INTERVIEW: LYNN CRAIN

Long and Short Reviews is pleased to welcome Lynn Crain, whose newest release is "A Lover for Rachel"--a short story about a young woman, Stonehenge and a wizard—available from Shooting Star Books.

"I just love the log line on it: The magic of love comes to everyone, " she told me. "I couldn’t think of a thing and my cover artist had the story and when she sent me the cover, there it was. How special is that?"

She's currently working on about ten new projects, she told me, so wouldn't/know where to start is telling me about what's coming up.

Margaret Mitchell inspired her to write the summer she turned eleven. Her family was just about to move from Ohio to Nevada and Lynn started to keep notebooks of what she was writing. She was so inspired by Rhett and Ashley, Melanie and Scarlett, that she could hardly contain herself. She wanted to write the next Gone with the Wind.

"How do you develop your plot and characters?" I asked.

"Interesting question. Sometimes I don’t, they tell me how it’s going to be and I move along the line they have chosen for me. Sometimes I write down ten things I want to happen in a chapter, sort of a loose type of outline and go from there. Sometimes, I know the characters and not the plot, or know the plot and not the characters. By the time I have the first third of the book done, I have both down pretty well and will go back to clean up anything that doesn’t fit before I move on."

In May, Lynn and her husband moved to Vienna, Austria, for his job. They looked for a space they felt was "old Vienna" and found a wonderful flat next to Palaces Schwartenberg and Belvedere.

"I have the coolest writing space. My window looks out over the grounds of Schwartenberg and I can see the garrisons of Belvedere out it. I have a glass desk that I call the love desk as it is covered in the word love in a lot of different languages. My husband and my son picked it out for me. I have a supply cabinet, a printer cabinet and lots of boxes still as we’ve never got our bookshelves ordered yet," she said with a laugh.

She tries to keep her writing schedule aligned with her husband's work schedule—he leaves for work around 8 in the morning and comes home between 6 and 7.
"If he works at night, I work. If he wants to play, I play," she told me. "It just works out better that way."

There are times, however, she will go through periods where family and personal situations make it impossible or nearly impossible to write. She's never really suffered from writer's block, per se, but she did tell me, "I do suffer from actually NOT sitting my butt in the chair and getting done what I need to write. That to me is totally different than being blocked from my muse. I write something every day be it fiction or non-fiction. The key for me is to not stop writing. I have more ideas than I have time. I’m thinking about selling them!" She laughed.

I asked Lynn how she distinguished between pornography, erotica, and erotic romance.

"For me, erotic romance is like any other romance except the love scenes are hot and use all the words. There must be a HEA or a HFN ending. Erotica is sex for sex’s sake i.e. titillation. There is nothing beyond the sexual encounter or relationship. Pornography is the worst of sex in my book. Most of it is made by men for men and offer nothing in the way of redeeming value in many cases."

"What is your most interesting writing quirk?" I wondered.

"Well, I really only have one and it’s really not concerning the writing itself. I’m a lot like Joan Wilder in the beginning of Romancing the Stone. I have post-its everywhere with tidbits of information. Some of them actually make it to where they are supposed to but many don’t. Right now, I have seven under my keyboard sticking out and reminding me I need to deal with those items. I have sixteen around the edges of my monitor with various other things. If I’m really in a cleaning mood, I’ll start doing them and pulling them off. Many are just notes that need to be typed and go into the idea file but some are things that need to be done. I make post-its and lists for everything," she admitted with a smile.

When she's not writing, if she's in the States she loves spending time with her family and friends. Since they are in Austria, they travel and she spends a lot time with her Parsons Russell Terrier, Harry.

"We got him over here when we learned that we couldn’t bring my dog from the States," she told me. "I was a little lost and needed a companion for when the husband traveled. He’s an adorable little dog that has his own blog called, Call Me Snarky Boy."

Finally, I asked, "What research books do you recommend for authors starting out in writing erotica?"

"There are a lot of good ones but some of the better ones are out of print now. The Sex Bible by Susan Crain Bakos is really good as are all her books. No relation," she told me with a laugh. "Any book by Anne Hooper like The Ultimate Sex Book. The ones listed so far are illustrated books. Tickle His Pickle by Sadie Allison is a really fun book. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Kama Sutra. There are many versions out there. I have a copy of the original that has reproductions of the pictures. It’s really nice and probably cost a pretty penny...it was a gift from my husband. Look for a good tantric sex book as well. Also Sex, Self and Society by Tracey Steele and Real Sex for Real Women by Laura Berman go into the psychology of sex and more. Both are really interesting. Hit book sales and garage sales, looking for anything that might help in learning what is considered erotic and what isn’t. Even within broad definitions, things vary greatly. I’ve probably read more than 100 books about sex and I know I don’t know it all. I never will. Just pick a place and start."

About the Author:

Lynn Crain realized at an early age she wanted to write. She took the long way to being published by doing a variety of things like nursing, geologist, technical writer and computer manager all of which have added to her detail-oriented stories. Now she’s a full time storyteller and weaves fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales as well as erotic stories for various publishers. She normally lives in the very hot southwest with her husband, son, two dogs, three cats and she’s gotten rid of her snakes. Don’t ask. Other members of her clan live nearby and include a son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons as well as various long-time friends. She is a past national board member of the RWA; founding president of Las Vegas Romance Writers Chapter of RWA; has held the positions of president, vice-president, secretary and contest chair of EPIC. Her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband as he works for a UN affiliated organization. You can find her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com; www.twitter.com/oddlynn3). Still, the thing she loves most of all is hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.


www.LynnCrain.com

www.LynnCrain.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/oddlynn3

Rachel Hamilton comes to Stonehenge to celebrate her birthday on Summer Solstice, only to find herself trapped beneath the massive rhyolite bluestones with sexy wizard, Dewin Kingston, who convinces her that she is the key to their escape.

SHORT STORY: HOT, HARD, AND DANGEROUS

Hard, Hot and Dangerous
by
Elyzabeth M. VaLey



Her breath came out in a gasp as she crashed against the alley wall. He gathered her hands above her head and pressed his muscular body to hers. She shuddered at the sensation of his erection against her ass. She tried to turn in his arms but his hold on her was firm.



“You didn’t obey,” he growled. His breath tickled her ear flaming her arousal whilst his threatening tone made the pulse in her neck beat frantically.



“You know I never do,” she replied cheekily. She sensed his smile behind her back as one of his hands roamed to fondle her breasts harshly. She bit back the moan that climbed to the back of her throat. Involuntarily, her body pushed against his. She grinned at his loud intake of breath. She rolled her eyes, men. She moved against him again and his hold on her hands slackened. Without another thought, she acted.



Elbowing him in the stomach, she turned and kicked at his shin. Ducking, she avoided his grasp. She had barely taken two steps when his large hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She screamed and his calloused hand covered her open mouth. She bit him, hard. He chuckled.



“Do you have any idea how hard I’m gonna ride you?”



Her eyes widened at his bluntness and her pussy creamed in anticipation. She didn’t have time to react as he pushed her against the brick wall once more.



“Promise you won’t scream or I’ll just have to eat up that pretty tongue of yours,” he warned. He twisted her hands behind her back and the cold touch of metal caused the hairs at the back of her neck to stand. The clicking sound confirmed she was now handcuffed and at his total mercy.



Tying her up didn’t mean she would give in easily. When he began to remove his fingers from her lips, she screamed. He slapped his hand over her mouth again, feeding her desire.



“You always have to do things the difficult way, don’t you?”



He didn’t wait for her reply. Snaking his free hand under her black sweater, his hand slid up her stomach and to the swell of her breasts. She sucked in her breath, waiting. She wanted to move against him, to have him touch her, fondle her and suck her breasts until they were sore. Thick, agile fingers brushed against her left breast and the breath she had been holding broke free in the shape of a muffled moan.



“You like that, don’t you, baby?”



He grazed the pebbled nipple and she whimpered. Her breasts were heavy and full, her nipples stiff and aching for his touch. Thumb and forefinger tugged and pulled at the bud and she was grateful for his body pressed so tightly to hers or she would have crumbled to the ground. He twisted the rigid nipple and liquid rushed to her core. Unable to do anything else, she sunk her teeth into the soft flesh of his hand. As his caressing became more urgent, her bite turned into a sensual sucking, her mouth watering for the virile member pushing against her.



“You naughty kitten,” he growled. “You want me to fuck you, don’t you?”



She shook her head no but she wanted nothing more than to have his thick veiny shaft buried to the hilt inside her. His hand left her breasts, and his fingers tickled her skin as they wound their way to the top of her pants.



“Did you really think this would stop me from ravaging you?”



Ravage, plunder, pillage, fuck her. No, she knew it wouldn’t stop him, it would only difficult the task, the challenge.



He popped the button of her jeans and lowered the zipper. Before she could protest, her garments were bunched at her knees. Without preamble, he cupped her sex. Even if she had tried, she would have been unable to hide the loud moan of pleasure that burst through her lips. He buried his fingers inside her slick pussy.



“You say no, but your body is begging to be fucked.”



Heat threatened to consume her as he rubbed her pussy. Two fingers entered her and she began to tremble. Another finger stretched and filled her but it wasn’t enough. She swayed her hips back and forth, whimpering her need for him.



“Fuck baby, I’m gonna make you scream like never before.”



She wanted to scream at him and demand he fuck her already. Her heart pounded in her ears matching the throbbing ache between her legs. His fingers slipped out and she groaned, bereft of his caress. She heard him undo his belt and lower his pants. He pulled her sharply against him. His rigid member slipped between her thighs to rest at her dripping entrance, teasing. She bucked against him, moaning in desperation.



He chuckled, clearly amused at her need. Angered, she refused to play his game but when his swollen cock pressed against her tight opening she couldn’t stop herself from thrusting her hips towards him.



“If you could speak you’d be begging for me to take you right now,” his voice was a hoarse whisper and her heart warmed as she realized that his need was as great as hers.



Without warning, he raised her hips and guided himself into her warm cunny. She closed her eyes at the sheer pleasure. She longed to speak out her delight but his hand still covered her mouth. One hard thrust and he was buried deep inside her. She bit him.



“Fuck you’re tight, baby.” He kissed the back of her neck, and she groaned. She didn’t want him to be gentle. She wanted hard, hot and dangerous. Remembering himself and their game, he dropped his hand from her mouth and grabbed her hips so hard she was certain she’d be bruised the next day.



“What’s that? You want me to fuck you?”



He pulled back and slammed into her. Yes. His rhythm was frantic, his cock burying itself deep inside her in fevered possession. The friction he created was bordering on pain and yet the pleasure cursing through her wasn’t like anything she had ever felt before.



She whimpered like a dog in heat. Her breasts ached and her pussy wept without control. The alley was quiet except for the sound of flesh smacking flesh. She opened her eyes. She had forgotten where they were, everything had narrowed down to him claiming his pleasure; her pleasure. The thrill of knowing that anyone could discover them caused her breath to hitch. She heard the motor of a car in the distance. Her heart climbed to her throat. Yes. Her body tensed and with a keening cry she was coming, her world shattering as her lover finished pounding into her.



Their movements stilled. Dimitri hugged her to him and kissed the top of her head. She took in a shaky breath as his flaccid cock slipped out of her pussy. He took a step back and she shivered, suddenly aware of the cold night and her pose: ass in the air, pants around knees, arms tied behind her back and cum dripping out of her cunt.



Strong hands pulled up her trousers, loosened the cuffs and turned her around. Dimitri grinned at her. Roughly taking her hand he pulled her to him and kissed her passionately.



“I told you not to mess with me,” he chided softly, resting his forehead against hers.



She chuckled and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, bringing him closer, needing to feel his warmth and love after the mind-blowing sex. She glanced into her partner’s blue eyes, adoring the playful glint with which he watched her. “You think that was some sort of lesson?” She kissed him lightly. “Take me home, honey, and I’ll show you exactly what messing with me means.”



About the Author: Appearances are deceiving. By day usually shy and quiet; another face in the crowd. By night Elyzabeth’s calm demeanor transforms. Words flow from her fingers giving life to elaborate fantasies of love and desire. Visit her realm at www.inadreambeyond.blogspot.com.

INTERVIEW: ANNE BROOKE

Long and Short Reviews is pleased to welcome Anne Brooke, whose latest story, "The Heart's Greater Silence," is released today by Riptide Books. I asked her to share a little about this book.


"It’s a story about one man’s love for and obsession with two very different men. I wrote it as I’m fascinated with what people do when faced with a very difficult emotional choice and how their choices affect others. I’ve also always wanted to include aspects of my own faith in a story and this seemed like an ideal opportunity."

Mark isn't sure he believes in love, especially when he's torn between two very different men: his reliable boyfriend, Craig, and his illicit lover and priest, Richard. Mark knows what he should do, but he can't bring himself to give Richard up. The sex with Richard is unlike anything he's ever known with Craig, and he hungers for it as much as - if not more than - the truer intimacy he finds in his boyfriend's arms.

When Craig discovers his betrayal, Mark is forced to look at his life more closely, but the path to self-knowledge is never an easy one. Richard seeks the way back to God, but Mark finds no solace there. Can he ever discover the truth of his own soul, or is he too afraid of what he will - or won't - find inside his heart?

Anne has written eight novels—three GLBT thrillers, three fantasies, and two romantic comedies—plus numerous short stories in a variety of genres and poems. I asked her which was her favorite.

"I think my favorite is my gay thriller, A Dangerous Man, published last year by Cheyenne Publishing and Bristlecone Pine Press as a joint venture. It was the first book in which I really hit my stride in getting to grips with the dark and dangerous voice that lives in my head. Plus I was going through a really bad time when I wrote it, and Michael (my MC) was a major outlet for all that angst. So I’ll always have a soft spot for him."

I asked Anne how she distinguished between pornography, erotica, and erotic romance.


"I think pornography is a sexual scene that tells you only where the bits go and nothing about the characters involved. Erotica tells you about the characters but there’s no emotional relationship, or possibility of one, between them. Erotic romance, on the other hand, tells you about the characters and also the emotional connection they have together. I like to think I write erotica and erotic romance, but I’m no good with pornography – I get too involved with who the characters are, maybe!"


Characters come first with Anne when she's writing.


"I think when your characters are strong enough, then the actions they take or decisions they make because of who they are is the plot. Much like in real life, what and who we are drives us, and the same should be true in fiction," she explained. "I’ve often created a character, thought I knew where they were going, but then they had other ideas and ended up somewhere quite different. Part of the fun of being a writer is to trust your instinct when it comes to character and go with what you think they might be saying to you. If it doesn’t work for any reason, you can always rewrite!"


It's also the characters who draw her to a particular author. A few who she thinks write excellent erotic fiction include Alex Beecroft, Clare London, and Finn Marlowe.


"All three of them write marvelous characters whose stories really grab the reader," she told me, "which is what good fiction is all about."


Her favorite erotic author, however, is Josh Lanyon.


"He is very good indeed, though I do have a wide variety of gay erotic authors I regularly read. There’s something about the way he intimately connects sex, vulnerability and personality which makes any story he writes truly sing. Also he knows how to use dramatic tension and the small subtleties of character to make for a page-turning read, every time. I can’t help but admire that."


"What is your favorite erotic book and why?" I asked.


"This is a tricky one. There are so many I’ve enjoyed. Actually, to take a wildcard book, I really loved Maria McCann’s historical erotic romance, As Meat Loves Salt. The portrait of its dark and brooding hero and the relationship he has with his lover during the English Civil War is never less than gripping and oh so beautifully described. When I think about it, this book was the catalyst to writing my own gay erotic fiction, so I have much to thank it for. Without McCann’s story, gay modern thriller A Dangerous Man would never even have been started."


Anne is currently working on a gay fantasy novella, The Taming of the Hawk. It's got something of a life of its own, she told me, so she's not sure how it will turn out. She's also writing the fourth in her erotic m/m/m Delaneys series for Amber Allure Press and considering if she should write a sequel to gay BDSM story For One Night Only.


Anne was born in Dedham, Essex in the UK on an apple farm.


"It’s a beautiful part of the world, and widely known as Constable Country (as the artist painted a great deal of his works there). In fact in one of his paintings (sadly I forget which one, darn it!) you can actually see a distant image of our farmhouse, which was medieval in origin, over the Dedham Vale," she said. "Looking back, I think I had quite an idyllic childhood, though you never know it at the time of course. I spent a lot of my growing up years playing in the fields and running around in the orchards, so yes I am one of those increasingly rare people who know the proper way to pick an apple. Not much call for that skill nowadays, I fear! Mind you, the one thing I did hate about living on an apple farm was the huge number of really enormous spiders there were – like saucers, honest! I definitely don’t miss them."


"What is the most embarrassing thing your mother ever did to you?" I wondered.


"Ah, now here I could make a HUGE list (bless her!) but I think the most embarrassing thing – and it went on for a LONG TIME – was when in my early twenties, she’d always ask me how my bowels were, no matter who else was in the room," she admitted. "Yes, I was a … um … delicate child, but I didn’t necessarily want other people to know it, especially if I was trying to impress them! And I’d grown out of it by then – honest … Still, as I’ve admitted it here, then I suppose it’s not a secret any longer, is it. Whoops!"


If Anne were stranded on a desert island and only allowed to have five modern conveniences, I asked her what she would take.


"Ooh, love this question! I’d take a working toilet. Well, I was, literally, born in one (my mother will kill me that I’ve told you that …) and they say your first experience in life is the one that stays with you. Plus I’d have to be wary in case those bowel problems ever came back … Hmm, say no more," she said. "I’d also make sure I had a computer connected to the Internet – that way I could carry on writing and keeping up with what’s going on in the big wide world. My next item is definitely a dishwasher – we got one for the first time ever last year and, I tell you, that thing is seriously my friend. I love it! I even love unloading it – ah, the warmth, the joy of it all – which everyone says I shouldn’t. I swear it saves me a load of time. My fourth convenience would be my Kindle. I wouldn’t be without it and just think of all that reading I could catch up with on the island. My TBR pile would surely then be a manageable size. We live in hope, eh! Finally – if I can’t have my husband who probably doesn’t come under the label of 'modern convenience' – then it would have to be a cappuccino machine. I can’t exist without coffee, and if it’s frothy then it’s the nearest thing to heaven. Plus I’ve never had a cappuccino machine, and I’d love to (hint to husband, here …) especially if I’ve been stranded, as surely then I deserve some pampering on the caffeine front."


"What makes you happy?" I wondered.


"Having an evening at home when it’s just my husband and me. That I love. Yes, it’s great to see friends and I’m very fond of them, but I do love my own company, and my husband’s the same. We kind of count being together as being alone, which is possibly quite strange. Or cute. But probably just strange."


Other things she loves include an evening of good TV—"nothing better than slumping on the sofa in front of the box and staying there all evening, bliss."


She continued, "I also have a really deep relationship with the cake counter at our local John Lewis store, and it makes me so happy in fact that when I die I would like my ashes scattered over their home-made passion cake, the eating of which has lifted me to the heights of Nirvana. Which isn’t half bad for a dyed-in-the-wool Anglican girl. Well, I’m all for the ecumenical movement. Speaking of which, similar levels of happiness have always been achieved in the crypt café in Exeter Cathedral, who offer the best cream teas in the whole of England, no contest. Mmmm …"




About the Author: Anne Brooke’s fiction has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Novel Award, the Royal Literary Fund Awards and the Asham Award for Women Writers. She has also twice been the winner of the national DSJT Charitable Trust Open Poetry Competition. She is the author of six published novels, her latest being the first of her fantasy trilogy, The Gifting, published by Bluewood Publishing. In addition, her gay and literary short stories are regularly published by Amber Allure Press and Untreed Reads respectively. Anne is very excited about being part of the Second Wave of authors at Riptide Publishing and is still performing her happy dance, much to the neighbours’ dismay. She has a secret passion for theatre and chocolate, preferably at the same time, and is currently working on a gay fantasy novella, The Taming of the Hawk. More information can be found at www.AnneBrooke.com.

You can find the author online at:

http://annebrooke.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/annebrooke

https://twitter.com/#!/AnneBrooke

INTERVIEW: NAOMI BELLINA

Long and Short Reviews is pleased to welcome Naomi Bellina, whose latest book Seducing the Stone is now available. It's a fun story about a fairy, a human, and assorted other creatures. Raya, the fairy, wants a powerful sapphire to take back to her planet and Max needs to keep it on Earth for a private showing. The two have adventures and romance, and there is a surprise ending that Naomi thinks readers will really enjoy. It's a blend of sci-fi, fantasy, action/adventure, and urban fantasy.


Naomi spent most of her growing-up years in St. Louis, Missouri and told me, "I love the fall, the hills, the colors of the trees, the smell of the woods and fires burning. I love hiking trails under tall trees, looking over the river, breathing the fresh air. Awww, now I'm getting all homesick. Oh wait, it's winter. No, I love living in Florida in winter."



She told me that she loves coming up with an exciting plot. Soon after the story starts whirling around in her head, the perfect characters pop up and introduce themselves.



"How do you come up with the titles to your books?" I wondered.



"Lots of whiskey and late nights. No, I'm kidding! That's something else I love to think up, the titles. I keep running words that I want to use over in my mind until something leaps out. I'll even start with A and run through Z on a word I really want to use to make it work. Then, at about 2:00 AM…"



Naomi told me that one of her favorite authors is Janet Evanovich.




"I love her mix of action, romance and humor," she explained. "I try to write with her style of pacing because I think that's so fun to read. She makes it look easy. It's not!"



It's this mix that sets Naomi's work apart from other erotic romance authors. It's her goal for her characters to not only have an adventure, but have fun as well.



"This doesn't mean things don't get dark and scary now and then, but in general, my books are exciting, fun and action-packed," she said.



"What is your work schedule like when you are writing?" I wondered.



"It's very odd. I work my day job by appointment and have same-day and last minute calls as well as cancellations, so I'm never quite sure what my schedule will be. I keep my laptop in my car and make sure to keep the files I'm working on saved on a flash drive so I can use whatever spare time I have to scribble away."



I asked her what she liked to do when she wasn't writing and she said, "Sleep! No kidding, I love to sleep. One of the funniest things I read recently said 'Damn right I'm good in bed; I could sleep all day.' That's me! When I'm terribly wealthy, I'm going to see just how much I can actually sleep before I get bored with it."



"Have you ever eaten a crayon?" I asked.



"Rats, who told? Oh come on, who can resist those beautiful colors, the tantalizing names, the delicious aroma of wax?"



Naomi told me that she doesn’t watch much regular TV, just Netflix and movies. She did start watching Once Upon a Time and was amazed at how frequent and long the commercial breaks were.



"Not to mention booorrrring," she said. "Most of them. There are a few cute, creative commercials. I'm enjoying Being Human on Netflix, but have to wait until my honey notds off because he doesn't like that series."



"What's your favorite meal?" I wondered.



"Believe it or not, I love vegetables. Give me a really good salad bar and I'm in heaven. My honey's mother likes an expensive restaurant, and I think the food is overpriced and underwhelming, so I get the salad bar. Man, is it good! They have caviar, anchovies, and a really fresh, diverse selection of veggies. I could eat that several days a week."



In high school, Naomi was really quiet and only had a few friends. She joined the track team for awhile, but for the most part she hung out with herself.



"I think that's why I like to read so much!" she said. "I've never been a pack animal which works well for me now, since I don't mind going to events by myself. It's nice to have my honey or a girlfriend along, but if I want to do something, I just do it and don't wait for anyone."



She belongs to several groups that work on preventing animal cruelty. It's one issue that really gets her blood boiling.



"There's just no reason to ever, ever hurt an animal," she told me.



"What would we find under your bed?" I asked.



"Dust bunnies. No, by now they are dust werebunnies! Gigantic things. When my cat comes out from under the bed I have to dust him off, poor guy. I actually have a few of those nifty under bed storage boxes. They work great! We don't have basements here, so I have to use every nook and cranny for storage."



Finally, I asked, "What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?"



"Get all set up in advance, so when your book comes out, you're ready to go. Get a website, an email, a blog, and set up ways to track what you've sent. Get organized. Do a lot of research on how to promote books, because you will be doing a lot of that!"




About the Author: Naomi lives in beautiful sunny Florida with the love of her life and a magical black cat. She writes for various fiction and non-fiction markets, but finds she is drawn to erotic romance because her characters insist on canoodling, and sometimes even falling madly in love. So she lets them. Occasionally, however, they go to dark and strange places. She lets them do this also. Most of her stories will surprise readers with unexpected twists and turns, because isn't that what makes life exciting?




Her interests include dancing, hula-hooping, drumming, and creating healthy meals. She takes the opportunity to play, have fun, and indulge in the pursuit of passion whenever possible. She hopes you enjoy her stories and would love to hear from you at naomibellina(at)live(dot)com. Visit her website at www.NaomiBellina.com

INTERVIEW: BOBBI BRATTZ

Long and Short Reviews is pleased to welcome Bobbi Brattz whose latest book Costa Rican Heat was released in October.


Bobbi's from southern Ontario, Canada, and she says about her home, "Living in the country surrounded by forest makes my writing flow well. The town near where we live is small enough that if we have more than three cars at a four-way stop, it's considered a traffic jam. I love the seclusion."


Bobbi Brattz is actually her pen name—Bobbi from her middle name Roberta. Her last name, Brattz, she said, "Comes from just being a Brat."


I asked Bobbi what she considered the difference between erotic romance, erotica, and pornography.


"Chemistry is what counts!" she explained. "Porn is plain sex with no emotional involvement. Erotica has to do with kinky sex toys and the Kama Sutra, yet still no emotional involvement. Erotic romance is a love between two or more people where there are no holds barred in the bedroom or any location where sex occurs (my favorite scene is in the kitchen on the island with delectable dessert foods including whipped cream! Yummm.) Chemistry, emotions and a willing to please each other on an even basis is important as well. It's no one-night-stand where you never see each other again but a future of love and joy."


I asked her to tell us about Costa Rican Heat.

"Costa Rican Heat was a ball of fun to write. Heroine Jada McKenzie meets her internet pal for the first time, is swept off her feet, and whisked away to Costa Rica, she has no idea she will be the dessert on the menu for two men. Her greatest experience with sex is from watching adult videos.


"Tait Bennett and Constable Mike Turner surprise Jada when they arrive at Tait's home in the hills and soon show her what amazing sex in a menage a trois is all about. It takes a while to convince her because she does her best to escape them pulling all kinds of antics to get away.


"When she falls for them both, she must decide if she wants to stay with them forever more or go back to her humdrum life in Toronto."


Bobbi has another book that Siren Bookstrand has picked up which will release later this year: Hawaiian Triple Heat, part of the Dr. Love Shark series.


"It's volcanic, it's so hot!" she assured me. "Stranded in Hawaii, Rae Hooper finds more excitement that she expects when the infamous Doctor Love Shark helps her out. After suffering for years in a bad marriage, she becomes a sex therapy model in a menage a trois with the doctor and his best friend and her entire life turns upside down.


"Rae must decide if she will forgive and forget being lied to and stay with, or live as a recluse after her sexual encounter goes viral!"


The second book in the series she's planned is called The second one I have planned is called 'The Kegelmeister'.


"Just wait until you get to read about the naughtiness between three reporters at Dr. Love Shark's resort when they try to unearth his sex secrets," she said.


When Bobbi gets an idea for a plot, such as in Costa Rican Heat, she writes out the basics, such as woman bored with her life meets her internet man on a date and is swept away to a tropical island where she finds she's the dessert and two men are the main meal in a ménage a trios. Once that's set, she creates her characters by completing character lists including who they are, what they look like, what their careers are, their biggest challenges, and who the people in their lives are.


"I spend a lot of time doing this so that the characters are in my mind when I bring them to life and tug at your heart strings," she explained. "Everyone loves a bad boy alpha male and a determined alpha female batting heads. The second male is the peacekeeper who usually has a wacky sense of humor to lighten the plot and give you a chuckle."


When Bobbi hits a snag and suffers from writer's block, she takes a step back and work on another WIP (work in progress). She has several of them running around in her head and admits she either has to write them down or lose sleep over them.


"When I do get insomnia, I find that's the best time to write. My mind is clear, there are no distractions, and the peace of the night helps me to focus on the story," she said. "Another trick to overcoming writer's block is to start reading the story from the beginning and edit. This helps to make sure the plot is in order, the characters are showing the correct traits to make them fascinating, and also a great tool to find the tiny errors we tend to make such as spelling and grammar."


Not surprisingly, a good sturdy plot is number one on her list of important details of good writing, she said, with "lots of twists and turns where the heroine or hero have to make near impossible choices, a devious villain or problem to overcome, and lots of yummy nooky-nooky. In the end, the characters should be happy, satiated, and ready for more..."


I asked Bobbi to describe her writing space.



"Have laptop, will travel! I write whenever the urge strikes. My characters take on a life of their own in my mind whether I'm at the doctor's office, sitting at home, sleeping, or anywhere else, believe it or not. If I don't have access to my laptop, I write in point form on my ever-present notepad. Thankfully, no one can read my mind!" she said with a laugh.


"What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?" I asked.


"I tend to laugh out loud when I have a funny scene going or even cry during the sad parts. My moods are attached to the characters. When I start squirming in my chair, I know for a fact that the scene is perfectly delicious!"


Finally, I asked, "What is your most embarrassing moment?"


"I lived with my roommate when I was eighteen years old. When I got back from my date at a local bar, I jumped in the shower thinking no one was home. The apartment was completely dark and quiet so I opened the bathroom door with all my jewels visible and froze in place when I heard a male voice chuckle and say, 'Hello kitty.' I had to stay in the bathroom for a long time before I got the courage to lift my chin and walk to my room as though no one was there. It was a brave thing to do as I was rather shy back then."


Find the Bobbi online at:

www.Facebook.com/BobbiBrattz

www.BobbiBrattz.com

INTERVIEW: KOKO BROWN

Long and Short Reviews is pleased to welcome Koko Brown. She has recently published her first self-published title, Player's Ultimatum, this past Thankgsiving. It's landed on All Romance eBooks Top Ten Bestseller List and also made Amazon's Top 100 Kindle List for both erotica and multicultural.

"I’m pretty shocked at the book’s performance since it was initially written four years ago for one of Harlequin’s novel contests," she admitted. "Of course it was way too hot for them, since I really didn’t change any of the love scenes. I also didn’t change the plot which revolves around a woman posing as her gay best friend’s fiancé until he can ink a lucrative football contract with a professional soccer team in Italy."

She is also working on three contracted manuscripts for Ellora's Cave and one for Loose-Id, all sequels to the paranormal romances, Charmed and Forever, I Do, she has published with each publisher.

Koko started writing in 2002, but then took a four year hiatus after the death of her mother.

"I just didn’t feel inspired to write," she explained. "However, I found myself in a new home and town and of course bored out of my mind. So, I picked up my first erotic romance, fell in love with the genre, decided to pen my own and the rest is history."

Koko doesn't have an actual work schedule for her writing, since she still works full-time and doesn't see herself leaving her day job because she loves it.

"I work in tourism so I travel for free all the time and it’s a pretty easy gig so I’m not going anywhere. Therefore, my writing is worked around my day job and my other interests. However, I do have a daily writing goal of 1k words minimum a day."

Because she likes to travel, she tends to visit the cities/countries where her books are based.

"I started this trend when I penned my first and still unpublished novel, Heart of Harlem. I’d been there often as a child, but I made a special trip just to research the area and discover nuances I’d never paid attention to in the past. And it really helped. In my opinion there’s just so much Wikipedia, Map Quest or a Convention and Bureaus website can do for you."

" What are the biggest public misconceptions about erotic romance?" I asked her.

"I think the biggest misconception is that erotic romance doesn’t have any romance or a plot. I would like to think that my books feature a good dose of both. My sex scenes are never integral to the storyline, they only enhance it. And if you were to take them out I think that the story would still be enjoyable."

Kate Hill and Jet Mykles are on her list of favorite erotic authors for the same reason; their sex scenes are hot, but they are secondary to the storyline.

"They both have this great ability to transport the reader to other places," she told me.

One of the most important parts of good writing, for Koko, is good character development.

"If your readers can’t connect with your characters, they’ll either put your book down or forget your book as soon as they're finished," she explained. "Great characters can live on in readers forever and they’ll return to the book time and time again."

When she's writing her own books, an idea is usually sparked first, then she sits down and figures out the plot first, then the characters.

"The plot comes to me fairly easily. I can plot a book from beginning to end in about ten or twenty minutes," she confessed. "If I’m stuck sometimes I will call a critique partner or a fellow author and we’ll have a brainstorm session. Of course, I already have a pretty good idea what I’m going to go with already; I just like to hear other people’s opinion of my plot before I get my elbows dirty. Even though coming up with a plot isn’t that hard for me, does it mean the plot will stay that way during the writing process? Never. I’m a plotter at the beginning of all of my stories, and then I switch gears and become a punster and allow my characters to take over."

"What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing your books?" I asked. "How many have you written and which is your favorite?"

"The most surprising thing about writing a book is that I finish them," she said. "I have so much going, it's just a task to sit down to write. I’ve written only nine full manuscripts with eight of them actually seeing the light of day. My favorite book would have to be my first novel, Charmed. It’s a vampire romance I wrote in two weeks, while on leave from my former job as a high school American Literature teacher. Player’s Ultimatum is a close second because the hero, Japanese Brazilian soccer player, Paulo Saito, is so arrogant, but devilishly sexy. If you read my reader reviews on Amazon, you’ll see most of them have his name in the title."

On a more personal note, Koko shared with me that as an adult she's not had any embarrassing moment and is very comfortable in her own skin.

"For example, I recently posed for a cover shoot for Ellora’s Cave. Even though there were quite a few people in the room and the male models were deliciously nude and I’m in a state of undress, it felt like another day at the office."

Finally, I asked Koko, "What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?"

" I think the best advice would be from Debbie Macomber. She said that in order to get everything we need to get done in life we should set goals and not just long term ones but daily goals as well. I’ve applied this to my writing and I’ve accomplished quite a bit ever since. The worst advice I’d ever received was from the judge of a writing contest I’d entered for a young adult interracial romance I’d penned. Of course, I disregarded everything she said because she wasn’t my market considering one of her comments came off as racist."

Find the author online at www.KokoBrown.net, www.facebook.com/authorkokobrown, or www.kokobrown.spreadshirt.com, a t-shirt shop inspired by her novel Nerds Are Freaks Too)

INTERVIEW: CARLA ANGELA

Long and Short Reviews is pleased to welcome Carla Angela, whose debut novel Full Exposure is out from Siren-Bookstrand. I asked her to tell us a little bit about her book.

Full Exposure surrounds photographer Lake Silva and her new business venture—taking professional online dating photos. Slick, appealing, and sizzling hot...with Lake behind the camera lens! What Lake doesn’t count on is meeting one male client who stirs up more than just business sense in her.

Carla has wanted to write novels since she was five, but it wasn't considered a typical career path at her school.


"So even though I was whipping out 100-handwritten-page novels as a teen, I never sent them anywhere, and instead went down the more predictable route in writing as a print journalist," she said. "One day though, I hope to bid adieu to the journalism work forever and just focus solely on fiction. That’s the dream!"


Carla didn't start out to write erotic romance, but she's always liked romance and glamour, so it just made sense to her and was a natural progression.


"I’m in a romance writers group and an older woman was talking about how they used to write erotic fiction for fun in their youth, and I thought, ‘Why not give it a go? It’s been around since time began.’ I haven’t looked back since!" she explained.


She also has a chick-lit manuscript. I asked her about the differences.


"I guess the difference with chick-lit and romance is that there are the relationships with other characters in chick-lit that need to be considered, such as, the protagonist’s siblings, parents, friends and colleagues," she said. "Erotic romance is much simpler in that it’s all about the hero and heroine, or two heroes and heroine if it’s a ménage a trois! Erotic romance distils things down to the scenes most people are actually flying through the pages to actually get to."


"What are the biggest public misconceptions about erotica?" I asked her.


"That it’s just porn. Unlike porn though, which often doesn’t require much of a plot (or a good musical backdrop for that matter), characters in erotic fiction must have depth, must grow and must have a real connection with the object of their affection – beyond just sex."


Carla always carries a little notebook with her in her purse, and everyday things will make her pull it out to make notes: from overheard conversations on a bus to an interview she reads in a magazine. Anything can serve as inspiration to her.


"Watch out if you’re a family member or friend of mine as chances are your life events may in some way inspire what happens between my pages!" she warned. "I also love researching subjects online and physically going to places if I can, such as a beekeeper’s place if I’m writing about bees! If I’m writing about exotic locales, it’s always fun to have travelled to them too, of course."


"What does your family think of your writing?" I asked. "Do they read it?"


"My family are used to my crazy creativity! However, I won’t be showing my parents my erotic fiction anytime soon – or my siblings. It’s like an actor having their folks sit in with them at a movie screening during a sex scene. There are just some lines you don’t want to cross with your family. My tamer stuff though, sure."


She told me that the most embarrassing sex scene she's ever written was probably her first one.


"It takes a while to get your head around where all the particular body parts go and what to call them too, so they still sound sexy," she explained. "First one over though, you get over yourself and you’re on your way!"


If she could entertain a character from a book, she wouldn't mind hanging out with Hunter Dex from Full Exposure.


"He has ocean-blue eyes, a tanned, muscular body, plenty of cheek, and a fat wallet to boot. I can imagine things getting pretty saucy at his palatial pad," she said, adding, "Just don’t tell my husband!"


"If you could be anyone you wanted, who would it be?" I wondered.


"A famous novelist, like Sophie Kinsella, because then all I’d have to worry about career-wise is writing books – and I’d even have sold movie rights on a tome. Living the dream!"


On a personal note, if Carla had to pierce a body part, she would choose her bellybutton, even though she has, as she put it, "one of those squeamish bellybuttons that feels funny if you touch it." She still thinks it would look sexy—especially if it were a silver butterfly pendant against tanned skin.


Her favorite foods run to the salty side, because instead of a sweet tooth, Angela has a savory tooth. Some of her favourites are antipasto-type fare, like salami and olives, and she puts lots of lemon and chili on everything. For things a little more healthy, she chooses avocado and mango.


On the other hand, she can't eat any cut of meat that's not the norm, such as kidneys, brains, tongues, and tripe.


"I wouldn’t want to go on Survivor and be dared to eat such stuff," she admitted. "I can guarantee I’d puke."


"What is your most embarrassing moment?" I asked her.


"A bad hairstyle choice in the 90s when I did Princess Leia-style hair buns and added real flowers at school. It didn’t go down so well with my class mates and there was much jeering. I’ve had a much safer ‘do since!"


Finally, I asked Carla, "If you could give a new writer one piece of advice, what would it be?"


"It’s an oldie, but a goodie – keep writing and reading. Expand what you read by joining a book club. Read outside your genre and try new authors as it will make you a better-rounded writer. And write, write, write! Don’t wait for the muse to strike ‘cause it never will – just turn up at the page, even if the laundry pile is growing and the carpets need vacuuming. There will always be some excuse. Personally, I’ve found your first book won’t likely be The One (though some authors, of course, have had overnight success). Many say you can often strike it lucky by about the third manuscript in getting it published. I really believe you need to hone your writing skills and get better at polishing your manuscript within an inch of its life, before you put your material out there to the world. After all, your earlier work may come back to bite you later on – and have you cringing!"


About the Author:

By day, Carla Angela is a freelance journalist in Australia and, in the inky night, an erotic fiction writer. When she’s not tapping away on her keyboard, she loves shopping, socialising, renovating, and listening to music—from 90s R&B to retro 80s. Watching telemovies and obsessing over her star sign are also guilty pleasures. More on Carla Angela can be found at http://www.bookstrand.com/carla-angela or www.CarlaAngela.com. She writes exclusively for Siren-BookStrand. Full Exposure is her first tome.