Favorite Paranormal?

Hi All!

This one is easy. Just tell us which paranormal is your all time favorite! Then tell us why...yeah, easy...right! LOL. There's so many out there to choose from, it's so tough. Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, J. R. Ward, Amanda Ashley, Angela Knight...the list goes on.

My favorite paranormal was the one that most took me by surprise. "Blood Creek Haunting" by Derek Musgrave. Be aware that it is not a traditional paranormal romance. I think I enjoyed it so much for that very reason. The author pulled me into the story from the first page, and I was overwhelmed. It's an incredibly emotional tale.


here's a short blurb:
Blood Creek Haunting is the story of a woman who's being haunted by the ghost of an Indian brave. Emily discovers that not only is her house being built on the sacred ground of the Blood Creek Massacre, but also one of her ancestors was responsible for the massacre. Can Emily find a way to repay the debt? Will she survive the haunting?



Now, your turn!

Hands, arms and abs. OH MY!

A couple days ago I was talking to a friend who's boyfriend works with my husband. She was complaining about his hands and how rough and calloused they get from their work. She actually worked on his hands to scrub some of the callouses away. I started thinking about how much I love my husbands hands (get your mind out of the gutter) lol. Seriously though, I love a man with rough, strong working mans hands. The callouses don't bother me. In fact, I'd much rather have a callous handed hubby to a smooth handed one. It reminds me how hard he works physically for our family. It makes him feel strong and masculine to me. I never realized how much I loved manly hands until we started this conversation. When I think back to the hero's I've written about I talk about their hands a lot and they're always rough, calloused, man hands, lol. I think it's one of my favorite male body parts. Sexy, strong hands and forearms.

You can't see this guys hands very well but I love his forearms. They're strong and sexy looking.

After hands and forearms my favorite male body part has to be abs. I LOVE a nice, strong, toned abdominal muscles (what woman doesn't?).

Yowza! Look at those abs. That is some writing inspiration right there.

So, whats your favorite male body part?

If you're a writer, is there a specific body part that you enjoy writing about? Describing? Something your hero has to have? (Lets keep this fairly clean folks ;)

Reality or Fantasy?

Are your characters based on people you know, or are they completely made up? I guess all writers must get asked this question since I've been asked so many times by friends, fans, interviewers and the like. For me, the answer isn't so simple.

I am made up of all the experiences I've had, all the people I've known, all the stories I've heard and read. As I think about the answer, I realize I've based some secondary characters on friends and clients. But the characters always take on a life of their own and usually differ in some major ways from their model. When it comes to my major players, I can honestly say they are pure imagination.

As I write this, I'm in the midst of updating a workshop on characterization I'm giving in a few weeks. I realized as I made note cards the reason my major characters are not based on those I know. They spring from a particular GMC. Their personality must conform to what I need it to be. Not true of the supporting cast, whose GMCs can be a little more loose, a bit more pliant.

So what about you? How do you come up with exciting characters?

All I Want for Christmas

Okay, so I'm two months early, but I've already asked my b/f for the Sony e-Reader for Christmas. I'm very much a techy geek, and I love new gadgets. I'm especially excited about this one.

Roughly the size of a paperback novel, but thinner than most, The Sony eReader can store hundreds of books in internal memory with the addition of an optional Memory Stick or Secure Digital (SD) flash memory card. I apologize for sounding like a commercial. I'm very excited about this long overdue gadget. One of the chronic complaints I hear from most readers regarding e-books is how they can't "take" their computer with them they way they can take their books. Well, this little baby is the answer. Not only can you take your favorite book with you, you can take hundreds! This is the first reader (allegedly) with a backlight display as well as zoom and scroll capabilities. So, in essence, you get a far better reading experience, and you don't have to go out searching for those "large print" books anymore. I'll wait until I actually have one to post my "official" review. But the eReader looks like its set to revolutionize epub as we know it. Of course, it's still a bit pricey. Give it time, that too will come down. And just think how much money you'll save downloading all your favorite authors at half the cost of dead tree. Ya gotta love technology.

Edits, Edits, Edits...where does it end!

We’ve all been through it and we’ll continue to go through it. Sometimes it’s not so bad, other times you’re ready to scream and pull your hair. If you’re lucky, you’ll work with an editor who knows what they’re doing and won’t attempt to destroy your voice and turn your book into a cookie-cutter romance. If you’re unlucky you’ll end up with someone who doesn’t know bad writing from good.

Recently I’ve been working with two different editors from two different companies. Both ladies have their own way of doing things and both are very thorough. I feel quite fortunate to have worked with them, as they’ve shown me that not all editors are evil. LOL Now, for the good and bad of it.


Good vs Bad:
A good editor will help fix your mistakes.
A bad editor doesn’t see the mistakes to start with.

A good editor makes suggestions.
A bad editor wants it changed no arguments.

A good editor will make you laugh at yourself.
A bad editor wouldn’t know a joke if it bit her in the butt.

A good editor knows that you are not perfect.
A bad editor expects perfection, so she won’t have to do her job.

A good editor will point out things, so you won’t make the same mistakes in the future.
A bad editor just wants your manuscript off her desk.

A good editor thinks you have something worth reading.
A bad editor never bothered to actually read your manuscript.

A good editor respects your voice.
A bad editor changes you into...her.

A good editor doesn’t allow her personal issues to affect her job.
A bad editor slips her pet peeves into your MS every chance she gets.

Now, if you have any other pointers, share them with us!

Want a free e book?

Phaze is having a reader survey...you answer the questions, send an email...you get a free ebook and a chance to win some print books...and if you let them know Jenna Allen told you about it...I get publisher kudos :)

TO PARTICIPATE: Until we get the form active, please paste the questions below and send your answers to klively (at) phaze (dot) com. We will try to get your book to you ASAP. Thanks for participating.

What is your e-mail address? (So we can send your free eBook)
Name of Phaze Author who referred you to this survey :: Jenna Allen
How many eBooks do you buy a month?
Where do you most often buy eBooks?
When purchasing directly from a publisher, what do you consider to be the most important factor?
Would you be more inclined to buy from a publisher that offered regular sales and discounts?
Would you be more inclined to buy from an eBook publisher that offered print books?
If you could change one thing about the website of your favorite publisher, what would it be?
How do you most often hear about a new eBook publisher?
From which publishers do you most often buy eBooks? CHOOSE FIVE
What are your favorite subgenres of erotic romance? CHOOSE FIVE
Which subgenres are you least likely to buy? CHOOSE FIVE
Which subgenres would you most like to see published? CHOOSE THREE
If you knew an eBook was going to print, would you wait to buy the print version?
Do you buy anthologies?
If you buy anthologies, which do you prefer?
What length preference do you buy most often?
What heat level of erotic romance do you prefer?
Comments?
Thank you for answering our survey! Please write the name of the Phaze eBook you would like to receive for free. (Visit Phaze.com for our current catalog).

OMG its Thursday

I'm tellin ya, things have been crazy for me. I totally forgot that it was my day to blog so I don't have anything thats new, fun and exciting to talk about. I'm sitting here ready for bed trying to think about what to say so I decided to share an excerpt from my upcoming book, Getting Lucky with Luciano. In this scene the heroine, Kaylee is waiting in the restaurant for her two friends to come when Luciano approaches her. Kaylee has a small problem keeping it together when the object of her lust is around, lol. I hope you enjoy.

*****
Kaylee watched as the hostess sat the elderly couple who just entered when suddenly she got the feeling. Luciano must be near by. Goose bumps spread across her already tingling skin. Her heart started beating double time.
She didn’t see Luciano yet, but knew he had to be close by. She heard him making rounds like he did every night, greeting his customers in that sexy, baritone voice.
Turning to the left, her hand slid across the table. Just as he approached her, Kaylee did what she always did when he was around, something stupid. As her water glass tipped over creating a small pool on her table, she fought the overwhelming urge to crawl under that same table and hide. He must think I’m the world’s biggest klutz!
“I’ll get that for you.” Luciano said as he cleaned the small amount of water with one hand and a napkin. “Luckily you drank most of it already.” His rich, smooth tone wrapped around her making her dizzy. Or maybe that was from the lack of oxygen getting to her brain. Something about being around this man severed all her control over her body. The only connection that never failed, the one to her raging hormones.
“Yeah, lucky me,” Kaylee mumbled as she ran her hand up her arm. The heat from his closeness snaked across her bare skin.
“Nico sent out another desert for you to try while you’re waiting for your friends.” Luciano set a plate with three pieces of chocolate cake on the table. They looked almost as yummy as Luciano himself.
Taking another quick glance towards Luciano, Kaylee tried to respond but couldn’t raise her eyes to look the man in the face. She was eye level with his crotch and couldn’t for the life of her turn away. He obviously packed a pretty big bulge beneath his black slacks. Damned if her tongue didn’t have a mind of its own and slowly lick her lips. Get a grip, girl. You’re staring at the man’s crotch. Look up. Come on, you can do it.
The view on the way up was just as dangerous as the one below his belt. Flat stomach, keep going, broad chest, you’re almost there, square jaw, knowing smile, and near black colored eyes, exhale breath, you made it. Wait, knowing smile? Damn, he knows I’m checking him out!
“Look good?” Luciano said his smile growing.
Kaylee couldn’t breath, much less speak, so she did what she did best when Luciano was around, she stared.
“The dessert,” he said. “Does it look good?”
Dessert? What dessert? “Yes. It looks wonderful.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Nico you said so. We’ll be out later with dinner.” He stood there, locking eyes with her, in the process, stopping the beat of her heart a few seconds longer, than turned and walked away. She’d need a big dose of Nico’s chocolate to jump start her heart.

Copyright: Kelley Nyrae

Conferences Are Worth It!!

This past weekend was NJRW's Put Your Heart in a Book Conference. This was my very first conference and I can't recommend them enough. I met wonderful people, authors, publishers, agents and editors, and made some great contacts (not to mention I sold a bunch of copies of my book in the book fair). Although Sherilynn Kenyon's line was out the door and wrapped around the hallway...lolol. Someday that'll be us, right? To top that off, RomanceNovelTV interviewed me, much to my surprise. Hopefully it won't all end up in the proverbial cutting room floor...lol..

The workshops were great, too. My favorite was one called Page Fright-How to Fight Your Writing Demons. I was surprised to learn so many writers share the same fears. Karen Robards also gave a wonderful speech during breakfast about her journey into this crazy world we inhabit. All in all, the entire conference was a success. I can't wait for next year's event. I think these conferences are a great networking tool. A way for us to meet fellow authors and other industry people. They can get a little pricey, so I think it's best to choose the ones we'll get the most from. I'm looking into RT's conference this upcoming April. But that one's really pricey!! Has anyone attended RT before? Would you recommend it? I've heard nothing but good things. If my Christmas bonus is as expected,then maybe I'll go ahead and splurge for April. :-)

Open Door or Closed?

I was reading a book last week and was amazed at the number of graphic sex scenes. Now I'm no prude. All my books have a couple of saucy scenes but I always wonder how much detail is too much to cross the line into the "ick factor." Some of my favorite authors close the bedroom door on the sex while others describe every grunt and groan, every part being touched, licked or otherwise engaged. For me, how the sex is handled really doesn't affect how much I enjoy the book.
I don't read much erotica because I often find the stories or the characters a little lacking because so much page space is devoted to the sex. The next one on my TBR pile is an erotica, however. Since some of my short stories are that genre, I thought I should brush up on what's out there.
So what about you? Do you prefer the door be open or shut on graphic scenes?