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Writing SexJuly 26, 2008 at 12:26 pm | Category: blog
Thriller Writer Barry Eisler here… Sandra, thanks again for inviting me to be your guest. Ever since I was about fourteen and sending fictional accounts of Tantric sexual encounters to the Playboy Advisor and Penthouse Forum (Dear Penthouse, I always thought these stories were made up… until yesterday, when Ms. Lingua, my hot Spanish teacher, told me I’d misbehaved one time too many and made me stay after school to “learn a lesson.” Let me tell you what she taught me…), I’ve always enjoyed writing sex scenes. Today I’d like to talk about why. Ah, the subject is already fraught, isn’t it? If I told you why I like writing violence (and I do), it wouldn’t feel as though I was revealing anything terribly personal. I could talk about how stress reveals character, how there’s nothing more stressful than violence, and how violence is therefore a crucible in which character is both forged and revealed — how, in fact, violence, properly executed, can become a high-octane engine for story itself. And it would all be true, and hopefully interesting, too… but I could write it dryly, dispassionately, from a distance sufficient to maintain a cloak over the darker contours of the mind behind the words. Sex is different. Because anytime you admit (and even the choice of the word “admit” there is telling, isn’t it?) to liking a particular sex scene, you’re not just acknowledging that you like sex (what would that reveal? We all like sex), you’re revealing what *specifically* turns you on — and that’s hugely personal. Thought experiment. Which of the following would reveal something significant about the speaker? “Dude, the fight scenes in Gladiator got me so pumped I had to hit the weight pile afterward!” “Holy shit, those car chases in Ronin had me so adrenalized I had to use the cruise control to drive home safely from the theater!” “Man, that scene in Mulholland Drive with Naomi Watts kissing Laura Harring was so hot that as soon as I got home I had to… [fill in the blank in whatever way your imagination demands]!” (BTW, I like movie references because movies are more of a mass market, so there’s a better chance that a given movie will provide a common frame of reference). Unless you’re embarrassed about a latent sword or Audi fetish, I doubt you’d be uncomfortable praising the scenes from Gladiator and Ronin even to your grandmother. But Mulholland Drive… that would feel different. You’d intuitively understand that admitting (there’s that word again) you got turned on by a lesbian kiss revealed something personal. Which is why most writers outside romance are so reluctant to open the door and look under the covers. You can write torture scenes, axe murder scenes, scenes of wholesale slaughter and horror, and at least maintain what the government likes to call “plausible deniability” about your own attachment to these subjects. But write that hot spanking scene, and you feel (with some justification, I suspect) that now everyone knows what turns you on. (Of course, there are exceptions… Mel Gibson has written himself into so many torture scenes that you can’t help wondering whether there’s something going on there. But I digress…). But I like writing sex scenes. Sure, that spanking in Hard Rain (thought I was being hypothetical up there, did you?) might make people wonder, but it revealed something about Rain and created a bond between Rain and Naomi, the half-Brazilian, half-Japanese dancer who Rain learns is the key to a conspiracy that threatens Rain’s life, that worked as a plot pivot. Plus… yeah, yeah, I just enjoyed it. I mean, I got so worked up at my favorite cafe writing what some readers have mischaracterized as the “rape scene” in Killing Rain (and no, I won’t tell you the page number) that I had to call my wife to make sure she was home and to warn her she better be ready. What’s a shame about the widespread non-romance reluctance to write sex scenes is that sex is such a powerful tool for revealing character. There are three general ways to get to know someone’s character: time, stress, and sex. In a novel, you don’t have time, meaning you need an accelerant, and that leaves you with sex or stress. Violence is one of the most stressful experiences we humans can face, which is why violence can be such a powerful tool in stories. But sex is also enormously revealing, which is why the biblical euphemism that Abraham “knew” Sarah is so apt. Also, sex can be an incredibly powerful pivot. Sex changes everything. Remember when John Cusack and Ione Skye finally make love in Say Anything? Cusack then tries to pretend that it doesn’t matter that much, and Lili Taylor says to him something like, “Yes it does! It changes everything. Decades could go by without you seeing each other… and then, when you’re in your sixties, you might bump into each other, and you’ll say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ and she’ll say, ‘Fine, how are you?’, but what you’ll really be thinking is, ‘We had sex!’” Which is why I had such a blast creating the tension (and culmination) between Rain and Israeli agent Delilah in Rain Storm. Two paranoid professionals with opposing agendas… how would they make love? What would bring them to that moment? What would be going on inside them afterward? How would it change them, and how would those changes take the story in a new direction? So here are a few questions for you: do you like sex scenes? Why or why not? What works, what doesn’t? What are some of your favorite such scenes from movies — and why?
Annual Not Going to Conference ConferenceJuly 20, 2008 at 5:00 am | Category: blog
The Romance Divas annual Not Going to Conference Conference will make you feel a bit less deprived! Amazing workshops, a star-studded guest list and awesome giveaways, all on the Diva forum! Don’t miss it! Here’s a bit of a schedule update for the Q&As and Workshops… Wednesday, July 30 Laurie Rauch, Editor, Samhain Publishing Thursday July 31 Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary Sandra Schwab, Historical Romance Author Friday, August 1 Yolanda Sfetsos, Author of Guarded by Stone Katie MacIver, KatieDidDesign Saturday, August 2 Joey W. Hill, Erotica Author Rhonda Stapleton, Editor and Author Excited yet? How about if I list some door prizes? Plus a lovely bar of wonderful Chagrin Valley hand made soap, Caramel Pralines jar candle, handmade jewelry, Tarot readings, a Lush box for European Divas/Dudes, a $10 fictionwise gc and much more!
It’s Tiny, It’s Blurry, It’s Curved…I LOVE IT!July 19, 2008 at 2:31 pm | Category: blog Okay, so our monitor pooped out on us. The nice, 19″ flat screen we’ve had for years just…stopped working. It is very hard to work on the current wip when you CAN’T SEE WHAT YOU’RE TYPING!!! GAH! So, all day I’ve been trying to work on my laptop, which does not have the fabulous writing software I use. So, even though I could have networked into the desktop and dragged my current wip over to the laptop, I wouldn’t have been able to open the files. Sigh. I did make a valiant effort, however, to work on completing a new scene (which I’m very pleased with, by the way) but when it came to tying it all in with what I’ve already got written…well, you get the idea. Can’t tie-in when you can’t read what you’ve got! Here I sat, unable to move forward and unwilling to give up. Where there’s a will there’s a way, my Granny always said. And you know what? I got the will, baby. So I snuck into the kid’s room and stole their ancient, 15″ tube monitor…and I proceeded to unplug my snappy-but-not-working flat screen. But, what’s this??? The plugs are not compatible? What?! I got all dusty and sneezy for NOTHING? No way! I’m not having it. Where there’s a will and all that. I searched EVERY drawer and box we have until–eureka! A long forgotten adapter, still in it’s plastic baggie. I pluged it all in…I fired it all up…It took FOREVER. But I have visuals! I can SEE! It’s tiny in its 15″ curved badness, and it’s blurry and I think it’s flickering a bit, though that could just be my blood pressure skyrocketing in my excitement. I LOVE IT! I’m off to tie in my new scenes with the old. This is a very happy day. As long as I don’t dwell on the fact I probably need to get a new monitor… Sandy
Tasty Tuesday ~ DIY “Lean” CuisinesJuly 15, 2008 at 5:00 am | Category: blog Stop on by Romantic Inks for my version of pre-packaged healthy lunches. Enjoy! Sandy
Check It ~ A New Release by Celia KyleJuly 9, 2008 at 7:41 pm | Category: blog
Ember Ellason is a darned good secretary. True, she’d like to be more, but since her father’s passing, her step-mother has taken over as CEO of Ellason Advertising, and Clementine Ellason feels Ember is only good enough to fetch coffee… barely. But when Clementine and her horrid daughters fail to show up for the meeting with the biggest client they could ever land, Ember saves the day by impersonating her step-mother. Paul Ashe needs a new ad campaign and he’s found the perfect company with the perfect proposal in Ellason Advertising. Too bad his body is a little too interested in the voluptuous CEO with her fiery red hair and blazing green eyes. Then he can’t seem to find with the elusive woman after their first intimate tryst, and is left with only a pair of panties to remember her by. Will this Cinderella tale end in happily ever after? Or will Ember be separated from her panties—and her prince—for ever more? Buy Linkie: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8_v…7-201-101-426-1
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Barry 
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