As you know, I’ve been inviting my author friends to drop by and entertain you. Dee was feeling a little under the weather, which is a win for you! She’s offering up a contest for you my super-sexy readers. Who wants to win? Raise those hands high!

So, I’ll shut up now and let Dee take over.

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Reading on both sides of the fence

For those of you who don’t know me, first, let me introduce myself. I’m Dee Carney and I write erotic romance. I should also add that I’m Morgan Sierra and I write erotica.

Yep.

Two authors in one. You couldn’t ask for more!..unless you’re Selena and I promised you a blog post a few days ago. Ugh. Sorry Selena.

So tell you what I’m going to do to make up for it. I’m going to host a contest here. And not just any contest! Both Dee and Morgan are handing out books for readers. This is how it’ll work:

I’m offering a chance at a free copy of The Fallen (by Morgan Sierra) to every reader who posts here and tells me their favorite bad guy. Doesn’t matter where he’s from, whether book, movie, real life…just so long as you leave a comment by April 15th. I will pick one winner (at random) from those who respond to this question.

I’m also offering a chance at a free copy of The Craft of the Wise: Book of Shadows (by Dee Carney) to every reader who posts here and tells me their favorite holiday. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Judeo-Christian kind or not…again, just so long as you leave a comment by April 15th. And again, I’ll pick one winner (at random) from those who respond to this question.

So if you haven’t figured it out yet, you have TWO chances to win a book. All you have to do is respond to both questions. Simple as pie.

To read excerpts from either of these books, just head on over to my web site and click on my Bookshelf.

Good luck!

Dee
…a little bit exotic…a whole lot erotic…
http://www.deecarney.com

Wow! Awesome contest Dee. My readers are going to get spoiled! Readers, a word… Dee has a FAB collection of free reads listed on her website…in case you’re into that sort of thing.

I’m guest blogging over at Michelle Miles blog today. Come find out why I’m addicted to romance.

Andre’s book is FINISHED! Complete! Turned in! Whoop. I’ll keep you updated about contracts, release dates, excerpts and of course, drool worthy covers.

Big thanks to Michelle for blogging for me. Dee Carney will be blogging for me soon. And you’ll find me over at their blogs soon as well. Tara Nichols will also be here. And you can also find a post from my writing buddy, Leila Brown from a few weeks ago.

Find out more about my latest addiction and my new series idea (drool worthy photo warning!)

Over on the Double the Pleasure blog, Anya Bast is guest blogging for us and she’s talking about First Lines. Come talk to us and be entered to win a signed copy of Anya’s latest release!!!

And over at the Blind Bet blog, Leila Brown is giving away a book from her backlist. Don’t forget to sign up for the BlindBet newsletter and you’ll be entered to win a copy of my book, The Wine Tasting.

Speaking of contests…stay tuned for an awesome, mega contest.

Stay sexy,

Selena

In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t post a lot. In quantity or frequency…which is why Twitter (and Plurk) are perfect for me. Short, mini posts that act as announcements, musings, or brief comments…I use Twitter mostly for announcements. You can find all my latest news on my twitter page (twitter.com/SelenaBlake). You can stay up to date with me by bookmarking that page or signing up for twitter and “following” me. Then you can follow me around constantly and act all “fan girl” like and I’ll love you forever.

Are you going to Ellora’s Cave’s Romanticon? It’s in October. Lots of authors and cover models are going…not me, but plenty of others. Are you going? What do you think of reader conferences? There’s RT and a few author organized ones. Is that something you’d like to attend if one was close by?

Anya Bast has stopped by the Double the Pleasure blog and she’s written a fabulous post about First Lines. Come read it and tell her what your favorite first line is and why it hooks you. leilaandselena.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-lines-by-anya-bast.html You could win a copy of Anya Bast’s Witch Heart, autographed too!

My next series after Stormy Weather will be about a hunky group of brothers, cowboys actually, living in Montana. And though they’ve been whispering in my ear lately, telling me their stories, it was only today that I came face to face with the eldest brother. Thanks to a bit of procrastination on myspace, I’ve found him. And ladies… is he yummy! Please have a cloth ready to wipe the drool from your lips.

Have you seen the show Lie to Me? Yeah, I’m totally addicted, how about you? I mean when the very first episode shows romance novels in a positive light, I mean, yeah! Not to mention it’s totally fascinating! I love these kinds of shows. Wish there were more like them and I had more time to watch them, but alas, life and writing only give way to a certain amount of free time.

And there’s always Bones…

I invited fellow author Michelle Miles to come and talk to you today. I’ll be over on her blog one day soon, so watch my twitter account to stay posted.

Recently, my local RWA chapter had a “kissing contest”. Okay, it’s not the kind you think. We’re not that sordid. No, our contest was to have members write a kissing scene between two characters. It was successful in that it got several of the members writing and a couple who stepped out of their comfort zone to write in a genre they had never written in before.

So I got to thinking about this a little later. If we can step outside our comfort zone to write a simple kissing scene, why not an entire book?

Which made me wonder – could I write an entire book by just starting with certain scenes? In my head, I began to think about different plot elements of a book. Of course, Goal-Motivation-Conflict is in there. The big picture stuff. But what if we break them down even further?

A kissing scene. If you’re writing romance, there has to be sexual tension. We, the reader, want them to kiss as much as the characters want to kiss (and trust me when I say, these characters have a mind of their own). Maybe you’ve always wanted to write something scandalous and tawdry, well now is your big chance.

An action scene. It has to have all the elements of fast-paced action with some snappy dialogue. Maybe even an explosion or two. You want to keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat. Always wanted to try your hand at fencing? Get your characters to do it. Except give them a short sword and some armor and go for it.

The Black Moment. If you write or read romance, then you know what the Black Moment is. It’s that moment in the book when, just when the hero and heroine start to fall in love, something comes to drive them apart again. Something that can be so big it carries to the end of the book. Maybe they have a fight and break up. Maybe the heroine thinks her beloved, who has gone off to war in some faraway country, is dead and never to return. Maybe she’s decided she wants to have children and he doesn’t.

You get the idea. What if writing a book was writing a scene that wasn’t something you would normally sit down and plot and write from start to finish? Wouldn’t you then be stepping outside of your comfort zone and writing something totally different that you may not have ever tried?

Maybe you typically write contemporary but have always wanted to write historical. Sit down and let your imagination run wild with some ideas and just free write out that historical scene.

Or perhaps urban fantasy is more your cup of tea but you haven’t actually ever tried it before. Seize that moment! Sit down, open your mind, and let those fingers fly on the keyboard.

Don’t be afraid to try something new. What have you got to lose? You never know when you might discover your hidden talent for a new genre. And, after all, you never have to let you critique partners see it.

Happy creating!

Michelle Miles writes sexy contemporaries and is a member of Romance Writers of America. You can learn more about her books at www.michellemiles.net.

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Selena asks: Thinking about comfort zones…I’ve been stepping out of mine lately. Leaping is more like it. But more about that another day. How about you, faithful readers? Have you stepped outside of your comfort zone recently?