Dangerous new review!

Joyfully Reviewed has posted a review of Dangerous Games! (The sequel is the one with the motorcycle stunt I mentioned earlier this week.)

Reviewer Nanette says, “I was very impressed with Dangerous Games. It is provocative and gripping. I loved the intensity of Drake and Melinda’s attraction to each other. It is instant and intense. Drake’s dominance brings out the submissiveness in Melinda and it is so sexy! Melinda’s sexuality blossoms in Drake’s arms. Their reunion is a heart-warming moment that brought tears to my eyes. In Dangerous Games Charlene Teglia has written a wonderful story that kept me eagerly turning the pages, hungry for more.”

Yay! Thank you, Nanette and Joyfully Reviewed.

3 Cheers for Larissa!

Larissa sold to Red Sage. Run over and congratulate her if you haven’t already!

I’m working on Miss Lonely Hearts, one eyeball on the deadline. I’m writing a list of all the things I love about the story because I’ve been finding it hard going. Here’s a secret, the muse does not care that you have a contract or a deadline. It takes something more to get that flighty creature to show up for work. The list is my lure.

Why I love this story: I love the setting. It’s pure magic. I love the characters and the way everybody has a secret and an agenda. I love the romance. I love the crime angle. I love the smokin’ hot sex. I love the humor.

Now, come on, muse, let’s get to work. Or Cass is going to hit me with another rolled up comic book.

Edited to add: I thought I shoud explain this a little further or it could look on the surface like writers are Artistes who just sit around waiting for the muse to light on their shoulders. I’m more of the “hunt it down with a club” philosophy. I don’t believe in sitting around waiting for inspiration, but I do know from experience that it’s possible to lure and tempt the muse into showing up for work and that the work will go 20 times faster and better for the effort. Maybe more than 20 times. But you don’t lure the muse by sitting there idling.

Romance Reviews Today – two reviews!

Woke up to a great surprise; Romance Reviews Today has posted reviews for The Gripping Beast and Wolf In Cheap Clothing! Here are a couple of quotes (links to the complete review on RRT):

WOLF IN CHEAP CLOTHING is one torrid roller coaster ride and I enjoyed every minute of it. Coming in at less than forty pages, this story can be read in a short amount of time. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself going back over some of the hotter parts , so you might want to schedule a little extra time for that and a shower afterwards (Hey, I did say it was HOT!). WOLF IN CHEAP CLOTHING is action-packed and ferociously seductive. Charlene Teglia has written a tale of humor, danger, and steamy sex that is sure to please.” – Vicki Turner

THE GRIPPING BEAST is an enticing book that positively smolders. The sizzling passion in this tale will insinuate itself into your imagination and stay there long after you have put the book down. Charlene Teglia has crafted a time travel fantasy so fascinating that readers will be unwilling to stop until the last page has been read. The writing and dialogue are excellent and the story is interesting and fast-paced from start to finish…THE GRIPPING BEAST is time travel fantasy at its best. This tale is a page turner and I recommend it to readers who love this genre. Charlene Teglia is quickly working her way onto my automatic buy list. She’s truly a talented and promising author.” – Vicki Turner

Hurrah! In other news, Shiloh Walker’s latest Hunter tale is for sale at Samhain today, plus a story by Raine Weaver. Check them out!

Come again?

I’m flabbergasted to see the news that Connie Brockway has quit writing romance because she’s tired of writing sex. Er. I think her last book, which I have on my bedside table, ran about 400 pages and maybe 20 of those included sex, so, well, color me doubly surprised. Just seems to me that there’s plenty of story there besides sex. But I can understand wanting a change, whatever the reason.

There’s a nifty discussion at Sylvia’s blog about this and writing sex. Like most erotic romance writers, I like that part. It comes easily. If it didn’t, I’d probably be writing something else. But then, I’m an action junkie and as I’ve said here before, writing sex is writing an action sequence. In a romance, it’s a huge double whammy because in addition to the action which must be perfectly choreographed there’s the roller coaster of emotion going on. They are Big Scenes, where big things happen, characterization revelations happen, turning points happen, conflict deepens.

Anyway, all this thinking about sex in romance made me realize that in at least 3 recent projects I’ve taken a long pause (as in put the project away for a lengthy time period) before writing the first sex scene, because it is the first Big Scene. It’s huge and I think maybe I’m worrying too much about getting it right the first time. Putting too much pressure on it and myself. Performance anxiety, of a sort?

I wonder what would happen if I shuffled the order and wrote the Big Scene first and then wrote towards it next time around. I think maybe I’ll try that as an experiment. If nothing else, I’d know my characters a whole lot better when I wrote the beginning, something I always seem to struggle with. I do a lot of fixes to my early scenes because I’ve learned so much more about the people and events once I get further into the book. Hmmmm…must try this.

Can you see my eyes rolling?

I’ve run across a couple of things recently that I thought about commenting on, but refrained. Well, I rolled my eyes a lot, I couldn’t help that. There was the article about erotic romance, nudge nudge wink wink and how poorly they’re written (link via RWA enotes which I didn’t save). I could offer to send the author of that article my perfect score on the language portion of my college entrance exam…nah. I rolled my eyes instead.

Now HelenKay’s linked to another article about how bodice rippers and chick lit are destroying women’s literature. Can you see my eyes rolling?

So I’m done with my obligatory eye-roll and now I have a poorly written book to finish which, in spite of it’s terrible quality, will nevertheless lead to the destruction of literature and women’s minds, too. Really. Can these two viewpoints exist in the same universe without something imploding? Or maybe blasting open a new neural pathway and letting in a new thought? One can hope.