tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140400262024-03-13T17:41:11.865-07:00Kathleen BradeanWriting With Intent to Arouse.Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.comBlogger656125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-3458072306579947602013-05-27T16:49:00.004-07:002013-05-28T07:09:06.351-07:00Writing This Novel part VII (submissions)<br />
I’ve been in the tiny universe of
erotica long enough that I understand the niches publishers inhabit, but you
might not. Perhaps you wrote your story with a publisher in mind. If you
didn’t, you’re going to have to do some research. Go to the publisher’s website
and check out their newest offerings. Read their submission guidelines. If
possible, read a couple of their books. Don’t waste their time and don’t waste yours
sending the wrong book to the wrong publisher.
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Just as you wouldn’t submit a book
on puppy training to a publisher of cookbooks, you shouldn’t submit your erotic
romance novel to a publisher of (literary) erotica. If you don’t know the
difference between erotic romance and literary erotica, don’t feel bad. It’s
not a simple distinction and the line between the two is blurry at best. As a
generalization, erotic romance is written in the genre style of romance. It absolutely
requires a happy-ever-after or happily-for-now ending, and focuses on the relationship
between two (sometimes three) people. So yes, there’s graphic sex but it’s
about bonding the characters emotionally. </div>
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Literary erotica is written in the
genre style of literary fiction, but it can have a happily-ever-after ending
and it may focus on a relationship. Rather than emotional bonding though, sex
scenes are (normally) used to define or change a character. </div>
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Still don’t know
where your book falls in the spectrum? Erotic romance sells better than
literary erotica, so if you have a novel that dances on the foggy boundary (with requisite
happy ending), and sales matter to you, you might want to call it erotic romance and seek out those publishers. </div>
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Before you sign with any publisher,
send emails to several writers with books at that publisher. Ask them if their
publishing experience was good. Ask them if they get paid royalties regularly
and on time. Find someone who used to publish through them who doesn’t anymore
and ask why. Check Predators and Editors. If you’ve hung around writer’s lists
long enough, you’ve seen the horror stories of unpaid royalties, rights being
tied up in court, unprofessional and unscrupulous business practices, and a
host of other problems. Experienced writers place their books with several
different publishers to mitigate exposure to their publisher’s business
problems, but even a good shop can go to hell overnight, especially if it’s
small press and the owner is essentially the entire company. All it takes is a
car accident or sudden illness. I’m not saying be paranoid, but be aware of who
you’re entering into a contract with. It’s called due diligence. Do your
homework. Protect yourself. </div>
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Also check the terms of the
contract thoroughly and know what each paragraph means. There are websites that
will warn you about bad contract terms. Things I’ve turned down contracts for:
a clause that said I could never speak ill of the publisher or its employees.
First look rights (this sounds good but it isn’t for YOU). A contract that
meant they had my rights forever. A contract that demanded I prove my gender. Lousy
ebook royalties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The right to use 100%
of my story for “advertising” with no additional compensation in any
publication or website the conglomerate owned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And yes, I tried to negotiate those terms because everyone says you can
negotiate. “Everyone” is either a writer with a lot of pull or a liar because for
the most part you’ll be told to sign it or go away. Only you can decide what’s
right for you and how desperate you are to be published. </div>
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Five or six years
ago, a large erotic romance e-publisher bought a novel from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (Yes, I wrote a book that could pass as erotic romance. It happens.) </span>Three months after the contract was signed,
they sent an email that they tried to back date telling me that my novel was
rejected. Yeah, you can type a date from months ago in the body of an email,
but the time stamp of when it was received is all that counts, people. For some
reason telling me they changed their mind was out of the question, and so was
being polite or apologetic about it. I still have that SIGNED contract in my
files. Did I try to enforce it? No. I didn’t see the point. I didn’t want to do
business with a company that proved they had no morals. So just be aware that
even a signed contract means nothing unless you have
the means and desire to fight it in court if it is breached.</div>
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I had a publisher in mind when I
wrote <i>Night Creatures</i> (still playing with the title, I may make it <i>Night
Kreatures</i>.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so I didn’t have to research
them. I did, however, have to ask what they like to see in a submission and how
they wanted it formatted, because part of being a professional writer is taking
the business side seriously. If your writing doesn’t make your story stand out,
don’t for a second believe that comic sans font will. Giving the publisher what
they want, in the format they want it, and only what they want tells the
publisher that you’re a reasonable person who won’t give them trouble over
stupid things. (So if your manuscript is accepted, prove it by not being an ass
over stupid things. Seriously, writer folk, don't be THAT writer.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After I knew what the publisher
wanted, I put together my submission package, which in this case was an email.
They didn’t ask for a synopsis (joy, rapture! I loathe writing a synopsis) so I
sent a simple cover letter (body of the email), formatted like a business email
(my full contact info, date, etc.), with all the usual cover letter info: title
of the work, genre, word count (complete) in the first paragraph. A brief
synopsis of the story (second paragraph). Wind up: thank you for your
consideration… in the third paragraph, and a signature block. The full
manuscript was an attachment.</div>
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Sent it off and waited. And waited…
After a couple months I sent a polite inquiry about where I was in the
submission process. Polite. Don’t even type with an attitude. It’s a discreet
cough, not a temper tantrum. And I got a very nice reply back that basically
said “We need a few more weeks.” Not a problem, so I waited.</div>
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And here’s where you may expect
that I say “And it’s coming out in October!” Well, no. The publisher wants me
to rewrite the first two chapters and resubmit. Did I collapse onto my fainting
couch? Did I send it off to a different publisher? No. Rejection isn’t
personal. It’s an opportunity to learn something. </div>
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Being honest with
myself, I know that the first two chapters were the weakest part of my novel.
So I’m working on those chapters. I told the publisher that I would resubmit it
when I fixed my work, and I will. Now, if it’s turned down after that, I could
turn to another publisher, but because I understand the niche markets
publishers inhabit, I already know that there are few who would touch this edgy
piece. It’s dark and it’s bloody. I could self-publish. I think about those
options but it’s far too early in the process to give up on this publisher just
yet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-61452884156512691392013-04-29T08:45:00.001-07:002013-04-29T08:45:10.866-07:00Writing This Novel part VI<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
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I know you want to submit your story as soon as you’ve finished it. So do I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writers are under a lot of pressure to churn out work quickly in this publishing environment. I get that. But this is a little piece of your soul you’re sending out into the universe, and polish is the only protection it’s going to have. So please, slow down. Treat your work like a gourmet meal instead of fast food. Make sure it’s presented in the best possible way. You’re the only one who will give it such loving attention.</div>
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So. Editing.</div>
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Suggested reading before editing: Self Editing for Fiction Writers (Browne & King)</div>
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A line-by-line copy edit helps you find typos, missing words, and grammar mistakes. Below, I share the way I do it, but as always, do what works for you. However, I strongly suggest that you allow the MS to sit a few weeks after you finish your final draft before you plunge into copy edits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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If you work in Word, you know all about the wavy red lines for spelling errors and the wavy green for grammar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You probably also know by now that those are often wrong. There are many online sources to help you with tricky, specific grammar questions. Plus, you have writer friends, right? Turn to them. But always verify with a trusted authority on the matter. </div>
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I write science fiction so many of my proper nouns are marked as spelling errors in the Word document. Adding them to the dictionary gets rid of so many red wavy lines and Word will flag it if I have a spelling variation (AKA a typo), which happens a lot with odd names. I have yet to figure out how to get Scrivner to accept my world-specific vocabulary.</div>
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Despite the weaknesses of Word’s grammar and spell check, it can show you interesting statistics such as percent of passive sentences and reading level. I won’t say that I dumb down my manuscripts, but if the reading level is over eighth grade, I know to look for simpler vocabulary replacements as I edit. I usually run at about 2-4% passive sentences. Despite what you’ve heard, passive sentences aren’t evil, bad things. They have a place in your writing. No editor wants to see 60% passive sentences in your MS, but you don’t have to completely eradicate them either. Another interesting statistic is average words per sentence. If it’s over twenty-five, you may be guilty of too many complex or run-on sentences. If it’s under eight, your writing may have the delivery of machine gun fire. Mix it up to create a pleasant reading cadence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After spelling and grammar, I consult my ‘errors I make all the time so you’d think I’d know better by now’ list. I often type <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prefect</i> instead of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perfect</i>. I switch the words <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">from</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">form</i>. I’m addicted to the word j<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ust. </i>Spellcheck won’t catch those errors. Do you have crutch words or phrases? Are you aware of word substitutions you make often? Use the search function in your word processor to search for your recurring mistakes. </div>
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After I’ve finished those corrections, I print the MS for the first time. You might be able to see errors on a computer screen but I see many more on paper. I take a green pen and circle every error. If the problem is an entire sentence, sometimes I write the correction on the paper but other times I’ll simply circle it and deal with it later. POV errors, continuity, and plot holes are also circled but with a short note about the problem. This is detailed work so I don’t do too many pages at one sitting.</div>
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Next I sit down with the MS and make my corrections in the computer. This is another time when the search feature comes in handy. You can type in a three or four word string and it will find them for you so you don’t have to scroll through the whole MS.</div>
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At this point, I print the corrected MS for what I consider to be the hardest editing task. I read my entire MS aloud. </div>
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What I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i> I wrote makes sense. What I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually</i> wrote is missing words or other errors I didn’t catch on my first editing run. What I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually</i> wrote is repetitive either in theme or in word choice. What I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually</i> wrote has weird rhythm. Or it’s a tongue twister. Or what the heck was that supposed to mean? All those errors are easily glossed over when I read mentally, but they’re glaringly obvious when I read aloud.</div>
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Reading a sex scene aloud can be embarrassing even though I wrote it. R has, on occasion, poked his head into my office and said, “Bragging about your cock again, dear?” Instant mortification. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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While reading an entire novel aloud, I often get lulled into a mental space where I will start reciting what I intended to write rather than what’s actually on the page. This happens even when it’s been weeks since I looked at the MS. That’s one reason why I limit my reading aloud to about twenty to thirty minutes a day. Another reason is that reading aloud is hard on the throat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After I’ve corrected any problems I caught that time around, I may send the MS to beta readers or I may submit it without reader input. That’s your choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes beta readers are more harm than help. Sometimes they try to impose their vision on your story. Sometimes they simply don’t get it. Sometimes everything you do is wonderful and lovely and… no. This is not helpful. You need critique, not ego strokes. Some beta readers have brilliant insights and totally call you on your weaknesses. Love that class of beta readers. Cherish them. They are amazing, wonderful, precious humans. </div>
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That’s my method for editing both short stories and novels. Do you have any tricks for catching errors? Beta readers – yea or nay?</div>
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Next time: submission. Finally. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-55857394497166710952013-04-17T06:56:00.002-07:002013-04-17T06:56:25.085-07:00Guest Blog at Unapologetic FictionSommer Marsden was kind enough to invite me to her blog <a href="http://sommermarsden.blogspot.com/2013/04/20-questions-with-kathleen-bradean-life.html?spref=fb">Unapologetic Fiction</a> to answer 20 questions.<br />
<br />
And yes, I really did dismember a doll.Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-27705412960393508262013-04-13T08:53:00.000-07:002013-04-13T08:53:05.291-07:00Writing This Novel - "As you know, Jim"I watched the premier episode of Da Vinci's Demons last night. The historical inaccuracies drove me a bit bonkers, but if I approach it as alternate history/ steampunk renaissance, I suppose I can forgive that. What I can't forgive were the multitude of "As you know, Jim" speeches. Whether its television or a novel, writers should do everything they can to avoid them.<br />
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So, what's an "An you know, Jim," speech? If you've watched any of the CSI shows, you've heard these. It's when a character says something along the lines of "As you know, Jim, I'm going to take this piece of crime scene evidence and try to find latent prints on it. I will do this by..." But Jim isn't a child from another planet. He's another CSI tech and he knows damn well how evidence is processed because it's his job. So why is it being explained to him as if he knows nothing about it? Well, the other character isn't explaining it to Jim. He's explaining it to the viewer/reader who presumably doesn't know. It's an acknowledgement of the fourth wall. On CSI, Jim usually responds with "Yes, and then you'll match any latent prints you find against our suspects, thus hopefully linking one to the scene of the crime" while in real life, Jim would say, "No shit, Sherlock."<br />
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"As you know, Jim" come up a lot in science fiction and fantasy because there's a whole world with different rules that the reader needs to know. A common way around this is to drop an outsider into the world so they can ask "What's that animal?" or "Why are those dudes in red livery shooting arrows at us?" without seeming like an idiot. Even in Harry Potter, he's raised in a muggle household, so everything about the wizarding world must be explained to him. He has a muggle's reaction to the things he sees and frames them in a muggle POV. (at least in the first few books) Later, as Hogwarts becomes his world (and the reader is just as familiar with it) the explanations drop away except when something extraordinary happens. (such as the tri-wizarding tournament). Hermione, in almost every situation, serves as Harry's interpreter. She understands his muggle POV since she comes from the same place, but because she's made a huge effort to understand everything about the world around her, she knows what's happening and why. Someone raised in the wizarding world wouldn't think of such things as extraordinary so they wouldn't know that Harry was unfamiliar with it, nor would they know how to explain it.<br />
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But what do you do if your characters are all from that world? How are you going to explain things without resorting to awkward "As you know, Jim," speeches? Not everyone in a world knows everything, so as "As you don't know, Jim" explanation is fine if the information isn't common knowledge. If it is common knowledge, the best way to inform the reader is to show the character lifting prints from crime scene evidence and comparing them to the suspects' prints. Show the second sun, the twin moons, the dragons, or the elves. Show someone breaking a taboo and how the other characters react. Show the magic of technology and what it does. You don't have to explain how it works (unless that's part of the plot) since most readers are willing to suspend disbelief and trust that it does work if you show that it does.<br />
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One of the strengths of books over television shows is that you can take your time to explore things. Television shows are about action, not thought. And as you know, Jim, you can take advantage of that.<br />
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Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-44465329280061042332013-04-06T08:21:00.000-07:002013-04-06T08:21:34.964-07:00Turn it Off!I've started working on a new novel.<br />
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I love this part, where the story is still full of promise and energy. I love how my imagination runs wild with the first draft.<br />
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Except that I can't rein it in. Not only am I awake late at night thinking of scenes I won't write until months from now, I'm thinking about other novels! It's sort of like watching a syndicated show on a cable station that splices in extra commercial time. Did that make sense to you? Maybe not. I've been taking medication for this ear ache for four days now and it's making me loopy. Come to think of it, that might be the reason why my thoughts jump between a damp prison cell in an old fortress and a surreal carnival/party in an abandoned mansion. One moment it's the slow drip of water and unseen things rustling in the dark, the next it's harlequins and fire eaters on unicycles in a house with tilted floors and walls. One character wraps her arms around her knees and contemplates revenge versus justice. Another brushes Sophie's hair from her neck and kisses her. His lips linger. As he lifts his head, a drop of blood wells on her skin.<br />
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Yeah, see, this is how it goes. I'm trying to write the first novel and the second one is doing its best to seduce me away. Stop nibbling on Sophie, George! Stop. Do not let her tie you to the chair and... Just cut it... damn, that's hot. Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-76009327241391377332013-03-31T11:56:00.003-07:002013-03-31T11:56:48.069-07:00Writing This Novel, part V<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Now that you’ve let your first
draft sit for a while it’s time to turn it into a second draft. Some writers
produce such a clean first draft that the second draft goes quickly then all
they have to do is copy edit and submit. I am not one of those writers. I wish
I were, but it isn’t meant to be. <i>Night Creatures</i> took five drafts, but I had
some unique problems that I’ll discuss later. The first draft is the time to
throw everything onto the page. The second draft is when you cut excess or add
depth and bring the story arc into its final shape. If you see copy edit level problems,
of course fix them, but don’t get bogged down in that yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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In
each scene, if your characters
have moved to a different location, have you described where they are
early on to anchor your reader? Good! But are you giving me too much
detail?
Not good. Your imagination might have constructed an amazing coffee
house with
the quirkiest baristas on the planet and fascinating regulars, but
confession
time – as a reader, I scan over this kind of stuff if it goes on too
long. Give
the reader a quick impression, not a blueprint. It’s an amazing trick of
the
human mind that with only a few details our imaginations can fill in the
rest
of the scene. Make your words count. Load them with atmosphere. Blonde
wood and steel evoke not just décor but also a soundtrack and
vibe, and it's different than what you'd imagine if I'd called the place
dark and cozy. </div>
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Have
you used at least three
senses to make a scene come alive? Think about the coffee shop. Since
your
characters are probably talking you already have hearing, but add little
touches such as an ambulance going by outside or the clatter of dishes
as a
table is cleared or that weird swooshy sound the milk steamer makes. If
you’ve described the setting, you’ve already evoked seeing. Give it
dimension by letting your characters react to what they see. Maybe they
feel
self-conscious when the teenagers two tables over whisper and giggle, or
your characters are self-conscious teenagers who whisper and giggle.
Since it’s a coffee shop it probably smells like coffee, but what else?
If it's raining outside, coats are probably giving off that damp wool
smell. If you're out on a patio, you could smell traffic fumes or the
herbal scent of a planter or even the doggy smell of the Golden Lab at
the feet of the woman two tables away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Read through your draft to make sure your characters are consistent. Yes,
they change over the course of the story, but there has to be a progression. In
the novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Adventures of</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Huckleberry Finn</i>, Huck is comfortable
with slavery at the beginning of the story. His entire world tells him is right
and he doesn’t question it. By the end of the story, he’s decided that even if
it means he’ll go to hell, he’s not okay with slavery and he believes,
strongly, that Jim is a man, a full human being, the same as him. That is a
huge change. But from the opening lines to the end of the story, Huck Finn is a
consistent character. Every action he takes and bit of dialog is absolutely
believable as something Huck Finn would say or do.</div>
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Everyone comes from somewhere. They
don’t spring to life as full grown adults when your story begins. (Well, yes,
they do, since you created them, but to make them seem real, you have to
pretend they existed before you started recording their story) They have a past
that made them who they are and that’s probably important info to share with
your reader. However, beware the dreaded info dump! Cramming all the backstory
into the first chapter is a sure way to bore your reader. Insert clues to your
character’s past along the path of the story and reveal those things only at
the point where they matter. Occasionally this will call for a longer passage,
but if you can keep it to a line or two you’re better off, because long
passages can drag your story to a standstill and it’s harder to overcome
inertia than it is to maintain forward momentum. (Law of physics as applied to
storytelling) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
Foreplay.
I don’t mean with your characters (although that’s fun stuff to read) I
mean your readers. Don’t just toss them into a sex scene. Seduce them
first. Use your sensory writing to evoke a mood then mercilessly push
buttons to get them hot and bothered. Tease them. Manipulate them. Make
them feel the warmth of a lover’s breath just under their ear so they’ll
shiver. Make them want a lingering touch next. Take your time. Do a
thorough job of it. It will leave them with the impression of a great
sex scene even if you never describe a sexual act.<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
While you were writing your first
draft, your subconscious was lurking in the background. Occasionally, while you
were distracted, it slipped ideas into your work. Sneaky. By the time you
finished your first draft, you may have become aware of those ideas. Many works
in erotica are voyages of personal discovery. The protagonist chooses to find
what they want and seizes control of their sexuality and life. That’s an
empowering message. I’ve also read stories that are about forgiveness, loss,
faith, love, and despair. You name an aspect of the human condition and it can
be addressed in erotica. Think about your work from the high-level view. A
literary viewpoint. Do you detect an idea or theme? Think about ways to enhance
it in the second draft (if it interests you). <br />
<br />
Reflecting on your work will give
you a lot to tackle in your second draft, and expanding on the ideas your
subconscious seeded in the first draft will add depth to your story.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I knew before I finished the first
draft of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Night Creatures</i> that I had
to move a key scene. Talk about painful. If only it were as simple as
cut and paste. But no, of course not. Events happen in sequence. One flows into
another. By changing the timeline, I had to go through each scene and ask ‘do
they know this yet?’ If not, I had to eliminate the reference. In the
first draft, things can be wrong. Typically in the second draft, errors are
fixed, but in my second draft, I was creating potential errors all over
the place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
As
if I hadn’t made things hard
enough, I also decided to delete two characters from the story. A cast
of thousands
may be impressive on a big movie screen but too many characters are
confusing as hell on the page. Although
I already had a limited cast, by eliminating the additional characters I
tightened the focus on the main two. A reader once commented that my
stories sometimes make her feel like she'd been shoved into a wardrobe
with two people and the air is running out. I take that claustrophobia
as a compliment. <br />
<br />
Deleting characters can cause huge plot problems. Let me restate that. Deleting characters <i>should</i>
cause huge plot problems. Everyone on the page should be there for a
specific purpose, like cogs in a machine. If you can remove one and
nothing changes, they shouldn't have been there in the first palce. (I'm
talking about main and secondary characters here, not the extras in the
background) When I removed the two from mine, a key part of the plot
suddenly didn't happen, so I had to transfer their actions to one of the
remaining characters. Different characters have different motivations
even if they do the same thing. (For example: I eat sashimi because I
like it.
R will only eat it when it’s served to him and it would be rude to
refuse it.) That meant, yes, exploring the motivations of the character
and making sure they made sense. That was a lot of work, and typically
the kind of stuff you do as you're writing the first draft. Maybe
instead of calling this one my second I should have called it First
Draft version B.<br />
<br />
Between changing the sequence of
events and eliminating characters, the second draft left me with a lot
of work to do. (Thus the five drafts.) I wouldn’t have made those
changes
if I hadn’t strongly felt they were necessary. Unfortunately, I can’t
explain
to you why I felt they had to be made or how you might sense that your
story
arc needs that kind of revision. (I hope for your sake that it never
does. This is why I often say "This is what I do, but I don't recommend
it to anyone.") Readers might feel that the way a story was
told was the only way it could have unfolded, but writers know that
there were
many possibilities. More than one path can lead to the same destination.
Part of
choosing the path is talent, part of it is craftsmanship, all of it is
the
mysterious (wonderful) process of creativity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
What are the areas you concentrate
on in a second draft? Do you have bad habits you try to catch?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Next time: editing </div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-86061405109384630082013-03-17T20:20:00.001-07:002013-03-19T06:50:41.213-07:00Saints and Sinners 2013It's that time of year again.<br />
<br />
With <a href="http://sasfest.org/">Saints and Sinners</a> two months away, the emails are trickling in. Writers I haven't talked to since last year are asking if I have a room. (Yes). A roommate (D.L. King puts up with me every year. maybe because we're shower compatible. I shower at night, she does in the morning.) Dinner plans... well, Jeff Mann asked first, so I expect a lovely meal with him and John, but D.L. and I are free other nights. We have our drinking tour down cold by now - bloody marys at French Market, pomegranate martinis for D.L. and scotch for me at the carousel bar at the Monteleone. Feel free to tag along if you're there. We also have our musts for meals - Deanie's on Iberville for anything on the menu, Gumbo Kitchen for gumbo, chargrilled oysters at Acme Oyster House (D.L. says I make my O face when I eat them) and of course lunch at Clover Grill because while I don't live in New Orleans, every time I eat there I know at least half the customers.<br />
<br />
That's my favorite part of Saints and Sinners. Every time I turn a corner in the French Quarter I see someone I know. It feels very old home week. Besides, where else am I going to get this much writer's gossip? Sure, writers are a bunch of depressive introverts, but give us three days in close quarters and we're regular social butterflies. Some of us even make eye contact. Then we take a year to recover from the effort.<br />
<br />
If you're waffling on attending, the master classes every year are amazing and so are the panels. I'm always so energized, brimming with ideas, and ready to write after the weekend. Some writers I idolized have become good friends after we met at S&S. There's the whole networking thing (but crank it down a couple notches. I really hate it when someone shoves a partial in my hands, and I'm not even a publisher! So please... just socialize. You can do the business thing after you get home.)<br />
<br />
Which leads us to the most amazing part of S&S - the wonderful feeling of being among your own kind. Who you are is a given, not something you have to explain. Or apologize for. You don't know relief until you experience it. <br />
<br />
<br />Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-79994654659843758272013-03-15T21:07:00.002-07:002013-03-15T21:07:48.485-07:00The DialogWriting is a solitary pastime.<br />
<br />
Picture this: the words are flowing- pouring really- out of your imagination and you're frantically trying to keep up. Or imagine that you're the only one who knows this story but it will only reveal itself in little glimpses even to you so you have to grab onto wisps of it and somehow turn it into something solid. You have to coax it out one painful word at a time. Sometimes even that one word won't come. And all the while real life is distracting you or coming between you and the keyboard.<br />
<br />
Writing is a solitary pursuit because it demands so much focus.<br />
<br />
That's probably why writers dream of retreats in secluded places. If real life could only be held at bay so we could focus. Yet every writer I talk to dreams of these retreats as a group event, which seems like we don't know what we want. Fellowship or seclusion? I think what we seek in this writer's nirvana is understanding more than anything. We want to be around people who get it when your mind is so deep in layers of your story that you don't talk or notice that they're there and won't be offended, or people who will respect that do not disturb sign on your cabin door. But we also want to gather around a table when we're not writing so we can talk about writing with someone who gets it.<br />
<br />
Living with a non-writer is difficult at times, even when they're supportive. They truly don't understand the drive to write. It's not as if you can explain it to them.<br />
<br />
Writer's retreats do exist, but I know few people who have been to one. We feel guilty enough about stealing our writing time. Imagine the guilt of taking a weekend or a whole week just for yourself! just to write? Oh, the madness! Women are especially conditioned to believe that's too selfish. It isn't, but the force of guilt is strong within us.<br />
<br />
Since we don't ever dare go on retreats, we do the next best thing - we meet online. What did we ever do before the internet? I live in a city of seven million people and I can't find a little writer's group to meet in person, but I have a community spread across the world that I can reach out to. Isolation is a choice now. That's one strength of the internet over meeting in person. You can mull over an idea for months before you reply to someone, and the conversation will still "be" there, waiting for you.<br />
<br />
The writer's discussion that currently intrigues me has been going on for several years in fits and starts. Bits and pieces of this dialog jump around between Twitter, FaceBook, and blog entries on many sites, so it's not easy to keep track of where the conversation is or even what it is. I've mentioned parts of it in this blog, and you can find more of it on <a href="http://remittancegirl.com/">Remittance Girl's blog</a>. (Don't know about her? Although I loathe the idea of muses and will mock writers who go on seriously about them, she's the closest thing I'll ever have to one. She's more like an intellectual slap of the gauntlet across the chops than a demigoddess in diaphanous clothing.) What we're talking about at this rather leisurely pace is literary erotica and the language of sensuality.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure if we're even after answers in this languid, meandering discussion. I don't think there's such a thing as resolution. The questions might be all we ever have, and they might be enough. At least they're being asked. One point in the future though I'd like to meet the people who have contributed to this dialog. Maybe somewhere off in the woods, a cabin with a big communal room and a table big enough to hold the weight of the conversation. Although we'll probably talk about anything but the art and craft of writing. I've learned that from hanging around with writers at cons. Writers gossip. We talk about the business, publishers, and agents. We talk about Doctor Who and trashy TV. Because writers write. Our best words and thoughts are mulled over, crafted, and revised in our own time, not blurted out over dinner. But the retreat idea is still wonderful. After all, who else but a writer would stay up half the night debating modern portrayals of Irene Adler with me and not think it weird that we're so passionate about a fictional person? Oh, that's right. Readers would totally get that too.<br />
<br />
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-88214314830895877632013-03-02T08:46:00.005-08:002013-03-27T20:07:51.585-07:00Ephemeral Blaznous OR The Most Erotic Thing<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
My tenure at Oh Get a Grip blog is coming to an end, so I thought I'd
reprint one my my contributions here. The question for the week was
"What is the most erotic thing?" You'd think that would be easy to
answer, but it wasn't for me. <br />
<br />
<b>Ephemeral Blaznous</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Recent studies have determined that your brain
doesn’t distinguish between actually
doing something and reading about it. So my sex scene can make your
brain think you actually had a sexual experience? I don't think so. It
might get you in the mood. It might set off body responses tied to
arousal. But how much of that is the brain and how much is the body? Do
the mechanisms of arousal (such as increased blood flow to the genitals)
start a feedback loop of sexual expectation and more arousal? And is
there
causality between expectation and experience when you read? If you
expect to be scared by a
horror novel, is it more likely to scare you? Similarly if you expect to
be
turned on by erotica, are you more likely to get aroused?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I
think quite a bit about what’s erotic and I have no clue
how to begin to discuss it. Not one. Some things turn me on and I spend a
lot
of time analyzing why but I never figure it out. Part of that is because
there's a gap between what's happening in my brain and my ability to
describe it. It’s as if we don’t even have
the language to describe the erotic.When we try to talk about the erotic we often fall back on the symptoms (physical) because the causality (mental) is
outside shared experience or whatever it is that gives us the ability to slap a
word on an idea and pass it around like an appetizer tray at a party. Sex we
can talk about forever because it’s fairly simple. It can be examined as a
purely physical act. The erotic is far more mysterious.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There
are infinite colors outside the visible spectrum and I
guarantee you not one is named. Things can exist without having a word
attached, but that makes it awfully hard to discuss them. So for the
sake of argument, think of the concept of an unimaginable color and call
it Ephemeral Blaznous. Why Blaznous? Because it couldn’t be called
Ephemeral
Blue. There may be millions of shades of blue but blue is a specific
idea. Blue is something we can talk about and the letters B-L-U-E in
that arrangement can contain the concept of it in text and evoke the
image of it.The erotic isn't as easy as blue. As an idea, it's a
slippery sucker that dodges just as you try to pin a definition on it.
It changes over time. It hovers outside the spectrum. It's blaznous.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
I could
tell you about things
that turn me on, but only a general description of what I saw or read
and I can't tell you why. The
actual trigger, if there’s only one and it isn’t a cumulative thing, is a
big old
mystery. This is why I'm a bit in awe of the "porn" writers who can
reach out and evoke a physical response to their words in just a few
paragraphs. There's a real art to that. But it doesn't quite fit my idea
of the erotic.<br />
<br />
What's most erotic thing? I don’t know it. Often,
stories or movies
almost reach the state of pure eroticism for me, but then they devolve
[I'm a bit sorry I used this word, as there's nothing wrong with the physical, but I can't change it now] into the
physical because it’s easier that way or because the artist felt a need
to
resort to the shared vocabulary of sex or maybe they reach that state of
Ephemeral Blaznous where everything gets hazy and fragments into
uncertainty,
and while they can reach for it, they can never drag it into the visible
spectrum. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much like my thoughts on
this topic.</div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-4950220890221113932013-02-25T19:57:00.003-08:002013-02-25T19:57:23.000-08:00Writing This Novel IV<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The end is near! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The last two chapters took longer
to write than the rest of my novel. Usually, writing the ending is easier than the
beginning because as you near the final chapters the story should be converging on the event
horizon, collapsing on itself like a black hole, and the ending should be
inevitable. Right? It will seem that way to the reader. It isn’t that simple
for the writer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
What
if you didn’t end up telling
the story you meant to tell? That isn’t always a bad thing, but that
means there
are choices to make. You can follow through with the ending that seems
to flow
naturally from what you’ve written or you can force the story back on
track in
the final chapters. I’m not a big fan of forcing for the sake of plot,
but if
you feel strongly about it, do it. (because later you're going to
rewrite the novel in such a way that the forced ending seems to flow
naturally, but more about that next month.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
For Night Creatures, I chickened
out and wrote a weaker, albeit happier, ending. My beta reader wasn’t
impressed. He felt cheated that everything pointed to a darker conclusion. I
should have known better. Considering the extremes of the rest of the story,
the end was no place to play it safe. I promised to fix that in the next draft.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
If you’re a complete pantser, you
might not have any idea how your story should end. But as a storyteller, I’m
sure you have an instinct for the natural conclusion. Quest completed? Goal
achieved? Character transformation complete? Congratulations, you’ve reached
the end of this tale. Don’t linger too long after the big climax but do give
the reader a sense of closure. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Please, don’t wrap up all your
loose ends in the final two paragraphs. Those should have been woven into the
story as you were nearing the ending. Twist endings take a deft hand so be
cautious with them. Have you ever seen the play/movie Murder By Death? At the climax,
the protagonist yells at the assembled detectives, “You've tricked and fooled
your readers for years. You've tortured us all with surprise endings that made
no sense. You've introduced characters in the last five pages that were never
in the book before. You've withheld clues and information that made it
impossible for us to guess who did it.” Don’t be that writer. (On second
thought, since he was accusing parodies of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple,
maybe you should. Even the Doctor carries an Agatha Christie book with him in
the TARDIS.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
So… Now you have a completed first
draft. Congratulations! That’s a huge accomplishment. Be proud of yourself.
What’s next, you might be wondering. Send it off to a publisher?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Don’t. Don’t even think about that
yet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I used to think that if I were any
good at writing my first draft would be perfect. *rueful chuckle* Then I read a
quote that changed my mind. I wish I knew who to attribute it to. “Even F.
Scott Fitzgerald wasn’t F. Scott Fitzgerald in the first draft.” Wait! What?
Stories didn’t just flow from his fingers perfect and wonderful? He didn’t type
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The End</i> at the bottom of his first
draft then drop the manuscript on his publisher’s desk? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy smokes! So the work of writing isn’t simply
the physical act of typing the words? Who knew?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Apparently <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone</i> knew except me. Ernest Hemingway stated, “The first draft
of anything is shit.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> That might be a bit harsh, but </span>I’m not about to argue that succinct comment with
him. (I’m aware that he couldn’t win a debate with a flower at this point, but
I meant hypothetical him. You knew that.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
You’re going to have to write a
second draft. Even if you didn’t force the ending. Even if you never made a
typo. Even if you ruthlessly polished every word before you finished your first
draft, you’re going to have to do a second one. I can hear you groaning from
here. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. And I sympathize. I truly do. I’ve
always hated reading my work once I finished writing it. Telling the story is
fun. (Let me dream here that the first draft wasn’t a pain in the butt.) Fixing
the first draft is the same work without the creative fun. This is
the craftsmanship level of writing. This is where you put in your time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
BTW – here’s an <a href="http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2013/02/is-writing-really-re-writing-roundtable.html">excellent discussion of rewrites and if they're necessary</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
So – onward to the second draft,
right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Sorry. No. I have some advice that
I hope you’re ready to hear. This is one of the biggest secrets of writing.
It’s probably the most important trick up a writer’s sleeve. Are you ready for
the big reveal?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b>Patience.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>Boo.</i> That’s no fun. I know. It
sucks. It’s a virtue, fer chrissakes, and I’m not exactly a virtuous person. I
hate it and part of me wants to rebel against it, but I’ve learned how
important it is. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
My novel needs all the breathing
room I can give it. Yours does too. A couple months is ideal, but at least give
it a few weeks. The longer the work, the longer the break. Don’t open the file
and don’t touch anything for a while. Time will make you more objective and
you’re going to need that distance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
~</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Do you have problems bringing your
story to a close? Do you know before you start how it will end? Has the ending
ever changed while you were writing your novel? Share your tricks for wrapping
it up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Next month, we’ll talk about the
second draft.<br />
<br />
(This series originally appeared on <a href="http://erotica-readers.blogspot.com/">ERWA blog</a>, where there's discussion about the post, but I will answer any comments here too.) </div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-1413088691845912612013-02-21T20:37:00.002-08:002013-02-21T20:37:31.778-08:00Writing This Novel - Beta ReadersIf you aren't familiar with the term, beta readers are people who read your novel or short story before you submit it to a publisher.<br />
<br />
Beta readers don't have to be writers. Don't look to them for copy editing (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) although they'll often point out the problems that jumped out at them. I only ask my beta readers about story-level issues. Most of your beta readers are going to come from your circle of writer friends, so build your community. <br />
<br />
Beta readers were important to me as I wrote my first few novels but with each novel I use them less. It isn't that I don't want the feedback. My writer friends are busy working on their own novels, editing anthologies, or have real life issues that make it hard to find time to read.<br />
<br />
The relationship isn't all about my needs. My writer friends know that I will drop everything to read their work if they need a beta reader. It's community, not a fan club. <br />
<br />
I had four beta readers for Night Creatures. Only one was someone I've used before. The other three, well... Two never got back to me so I have no idea if they read it. Telling me you read it but didn't like it is fine. Telling me you got busy is also fine. You're doing me a huge favor. I understand if things don't work out and I really understand that real life has to take precedence. Silence, however, isn't nice. One reader did get back to me, but obviously wanted to rewrite it from erotic horror to erotic romance.I was somewhat relieved when the suggestions to "alpha male"ize my character stopped. Perhaps the part about him not being a nice guy underneath it all (and that being the point) finally sank in. Fourth reader said the ending wasn't dark enough. It wasn't. I lost my nerve and tried to soften it a bit but he said he felt cheated by the tepid ending. That was great input and it gave me the courage to go for the ending I originally intended. (And oh, how I'm laughing at myself for bitching about how Thomas Hardy's books always make me want to slit my wrists because his stories are so bleak, and here I am doing the same thing.)<br />
<br />
So, beta readers. They can be helpful, or not. You won't know until you hear what they have to say. Be grateful for their time, but don't feel that you have to take their advice. Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-75010829513492203392013-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:002013-02-09T17:44:09.647-08:00Writing this Novel - CharactersAs I only post monthly to the ERWA blog, my series on Writing This Novel left out a few interesting topics. Luckily, I can address them here as they occur to me.<br />
<br />
I've mentioned many times that I'm not much of an outliner, but some things I know before I wade into a novel, and one of those things is my characters. Or, at least, I've learned that it's better to start that way. And me being me, I learned it the hard away.<br />
<br />
I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel writing month) that I actually outlined. Except for one character. I couldn't get a fix on him. So as I wrote the novel, he behaved in a scene as the plot required. I figured he'd reveal himself to me over the course of the story, but he was a slippery sucker. Hard to pin down. What I ended up with was a two-dimensional character with no consistency. I also finished NaNoWriMo with a 60,000 word novel and it was total crap because of him. Oh wait. it's unfair to blame the character. it was total crap because I didn't know who he was. (and for other reasons, but that was the huge glaring mistake) But I didn't realize that. So I rewrote the entire novel and once again ended up with crap. At that point, <i>finally</i>, I figured it out. After a long think about him, I sketched out his character and rewrote the damn thing a third time. Much better. (the novel will be published under a different pen name in a couple months)<br />
<br />
You'd think I'd know these characters pretty well since they're in a series now, but as I've learned my lesson about characters, when I wrote the second in the series, I created a one page tear sheet for each of the important characters.<br />
<br />
It goes something like this:<br />
<br />
Name of character<br />
What does character want?<br />
How can they get it?<br />
What stands in the way? <br />
Where is the character physically/emotionally/economically/etc at the beginning?<br />
Does the character get what they want?<br />
<br />
You don't have to write it down, but you do need to know who your characters are before you start writing - unless you want to rewrite your novel three times. (HINT: You don't) Knowing who they are will help you write them acting in a way that's consistent with who they are. All actions should flow from their 'natural' behavior, not because it fits the plot. You know what I mean. You've tossed a book across the room with the disgusted cry, 'Oh come on George would never do that!' <br />
<br />
While you're writing, if you're stuck and have the time for a little exercise, try creating a new tear sheet for your characters that sums up where they are now. They should have changed over the course of the chapters. Maybe their goals changed or their circumstances or even their feelings. That could help you figure out what their next move is, confirm that you're on the right path, or make you realize that somewhere a few chapters back you headed down the rabbit hole.<br />
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-57475458467933345662013-01-31T17:07:00.001-08:002013-01-31T17:07:10.888-08:00It's Lovely. it's Horrible.My short story <a href="http://www.erotica-readers.com/GD/TC-EF/Its_Lovely_Its_Horrible.htm"><i>It's Lovely, It's Horrible</i>.</a> is in the ERWA Treasure Chest. I'm flattered they picked it for inclusion with the year's best.<br />
<br />
This story is the basis for my novel <i>Night Creatures</i>. If you're following my series <i>Writing This Novel</i>, both on the ERWA blog and here in this blog, that title might sound familiar.Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-29900059015841175152013-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:002013-01-27T09:00:55.472-08:00Writing This Novel part III<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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However you write is the right way
to do it. Forget The Rules. If you plot out everything ahead of time, good for
you. If you sit down and write with no idea where the story is going, that’s
great too. I’m telling you this because what follows is my weird method and I’d
hate for you to think it’s The Right Way or The Only Way to go about it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I’m about thirty thousand words
into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Creature</i>. It will
probably be around sixty thousand words when complete, so that’s theoretically
half way through. Now I’m in what writer Jim Grimsley so accurately described
as ‘the murk in the middle of the novel.’ If you’re into the journey through
the woods metaphor, this is the moment when you lose sight of the forest for
the trees. The ending seems unreachable. Maybe by now the story bores you. You
fell out of love with it once you got to know it better. Hey, it happens. I’m
wondering myself if I’m on the right track, if I’ll be able to tell the story I
set out to and if it’s worth telling even if I can. Yep, I’m stuck in the murk.</div>
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Several options here. 1)
procrastinate 2) blunder around until I discover the right path to the end, or
3) give up. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Many writers have procrastination
honed to a fine art. Deadline looming? Wash the dishes and vacuum the spider
webs off the ceiling. Have a cookie. Then decide you need tea with that. Or
scotch. Then go to FaceBook and look at cat memes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stuck and floundering? Throw yourself into
research. The internet makes it so easy. You don’t have to head to the library
with focused questions and a limited amount of time and patience. Oh no. You
can look up the price of a Hermes scarf in British pounds, watch a YouTube
video of the 600 year anniversary light show for the astronomical clock in
Prague, and scour maps of Lake Geneva for the exact location of the villa where
Mary Shelley wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Frankenstein</i>.
These are actual examples of research I did for my novel. Google Maps with
street view is a fantastic tool. I found out there are no cafés on the same
street as the Hermes store in Paris. I also know there are five Hermes
boutiques in Paris, but I showed some restraint and only looked at one. I know what
houses look like in the old city section of Prague. I know which trains I’d
take from Paris to Prague, or from Lake Geneva to Milan. Most of this I don’t
need to know and will not use and I knew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
at the time I looked it up but I did it anyway. Eventually, I had to get quite
stern with myself and stop playing around with the wealth of information out
there. As Mary Poppins says, “Enough is as good as a feast.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Writing articles about writing a
novel is a great procrastination technique, by the way. But now people are tracking
my progress, so I feel a little pressure to stop screwing around and get it
done. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Too much procrastinating is a bad
habit, but it can be useful. It gives me time to step back from the story for a
while and mull over the story arc and insights into who the characters have
become as the story unfolds. The order of events tightens into focus. It’s a
chance to play around with ideas before I commit them to words, or so I tell
myself. The problem is that I’m stuck and until I can move forward, fooling
around with research seems as useful as staring at that damned blinking cursor.
What comes next? I have no idea! Leave me alone, you nagging black line of
doom!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Yeah, yelling the cursor isn’t
productive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
One trick to avoid being stuck:
When you finish a writing session, get one or two sentences of the next scene
down before you stop. That way you’re primed to move on when you open the file
the next time. Or stop just short of the natural end of the scene. If you have
an easy writing prompt to start with, you’re more likely to type the next
sentence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
But what do you do if that doesn’t
work? This is where the ‘this works for me but I don’t recommend it’ part comes
in. The blundering about method. I go over what I’ve already written and
tighten it up. You’re not supposed to start editing until the first draft is
complete. The reason for that ‘rule’ is that some writers futz around with
their first chapters forever and never move on. The reason I break the rule is
that rules are really only guidelines, and guidelines are code for ‘this works
for many people.’ That’s no guarantee it will work for you and I’ve found it
doesn’t for me. That being said, the first novel you write, your major goal
should be to finish it. Millions of people begin novels. Few finish them.
Finish yours. Revel in the accomplishment. Slog through to the end no matter
what. Then go back and edit. (says the woman who admits she doesn’t do it that
way)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to write a linear, meaning that I don’t
tend to write scenes out of order. Every sentence in your story should have
forward momentum toward the end. Jumping ahead or behind disturbs the forward flow
of the narrative. (That can be fixed in the editing process) But just because
that’s what I prefer to do doesn’t mean it’s what I really do. A few days ago I
wrote a wonderfully evocative scene but realized later that it occurred too
early in the emotional arc of the story. Normally, I’d just delete it and write
it again later.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
You’re probably screaming right
now. I know, I know. You’re supposed to save all your precious snippets and
tuck them away for later. This is where my view of writing may differ
dramatically from yours. I don’t think of anything I’ve written as a rare gem
to be set in a tiara to make it sparkle. I’m not saying that you do, or that’s
it’s wrong to feel that way. It simply isn’t my approach to my writing. While I
write literary erotica, pretty prose isn’t my aim. So it’s rare that I feel
anything I’ve written is too precious to delete. I care very much about the
emotions evoked in my scenes though, so often the only thing I ‘save’ is an
impression of the emotional impact. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
However, this time I really liked
the way the scene turned out. Plus it took me a long time to write. So I cut
and pasted it to the end of my MS (manuscript). It’s lurking out there, waiting
for me. Once I reach the right place in the story to incorporate it, I may have
to entirely rewrite it to make it fit into the flow of the story. Or cut it if it
never fits. I’m sort of brutal that way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I knew that scene didn’t come next,
but what did? Cut to me pacing in the backyard and thinking quite a bit about
the story. For days. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Truly stuck at this point, this is
when I daydream about being one of those writers who creates an outline before
they begin writing. How lovely it would be to see that my next scene is ____.
It’s written in stone. It’s meant to be. Yeah. No. The problem with outlines is
that I discover the story while I’m writing it. An outline I wrote in advance
would be worthless after the first major deviation from it, so why bother? Or
worse, I’d try to force the story back to the outline and just… *full body
shudder* Not going to happen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Rather than give up on the novel
now that I’m mired down in indecision, this is time to dig into my bag of
writer’s tricks to get moving again. The first thing I did was make myself stay
away from FaceBook and all other temptations. Then I deliberately wrote a scene
I knew was wrong. I used a POV (point of view) character who had no business
narrating any part of the story. I explored how she saw the major characters,
what changes she noticed in them, and let her ramble on about things that
mattered only to her. When I’m not sure what to do next, doing the most wrong
thing helps me focus on the right thing. Sure, I wrote a thousand words that I
deleted the next time I sat down to write, but I was writing, which beats
glaring at the blinking cursor. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
When even that trick failed, I
broke another one of my rules. I wrote part of the closing scene of the story.
I’ll probably have to rewrite it entirely, but it reminded me where I was
headed, what was at stake for the characters, and all the events that must
happen before they get to that moment. That got me moving forward again, but I
also realized something that was wrong way at the beginning of the novel. When
you have an option, write new stuff and move forward. Even though it’s killing
me to leave the error, I’m working toward the end. I can fix the errors in the
editing process. I keep telling myself that. I will avoid temptation!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Is it ever the right decision to
give up? I hate to say yes, but the answer is yes. I know some writers who
start off strong and know the ending but simply can’t write the middle of the
novel. Part of it may be a loss of faith. Sometimes it’s something outside the
book such as fear of failure, fear of success, or one of the other evil mind
games we play on ourselves. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
What if you can’t write more
because the story reached a point where it bores you? News flash – if it bores
he writer it will bore the reader, so save us all the grief and figure out how
to make it interesting. Do you just want to get to the exciting stuff? Then
deal with the dull stuff in a sentence or two and get on to the fun part. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
But what if that doesn’t work? If
you have a bad habit of quitting at this point, force yourself to slog through
it. Forcing yourself to finish might not help you produce a publishable novel
but you’ll have broken your streak of unfinished work. Then move on to another
novel and force yourself to finish it. However, if it isn’t a habit and you
just can’t write any more on this story and more urgent ones are hammering at
your brain trying to get out, then your best option might be to set this one
aside for a while, maybe forever. Give up. Making yourself miserable isn’t
worth it. Do you have a contract for the novel? No? Then let it go. Yes? Oh
man. You’re in a spot, aren’t you? Put on your professional writer hat (or panties)
and try anything, everything, to get it done. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Whatever you do, no matter how
uninspired you feel, force yourself to write. That’s my best advice to escape
the murk in the middle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Let me know if you have tricks that
help you write when you’re not feeling it. I’m always interested in what other
writers do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Next time, I expect to have
finished my novel. I’ll tell you how I brought it on home.</div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-718426539711997902013-01-23T07:52:00.003-08:002013-01-27T09:01:35.988-08:00Writing This Novel part IVa Tomorrow, January 24, the current installment of my <i>Writing This Novel</i> series goes live on the <a href="http://erotica-readers.blogspot.com/">ERWA blog.</a> I started keeping a side journal as I wrote <i>Night Creatures</i>, but now in real time I've finished the fourth (final) draft while part III of the series is only up to the middle of the first draft.<br />
<br />
I say final draft even though I keep going in and futzing around with words and phrases here and there - to the extreme annoyance of my beta reader. That's how I know it's a final. When I'm clarifying themes, I'm done. When I'm changing one word in a sentence from cage to prison and back to cage again, it's time to start working on my submission packet. Pretty much, if I'm at the point where I absolutely hate my novel and can almost recite the entire stupid thing from memory, it's time to send it to a publisher.<br />
<br />
Even though I have six or seven months of blog entries for this series, there are things I don't have room to talk about, so I thought I'd expand on part IV here. In part IV, I will talk about (did talk about. I love straddling time lines. 'Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff' indeed!) the difference between my first and second drafts. The first draft is 'throw it all down and deal with the problems later.' Second draft is 'it's later, bitch.' <br />
<br />
My first draft had two big problems. One was the timeline. When you read a book, it seems as if the story unfolds in a fated manner, as if that's the way it's meant to be and it couldn't be different, but as a writer, you know nothing is set in stone. But how do you know if a scene needs to be moved? I'm not sure I can tell you. It's instinctual storytelling.<br />
<br />
The timeline issue was easily fixed, sort of. Just send the characters to Prague first instead of later on. Cut and paste, right? Uh, no. Now the trip is at the beginning of their adventure and they don't know each other as well. Subtle things such as the way they touch or even the rhythm of their conversations had to be adjusted. Bigger questions such as 'do they know this yet?' had to be addressed. Everything is cumulative in a story. It flows forward. If you move something after the first draft, you have to make sure you've re-established that continuity, flow, and forward momentum.<br />
<br />
<br />
The other major change I brought to the second draft was the elimination of two secondary characters. Many first novels have far too many characters. As I said (will say) in part IV, you aren't Cecil B DeMille. Cut your cast. So I did. I cut my cast. But I already had a very limited cast of characters to begin with. Why did I trim two more? They were distracting and I didn't trust their motivations, in that their motivations seemed to serve plot rather than come organically from them as characters. I don't like two-dimensional characters and I don't write plot driven stories, so they had to go. Again, I can't tell you how I sensed they were a problem or why I decided to cut them rather than flesh them out. Sometimes I wish there were formulas or proofs for this sort of thing.<br />
<br />
Anyway, part III is up tomorrow over at ERWA and I'll post it here a few days later. Part III is about the dealing with the middle of the novel, which is where most writers give up. It's a bit of a downer, but hey, due to the dual time lines we have going on here, you can read about me struggling through the murk in the middle while already knowing that I made it through! It's a bit like jumping forward to read the last page of the book. Cheating? Yes, but I won't tell anyone you did it.<br />
<br />
<br />Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-90221382909406563832013-01-13T19:21:00.001-08:002013-01-14T12:21:02.272-08:00The Next Big Thing<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2076" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">D.L. King tagged me in the Next Big Thing blog tour </span></div>
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</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2076" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />1. What is the working title of your book? The Night Creature</span></div>
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<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2076" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2076" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2076" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />2. Where did the idea come from for the book? Discussions with other erotica writers about the definition of erotica and the nature of desire.<br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />3. What genre does your book fall under? Literary erotica. Erotic horror. <br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Sophie - Rachel McAdams or Lara Pulver. George - Ewan McGreggor or Benedict Cumberbatch or David Tennant. I'm crap at this because I'm so far inside my character's heads that it's hard to imagine them as anything but thoughts and emotions. <br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? I'm so tempted to say: Blood splatter, but sexy. And NO VAMPIRES. (I hate writing vampires) Ugh. You'd think I'd be better at this. I can do this for other writer's books, but not mine. Hmmm. How about... Nope. See, everything I try ends up sounding stupid. "Boy chases girl. Boy bites girl. Shit gets reals when she bites back." (But again, NOT VAMPIRES) Fuck. I'm going to pour myself a glass of Glenmorangie and probably smoke a cig and forget this ever happened. I suggest you do the same. </span><br />
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I can't imagine what an agent would do for me. I'm talking to a publisher.<br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Eleven weeks. Much longer than it should have.<br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Story of the Eye, Blue of Noon<br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? Remittance Girl. She explores ideas behind erotica as a distinct literary genre and gives me so much to think about. <br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" /><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;" />10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? Most people read erotica to get off. I'm not sure if I've ever helped a reader do that. But there are readers who want to explore desire and the other. I hope I've created something for them.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2076" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_2077" style="font-family: monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">BTW - I want to license Fabio Selvatici's work for the cover. <a href="http://www.fabioselvatici.com/works.php?id=c04e08131846b4affbfc5fe8442dfc2a#.UPOF22ek2Vo">Perfect</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace;"><span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_3267">
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_3266" style="font-family: monospace;"><span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_3265" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">Since she tagged me, you can see D.L. King's post here: <a href="http://dlkingerotica.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_3268" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1358127907_0">http://dlkingerotica.blogspot.com</span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_3266" style="font-family: monospace;"><span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1358127906391_3265" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1358127907_0">Oh, she's talking about the anthology she edited, Under Her Thumb. I'm pretty sure I have a story in it. Cool cover. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" style="font-family: monospace;"><span class="yiv1784732543Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-76062183186183973732013-01-12T09:13:00.000-08:002013-01-12T09:13:54.667-08:00Best Sex Scene Ever Written?I'm not obsessive about checking the stats on this blog. Last I did was seven or eight months ago, because I have a steady readership that doesn't fluctuate too much. Or so I thought, but in the meantime I'd posted a critique of the book about the the best sex scenes ever written (except that it wasn't about that!).<br />
<br />
So I checked my stats this week. <br />
<br />
Have you ever read The Little Prince?<br />
Picture the drawing of the elephant.<br />
Now picture the drawing of the snake that swallowed the elephant.<br />
<br />
That post about the best sex scenes book is the elephant in the graph of my readership, a spike of about 500% over my other posts. Obviously, many people want to know where to find the best written sex scenes, and you'd probably think that I, being an erotica writer and long time reviewer of erotica at <a href="http://www.eroticarevealed.com/index.php">Erotica Revealed</a>, could point you to the good stuff.<br />
<br />
I want to help, but I'm not sure if I can. What do you mean when you ask for the best? If you're looking for something that will get you off, are we ever in for a long conversation. <br />
<br />
Does it take a certain scenario to get your libido humming? Horny nymphet? Alpha male? Cowboys? Like it romantic? Want to dabble in rape fantasy? Are you into BDSM? Which part? The B? B&D? D? D/s or S&M? Female dominant or male dom? How do you feel about leather? Rubber? Balloons? Furries? Mucus? Tickling? (As an aside, many of the pink salons in Japan offer menus so shy types don't have to state their preferences. Want blow jobs from twins dressed as sexy nurses? Just circle it on the menu. Brothels in Pompeii had pictures on the wall you could point to. How brilliant was that?)<br />
<br />
I can almost hear you grumping, "I just want sex, ferchrissakes! Regular old sex!"<br />
<br />
Okay. But regular for who? I assume you mean vanilla, as in not BDSM and not kink or fetish, but do you mean vanilla for a lesbian, a gay man, a hetero male of female, transpeople, or a threeway? (And be sure to define if that threeway is FMF MFF MFM MMF FFF MMM FMT FFT MMT FTF MTM TFT TTT TMT....)<br />
<br />
What works for me probably won't get you off (almost guaranteed), so while I can appreciate your triggers, I can't possibly point to one story and say "This is the definitive 'sex during a high wire act while in full clown makeup and wearing fetish ballerina shoes' story that will get you off in no time flat!" Sorry.<br />
<br />
But if you're looking for erotica with literary merit, there I can help you. There are the classics, such as Anais Nin's work, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Story of the Eye, Fanny Hill, and The Story of O.If you want to read contemporary writers, I suggest anything by Remittance Girl, M. Christian, Alison Tyler, Sommer Marsden, Fionna Zedde, Nikki Magennis, Donna George Storey, Peggy Munson, Mike Kimera, Xan West...<br />
<br />
Hmmm. Erotica is a small but tight (go ahead and roll your eyes or smirk if you must) community. A list is only going to bruise egos. There must be a better way to point you in the direction of quality erotica.<br />
<br />
<br />
How about this? Publishers. Oh, wait, readers don't care who publishes a book. Only writers do. So if I were to tell you to look for offerings from Cleis Press, Circlet Press, Torquere, Coming Together, etc your eyes will probably glaze over.<br />
<br />
Would you be willing to search for editors such as D.L. King, Kristina Wright, Simon Sheppard, Alison Tyler, Kathleen Warnock, Rachel Kramer Bussel, M. Christian, Maxim Jakubowski, or Todd Gregory? They have great taste in the stories they choose for their anthologies, which is why they're often trusted with acclaimed annual anthologies such as Best Lesbian Erotica, Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, Best Women's Erotica, etc. and/or themed anthologies. You'll find good or even great literary erotica in those offerings, which will lead you to well-written sex scenes.<br />
<br />
However, as with sexual preferences, literary merit is definitely in the eye of the beholder, so I can't tell you the best 100 Sex Scenes Ever Written. You get to judge that yourself. But at least with my recommendations there will actually be sex in the sex scenes. You're welcome.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-31745472670140569012013-01-07T11:33:00.001-08:002013-01-07T11:33:58.151-08:00Oh Get a GripThe reason my posting grew so sporadic on this blog was my weekly column at <a href="http://ohgetagrip.blogspot.com/">Oh Get a Grip,</a> but now that I only write there twice a month, and on <a href="http://erotica-readers.blogspot.com/">ERWA blog</a> once a month, I have enough time to post here again.<br />
<br />
Also, I have books coming out. I should probably keep better track. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Together-Vein-Lisabet-Sarai/dp/1479125555/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357587114&sr=8-1&keywords=coming+together+in+vein">Coming Together In Vein</a> is out now. I have two stories in it. Not wild about the cover, but I'll survive. I could swear I have more. I've been so wrapped up in novels that I haven't given the anthologies much thoguht after I submit.<br />
<br />
Anyway, part III of Writing This Novel will post after it goes up on ERWA, so sometimes around the 24th.Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-63798483819494721552012-12-28T19:59:00.000-08:002012-12-28T19:59:41.595-08:00Coming Together In Vein<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<b>Helping Vampires to Save the World </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's face it. Vampires are sexy. Something about the undead
stirs up our juices. Perhaps it's their irresistible power. Even when we know
the danger, we're so very tempted to surrender to their all-consuming lust.
Maybe we want to comfort them, to save them a lonely, bloody eternity. Maybe we
secretly crave immortality ourselves.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Vampires are frequently portrayed as evil or at least
amoral, viewing humanity from the jaded perspective of centuries. Now, though,
vampires are doing their part to save the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b><i>Coming Together: In Vein</i></b> is a brand new
collection of vampire-themed erotica and erotic romance edited by Lisabet
Sarai. All sales of this novel-length volume support <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/">Doctors Without Borders</a>
(Médecins Sans Frontières). MSF works in nearly 70 countries providing medical
aid to those most in need regardless of their race, religion, or political
affiliation. Right now, despite being barred from the country, MSF doctors and
nurses are in Syria, working with patients from both sides of the civil war.
They're performing surgery in caves and sneaking into refugee camps to
distribute desperately needed medications. </div>
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<br /></div>
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You can help MSF in its life-saving mission, simply by indulging
your passion for vampires. Buy a copy of <b><i>Coming Together: In Vein</i></b>
in <a href="https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-comingtogetherinvein-1028715-139.html">ebook</a>,
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ARLD4QO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ctogether-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00ARLD4QO">Kindle
format</a>, or <a href="https://www.createspace.com/3966207">print</a>. Enjoy!
Then help spread the word! Every copy we sell has the potential to save
someone's life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <a href="http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2012/12/vampires-for-christmas.html">list
of contributors</a> includes many names you'll recognize. Every one of these
authors has provided his or her work free of charge, to support the charitable
aims of the project. Furthermore, the editor is giving away a free copy of her
short story collection <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Body-Electric-ebook/dp/B004OA5YXA/">Body Electric</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to everyone who buys a copy of <b><i>Coming
Together: In Vein</i></b>. (For details of this offer, <a href="http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2012/12/sunday-snog-from-coming-together-in-vein.html">click
here</a>.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You'll find an excerpt below – just to whet your appetite. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sink your teeth into <b><i>Coming Together: In Vein</i></b>.
Help our vampires save the world. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
~</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>From “Willing” by Xan West </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I pull out my blade and show it to him. His eyes widen and
he whispers, "My safeword is chocolate." I am surprised. Most who
frequent the fetish scene know nothing about real BDSM. That these are the
first words out of his mouth shows that there may be more to this boy than I
thought. I stand still, watching him. He is older than I had first surmised, at
least twenty four. The little leather he wears is well kept, his belt clearly
conditioned and his boots cared for by a loving hand. He is motionless, knees
slightly bent, shoulders back, offering me his chest. His pulse is not rapid,
but his eyes eat up the knife and his lips are slightly parted, as if all he
wanted was to take my blade down his throat. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His brown eyes stay fixed on the knife as I move toward him.
I tease his lip with the tip of it and then speak softly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"How black do you flag?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His eyes stay on the blade. He swallows. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Very black, on the right, Sir."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Is there anything I need to know?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I am healthy and strong. My limits are animals,
children, suspension and humiliation, Sir."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"And blood, hmmm?" I am teasing. I know the
answer. It is why I found him here, and not at the Lure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Oh please, Sir. I would gladly offer my blood."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Why?" </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes a moment, and then
opens them. The pulse in his throat starts racing, but his voice is calm, and
matter-of-fact. I tease my blade against his neck.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I have been watching you a long time, Sir. I have seen
how you play. I see the beast inside you. I know what is missing. Those boys at
The Lure don't know how to give you what you really need. They don't see that
they are barely feeding your craving, and not touching your hunger. The boys
here don't see you. They just see their own fantasy. They are simply food. I am
strong, Sir. Strong enough for you. I can be yours. My blood, my flesh, my sex,
my service. Yours to take however you choose, for as long as you want. To slake
your hunger. I would be honored, Sir."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I take a deep breath, stunned, studying him. This boy who
would offer what I never really thought was possible. He has surprised me
again. That alone shows this boy is more than a meal. He just might be able to
be all that he has offered. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*****</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I'm a big fan of Xan West's work, so I chose this excerpt among a few really great ones. </div>
<br />
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-24726386287231095732012-12-24T18:26:00.002-08:002012-12-28T20:00:42.654-08:00Writing This Novel part II<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Instead of jumping into action without
context or using a <i>Sound of Music</i>
style opening, a better idea is to show the main character doing something
(action rather than simply sitting around thinking) that will bring him/her/hir
to the inciting incident rather quickly.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The inciting incident is what
causes the story to happen. In Frank Herbert’s <i>Dune</i>, the inciting incident is when the Emperor orders the Duke to
take over management of the planet commonly known as Dune. You never see that
scene. That happens before the opening chapter, a good example of <i>in medias res</i>. As the story opens, you
see the Duke’s household in the midst of preparations to leave their home
planet for Dune. From word one, the story is in forward motion. Another good
technique is to ease the reader into the setting and characters by starting a
short time before the inciting incident occurs. Margaret Mitchell’s approach
for <i>Gone With the Wind</i> gave the
reader a chapter or two of normal life on the plantation, but st<span style="font-size: small;">ill with </span>forward
momentum leading to t<span style="font-size: small;">he </span>two inciting incidents-- Ashley announcing his engagement
to his cousin Melanie (effectively dumping Scarlett), and news reaching the
party that the war has been declared.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In my novel <i>The Night Creature</i>, I open the story at a party. The female and
male lead characters see each other across the room. She wants to hook up with
him and he wants her, but they remain <span style="font-size: small;">on opposite ends of the room <span style="font-size: small;">no matter where they move in the crowd</span></span>. They’re chasing and evading each other
simultaneously. This foreshadows the plot. It’s also <i>in medias res</i> because you find out later that he’s been pursuing
her for a while and she’s been purposefully ev<span style="font-size: small;">asi<span style="font-size: small;">ve</span></span>. By
the end of the evening, she lets him catch her. During sex, he bites her. This
is the inciting incident. The bite transfers their roles. Now she pursues him
and he runs away. As they find themselves trapped in a game without end, they
struggle with all-consuming desire, obsession, and madness. I did mention that
this story is gothic horror, didn’t I? </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The opening of a novel doesn’t just
introduce the character and their world. It should also give the reader a taste
of what’s at stake for the main character. In <i>Gone With the Wind</i>, Scarlett wants Ashley, to flirt and be admired,
and to get her way. She wants life to continue as it has up until now for her,
only better. In <i>Dune</i>, the Duke
Atreides, his consort Jessica, and heir Paul want to survive the political
intrigues of the Emperor and eventually get off Dune with their fortune, power,
and lives intact. My characters want the game to end. Yeah. Not going to
happen. But that’s not the point. Show what your character wants, briefly. Then
yank it from their grasp with the inciting incident. That’s where your story
starts. Every book is different, so you could get to the inciting incident
within a thousand words or it could take you a couple chapters, but get to it
as soon as possible.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">For an erotic novel, you might go
with a sexual the inciting incident. Desire, lust, attraction, a gang bang,
whatever is right for your story should be the catalyst to get the story
moving. Sometimes the inciting incident is a situation that makes sexual
discovery, seduction, submission, etc. possible. However, be wary of literary
tropes. This is an excellent article describing them: <a href="http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10360">http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10360</a>
I review erotica and have judged both erotica and erotic romance for contests,
and I’ve seen a few tropes so many times that, as this article suggests, they
make me want to hurl a book across the room. It’s a good thing I like my Kindle
too much to fling it. So please, do not make the inciting incident be a bad
break up. Don’t have your heroine take a bubble bath as she thinks (what did I
say about sitting around thinking?) about making a radical change in her life.
Don’t have her buy a fabulous house out in the middle of nowhere with only a
mysterious Byronic hero alpha male for a neighbor. Just. Don’t. For me. Please.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">How do you decide where to start?
Do you go with your first vision? Is starting the novel the hardest part for
you? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Next time, I’ll talk about why<i> </i>maybe I should learn to outline (but it
won’t happen) and what to do when you feel like you’re up to your knees in muck
that’s sucking you down into a writerly funk and you don’t think you can slog through
it to the next chapter.</span></span>Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-4615824949534290652012-11-27T16:43:00.001-08:002012-11-27T16:44:22.596-08:00Writing This Novel, Part I<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Yeah, I haven't posted in forever. I've been busy working on a few novels and articles for Oh Get a Grip and the ERWA blog, but I thought I should start up again here, so I'm bringing over my entries from ERWA blog where I'm recording my progress as I work on my current novel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> ~~</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Anyone who has ever tried to
write a novel knows this is tricky. I might not finish. I might get bogged down
in the middle and have no clue what to do next. And you’ll get to see me fail in
real time! Oh, wait…</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Several years ago at a writer’s conference, Poppy Z Brite
commented that you don’t learn how to write a novel. You learn how to write <i>this</i> novel (as you're writing it). I’ve written a couple novels since then and agree with her comment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Where do you begin? With the idea of a story. That sounds
logical but I’ve seen people claim they sit down and ‘just write.’ I have no
clue how that works. It probably doesn’t. Have an idea of the overall story you
want to tell even if you don’t have the specifics, who the main characters are
(I suggest you have a solid fix on them), and where you want the story to end
so you have a goal to aim for. Sure, there are people who claim to be pantsers
–- seat of the pants storytellers who don’t outline—but I’m sure they have an
idea of what they want to do when they start. Otherwise it’s like entering a
forest without a path, walking for several hours in whatever direction your
feet lead, then the sun starts to set and you ask yourself where the hell you
are and how to get out. That’s how people end up writing two hundred thousand
word novels with no end in sight. That’s not the best use of your precious
writing time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Stephen King, in his fantastic book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Writing</i>, admits he doesn’t know where his stories come from. In
the ‘writing is a talent’ versus ‘writing is a craft’ debate, I’m firmly in both
camps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I believe that the
ability to imagine a story is a talent. You either have it or you don’t. If you
have it, you understand why Stephen King can’t tell you where stories come
from. He can’t, and I can’t. But I can tell you how this novel began for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> I had a vision. It’s sort of like daydreaming, like a
snippet of a movie, but so vivid that I swear I can smell and feel things.
These scenes hit me while my mind is wandering. I’ve never sat down and said,
‘I will now imagine something.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
particular story idea came to me after reading comments by Remittance Girl on
the ERWA Writer’s list as the group discussed what defined the erotica genre.
She (I’m paraphrasing) said that the central question of erotica is how we (the
characters) deal with desire. I mulled over that for a few days and this vision
came to me: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(I’m not going to record this in any attempt at pretty prose
since this would never go into a story raw. This is the way I would have jotted
it down on paper.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <i> Fog hangs heavily in the air. It condenses on the bare limbs
of winter trees and splatters on cobblestones. It’s just before dawn, and even
though my vision is in color, it feels like a black and white photograph, like
the movie poster from the Exorcist with the priest under the gas lamp in the
fog. Street lamps cast cold light on a small train station. A young woman in ratty
punkish clothing paces the station platform and stomps her feet to keep warm.
She wraps her arms around her waist and mutters to herself. I can’t hear what
she says, but she repeats it over and over, so I know she’s losing her mind. At
the far end of the station platform, a man appears. He’s been there all along,
but she (and I) just noticed him. The young woman is suddenly ravenous and
aroused. Her gaze lingers on the groin of the man’s jeans. He’s cold too, with
his nose buried in a thick scarf and his hands shoved into the pockets of his
thick coat. Just a guy, going to work on the early train. She walks over to him
and asks in German, “Want to fuck?” (although I’m convinced that she’s
American)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> That’s it. That was all I had to go on. It takes five
minutes to write down, but in my mind, it was only a ten or twenty second
movie. As I do with most of these visions, I immediately asked all the
pertinent questions. Who was she? Clearly the main character. Where and when was
she? The train station’s architecture said Eastern Europe. The gas lamps, black
and white tones, and train travel suggested the past, but her clothes said
1990s to 2000s, so I knew that the story would be set in current times but have
a timeless feel. I also knew from the lighting and the fog that the story’s tone
would tend gothic and share genre elements with either horror or noir (a term
which technically only applies to movies, but you know what I mean) Why is she
at the train station? She’s chasing someone. Why was she losing her mind?
Hunger. What was she hungry for? Sex. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Where do those answers come from? Imagination. As I’m asking
myself these questions I’m filling in details. They may change as I’m writing
the story, but these are my characterization, setting and tone starting points.
This is also where I ask myself: What is the story about? The answer is one
sentence, hopefully under twenty words. I write it on a piece of paper and tape
it to the wall above my computer so it’s always there to remind me as I write. I
also get a summary idea of the story (which can and will change). This isn’t
the same as plot, but it’s similar. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> I let my mind run with those answers for a couple days. I
sensed a novel in it, but was so caught up in the intensity of the story that I
wanted to get something down. Plus, I worried that a story about someone
chasing a lover (or lunch, depending on where I went with it) wasn’t a big
enough idea for a novel. So I threw myself into writing a short story which
ended up on ERWA’s blog in October under the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s Lovely. It’s Horrible.</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If
you missed it, the story has already been picked up by an editor for a vampire
anthology even though it’s not what I’d call a vampire story.) Almost every
critique on ERWA’s Storytime list stated that the idea was too big for a short
story and I needed to expand it to a novel. So that’s what I’m doing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> A note about titles. I either get a great idea for a title off
the bat or I struggle. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orbiting in
Retrograde</i> – flash of inspiration. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">She
Comes Stars</i> – came from a line in the story. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s Lovely. It’s Horrible</i> – I settled on only after I mentally
shoved bamboo slivers under my fingernails. And believe me, that was the best I
could do after some truly awful ideas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That wasn’t the title I wanted to use for a
novel so it was back to the bamboo. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desire</i>
was my initial title idea since a discussion about desire sparked the story idea,
but what the hell does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desire</i> tell
the reader? Not much. It could be a great title for another work, but not this
one. I flirted with the idea of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Consumed</i>
for a while but I recognize a yuck title when I see one. I think I was taunting
myself with that one. “Pick a better title or you’ll be stuck with this one!” At
that point I gave up trying to find a title and forged ahead with the story.
You don’t have to have a title. It’s nice to have one, but you can work without
one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A couple chapters into the first draft I stumbled into a
title. I’m still trying to decide if it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Night Creature</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Creatures</i>,
and if I’ll drop The, but it strikes me as a good fit. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Creature</i> warns you that the work will be dark. It hints
at horror. That’s the tone I want to set from the beginning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Next time I’ll talk about how I decided where to begin the
story.</span></div>
Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-22739204489350473802012-05-10T17:19:00.000-07:002012-05-10T17:19:05.127-07:00Harder She Comes Blog Tour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissVbz1LG5UKbPIJPd3zNc4JYiD0rlughgS0AOZBI2KAo5R5I0ccURjq4U__19aI4ONt9RoaoDOAUUuGfvdjhFGXnGGnMslT8rrxArYRklko4nYBiwlbN-VQWIxuldHa4ge5Iung/s1600/Harder+She+Comes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissVbz1LG5UKbPIJPd3zNc4JYiD0rlughgS0AOZBI2KAo5R5I0ccURjq4U__19aI4ONt9RoaoDOAUUuGfvdjhFGXnGGnMslT8rrxArYRklko4nYBiwlbN-VQWIxuldHa4ge5Iung/s400/Harder+She+Comes.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
<br />
Guest Post by Crystal Barela<br />
<br />
The Tattoo Artist. A painter of flesh and lover of skin. How can an art whose canvas is the human body, not be sensual? Not make your teeth ache and your fingers itch to touch? I have always been fascinated with the beauty of tattoos and those who sling ink. A woman tattooist—even sexier. “Tits Down, Ass Up” has the reader falling in lust with the confidence and bravado of an artist. It’s such a turn on to read about a girl that moves successfully through a man’s world. Who knows herself and is not afraid to make what she wants in the world.<br />
<br />
But Cali isn’t the only character here. Tantra knows what she wants and how to get it. She doesn’t use swag to get her girl, but her womanly curves, and the sensuality of knowing herself. Tattooing is natural for a Dom and Sub. The tattooist is the giver of pain, and her client the receiver of art, of the pleasure of color and life becoming a part of her body. These two characters are opposites. Ying and Yang, Butch and Femme.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here’s an excerpt from <i>Tits Down, Ass Up</i> <br />
<br />
“Unzip your jeans.” The drag of the zipper and a shimmy of hips revealed the white of her skin to the crack of her ass. Was she wearing panties?<br />
<br />
I covered my palms with shave oil and spread it over Tantra’s shoulder blades. Her skin was pale and smooth, except for where her bra had left red lines. I lingered a bit too long, massaging the marks away.<br />
She sighed, and I found I was in danger of losing my professionalism.<br />
<br />
The crinkle of the plastic being torn from the razor and then the smooth swipe of blade across her opalescent skin made my lips ache. Gently, I laid the transfer on her back, and then wet it with a sponge, dabbing at the smooth canvas of her back. I lifted a corner of the paper and drew it across her back.<br />
<br />
A sigh tinged with sex filled my shop as I pulled the paper free.<br />
<br />
Looked good. Too good. I handed the mirror over her shoulder and pointed her in the direction of the wall. "Check the placement, sugar.” Get a grip, Cali. Work before pleasure.<br />
<br />
Tantra went over to the mirrored wall and held up the hand mirror to look over her shoulder. “Perfect!” she squealed, with a little hop. She turned to the right, then left, and all my eyes saw were her breasts, now bare and free. Nipples puckered from the night air coming through the back door teased me.
I rubbed my eyes.<br />
<br />
Tired and horny, that’s what I was.<br />
<br />
“Tantra, baby, I think we should reschedule.” Sleep would help me to concentrate on my art and not her ass.<br />
~~ <br />
<br />
If you want more, you’re just going to have to get a copy of the book. You can find it wherever books are sold or on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Harder-She-Comes-Erotica/dp/1573447781/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336694937&sr=1-1">Amazon</a>
or at <a href="http://www.cleispress.com/gosearch.php?textfield=harder+she+comes&search_type=TITLE">Cleis Press</a><br />
<br />
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the tour!<br />
<br />
May 1 D. L. King http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/<br />
May 2 Anna Watson http://dlkingerotica.blogspot.com<br />
May 3 Evan Mora http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com/<br />
May 4 River Light http://sapphicplanet.com/blogtour_sapphicplanet.php<br />
May 5 Sinclair Sexsmith http://www.sugarbutch.net/<br />
May 6 Crystal Barela http://kathleenbradean.blogspot.com/<br />
May 7 CS Clark http://bethwylde.wordpress.com/<br />
May 8 Valerie Alexander http://pomofreakshow.com/<br />
May 9 Andrea Dale http://lulalisbon.wordpress.com/<br />
May 10 Beth Wylde http://adrianakraft.com/blog/
<b> </b><br />
<b>May 11 Kathleen Bradean http://cyvarwydd.blogspot.com/</b><br />
May 12 Teresa Noelle Roberts http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/<br />
May 13 Shanna Germain http://lantoniou.blogspot.com/<br />
May 14 Charlotte Dare http://madeofwords.com/posts/<br />
May 15 Rachel Kramer Bussel http://lustylady.blogspot.com/Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-4536982252410550992011-11-06T10:16:00.000-08:002011-11-06T10:16:10.846-08:00101 Best Sex Scenes Ever WrittenI bought 101 Best Sex Scenes Ever Written: An Erotic Romp Through Literature for Writers and Readers by Barnaby Conrad when I bought his other book 101 Best Beginnings Ever Written. While I liked the 101 Best Beginnings Ever Written, I have issues with Best Sex Scenes.<br />
<br />
It started off promising. In his forward, he states<br />
<br />
"The selections were not chosen gratuitously, not included to titillate - (sorry) - the reader. They all advanced the plot in some way of helped to characterize the protagonist of the story they came from."<br />
<br />
He at least seems to respect that sex has a legitimate place in storytelling, if you can overlook his comment in the previous paragraph that<br />
<br />
"Justice Stewart surely would label this book pure porn, and of course, considered out of context, many of the scenes read as though they were, indeed, porn. Yet every excerpt is from a distinguished writer, often a great one, and its source is a published and respected novel or short story."<br />
<br />
Okay, so if you're a literary writer, you don't write porn. You write pornographic scenes, but you can be forgiven because your work is published and respected.<br />
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After the first couple chapters, it became evident that to Mr. Conrad, a great sex scene takes place off page and leaves everything to the imagination. Worse, at the end of chapter six, he states:<br />
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"But, by reading Lolita, a would-be writer can learn how to write a beautiful sex-driven novel with no gross language or uncomfortable images."<br />
<br />
Lolita is his example of a book that doesn't contain 'uncomfortable images?' Does he think that most people are comfortable with the idea of some old geezer lusting after a twelve-year old girl? I'm not arguing the literary merit of the book, but even I have real problems with the subject matter.<br />
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If his squeamishness over the depiction of sex wasn't clear enough by then, the title of chapter thirteen drove it home: Ugh, E-e-e-uuu, and Gross. <br />
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Really, Mr. Conrad? Why on earth would you approach this subject if the best you can summon is a juvenile reaction to the subject? And why is it that that<br />
<br />
"I shall leave the literature of same sex and kinky sex and bestiality to those who see drama or purpose or exemplary behavior therein."<br />
<br />
So gay sex is equivalent to bestiality and not exemplary behavior and has no purpose?<br />
<br />
Ugh. *Flings tome across the room* I suggest Mr. Conrad avoid this subject until he's mature enough to approach it as an adult.Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-33008265735009311932011-10-05T07:39:00.000-07:002011-10-05T07:39:43.422-07:00Will She or Won't She?With the publishing world in such flux right now, I'm mulling over the idea of self-publishing The Devil's Concubine. I've already contacted Kelley from Sterling Editing about reserving a slot in her schedule, because editing is something you don't skimp on if you want your readers to have a good experience with your story. Editing is something you treat yourself to as a reward for finishing a novel. Editing is a personal masters level course in writing.<br />
<br />
I'm reading blogs and tapping into resources to find out how to go about this. If my budget were really tight, I guess I'd try to learn as much of this as I could on my own, but I'm probably the least visual person on earth, so I don't trust my ability to do a good job on things such as the book design, which is how it looks on the inside, and the cover art. And there's formatting for the different ebook platforms and ISBNs and POD and ... so much to learn about.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'll keep you posted. Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14040026.post-27340051735069929062011-10-01T18:52:00.000-07:002011-10-01T18:52:56.528-07:00This is How it WorksI saw a recent pie chart of how readers find ebooks. I can't seem to find a link. so I can't share it, but the upshot was that people rely mostly on recommendations on groups they belong to, then recommendations by family and friends. Those slices combined were well over 50% of the chart.<br />
<br />
In a book store (remember those?) it's called hand selling. That's when a knowledgeable clerk says "Oh, you like that book? Well, let me tell you about this one!" Even without book stores, it remains the most powerful selling tool for a writer.<br />
<br />
This isn't self-promotion. Hey, I'm a writer, I understand letting people know that you have a book out. But it becomes just so much background noise especially to those of us with a lot of writer contacts. I don't think I've ever read self-promotion SPAM and thought, "Hmm. I must read that." However, I have on occasion said, "I will never read anything this writer ever writes because she's pissing me off with her ten posts a day about her book." I've heard that from others too. There's obviously a fine line here, and it's different for everyone, but one or two announcements are plenty. After that, you're teetering on the annoying edge. <br />
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So how do you tap into this all important 50% plus marketing vein? Well... You have to write a really good book. You have to write something that gets a reader excited enough that they talk about it. You can't force them to talk. You can't SPAM them into talking. All you can do is write such a great book that a complete stranger will tell another person, "You have to read this."<br />
<br />
That's the big secret.<br />
<br />
Now you know how it works.Kathleen Bradeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.com3