Apr 30, 2009

Headless Heroes

This morning I picked up the June 2009 issue of Romantic Times magazine we received last week during the 2009 RT Convention in Orlando. As I was thumbing through the issue, there was an interesting reader letter regarding "Headless Heroes" submitted by Paula L. Brummel from Victorville, CA.

Ms. Brummel's letter addressed the current trend used by many publishing companies to decapitate their heroes heads. Considering all of the novels I've read -I once read over 200 the summer before my senior year in high school -I never really thought about this. But Ms. Brummel surely did and she was particularly ticked off by what she called a publishing gimmick.

Even though I loved the heroes on everyone of Johanna Lindsey's novels back in the early 80s(I've collected all of them), which were painted by cover illustrator extraordinaire Robert Mcginnis , it really doesn't matter to me if I can see the heroes face or not.

(Covers like this ruined me to ordinary love)

A hot male model body is still a hot body with or without the body. But of course, I'm not the type of reader who makes their buying choices by the cover. In fact, I hardly notice a cover since I immediately turn the book over to read the blurb. If the blurb doesn't draw me, then the book remains on the shelf or in my case it isn't downloaded to my computer.


Ms. Brummel's desire to see the hair, eye color, and lips of the hero must have intrigued the RT magazine's editors as well because they wrote a feature story called "Decoding Book Covers" to address the issue. They interviewed Janice Rossi, artistic director for Kensington to get the down low on the creation of a romance book cover.

According to Ms. Rossi, publishers only have 3 seconds to catch the reader's interest. And supposedly there are certain non-verbal cues on every book cover that places it in a particular genre. For example in paranormals, publishers use the moon, foggy streets, or mist.

But why are publishers putting their hero's head on the virtual chopping block?

Even though I would love to spill the beans, especially since the answer is rather simple, I will have to defer to Elissa Petruzzi who did all the leg work for this article:) Romantic Times magazine can be found in most bookstores.

In the future, I hope a reader will write in and ask why the heroine's backside is always front and center.

Headless Hero: Love Him or Hate Him?

TAKE THE POLL!

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Apr 23, 2009

Gone RTing

This will hopefully post while I'm at the Romantic Times Convention.

I'm so excited about going this year! It's my second attendance as a published author and my fourth RT.

I will be able to sign Mechele's print books, Dinah's Dark Desire and Settler's Mine: The Rivals at the Saturday book fair! I'm also going to be bringing CD's to sell a few ebooks at the Wednesday Ebook Expo. Plus, I'm in Club RT Thursday and Friday mornings. If you're around, come by and say, "Hi!"

I'm also doing a panel on Putting the Men in Menage with some phenomenal authors. And I'm a member of the Faery Court. Yes, I have to eat on stage *bites nails* but I have an awesome dress being made by my mother in law!

RT is always a renewing experience for me. Writing is a lonely career. I have online friends but it's not like I see people everyday. This is a chance to go hang out with people who are excited about books, and not just any books but romance novels, and also hang out with people who are excited about writing. I get to see friends and writers I admire.

Not to mention, last year....I met fans. Of me! Of my writing. I cannot describe how much that meant to me.

I always come back feeling a little rejuvenated about my career. Everyone needs a boost now and then and RT is my boost.


Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.melanylogen.com

Apr 19, 2009

New worlds

I have created a new world. Sursein Judgment is probably the first in what will be another series. I've already got an idea for a sequel and my critique partners seem bound and determined that I will write at least that book, if not more.

In this world, the gods are active. They function through their avatars, who are hyped up clerics with specialized powers based on the god. One of my heros, Shasertai, is such an avatar and his god is Surseine, the god of truth and justice. As such, Shas is a perfect judge because he can hear the truth. In this, he's special among Surseine's judges, but all judges are able to sense and ferret out the truth when they are in a judgment trance. But when in trance, the sursei--as they are called--are blind, just like their god, to all but the matter at hand. In this book, I only go into Surseine's mythology but I've got an idea of what the avatars of some of the other gods might be like.

But the really fun part about this world, in my humble opinion, is that it's what I keep calling "steampunkish". It's got trains and guns, you see, and gas lights and generally anything that you'd consider to be in a Victorian setting. This is my first foray into anything close to steampunk and I can't say that I'm an expert on the subject, but I do love the genre. There's something much more romantic about steam powered engines around magic and mystery than the same magic around modern day technology. I guess there's less certainty about it, something more "wow" about these things functioning. Plus I got to add in a little bit of an Wild West type of feel and that's fun too.

So, I hope you like my offering. I'd really like to revisit this world and its like again.

Apr 14, 2009

Now available at Loose Id

ay_recklessbehavior_coverlg.jpg

After six months with his lover, Cody yearns for monogamy. The threesomes he and Dante engage in are fun, but he needs more from the man he loves. Although Cody longs to tell Dante how he feels, he fears love and fidelity are two words missing from his older lover’s vocabulary.

The discovery of a naked man in Dante’s apartment confirms Cody’s worst fears. The cliché Dante uses as an excuse for his betrayal further clouds the issue at hand. Cody doesn’t know whether to trust the word of a man notorious for screwing around, or believe the worst and walk away from the love he wants most.

Read a spicy excerpt or buy it now at Loose Id.

Apr 12, 2009

Easter Sunday

About 7 a.m. this morning, I stepped out to pick up the newspaper and noticed our neighbors tiptoeing around their front yard. This is a hard-working couple (a physical therapist and a teacher) with a teenage daughter and another who is about four. Sunday mornings are usually pretty quiet for them and I was about to wave and holler howdy when it dawned on me that they were playing Easter Rabbit as quietly as positive. I gave them a thumbs up and went back inside. I haven't checked to see if the hunt has taken place, but their activity reminded me of when my husband and I played that role for our sons. What they loved was for us to re-hide and further re-hide the eggs. No way did I do the fancy coloring. Neither did we get carried away with chocolates, etc. In other words, Easter celebration for the kids was pretty simple, something I'll never regret

In a round way, this experience has a lot to do with the way I approach writing. I have a friend who does amazing humor for Harlequin/Silhouette and her 'of the minute' narrative blows me away. She knows what's in, what's hot, what is new and now. That's what makes her writing so cutting edge and leave me in her dust--at least in that department. Me, I keep things simple. My characters don't have high tech careers because I wouldn't even know how to begin researching those careers.

Example: Last month I sold the first of what I hope will be at least a trilogy for Loose Id. Storm Howl takes place about an hour from where I live because I know the area. No research needed. It touches on re-introduction of wolves because I've written several nonfiction articles on the complex subject. My characters have careers that speak deeply to this area--he's a logger. I was comfortable with the physical world and understood how my hero feels about this physical and extremely dangerous career. With those elements out of the way, I could concentrate on the growing relationship and the paranormal elements which took off in directions I hadn't anticipated and thus fascinated me.

In essence then, I tend to write about what's within my comfort zone. That said, I have to laugh because like everything I do for Loose ID, Storm Howl is erotica. When I started writing in this genre, it was anything but in my comfort zone.

So, in closing, do they still make those yellow marshmallow ducks?
Vonna
www.VonnaHarper.com

Apr 7, 2009

Dark Citadel out today!

I'm so excited! The second of the Masters of the Shadowlands series was released today.

Oddly enough, I wrote both the first book, Club Shadowlands, and Dark Citadel just for fun.

In a different book, I had a bar scene where the heroine enjoyed hot sex with a very dominating man--one who wasn't even the hero. From the reactions of my beta readers, the domination part of that scene had them "squirming" in their seats everytime they thought of it. Now how can a writer resist an invitation like that?

So here is Dark Citadel for your squirming pleasure.
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Blurb:
After Kari breaks up with her date during Beginner's Night at Club Shadowlands, she's given the option to continue with an experienced dominant. Despite her steamy fantasies about BDSM, the inexperienced schoolteacher plans to simply observe. Yet under the unyielding hands of Master Dan, she not only participates, but gives him everything he asks for. There is nothing she can hide from him. Not her passion.or her love.

Still mourning the death of his wife, Master Dan avoids getting involved with women and he never takes a sub twice. But this modest little beginner is such a sweetie, one night is far from enough. As he plumbs her responses, taking her ever deeper into the world of BDSM, the gentle submissive begins to show him how barren his life has become and what a dark citadel he's made of his heart.

During their three nights together, the teacher will learn to submit...can she teach the master to love?
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Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, BDSM theme and content (including/not limited to bondage, caning, restraint, spanking, tethering) exhibitionism, voyeurism.
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Excerpt from Dark Citadel

Oh. She put her hands back in her lap. “What happens now?”

“Now we simply talk about what suits your needs.”

She stared down into her drink, watching the bubbles. His silence had her looking up, right into his observant eyes.

“Needs is another word that bothers you,” he said. “Talking about sex isn’t something you do, is it?”

What, did he have some sort of view into her head? “It wasn’t an acceptable topic of conversation when I was growing up, no.” Her father could expound for hours on purity and innocence without ever saying the sex word.

“Mmmph, in that case, let me run through some options, and we’ll take it from there.”

Options sounded good. Were there options that were the equivalent of sticking one toe in the water? She took another sip of her drink. “All right.”

“I have one request first.”

A request in this place might involve just about anything. She eyed him warily. Nodded.

“Can I get you to sit on my lap while we talk?” He ran a finger over her lower lip, slowly, and she grew aware of how soft her own lips were. His mouth curved up in a wicked smile. “I promise not to put my hands anywhere you don’t want them.”

“But why would I sit on your lap?”

“Sweetheart, it will make it easier for you; sex isn’t something to be discussed at arm’s length, now is it?”

Sex. With him. She might consider this evening an experiment, but sex wasn’t that way. It was personal. He’d be touching her. Intimately. But she wanted this; she really did. “All right.”

She set her drink on the table and rose to her feet, smoothing her dress down. He slid into her place. Reclining back against the armrest, he put his legs up and pulled her into his lap.

With her feet still on the floor, she sat stiffly until he laughed and pulled her down against his chest, her head in the hollow of his shoulder. Sit on his lap? This was more like snuggling…and pretty nice. After a moment, she let her hand rest on his bare chest where the vest had fallen away. She ruffled the crisp hair, tracing her fingers over the hard contours of his chest. He was so darned big, she actually felt tiny next to him—well, on top of him—like her weight was nothing to him.

His voice rumbled through his chest. “There we go. You fit into my arms very nicely—a nice, soft armful.”

His obvious enjoyment warmed her, made her feel feminine and attractive, something she’d been missing for a while now. For two years, actually, since Curt had left her for some hot, skinny artist.

“What was that thought?” Dan asked. She could feel his fingers in her hair, unpinning the French braid.

“Noth—”

“Kari.”

She could hear the warning in his voice, and somehow she didn’t want to disappoint him. “I was thinking about my ex-fiancé.”

“And?”

“And how fat and frigid he made me feel, okay?” she snapped and tried to sit up, but he tucked an arm across her waist and held her in place. Easily.

“Stay here, little one.” He laughed, a low, growling sound. “You have a temper buried under all that politeness. I wonder what else is buried down there.”

“I’m sorry.” He’d only been nice to her, and she’d lashed out.

“I’m not. You know, with both the temper and the worries about your size, you remind me of Z’s sub. Personally I like women with some padding. I like lush.” He stroked up to just under her breasts, and she froze.

“And curvy.” He ran his hand across her hip, squeezed her bottom, continued down her thigh. Everywhere his hand touched, her skin wakened like spring after a hard winter, and warmth washed through her.

“You have the loveliest fair skin,” he murmured, trailing his fingers down her arm. “Soft and creamy, and those pillowy lips of yours would tempt an angel to sin. I’m no angel.” His hand tangled in her loose hair, tipping her head back, and his mouth settled on hers. His lips were firm, demanding, opening hers and taking possession without mercy.

When he pulled back, she was breathing hard, her hand fisted in his vest. God, the man could kiss.

“And only an idiot would call you cold,” he murmured. “Now, back to business. First of all, I need to find out what kind of a submissive you might be. I think I know, but let’s be sure.”

“Submissives come in different types?” How could she know so little?
When she got home, she was going to take a hammer to that stupid dead computer. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can we try multiple choice?”

He laughed. “All right. A: You want to serve a master, making him meals, doing whatever he wants, around the house or in bed. B: You want to play a role for a short time, be a schoolgirl or a secretary, but you’d set up your own rules with your top—ah, the person in charge. C: You want to give up control for sex but not especially for anything else. D: You like pain and want someone to deal it out.”

That was quite a list. “People really want all those different things?”

“Oh, definitely. That was just the short list.” He tugged on her hair. “Give me a letter, sweetheart.”

Well, she knew what she wanted. Why the heck couldn’t she be as blasé about sex as her friends were? She wet her lips. “C. We—I came here—” She sighed. “C.”

“Good enough,” he said easily. “Choice C for sex.”
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Buy link: http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Masters_of_the_Shadowlands__Dark_Citadel-923.aspx

Website: http://www.cherisesinclair.com/
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