Easter Egg Hunt! 03/30/2010
 
The annual Easter egg hunt held by Long and Short Reviews, Whipped Cream, and Aurora is now live!  Simply click on author links, which will take you to author home pages, and then find the Easter egg hidden within the site.  Each Easter egg you find is worth one entry.

There are dozens of authors participating and ten gift baskets, totaling hundreds of prizes, so there are numerous chances at winning something.  For full details, as well as information on obtaining even more entries beyond the hunt, go to http://www.longandshortreviews.com/promo.htm

For individual contests go to:
http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/promo.htm - Long and Short Romance Reviews

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/promo.htm - Whipped Cream Erotica Reviews (in which The Cerebral Writer is a participant)

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/AURORA/promo.htm - Young Adult Novel Reviews

Happy hunting!

Lisa
 
Contest! 03/16/2010
 
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The New Sensuality Blog Launch Party

The New Sensuality, the blog that covers the erotic side to my writing, is now officially active, and I’m giving away some prizes to celebrate.

Here’s the deal: Visit http://newsensuality.blogspot.com between now and April 1 and add yourself to the list of blog followers, and you’ll be eligible to win one of three signed paperback copies of The Darkness and the Night: Blood and Coffee along with a The Darkness and the Night trilogy bookmark, or a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate.  Already following?  Then you’re already eligible to win.  Make sure that I have some way of contacting you, either through your website or an e-mail address.
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If you’re interested in increasing the odds in your favor, you can—in addition to the above—do one or more of the following for additional entries:

Readers

Go to my home website, at http://www.cerebralwriter.com, find the page on which my novel, Love in Space, can be found, and then send me the link through my contact page: http://www.cerebralwriter.com/contact.html.

Read my free short story, “One Night Stand,” which can be found at http://www.cerebralwriter.com/erotic.html, and then (at the same above contact page) send me the answer to the following question: What does each vampire dress up as for Halloween?

Sign up to review any of my published books or short stories.  For a list of what I have available, you can go here: http://www.cerebralwriter.com/erotic.html and here: http://www.cerebralwriter.com/new-releases.html

Authors, Artists, Etc.

Sign up to guest blog at this site (erotica and romance), or at the Cerebral Writer (literary, horror, and speculative science fiction).  Send all guest blog inquiries to contests@cerebralwriter.com.

Add the Cerebral Writer and/or the New Sensuality to your blog roll (one entry for each link added, up to two entries max).

Anyone

Share the link to this contest at your blog, website, and/or social networking venues (one entry per venue, up to five entries max); make sure to let me know where I can find the shared links by leaving them below.

Thanks for stopping by—and good luck!

Lisa
 
 
UPDATE: The contest page is now available at Whipped Cream and Long and Short Reviews: http://www.longandshortreviews.com/promo.htm.  While the contest does not officially begin until March 29 (and many of the links on the contest page are still not active), make sure to mark your calendars and bookmark the contesst webpage.  There are tons of prizes to be won, including a $25.00 gift certificate to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble, signed books, e-books, tee shirts, and publisher gift certificates.

Originally posted on February 17, 2010:  Whipped Cream and Long and Short Reviews is planning their 2010 Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, which will include tons of great prizes.  All you have to do to enter is visit participating authors' websites and find the hidden Easter eggs.
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Come back at the end of March for more details!  Until then...
                                                                                     HAPPY READING!
 
 
In response to an article I recently wrote for the Guide to Literary Agents Editor’s Blog, Miss S. stated, “Perhaps you could have a follow-up with more detail about building tension--and how?”  I thought Miss S.’s suggestion was a good one, definitely worth the follow-up, so today I dedicate my blog to the subject of building tension in erotic and romantic works.

Good tension begins with good character dynamics.

In both erotic and romantic writing, it is important to consider the way the characters are going to interact.  Ask yourself, “What is it that attracts your protagonists to one another?  What could potentially keep them apart?”  You want the romance to build gradually, waxing and waning in a natural progression, while also creating obstacles that threaten to destroy the relationship before it has a chance to climax.  Don’t be afraid to tease your audience; you want your readers to crave satisfaction just as desperately as you want your characters to crave one another.  If you give in too quickly, you might make later interactions less satisfying—but if you hold off for too long, you’ll lose your readers’ interest.

Balance is the key.

Just like any good story should be divided into three “acts,” a good erotic romance should be divided into a number of “episodes.”  In a typical plotline, Act I introduces the characters and whatever initial dilemma they are to overcome, Act II brings added intensity to that dilemma (often with the overcoming of the first dilemma, only for a larger one to arise in its place), and Act III moves the story to its climax and conclusion.  With romantic and erotic “episodes,” the romantic and/or sexual tension should rise and fall around every thirty to fifty pages.  Just like with the necessary resolution and additional dilemma found in the transition between acts, one should strive for romantic or sexual dilemmas between these episodes, offering resolution—or even some kind of minor release—only to build the tension even higher than before.  Mistaken identity, misconstrued words and/or actions, quarrels and reconciliations, and love triangles all work well to add to the building and dropping of romantic and sexual tension.
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Think of the building of romantic tension as written foreplay.

Words are powerful tools; use them to your best advantage.  Play with your readers’ senses.  Use words or phrases that appeal to the body or further arouse the imagination.  Your wordplay need not be overtly sexual to be sensual.




Consider the following poem:

A gently laced chain of words
awakens every sense;
colorful, sweet, musky, hard,
and symphonic offering, aching, needing.

The hot, dew-wet red rose
smells the fragrant hard wood
that penetrates deep into the earth,
expanding, tasting her soil,
and dancing to the sonata in the wind.

The above words use imagery in slow, sensual steps to build its readers.  If the poem were to continue, it is safe to say that the sexual tension would rise and fall through a series of several more stanzas, with the final lines bringing both the natural figures and their audience to climactic release.  Give your readers prose that takes them beyond their own bodies, while at the same time offering a holistic, full-body experience.  Tantalize their minds, make their bodies tingle, and then tease them with a twist of heartache or disappointment, only to build them and their expectations even higher than before.

And then, around the same time you’ve reached the climax of Act III, give your readers what they’ve been waiting for—sweet, beautiful, sensual release.
 
 
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The final results have been calculated, and my erotic sci-fi space trek, Lust in Space, finished a couple of spots higher than its #9 spot in the tenative calculations.  The Predators and Editors Reader's Poll is a yearly event, including titles from authors across the board.

I am very excited to share that not only did Lust in Space make the top 10 list, but it finished at #7.
The final results for the erotica poll are:

1 Murder by Design, Jade Falconer, Phaze
2 Kilted Lover, Nicole North, Red Sage Publishing
3 Only Pleasure, Lora Leigh, St. Martin's Griffin
4 Scent of a Vampire, Jude Stephens, Hearts on Fire Books
4 Strangers, Barabara Elsborg -, Ellora's Cave Romantica Publication
5 Breaking The Covenants, Celina Summers and Rob Graham, Aspen Mountain Press
5 Spell of Appalachia, Molly Wens, eXcessica
6 Eden's Hell, Dawn Dominique, Purple Sword Publications
6 Internet Bonds #8: After Glow, Christy Poff, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
7 Lust in Space, Lisa Lane, Ravenous Romance
7 The Janitor, Jan Irving, Loose ID
7 Xylon Warriors IV: Ecstasy Bound, Ruth D. Kerce, Ellora's Cave
8 Triad, Cat Grant, Lyrical Press, http://www.lyricalpress.com/triad
9 Curfew, Samantha Stone, L&L Dreamspell
10 By Chance, Cat Grant, Lyrical Press

Click here to see all of the final erotica novel standings.

The Darkness and the Night III: Twins of Darkness finished at #14 in the horror poll, and Love in Space finished at #15 in the romance poll.

Thanks again to those who voted!
 
 
From December's Vol 44 No 12 Forum magazine review:

Thanks to Twilight and True Blood, vampires are hot and sexy again, but while
Blood and Coffee taps into that trend it is definitely more of a horror fantasy
than a straightforward erotic novel. Many of the characters here come to grisly
ends, so it's not for the squeamish, but Lisa Lane manages to keep the action
moving at a relentless pace while detailing Karen's conversion from human to
vampire and all the dilemmas she faces along the way. This is the first part in
a trilogy, and there are enough clues as to how the action will progress to
ensure those who like a bit of gore with their sexual tension will hunt down the
second and third volumes.
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For more information on The Darkness and the Night series, visit Ravenous Romance or stop by my Erotica Page.

To read the full review, you'll have to find the back-order for Forum's December issue.

Happy reading!

Lisa
 
Pets and People 01/17/2010
 
Last night, I watched a show about a canine hero who, in the traditional “Lassie” fashion, sought out and brought help to his desperate human companion.  The woman had fallen down a ledge in the middle of the Utah wilderness, had broken her pelvis, and had been unable to get to help herself.  The dog was able to lead the search and rescue crew to her after three days of enduring dehydration and freezing temperatures.  This made me wonder:  How many attributes, such as high levels of compassion and intelligence, do people wrongly attribute to be typically “human,” but “unusual” or “amazing” in their pets?
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Kitty (door) and Kadie (in pearls)
I have two cats, Kitty and Kadie.  They once warned me of an attempted home invasion in the middle of the night, when my then-fiancé was out of town.  The apartment above me had flooded, and my complex had hired a man to vacuum my bedroom carpet and leave a dehumidifier.  He had closed the sliding glass door behind him when he had left—leaving it unlocked.  Of course, I had gone right behind him and locked it after he was gone, but it is clear that he had not counted on that (and that he had also counted on my leaving the loud dehumidifier on all night, which was keeping me awake and, luckily, I had opted to turn off so I could sleep).  I woke to the sound of the sliding door being tugged on—with Kadie standing suddenly, fluffing up, and growling angrily and Kitty rushing across the apartment, to the sliding door.  He crashed into the blinds, and a moment later my would-be intruder crashed over my patio ledge and ran off into the night.  The next day, the same man tried to let himself into my apartment: that morning, he had taken my apartment key from the management office and went to my apartment.  Already on high alert, I was able to stop him before he got in, send him away, and notify the management of his actions.  Management apologized profusely for letting such an oversight occur; they had no idea that he had taken my key.

Were Kitty and Kadie just reacting to an outside noise, or were they defending me and our property?  Given that Kitty ran to the sliding glass door and Kadie stayed right at my side, growling until the man had gone, I tend to believe that the latter is the case.

Do you have any neat and/or “amazing” stories about your furred, feathered, or scaled friends?  I’d love to hear about it.
 
 
Thanks to your votes, Lust in Space made the top 10 erotica novels for 2009 and The Darkness and the Night III: Twins of Darkness finished in the top 20 horror novels.  My thanks to all who showed their support!

The (tenative) final standings:

Erotica
1. Murder by Design, Jade Falconer, Phaze, [link]
2. Kilted Lover, Nicole North, Red Sage Publishing, [link]
3. Breaking The Covenants, Celina Summers and Rob Graham, Aspen Mountain Press, [link]
4. Scent of a Vampire, Jude Stephens, Hearts on Fire Books, [link]
4. Dommemoir, I.G. Frederick, Fanny Press, [link]
4. Only Pleasure, Lora Leigh, St. Martin's Griffin, [link]
5. Strangers, Barabara Elsborg - , Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication, [link]
6. Spell of Appalachia, Molly Wens, eXcessica, [link]
6. Eden's Hell, Dawné Dominique, Purple Sword Publications, [link]
7. Xylon Warriors IV: Ecstasy Bound, Ruth D. Kerce, Ellora's Cave, [link]
7. Internet Bonds #8: After Glow, Christy Poff, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, [link]
8. Curfew, Samantha Stone, L&L Dreamspell, [link]
9. Lust in Space, Lisa Lane, Ravenous Romance, [link]
9. Sex Camp, Natalie Acres, Siren Publishing, [link]
9. The Janitor, Jan Irving, Loose ID, [link]
10. Location, Location, Location, Emma Hillman, eXcessica Publishing, [link]
10. Triad, Cat Grant, Lyrical Press, [link]

Horror
1. Rise Of The Darkness, C.A.Milson, Lulu, [link]
2. Armageddon Bound, Tim Marquitz, Damnation Books, [link]
3. The Great Right Hope, Mark Jackman, LL-Publications, [link]
4. Cursed, Jeremy C. Shipp, Raw Dog Screaming Press, [link]
5. Angels of the Mourning Light, Frank E. Bittinger, iUniverse, [link]
6. The Hollows, Ben Larken, LL-Publications, [link]
7. The Last Church, Lee Pletzers, Black Bed Sheet Press, [link]
8. War of the Worlds plus Blood, Guts and Zombies, Eric S. Brown, Coscom Entertainment, [link]
9. The Dark Path, Luke Romyn, Wild Child Publishing, [link]
10. Demon Hunter: The Chosen One, Cynthia Vespia, Aspen Mountain Press, [link]
11. Kelland, Paul G. Bens, Jr., Casperian Books, [link]
12. Cemetery Gates, Maryann Paige, Club Lighthouse Publishing, [link]
13. Escape: A Zombie Chronicles Novel, James Melzer, Permuted Press/Pocket Books, [link]
14. The Further Accounts of the Imaginary Friend, P.S. Gifford, Virtual Tales, [link]
15. Gentle Art of Making Enemies, Kevin Mellor, Black Bed Sheet Books, [link]
16. Blood of the Dark Moon, Adrianne Brennan, Freya's Bower, [link]
16. The Darkness and the Night III: Twins of Darkness, Lisa Lane, Ravenous Romance, [link]
16. The Kult, Shaun Jeffrey, Leucrota Press, [link]
17. White Witch, Black Curse, Kim Harrison, Eos, [link]
18. Dismember, Daniel Pyle, Wild Child Publishing, [link]
18. Shadows of Souls, Allan W. Azouz, L&L Dreamspell, [link]
19. Under the Dome, Stephen King, Scribner, [link]
19. Angels of the Deep, Kirby Crow, MLR Press, [link]
20. Shadows, Joan De La Haye, Rebel e Publishers, [link]

Romance
1. Babies in the Bargain, Mona Risk, The Wild Rose Press, [link]
2. The Benefactor, Margaret Reyes Dempsey, The Wild Rose Press, [link]
3. The Trouble With Playboys, Margaret Tanner, The Wild Rose Press, [link]
4. Clippings, A.J. Mirag, Lulu, [link]
5. Hostage Heart, Chelle Cordero, Vanilla Heart Publishing, [link]
6. Innocence Lost, Tiffany Green, The Wild Rose Press, [link]
7. The Third Wish, K. F. Zuzulo, Sapphire Blue Publishing, [link]
8. Fortune's Pride, Michele Stegman, Asylett Press, [link]
9. Creighton Manor, Karen Michelle Nutt, Tease Publishing LLC, [link]
10. Midnight Secrets, Lisa Rose Olick, Black Bed Sheet Books, [link]
11. Recipe For Love, Fiona McGier, Wings e-press, [link]
12. Spell of Appalachia, Molly Wens, eXcessica, [link]
12. Love Means No Shame, Andrew Grey, Dreamspinner Press, [link]
13. Another Time, Another Place, T. Sue VerSteeg, The Wild Rose Press, [link]
14. Beyond the Quiet, Brenda Hill, Vanilla Heart, [link]
15. Champagne, Inara LeVay, Ravenous Romance, [link]
16. A Chaunce of Riches, Chelle Cordero, Vanilla Heart, [link]
16. Honor Thy Neighbor, Valerie J. Patterson, BookStrand, [link]
17. Darkness Into Light, Christy Poff, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, [link]
17. Unfolding the Shadows, Katie O'Sullivan, Cerridwen Press, [link]
17. Binding Vows, Catherine Bybee, The Wild Rose Press, [link]
18. All For A Fist Full Of Ashes, R. Ann Siracusa, Sapphire Blue Publishing, [link]
18. Timeless Mist, Terisa Wilcox, L&L Dreamspell, [link]
19. Branded By Fire, Nalini Singh, Berkeley Books, [link]
20. Vicus Luna, Jessica Coulter Smith, Wild Horse Press, [link]
20. Mistletoe and Holly, Marilyn Gardiner, Wings e-press, [link]
20. Lonely Soul, Mary Quast, Vanilla Heart Publishing, [link]
20. Circle of Eternity, Sandy Nicks, Vanilla Heart Publishing, [link]
21. Time For Love, Melissa Miller, IE Novel, [link]
21. Love in Space, Lisa Lane, Ravenous Romance, [link]
21. Hard Fall, James Buchanan, MLR Press, [link]

Congratulations to the winners!  For a full list of all of the categories, go to http://www.critters.org/predpoll/tally.ht
 
 
Today guest author Lilly Cain is taking over my blog to talk to you about her new release, Dark Harmony.  Welcome, Lilly!  Your new series looks really interesting.  Tell us a little about it!
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Vampires aren’t dead. No really, I mean that literally, although I am referring to the publishing trend as well. Vampires are hot, living, breathing, fantastically powerful creatures. They live in packs, addicted to the emotional and psychological impact of feeding and loving as a group. There is an alpha male and an alpha female – the only ones powerful enough to turn new vampires, and the only ones powerful enough to keep the rest of the pack under control. Vampires are highly sexual beings who really could live forever, if they can stay sane enough to remain in control.

Hi, I am Lilly Cain, author of Dark Harmony, the first book of the Dark Seduction Series, erotic vampire books about life in the pack, or the escape from it. I want to thank Lisa Lane for inviting me here to her blog to celebrate the release of my first e-novel. Thanks also to her guests, and I’ll be stopping by to respond and to offer a free e-copy of Dark Harmony to someone who comments here.

About the book: Dark Harmony – The first in the series, this is also my first novel (to be published, LOL). I wrote the book during the time of my separation and divorce and I put a lot of the feelings I had about loss and freedom into the two main characters, Lena and Richard. They both have experienced personal loss and the illusion of freedom in and out of relationships. Here’s a back-cover blurb about the story:

Running from a lover that has twisted her very nature, Lena Townsend hunts on her own. 

Lena has been the object of many desires. Now she is all too aware that being an obsession can be deadly. Her mildly adventurous sexual life reached its pinnacle, and its end, when she met sexually dominant vampire Darien. He stole her life, and used her sensual nature to bend her to his will. In making her his own, he placed her in a position where she must constantly submit to him, yet be dominant to his pack. It’s a conflict that pulls her apart.

In leaving the pack, Lena strives for independence, but her vampire instincts push her to find more – to find a new pack, a new family. Alone, she cannot share what makes her vampire, and she cannot find a lover she can trust enough to reveal her submissive nature.

In her escape Lena discovers a power that could save her – the ability to read and influence emotion. With this talent she might survive the loneliness.

Unfortunately, her old pack wants her back, no matter what.

Richard Heron has given up everything for his daughter since the murder of his wife, but what he misses most is the chance to explore his deeply sensual side once again. Once the owner of a popular S&M club, and its favored dom, he left everything he was to shelter his family. Lena could offer him more than he ever expected, a level of sensuality he never knew existed and a love that could never die, but he must reconcile the danger she brings with his need to shield his family – especially when what killed his wife was certainly not human.

In a flight that leads her thousands of miles from her territory and into the province of a dragon, independence is not what Lena expected. But if she can finally learn to trust, she can find harmony with her submissive and vampiric natures, and join with Richard into a new blend of family – a Dark Harmony.

They say that authors should write what we know. I can’t say that I have known any vampire’s personally (that I am aware! LOL) but I felt I did know about how these people would feel. Loss, love, freedom, surrender. As always, control and freedom are opposable issues – in order to be in control, you give up your freedom. If you are being controlled, you are sometimes more free than those that think to control you. What do you think?
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For more information about me and my books, come and visit me at my website, www.lillycain.com.

Also be sure to check out my publisher eRedSage and all the fantastic stories you can find there at www.eRedSage.com. 

I’ll be stopping by here over the next day or two to answer any questions. Share your thoughts and qualify for a chance to win an e-copy of the first book of the Dark Seduction series, Dark Harmony!

Thanks,

Lilly Cain
 
 
As the clock ticks down to 2010, I have much to reflect upon from this past year and many hopes for the next.  Instead of writing about them all, I decided to break down my list to five positive events from 2009 and five resolutions for 2010:

Positive Highlights of 2009

1.  I received thirteen 4-, 4.5- and 5-star reviews for my various published books.

2.  One of my books was handpicked to be among three exclusive six-book collections sold through the Home Shopping Network.

3.  I returned to college fulltime, after nearly a decade-long hiatus, and received straight A’s.

4.  I wrote four new novels, several short stories, and a screenplay adaptation.

5.  Through various social networking sites, I have been able to connect with fans and reconnect with friends I had lost touch with over the years.
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Resolutions for 2010

1.  I resolve to finish my YA fantasy novel, redraft the literary sci-fi works that have been simmering on the back burner, and write the comedy screenplay that has been building in my mind for the past two years.

2.  I resolve to earn straight A’s again in the coming two semesters.

3.  I resolve to promote my work more—both published and unpublished novels, as well as my short stories and screenplays.

4.  I resolve to weight train every two to three days and continue working toward my second-degree black belt in Shurin Ryu karate.

5.  I resolve to set the bar even higher for my writing, using what I’ve learned to improve upon the foundation I’ve laid for myself.

What are your highlights and resolutions?  I’d love to hear from you.  Here’s to a great 2010—Happy New Year!

Lisa