Aphrodisiacs That Fail to Arouse

It's Cravings Week over at LadySmut.com.


Today I'm taking a look at food aphrodisiacs that fail to float my boat.


Head on over and see why...

Going Against Type

A fine man in a suit is everyone's type...
especially when he's Hugh.

It's Monday, which means it's my turn to be witty and wise over at the Lady Smut blog...or at least my turn to fake being witty and wise until you lot figure me out.

Today I'm rambling on...and on...and on about type. We all have a type, a set parameter of qualities that we look for in a romantic other. But when we go against type...story happens.

Come on over and take a gander. Leave a comment! Go wild!

Give Me the Wolf

Over at LadySmut.com this week, I'm talking about a few of my favorite supernatural wolves in the paranormal genre of TV and books...and why they're so much better than any vampire.

  And yeah, it includes him:

And you know it includes him: 


Come on. Did you think I'd write a post about werewolves and wolfshifters and not include my wolf? 

Silly readers. 

Are We Losing the Fun in Fandom?

Over at LadySmut blog, I'm talking about the most recent dust up over fan disappointment with the end of the Divergent series as it's third installment, Allegiant, hit the shelves last week. Are fan entitlement and an unprecedented access to authors and showrunners causing us all to lose the fun in fandom?

Come over and discuss!

Music Be the Food of Love...and Writing

I'm talking about music and writing today on LadySmut.com and how the one can inspire and feed the other. 



Come on over and share some of the music that inspires you.

The Lost Pornographic Age of the Dinosaurs

No doubt, paleontologists across the land are wondering how they miss such a salacious era while Michael Crichton is probably rolling over in his grave that he didn't think of it first.

Over at Ladysmut.com, I'm taking a disgusted look at dino porn.

Yeah, you read that right. Unfortunately.

Bet You Thought, "Now Why Don't She Write?"

I'm delighted to announce that I am the newest addition to the staff at LadySmut.com.

"Lady Smut is a blog for intelligent women who like to read smut. On this blog, we talk about our writing, the erotic romance industry, masculinity, femininity, sexuality, and whatever makes our pulses race."

While I write smart, sharp, and sexy romantic suspense novels that yet do not fall into the erotic romance category, I do enjoy the savvy voice and intelligent, frank discussions these ladies have displayed on their blog this past year. I'm excited to add my off-kilter perspective to their ranks.

Head on over to read my debut post "A Poor Kind of Hero" and find out why I think some "classic" heroes fail to make the grade.

Always Remember

I Lurked On The #RT13 Twitter Feed

#Bittercon is real, it’s here, and it’s fueled by fond, good-natured jealously for all the romance (and other genre) writers and readers who attended the RT Conference last week in Kansas City, MO. RT stands for the RT Book Reviews magazine (formerly Romantic Times). I was a constant presence (real or imagined) at #Bittercon  as I was not able to attend “RT” this year. To avoid wallowing completely in freakish misery, I avidly followed the nonstop nearly 24-hour Twitter feed for hashtag #RT13. I lurked, I admit it, I have no shame. Here are but a few of the not-entirely-surprising revelations my lurking uncovered about #RT13.

Romance writers love their funky shoes (I APPROVE) and are not shy about posing in them, which is good because Angela James, Editorial Director for Carina Press, was there to take their pictures. That’s probably how I know that Karina Cooper has the most fantastic shoes on the planet (though I hear Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell runs a close second). Karina's peacock shoes especially turned me several shades of blue green with envy. (UPDATED at 8 PM with a link to the peacock shoes!! Thanks Karina!!)

The costume parties make me glad for the time I spent on a theatre’s run crew that made me a whiz with the quick change (usually when there’s a man involved). (I’m kidding.) (Maybe.) They also brought home the fact that I don’t have nearly the sufficient budget or creativity required for the costumes for all the parties at this conference. Imelda Marcos wouldn’t have the budget for the costumes for all the parties at this conference. Though she would have the shoes.

I’m gonna need some tats applied before I attend RT14 in New Orleans or lose any and all cred with these tricked out, bad-assed writers. They will be fake because I am a wimp. Also, I have a hard time deciding on  a lipstick color, I’m hardly going to be able to choose an image with which to be painted for eternity without years of planning first – and likely therapy.

Author E L James of Fifty Shades infamy attended incognito (I had “came” as the verb there first, but then this is an RT list, so…) She declared herself in a panel but without rancor or fisticuffs, revealed she was only there to support a friend, re-registered under her real fake (i.e. pen) name, lost her badge in the men’s room, and has had an identity crisis ever since.

Larry Kirshbaum, publishing legend and current head of Amazon Publishing, does a mean striptease. On a dais. In front of hundreds of women. As you do.

The craft workshops never end. Even late in the evening at the hotel bar, you can still find erotic romance authors who are all to willing to demonstrate...techniques.

Holy crap, TEENAGERS READ!!! Brace yourselves: they can be so keen to see a favorite writer that they will bypass the escalator and RUN UP THE STAIRS to be sure to get the signature of their Fearless Leader. Then, overcome with the sauce that is awesome, they will comp squat right there on a hotel lobby floor (no, it’s not a misdemeanor) and START READING. FROM A BOOK EVEN.

The RT Book Fair is MASSIVE. Authors are trapped at their tables for hours, signing books and meeting lovely fans. Fortunately, some people are happy to resupply the belabored authors gamely battling hand cramps with coffee, water, penis-shaped candy, and, if you’re author Cara McKenna, a bottle of Smirnoff Ice.

Andrew Shaffer is everywhere - sometimes trotting around with Jill Shalvis' skull (she was mobbed at the book fair and thus stripped of her skin) and occasionally wearing a horse's head though thankfully not in the Corleone style. Seriously, the guy is like the inadvertent mascot of the RT twitter feed, which would offer one explanation for the horse's head...

In her acceptance speech for winning the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice for Best Steampunk Novel of 2012 for Tarnished, Karina Cooper revealed that her husband had sold his Magic cards to help pay for her trip to RT13. Tiffany Reisz tweeted in response that her father paid for her first RWA National Conference, and Olivia Kelly added that her dad paid for her trip to RWA Nationals in 2012 and reads all her stuff. Conclusion: our heroes do not only exist between the pages of our romance novels. We dig the good (live) men. They are real and amazing.

Everyone fangrrls over Jude Devereux and Julie Garwood. Everyone.

Given that I was a far-off observer of said goings-on, below are but a few of the more memorable tweets from #RT13. WARNING: Don't be drinking anything when you read them or it'll come out of your nose for sure.

One last thing for those who still inexplicably doubt or poo poo the impact of Twitter. If there could be anything to solidify my certain attendance at RT14, it would be the RT13 Twitter feed. That's grassroots, first-person, hand to hand, free marketing and publicity generated there for anyone and everyone to see for both RT Book Reviews and every single person mentioned and/or tweeting. Turn your nose up at that unbelievers. I dare you.

*crying* @victoriadahl @laurendane and me demonstrating cowboy hand job pantomime in the bar. #rt13
— Alyssa Day (@Alyssa_Day) May 4, 2013

@victoriadahl No Spanx at #bittercon.
— SonomaLass (@SonomaLass) May 4, 2013

Tired teens with tons of books from YA Alley. #RT13 twitter.com/RT_Magazine/st…
— RT Book Reviews (@RT_Magazine) May 4, 2013

OH at RT: oh god I'm sorry we've had this conversation before. That's ok you were probably drunk
— Lauren Dane (@laurendane) May 4, 2013

"when I sucked on it, I realized it wasn't mine." #nocontext #RT13
— Diana Rowland (@dianarowland) May 4, 2013

Did I just crawl acros a table? Maybe. #RT13
— Kiera Cass (@kieracass) May 4, 2013

What do you do after the book fair at #rt13? You find a corner and read of course. twitter.com/SmartBitches/s…
— Sarah Wendell (@SmartBitches) May 4, 2013

Yet must... Keep... Tweeting.... “@badnecklace: I am falling asleep sitting up. #RT13”
— Soap Opera 451 (@SoapOpera451) May 4, 2013

Having an interesting conversation about cow shifters in the lobby of #RT13
— Crista McHugh (@crista_mchugh) May 4, 2013

Overheard: "Stay away from his buttocks." *Snort* - @riewrites #rt13
— Kendall Grey (@kendallgrey1) May 4, 2013

@loreliebrown Are you sure you weren't trying to free a house elf? #RT13
— Mala Bhattacharjee (@badnecklace) May 4, 2013

"The secret is fresh orphans." #RT13
— Kiera Cass (@kieracass) May 4, 2013

Overheard @ #RT13 "I know what Amazon is doing. They're building the Death Star."
— Valerie Bowman (@ValerieGBowman) May 4, 2013

OH at #RT13: "Don't look at me, I gave up panties years ago." --NYT best selling author
— Louisa Edwards (@LouisaEdwards) May 4, 2013

The fans mobbed @jillshalvis and she ran out of books and also skin. #RT13 twitter.com/andrewtshaffer…
— Andrew Shaffer (@andrewtshaffer) May 4, 2013

OH at #rt13: “There’s no juice in there. It’s hard as a rock.” Who said it? Three guesses, and the ones without @victoriadahl don’t count.
— Karina Cooper (@karinacooper) May 5, 2013

@scalzi is spouting gems of wisdom like: "some kids go to Hogwarts, some kids get home schooled." #TaoOfScalzi #RT13
— Leanna Renee Hieber (@Leannarenee) May 5, 2013

I'd take the boob over the bootOverheard at #RT13 Rotflol
— Kat (@The_Book_Tart) May 5, 2013

And then @andrewtshaffer trotted in wearing a horse head. #rt13 twitter.com/jayewells/stat…
— jayewells (@jayewells) May 5, 2013

OH at #rt13: "I'm the boob whisperer."
— Sara Brookes (@Sara_Brookes) May 5, 2013

I just watched @tiffanyreisz ride @andrewtshaffer while he wore a horse mask.
— Sierra Dean (@sierradean) May 5, 2013

The world would be a really sad place if we could only have one book we could loveOverheard at #RT13 @sylday <3 her!
— Kat (@The_Book_Tart) May 4, 2013

Oh, God. This is some weird shit. #RT13
— Victoria Dahl (@VictoriaDahl) May 4, 2013