Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue

I joined Twitter the day before yesterday. Tweet Yeah, me. After I said I'd never add my voice to ever increasing volume of white noise that surrounds us.

So what changed my mind? A couple of things. I think maybe first and foremost, my sibs are on Twitter and when I was expressing my dismay over this fact, they came back with, "In your business you're crazy not to be on Twitter."

In your business.

Oh yeah.

THAT.

Like all writers I know, I spend a lot of time (when I'm not wracking my brains for a new way to say the same thing after already saying it thirty plus times) wondering about the best way -- or any way -- to reach new readers. New target readers. Meaning the kind of reader who will actually read a gay erotic mystery or adventure and enjoy it. Targeting all mystery readers or all erotic reeaders or all readers is a common mistake of newbie (or desperate) writers. I know I need to focus my efforts, but how and where?

And so I experiment. And Twitter is one of those bubbling green fluids in my brimming test tube.

The other thing that changed my mind -- or at least opened it -- was when I started thinking of Twitter as a news feed as opposed to merely yet another social network. Not that social networks aren't fun, but these days I need to combine my fun with business. That's just how it is at this stage of the game.

When I saw the organizations and people I could subscribe to (AKA "follow") I admit I was kind of excited. I'm currently following Food and Wine magazine, The New Yorker, the Smithsonian...and a lot of my fellow writers. And...well, it's fun. More fun than I thought it would be, as a matter of fact.

Oddly enough it feels even looser and more friendly than Face Book, and its short format makes it easier to chat and share passing random thoughts about everything from what I'm hearing on the news to what I'm working on. It's...well, interesting. And it's yet another way to network and promote, which is what I need. What we all need to succeed in a very competitive field.

But that started me thinking how vital is promotion? Is it possible to network and promote a dog of a book into a bestseller? I used to think not, but evidence seems to indicate otherwise. I can see that it might work for a book or two, but can you promote your way into a successful writing career even if you can't write?

Is it possible to over-promote? I think so. There are writers I refuse to consider merely because they get so much acclaim and I just think...well, I don't like them and I probably wouldn't like their work. I mean, I don't know them, chances are I would like them since everyone seems to, but it's an example of how promo and marketing can backfire. I actually prefer it when certain things I love are mostly undiscovered except by me and a handful of folks in the know. Is that a weird thing? Probably.

Or is it all so subjective that really everyone can write, and there's no such thing as a bad book, and maybe it's all just me? That particular book just isn't for me? (I don't believe that, for the record, but YMMV.)

Enywhooooooo, inquiring minds want to know. And since it's a while since I've done a giveaway here at Loose Ends, I'm offering a free cyber set of the Dangerous Ground books -- Dangerous Ground, Old Poison, and the brand new release Blood Heat -- to a randomly selected commenter. So comment! Share your thoughts.

Oh, er, and don't forget to follow me on, er, Tweet.

Slow-Motion Sex and a Headache Chaser

I spent part of yesterday writing an intense, sexual encounter between two old friends. It was the first time they had touched each other intimately in years. The words flowed, and it was an enjoyable scene to write (and not in a dirty enjoyable way. Sheesh. Well not that much, anyway). I usually like the writing of sex scenes, but this was the first time writing one gave me a headache. I think I had ratcheted up the tension so much that I was feeling it in my brain or something. Perhaps it had something to do with the non-completion of the act for the characters. Maybe I ticked myself off as much as I did them by not seeing it through.

I hear some writers say they dislike or dread writing the sex scenes. I’ve never really read much on why that is which got me to wondering if maybe it gives them a headache too. I don’t know.

I have to say I occasionally skip a sex scene or leave it purposely vague the first time through, but it’s not because I don’t want to write it. I’m either not in the right frame of mind or I’m not deep enough into the story to really get a handle on what I want the characters to be feeling in that moment.

There are a few things I have to be able to do to keep writing the scene:

1) Slow down the action.
I watch the scene unfold in my mind in slow motion, taking note of every movement, every touch and how each character responds, utilizing the ones that change the dynamic each step of the way.

2) Put myself into the scene, into the character’s mind and body.
Once I have an idea of how I want it to go, I get inside the POV character and describe it from his perspective. I can practically feel the anticipation, the tension, the touches. It’s an intense way to write but has proven effective for me as a writing technique.

3) Utilize as many of the five senses as I can.
This is true for most scenes but are especially true for intimate moments. Smell and taste are hard ones for me to describe, but I try to pull them in when I can.

4) Know what the characters need to gain or learn from the experience.
Sometimes I know a sex scene is the next logical step in the progression of their story, but I’m just not sure how they are supposed to come out of it. Since I’ve been outlining everything I’m writing these days, I usually have these details identified before I write the first full draft which helps me write the scene.

So tell me (for research purpose only, of course) who are some authors that you think can pull off amazing sex scenes that put you right into the moment? If I haven’t yet, I’ll probably want to check out their work…and possibly ask them if they get a headache while writing their scenes too.

Oh, and before I go...check out the cover art for my next release, BREATHE, coming from Loose Id next month. The artist was Valerie Tibbs. Isn't it gorgeous?



Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com

To Sleep...

My first professional writing job was to adapt the novel Dracula into a stage production for a theatre festival. I spent weeks delving into the lore of the vampire, reading and re-reading the novel and doing my best to dig the latent Victorian sexuality from between the lines. By the time the play was up and running, I’d pretty much had it with bloodsuckers.

So… Fast forward. I’ve got this silly idea for a character…a vampire with insomnia. Like I said, it seemed pretty silly. I shelved the character idea until last spring when a call came from Loose Id. They wanted stories to celebrate Coming Out Day in October. I really didn’t think about writing anything for it until a certain someone encouraged me to submit a proposal…three days before the call closed. (Thanks Treva!) That’s when I remembered my poor insomniac vampire and the silly idea suddenly became rather poignant. That’s when Oliver Bleu was born…selfish, romantic and doomed by his inability to slip into the oblivion of the undead.

Sleep is such an elemental, basic survival need. We need those hours of dream state, not only for our sanity, but simply to stay alive. Before his tragic death, actor Heath Ledger complained of insomnia. I’ve suffered with it for years, almost every summer. I’ve used sleep medications, self-hypnosis, and behavior modification. I’ve also self medicated with drugs and alcohol. Finally, I reached a crossroads. I decided to submit to the demon and see where it took me.

Yes, I still suffer insomnia, but no longer feel like its killing me. If I can’t sleep, I get up and continue on with my day. I sleep when my brain and body are both ready for it. If I go to sleep at midnight and wake at three in the morning, I get up and work. As it generally doesn’t continue more than a month or two, I can manage with frequent naps and deep relaxation. I am very fortunate, because I remember the feelings of despair that came from watching the clock.

Now imagine a vampire, locked into his sleeping place during the hours of daylight. He’s unable to sleep, unable to move or speak or even take a breath. It would be a living hell. Every sunset Oliver Bleu rises weaker than he was when he lay down for the day. He’s fading slowly. His light is dying.

And then he meets his salvation…

Blacque/Bleu is available at Loose Id, LLC

www.belindamcbride.com

www.belindam.blogspot.com

A Most Awesome Cool Excellent Feeling

Hey all,

It's been a great month here in Macau.  I'm finally a little more settled and I've been able to really get back into my writing. To my great joy, my imagination didn't suffer with the short hiatus I had to endure as we moved around the globe. Instead I've now got so many ideas rolling around in head I'll be writing until I'm a hundred and sixty four!  LOL

So is having all those ideas a most awesome cool excellent feeling?  

Darn right it is.  Sometimes I get so excited when a new idea pops up I can hardly stand it.  I'll dance around the house like an idiot until I'm sure my head will explode if I don't get the idea written down.  Sometimes the plot for a book will emerge fully formed, and all I have to do is write it down.  Other times I'll see something...a person...a place or an action that gives me an awesome idea and voilà!!!  A story is born.

The other day I was working on my latest WIP, and I hit a place where the words just flowed out of me. It was like watching a  rushing river.  I didn't stop writing for three solid hours and when I was done I had done over 5,800 words.  I was bloody amazed.  And I wondered why I couldn't write like that all the time.

So was that speeding tide of words a most awesome cool excellent feeling?

Oh, yeah!  And even better, when I went back to edit it, it was really clean.  A few typos here and there, but for the most part what I wrote as I rode the river is exactly what I will send it to be edited.  A nice extra for a 180 minutes work!

Yet for an author there is another most awesome cool excellent feeling.  One that we all look forward to...yet in a way are saddened by.  The finishing of a book.

For me, the hardest part of writing is a book's ending.  You are saying goodbye to characters you've spent weeks and sometimes months with and have come to love,.  Plus, you want to make sure the readers who have spent time in your world can put your story down and be completely and totally satisfied with what they've read.

No pressure, right?  *snort*

But even with all that, finishing a book IS a most awesome cool  excellent feeling.  Since I rarely know how the book will end until I write the last page, I'm just as surprised as my readers at the finale.  (My husband still thinks it amazing that he can come home from work and find me weeping over a scene I'm writing.)  So for me it is extremely rewarding to pull together those last loose ends, give my characters that necessary "Happily Ever After", and finally write THE END.  Why, you may ask?

I want to know what happens, too!!!! 

Anyway, all this leads to one unmistakable fact that I'm sure many people in my profession will agree with.  Being an author is...

A Most Awesome Cool Excellent Feeling.

I'll see you next month with another blog about who knows what and why!  Have a great rest of your October and a safe and shiveringly spooky Halloween!

Blessings,

CJ England

Follow Your Dreams

http://cjengland.com/warrior/morethanawarrior.htm

http://cjengland.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CJsaysFollowYourDreams/