be VERY careful with said sharp object but if I'm going to have a weapon between the tatas, I'm not packing a loaded firearm.
Though, I now have a hankering for a bazooka after I told Jules I would get her a bedazzled one.
"I can’t imagine writing a sex scene in the first person! To try to put into language everything that’s going that would sound natural spoken…sheesh.
Writing in third person is like trying to pry up someone's fingernails with a rusty screwdriver without them screaming like a baby- At least it is for me. It's tedious, and my writing of third person reads very elementary. I salute all the writers who write in third person. More power to you gals.
Are you saying I have to figure out how to prove I have good tits in my pitch?
Not only that. You have to prove you have UNIQUE tits. Tits this guy hasn't seen before--but he wants to see him real bad.
Sticking a gun between the Twins is probably ill advised. Something of that caliber loaded and ready to blow can really make a mess of things.
My inner teenage boy just laughed his ass off.
You have to have bedazzled tits.
Bedazzled tits...hmmm. The Bedazzled Tit...and I have just the glass for it!
I have to bedazzle them?! Man, the girls are NOT going to like this. Though, it's better that Vejazzling.
WOW! Okay, I don't have time to read through 138!!! comments.
I wanted to chime in here and say that I absolutely LOVE your blog Susan! I totally agree with everything you said and you said it perfectly. I can't wait to get my hands on Money, Honey. Sounds like it is right up my alley!
I adore Mary Balogh, SEP, Lisa Kleypas, Elizabeth Hoyt, Jenny Crusie. They all do an awesome job with their sex scenes.
I think one of things I love the best about Balogh is how she writes the awkward, train wreck sex scenes and then hits it out of the park after the couple fall in love. I'm always on the lookout for contemporaries who can do the same thing. I suppose because women (and men) are supposed to be so much more aware of their bodies and sex in general nowadays that writing a bad sex scene is harder in a contemporary. But I've read a few that are really good - one or two from SEP!
"Sticking a gun between the Twins is probably ill advised. Something of that caliber loaded and ready to blow can really make a mess of things."
"My inner teenage boy just laughed his ass off."
I know. I cracked up laughing. A pearl necklace of blood is really not my thing.
Not only that. You have to prove you have UNIQUE tits. Tits this guy hasn’t seen before–but he wants to see him real bad.
I love this. *giggle* A lot.
Hope I'm not making this manuscript worse with these revisions.
*knocks back another tankard of rum*
Susan and all you pirate ladies, ahoy! I can't wait to get my hands on this book, Susan. I adore contemporaries (and write them, but that's neither here nor there). I think the reason they are so hard to sell is because it's really hard to stand out. Your book obviously will because you have such a clever and distinctive voice.
My contemp fave for sex that works on all levels is Kristan Higgins. I think Krisin is simply brilliant. She writes characters you want to live next door to and invite over for a barbecue. When her couples finally get intimate, there are so many layers of story involved it's a bit mind-boggling - or it would be, if you stepped back and analyzed it.
I do, sadly, because I can't help it. Writing has had a negative effect on my reading habits. It has, though, made me very aware of what makes a good story different from a great story. Your story seems to have all the ingredients for a stand-out, keeper shelf read. Again, where is my copy?!
Sex alone just isn’t enough. Maybe it’s because I’ve been married a while now, or maybe it’s because I’m looking 40 in the eye but sex by itself just doesn’t interest me the way it once did. I want the whys. I want well-motivated sex. I want sex with high stakes. I want both players all-in, or I don’t want to read about it.
Okay, I'm trying to catch up on the posts and this one completely nailed it again, Susan!!! Wow, now I really can't wait to read your book. You are saying what I've been thinking for years. Forget about writing books, do seminars on the importance of communication and connection in a relationship! LOL
You have to have bedazzled tits.
ROFLMAO.......
Hellie said: I mean I’ve been on bad dates with guys who have accused me of reading porn–but he was a chromosome from being a girl anyway so I’m not concerned about him–but women who sneer and go, “You read porn” really annoys me. It’s not a story about sex, but even if it were, what do you have against sex or me liking sex?
First of all, a big SNORKing laugh on the guy being a chromo away from a girl anyway. Second, let me stand up in my pew and wave my lace hankie and say, AMEN, SISTER HELLIE!!!
Chance said:In honor of Susan…new drink! The Hook Seys! (pun intended). Several rums blended together until the original attraction seems hard to pinpoint…but it’s there and delicious.
I love that! I want one! It's been a long hard slog through some editing. I'm due one.
A Hook Seys, please, Ms. Chance!
A full bar a' Hook Seys coming right up!
Guests, friends and you crazy ass Banditas... I had a fabulous time with y'all today. Susan, I wish you mad luck with your new book release. You're a gem!
Now, pirates, I'm taking the troublesome Undead Monkey and going up to the nest. If the nest is shaking don't come a shimmying.
Sin, hope Ranger is up there because the thought of you and the Undead Monkey shaking the crowsnest is just...blech!
*sinful grin* I'll never tell.
*looking around* those wenches will come after him if I say his name aloud. Whisper it in his ear... yes. Screaming it aloud... Only if Lisa and Hal can't strangle me.
Susan, what a fabulous post. I love your voice. And I'm very impressed with your male POV there.
I don't have a fave for sex scenes. But the scenes I like are the ones with emotional content or emotional punch at the end, the ones that really, truly mean shake things up for one or both characters.
Wow, what a fabulous day! I missed a lot of the fun, but thanks Susan for being here!
Sin, I love Kim Harrison's books, too. :-)
but even if it were, what do you have against sex or me liking sex?
Hellion, The Fact that he has issues with you liking sex says a lot about the Status of his chromosomes!
Good lord, I leave for a couple hours & the place goes mad with bedazzled vajayjays, guns in bras & absolutely unique tittays.
I love it here. Can I move in?
Seriously, though, I had a hella bad afternoon with the kiddoes (my oldest literally wept through her piano lesson--the teacher was like, "What the heck?") and I dumped the kids on my husband & went out to dinner with my moms club where I had two glasses of wine (an Australian red called Woop woop! which I ordered just like that--woop woop!) and now here I am all tipsy & happy & loving you all & thanks so much for a wonderful day. I had so much fun & can't believe this is my job now.
Except for when I'm chasing my kids. Who stayed awake to say goodnight. Who smell so sweet & missed me. So it's all good.
Good night, Pirate Ship Revenge! We Crazy Ass Banditas salute you & look forward to our next get-together!
Much love--Smoov xxoxoxoxoxo
p.s. I really do want to run pitches with you, Bo'sun, so don't be shy about looking me up in Orlando. I love refining pitches. Makes me happy. Drink by the pool & pitching! Yahoo!
Thank you for stopping by, Susan! And Congratulations again on the release of MONEY, HONEY.
We do get a little punchy the later it gets. LOL!
This has been such a great day. Susan, you have this guest pirate stuff down pat! Thanks for joining us and you have a cabin with your name on it anytime you want. Pitching by the pool sounds good to me. I will definitely find you.
Not fair! Susan got some Woop woop? Ooooh! I want some Woop woop too!
Though I’d probably settle for some Woop-ee.
My Daily Feng Shui Tip of the day says that today is 'National Nude Day. Seriously.
Well. Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but no Feng Shui guru is gonna get me to run around completely nekked.
It simply isn’t seemly.
SIN ?
Can I borrow your Bedazzler ?
And Finally …
Susan, I’m glad that you’re bemused by bedazzled vajayjays, guns in bras & absolutely unique tittays.
Because you might wake up in the morning with a few bedazzled body parts.
SIN said I wish you mad luck with your new book release. You’re a gem!
You’re a gem?
You’re … a … gem. A GEM? That’s Pirate code for …Your bosom is as good as bedazzled!
Lots of comments. You are very popular. It took me forever to get to the bottom. LOL.
Good luck with the book. I cannot wait to read it.
I forgot to answer your question - SEP, Toni Blake, Erin McCarthy, Susan Mallery, Rachel Gibson, HelenKay Dimon write some hot sexy scenes.
lesliekelly
vicki thompson
megan hart so hot'
congrat s on teh book
Welcome, Pat L. and kh to the blog. Those are all popular choices, and a few I haven't read yet. Thanks for adding some new ones to the list!
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