Krystal Shannan Spotlights - Sonia Hightower - Sinful Urges

Relaunch Party!!! Sinful Urges by Sonia Hightower

Follow the confessions of Juan and Maria as they fall prey to lust at first sight. Can they stop themselves before it's too late, or will they become victims of their own sinful urges?

A new neighbor sends Juan running to confession to rid himself of the lustful thoughts he experiences. Each confession becomes more erotic, more sinful than the last. Can Juan stop himself, or will he give in to the desire that threatens his very faith?

The man across the street causes Maria to question her own morals. When she seeks out a priest for confession, she weaves a tale of exotic kisses and stolen moments. How can Maria find sanctuary in her prayers when her body demands she finds solace in her neighbor's arms?

Warning: NOT a romance. May contain steamy, first person narrative that makes one uncomfortable, content that will raise your eyebrows, and a tragic ending.

Excerpt:

"I sauntered outside, tossing my black mane, relishing in the feel of the setting sun brandishing my skin, wishing I could replace it with hot hands. I grabbed the hose from where it was connected in front of the house and, watching from the corner of my eye, I began running water over my car. Not even five minutes passed and I felt his eyes on me. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to turn and meet his stare.

"It only took ten minutes for him to come outside under the pretense of playing catch with his little boy. By this point, I was soaked and knew my nipples were visible through my top. The smack of a ball repeatedly hitting a glove was the only background noise I heard as I grabbed a sponge from the soap bucket and scrubbed the roof of my car. I allowed my shorts to climb higher up my buttocks as my hips swayed with my scrubbing movement. I had a very dirty roof. It required me to reach further and further and my breasts squashed against the car windows. I felt my nipples harden under the cold water, but the rest of me, the lower part of me was burning up.

"Still, I refused to turn, refused to allow Juan to see my front.

"Thump went the ball into a glove.

"I maneuvered around my vehicle at a crawling pace, keeping my back to street. I bent over my trunk, reaching for a spot I had missed in the first scrubbing, the sponge clutched so tightly in my hand that it ached, much like the rest of my body.

"Thump went the ball into a glove.

"I finished with that spot and finally turned around, allowing my wet hair to swish and slap my cheek as I braced myself against the trunk, pretending to need my balance on the wet driveway. My eyes were closed, and I tilted my head back to catch the last of the sun's rays on my face, the front end of me dripping wet. The inside of my shorts were even wetter.

"Crash went the ball into a car window.

"I smiled as I realized I had obtained my goal. Juan was mine...

Sonia Hightower is a pen name for Tara Chevrestt, a deaf woman, former aviation mechanic, writer, and an editor. She is most passionate about planes, motorcycles, dogs, and above all, reading. That led to her love of writing. Between her writing and her editing, which allows her to be home with her little canine kids, she believes she has the greatest job in the world. She is very happily married.

Sonia writes the racy stuff and argues that she was here first. She just wasn't allowed to be unleashed until the last year.

While Tara and Sonia continue to fight over the laptop and debate who writes the next book, you can find buy links, blurbs, and other fun bits on their website: http://tarachevrestt.weebly.com/index.html or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Chevrestt-Sonia-Hightower/218383211513877.

Variety is the Spice of Life.... Scene and Structure #10

Halfway through the first week of school! It's going really smoothly so far and I'm looking forward to a great year with the kids. In case you didn't know, I moonlight as an elementary music teacher during the day, LOL. Teacher by day, writer by night! I'm trying to focus on patriotic songs this year. It amazed me how many kiddos can't sing the Star Spangled Banner or don't even know what it is...Yikes! So that's what this first month will drill into those precious impressionable minds.

Last week I talked about pacing your scenes and sequels. What's funny is that at my DARA RWA meeting last saturday, the speaker talked about Scene/Sequel/Pacing. LOL, maybe something was trying to give a hint.

This week Jack Bickham goes a little deeper into Scene/Sequel and discusses the variations you can take so that your writing doesn't always plod along the familiar beaten overused path.....

"Classic structure of a scene is goal ... conflict ... disaster in that order, and classic structure of a sequel is emotion ... thought ... decision ... action, also in that order."

 He makes a point of assuring his readers that a perfectly good novel can progress in classic form of scene #1 - sequel #1 - scene #2 - sequel #2 and so on and so forth. Once you have your basic plot points and everything laid out ... here are five variations in scene structure.

1) You can start your presentation somewhere other than at the classic and logical entering point, which is statement of goal
2) You can end somewhere short of a fully pronounced disaster.
3) You can interrupt the scene virtually anywhere by having other action intervene.
4) You can interrupt the conflict component by having the viewpoint character's internalization in response to a stimulus develop into "a sequel in the middle of things".
5) You can present the goal-conflict-disaster segments out of the natural order

Here are his five variations in sequel structure:
1) You can skip one or more parts, or portray a segment in only a word or two.
2) You can amplify any given portion out of all proportion to the others
3)You can mix up the normal presentation order of the component segments - i.e. emotion, thought, decision, action - if there is reason to do so.
4) You can interrupt a sequel with the unexpected onset of a new scene.
5) You can insert one or more remembered scenes within the though component (like a flashback).

Pretty much I'm learning that if I plan out my scenes and sequels I can rotate them around to do anything I want with them. But if I chose to write in the standard scene/sequel tradition that's ok too. It's just a little more predictable. He also mentioned that for newer writers it was often helpful not to change up too much structure and let yourself get really good at your craft. So the lesson this week is - There are fathomless ways to "mix" up your scenes and sequels, BUT! don't do it unless it feel natural to the story and you feel comfortable shaking up the structure.

So there's my two cents in a nutshell. More coming next week. Happy Hump Day!

Happy Reading

Happy Writing

Krystal Shannan

Scene and Structure #7 - 12 Tips to Writing a Great Scene

I promised I'd share Jack Bickham's 12 tips on planning a scene this week, so here they are.

1. Make sure that the state scene goal is clearly relevant to the story question. Don't assume it's obvious to the reader. Spell it out.
2. Show clearly that the viewpoint character considers the oncoming scene as vitally important. Have him/her say so, or think so, or both! Never allow a lead character to enter a scene with a lackadaisical attitude.
3. Make sure you have provided enough background for the opposition character --or have him state enough motivation at the outset. 
4. Make sure your opposing character clearly states his opposition early in the scene, and never lets up.
5. Mentally devise a moving game plan for both the lead character and the antagonist so that even if you don't tell the reader what either is thinking, you know what both are thinking. 
6. In searching for your scene-ending-disaster, don't always grab the first idea that comes to your mind. Your reader will be guessing along with you, and you don't want him to outguess you. You always want to keep the reader guessing!
7. Don't be afraid to have your antagonist try to get the lead character "off the point" of argument as one of his opposing tactics. Just make sure the lead character always finds his way back.
8. Don't hesitate to use dialogue at cross-purpose once in a while as a scene-building device. Such dialogue can be defined as story conversation in which the conflict is not overt, but where the antagonist either doesn't understand what's really at issue, or is purposely non-responsive. However! Avoid characters lecturing each other.
9. Remember, in building conflict in the scene and in devising your disaster, that people are not always entirely rational, especially in stressful situations. Your story people --even in the toughest scenes --are not wholly logical robots, LOL.
10. Plan and write the scene for all you can get out of it. Revise if its impact suddenly seems to great for what your plot calls for next, and cut it only if you reread it later and sense that it may get dull in spots.
11. Always be alert for ways to raise the stakes in a scene, as long as you don't turn it into Armageddon!
12. Never let your characters relax or feel comfortable when disaster is right around the corner.

Next week we will begin considering how to CONNECT scenes and how better to motivate them. Hope you enjoyed this week. See you next Wednesday.

Happy Writing

Happy Reading

Krystal Shannan

Fabulous Author Friday ~ Honey Jans

Please help me welcome our guest author today, Honey Jans.

Without further ado.......

Honey, please tell us a little about yourself.  

I’m just a small town girl from Wisconsin.  I love to read and I really love to write.  I hope that my tales of erotic romance with humor and heart touch my readers.  I think I was born with a vivid imagination and I just love to share.

Did you always want to be an author? 

No as a matter of fact when I was a child I wanted to be a nurse.  I had a chronic illness when I was young and spent a lot of time at my doctors.  His nurse was really great and I wanted to be just like her.  A few years later I wanted to be an artist like my mother.  You’d never find me without sketch paper and a sharpened pencil.  At the time I had no idea that I’d become an author and would have laughed at you if you’d suggested it.

What is your favorite part of being a writer/author?  

My favorite part of being a writer is creating my characters.  Of course I fall a little bit in love with the hero’s.  Who wouldn’t :-)  What I love about being an author is hearing from and meeting my readers.  The first time a reader approached me at a book signing to tell me she loved my books I was so flustered but it also really touched my heart.  It’s still the same to this day.

Tell us a little about your book.  

It’s a torrid twisted tale for Whiskey Creek Press.

GOLDIE AND THE THREE BEARS

When Goldie Lockwood, a half breed Were-Bear with no powers, runs away from her clan the last thing she expects to run into is the trio of Were-Bear studs of her erotic dreams. It’s mating season and she isn’t even in the running, being a dud DNA-wise. But when they touch her she can’t resist making them her harem. Just who seduces who in this twisted tale? And will Goldilocks find the Were-Bear mate that’s just right?

When did you start writing and when did you finish your first book?             

I started writing after my sister gave me two grocery bags full of paperback romances.  Well let me tell you once I dove in I couldn’t stop reading.  Then I thought I just might be able to write one.  The rest is history.

Do you plot and outline or do you just write?  Plotter or Pantser?  

I’m definitely a pantser and I can’t outline to save my life.  Believe me I’ve tried to get more organized but it just slows down my muse.

Can you tell us a little about the process of getting your first book published?  

Yikes that was a process.  First of all I was really green, didn’t have a clue.  I actually sent it off to a New York publisher that had actually closed.  I had no clue.  After I got it back I heard great buzz about an epublisher named Hard Shell Word Factory.  I took a chance and sent it in and it was accepted.

What book have you most recently released? 

Goldie and the Three Bears for Whiskey Creek Press Torrid.  I love turning traditional fairy tales on their heads and giving them an erotic spin.  Goldie is my third Torrid Twisted Tale.  The first two were A Wolf’s Tale a spin on little red riding hood, and Cindy Revisited a spin on Cinderella.

What was your favorite part of the book?  

I just loved the premise of the spunky heroine who thought she was a dud DNA wise turning into something more powerful than she could have dreamed.  To say nothing of the sexy three bears she needs to add to her harem.  Of course she’s in way over her head but that doesn’t stop her.

Rate your story in terms steaminess? steamy times 5 :-)

Do you have another book in the works?  

I sure do.  I have an upcoming release with three of my colleagues, Debi Wilder, Shari Dare, Lynn Crain.  This paranormal erotic romance series was inspired by the Beast of Bray Road a myth that lives in the Kettle Moraine Forest of Wisconsin.  It’s really special and I hope you’ll give it a try. 

BLUE MOON MAGIC

One father.  Two mothers.  Four siblings.  One incredible night that will change them all forever.

Boxers or Briefs? boxers or commando if you please

Pizza or hamburger? how about hamburger pizza

Beer, Wine, or mixed drink? mixed drink.  Chocolate Martini.  Yum!

If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be?  Would you write or read there, or do something else?

A secluded Greek Isle with my Kindle, Laptop, and Hubby.  I’d do all of the above and then some.

(Character Questions) 

What were your first impressions of each other? 

Goldie AKA Honey Lockwood-I think Cruz Bear is drop dead gorgeous and have ever since I first saw him at our Bear Clan meetings but he never noticed me.  However now that he’s found me sleeping in his bed he’s noticing me, and how. 

Cruz Bear AKA leader of his renegade were-bear clan- He surged into the room and froze, taking in a sexy semi nude goldilocks sleeping in his bed.  Shit, she was wearing his robe.  Someone was playing a warped joke on him.  Her golden curls spread out around her head like a halo and her closed eyelashes looked like angels wings.  He gulped.  “Goldilocks is sleeping in my bed, it seems.” 

What’s your favorite characteristic of each other?

Goldie- I like his strength. 

Cruz- I like her natural sensuality and the fact that she doesn’t know she’s beautiful.

What are your plans for the near future?

Goldie- I want to survive this mating period with my independence intact. 

Cruz- I plan to protect Goldie from rogue were-bear’s hoping to capture her.  

Thank you so much for visiting with us today Honey. It was a pleasure. GOLDIE AND THE THREE BEARS sounds positively delicious.

Readers, please be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win one of Honey's e-books! Be sure to leave your email addy.

Also you can visit Honey Jans@ 

website- www.honeyjans.com

blog- http://atasteofhoneyjans.com

Six Sentence Sunday #13

Hello and welcome back to my little corner of cyberspace! I'm so glad you are joining me today. Here's another taste of my current WIP called PRIDE RULES. Be sure to stop by www.sixsunday.com for links to more fabulous authors.

Eshe grumbled under her breath. She did not have time for annoying salesmen today.  She grabbed her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and swung open the front door. “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not–”

            

          One glance at the phenomenal specimen of man standing on her doorstep caused the 

words to catch in her throat. 

          Delicious! 

Scene and Structure #5 - Pitfalls!

I'm on vacation this week with my daughter in sunny Florida, but I made sure to have a little something to share with you from our good friend Jack Bickham and his book SCENE & STRUCTURE.


Let's talk about our friends from last week, Jack and Jill. Now their goal was climbing a hill/mountain and we are trying to come up with conflicts for them. Be sure the conflicts you choose for your characters are not trivial. (Believe me your readers will care!) We don't want to read about how Jack and Jill don't have the proper equipment to scale their mountain. If the story is about them climbing, they sure as hell better have the proper climbing equipment. 


Now.... If the story is about them surviving in the Alaskan Tundra and they were in a plane crash and they have no equipment and they have to climb a mountain to escape a bear.... that's one thing.... but then the story goal is no longer them climbing a mountain it's about them surviving in the wilderness and readers will now expect them not to have the equipment they need.  


See how that changed everything.


Another point he makes in this chapter - don't sidetrack your characters (Pitfall #1). If Jack and Jill need money to finance their trip, don't create a thought process that says if the bank doesn't give us financing we have to rob a bank to get the money to climb the mountain.  OMG! Jack and Jill's story is about climbing a mountain, not becoming bank robbers! Be sure you don't back your characters into conflicts that distract from your story goal and possibly alter it in the process.


(Pitfall #2) - The Strongman
Don't let the characters run away with the story. Yikes! I know all my pantser friends out their are gasping. For you guys. Let the story run, but then be willing to go back and look at the scene and realize that you might not want all of it. For example, if Jack and Jill go to the bank to get financing for their climb and start a screaming match with the the bank manager... what's going to happen. What might you introduce into your story at that point that you don't want to explain to your readers? Jack says "what if the characters say they can get the money somewhere else and the bank manager sees it as a threat and calls in the loan on Jack's business... or Jack says he can just go get the money from his grandfather..." Well the reader is going to want to know why Jack didn't just go to the grandfather first. Is the grandfather part of the story, or did Jack just grab you by the ear and drag you along with him for no good reason.


I am such a pantser too and I have seen this happen in my own work from time to time. I take a step back and go 'what the hell?'. As a pantser you have to be willing to take it out and go at it again. Remind your characters to "stay on task" LOL. When this happens I usually highlight the scene, cut it and paste it at the bottom of my doc so that if I need it I can go back and and get it, but if I don't, I don't worry about it.


(Pitfall #3) - The Weakling
Don't duck your conflicts! "After the showdown with Jacob Simms, David drove directly home, feeling....." OMG! The author skipped the best part. He/she left out the showdown. 

Don't skip over conflict because you don't think you can write it well enough. "You will find that boldly going ahead into the 'impossibly difficult' conflict portion will stretch your abilities as a writer - and make you better than you thought you could ever be."

Happy Writing, Happy Reading

Krystal Shannan

Be sure to follow the blog if you haven't already. The July drawing  for an Amazon giftcard is next week! You have to be a follower to be entered :-)

How do you write a scene? #2

So happy Forth of July! May everyone enjoy their BBQ and fireworks tonight! Be safe and be careful not to burn anything down. I don't know where you are, but around here everything thing is as dry as a crispy critter.

Remember what our Forth of July is actually celebrating. Independence from England. Remember the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson, yep, just in case you are a little rusty on your history that's the war I'm talking about. Our ancestors fought long and hard so we could have all the advantages that come with being a US citizen. Be sure you vote to keep our country that way.

Moving on to our topic for the day. How to START and how to END a scene. 'The point to be made here, is that 95% of the popular novels published today -whatever their general form (1st, 3rd, etc.) -depend on the structure of the scene to make them work'.

But first Jack's answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

1) "How long should my novel be?"

Haha, personally I just write until the story ends, but I guess I could see this being a problem for some. But, his answer for you is (unless you are writing a novella for sure) assume the 60-90,000 word range.  Then depending on the publisher you are seeking, you may have to shorten or length from there.

He goes on to say that novels below 60,000 words do have a chance to be published, but is is far below the norm. In nowadays market, unless you are writing a catagory line for Harlequin, shorter novels and novellas are bought constantly by the booming epub industry. Novels over the 90,000 word range apparently jump into a more expensive category for publishers and they are wary of those as well, because they become a higher risk. Interesting.

2) "Where should my story start?"

The answer... Wherever the character is going to experience the most dramatic portion of his/her lifespan. LOL. In essence -the juiciest part.

Here's Jack Bickham's 5 things to remember about your reader.

1. They are fascinated and threatened by significant change;
2. They want the story to start with such a change;
3. They want to have a story question to worry about;
4. They want the story question answered in the story ending;
5. The will quickly lose patience with everything but material that relates to the story question.

Ok, so our stories should start with a change, lead quickly to goal, and raise a story question in the reader's mind to hook them! But how do we end...? 

Simple answer.

Answer the story question.

It may take a month of the character's life. It may take a week. For novella writers it may only take 48 hours of a character's life to pose a question and answer it. But to really hook our readers, we must make them worry for our characters and desire to know if they are going to make through our fabricated crisis or not... SO... 

Go back to your stories and ask yourself these questions from the readers' perspective. 

In the meantime, here is Jack's abridged version of the GAME PLAN.

• Consider your story materials as presently imagined. Look for and identify, in terms of days, weeks or months, that briefer period of time when the "the big stuff happens." Plan to eliminate virtually everything else.
• Think hard about your most major character and what makes him/her tick - what his/her self concept is, and what kind of life he/she has built to protect and enhance it.
• Identify or create a dramatic situation or event which will present your character (and your reader) with the significant, threatening moment of change.
• Plan your plot so that your novel will open with this event.
• Decide what intention or goal your most significant character will select to try and fix things after the threatening opening change. Note what story question this goal will put int he reader's mind.
• Devise the start of a plan formulated by your most significant character as he set out to make things right again.
• Figure out how much later - and where and how - the story question finally will be answered. You should strive to know this resolution before you start writing. Granted some things change while writing, but you should know your final destination :-)

Next week join me for Cause and Effect...

Happy Writing 

Happy Reading

Krystal Shannan

How do you write a Scene? #1

So I've decided to in addition to being a stay at home mother to a two-year-old female tyrannosaurus...ooops! I meant darling daughter, LOL.  I am working on two WIP's at the same time,  taking a writing class with Candy Havens, and I'm reading a fabulous book called Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham.  Each Wednesday I will find a way to share with you what I learned that week about creating a strong scene! Whoooo! I hope you will enjoy my adventure into scene and structure. I know I sound like a geek. But what else is an ex-english teacher to do for fun....? No! Don't ask! *Giggle* At least wait until I've had a glass or two of wine.

CHAPTER 1 - The Structure of Modern Fiction

Haha! Don't leave. I promise to have something interesting to say.

"Structure is nothing more than a way of looking at your story material so that it's organized in a way that's both logical and dramatic."

See. This could be helpful.

As a romance writer and a confessed plotsner (half pantser-half plotter) I need some organization! I stole that from my friend Elysa Hendricks! Fabulous author by the way. I use to despise plotting, but my critique partner rubbed off on me and now I find that it is quite helpful to plot scenes. I don't necessarily plot the whole book, but I do now really enjoy planning out a scene.

Writers want their writing to make sense and hold together and readers want to go on the same adventure. Readers want us to succeed! They want books! I'm a reader and have several authors on my auto buy list. I want their stories to be fabulous and I count on them being able to deliver. That's why I buy everything they write. I can't wait to be that kind of author for readers.

We are told our stories need a "beginning, middle, and end" or "a situation, a complication, a climax, and a denouement". Short stories and novels are built on the same principals.  Bickham promises that as long as you understand the structure of building a story there will be no more staring "at your word processor with tiny droplets of blood oozing from your forehead".  Isn't that fantastic! So looking forward to this book! I hope you will join me on my adventure to building a better scene.

Happy Writing

Krystal Shannan