Write What You Know?

In writing The Gypsy Pall, I told myself I am qualified to write this novelette. After all, I know gypsies. I come from a line of Bohemian gypsies on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. I also hail from a line of Appalachian folks who somewhere along the line courted and married Native Americans on my paternal grandfather’s side. And, some of them became farmers.  So, I have it covered: mysterious exotic gypsies, simple country farmers, magical Appalachian folk.  Yes, I am a mutt; it’s okay. The characters in the novel represent several cultures.

http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/gyp/gypstart.html

http://rednecromancer.typepad.com/AppalSites.html

I also know love, as every lucky person does. Not the flowery, send-me-a-card, call-me-every-minute kind of love necessarily, but the “I’ll stay with you even when it’s difficult” kind of love. In the novelette, Amos Hay loves his wife, Martha. He continues to love her through her obsession with sex for several reasons. First of all, he has a commitment to her which he does not take lightly. Secondly, and probably most importantly, he knows her obsession is his fault. He brought the condition on her through his visit to the gypsy.

I didn’t know a great deal about the dust bowl days. I had to research the time period. Interestingly, I discovered that the dust bowl days did not result in every farm in the Midwest being blown away. Some places were hit harder than others. It was a combination of man-made and natural disasters. Bad farming practices combined with drought conditions led up to the worst storm on Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, with 60 mph winds and a cloud of dust that looked like a wall of black descending on the plains.  The Gypsy Pall is set in a time prior to the worst part of the dust bowl days.

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/20th-dustbowl.html

I liked that the phrase “Dirty Thirties” could be a double-entendre.

And, though I’m not sure I should admit it, I know sex. Of course, I researched this steamy subject with my sexy husband. It required lots and lots of practical hands-on research. Naturally. And the really odd stuff came from my imagination.

I liked the element of blameless bad behavior. Who wouldn’t want guilt-free sex? What could be more guilt-free than being released from accountability for your actions because they are the result of a hex? Amos realizes this toward the end of the novelette and succumbs to the lure of guiltless passion.

There is no detail given of the incantations involved in the “pall” cast by the gypsy or the “doings” of the Widow Teague. We wouldn’t want to accidentally trigger such events, would we? This is said with extreme tongue-in-cheek.

Can a scene be sexy if it’s weird? I hope so! I set out to write a book that presents erotica in a different way. I hope I succeeded with The Gypsy Pall.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-gypsy-pall/8678043

How To Promote Your Blog Using Facebook Pages

How To Promote Your Blog Using Facebook Pages

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Crossing genres in your writing

What happens if you make a name for yourself as an author in a particular genre, then you try something different? Will you lose your fan base? Will your faithful readers be disappointed in you?

What are your thoughts about crossing genres in your writing? Can a successful science fiction writer be an equally successful suspense or even romance writer?

Tell me your thoughts!

My new book, “The Gypsy Pall”, is now available on lulu.

The Gypsy Pall, A Novelette

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-gypsy-pall/8678043

This is not a book for children. Adults only. This book contains explicit sexual scenes.

Books

My new book, “The Gypsy Pall”, is now available on lulu.

The Gypsy Pall, A Novelette

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-gypsy-pall/8678043

This is not a book for children. Adults only. This book contains explicit sexual scenes.

If you are a writer, I would love to hear your thoughts on publishing your work.

New site to explore

I found this great site today. If you like sexy guys who are not exactly human, you might enjoy this too:  http://demonloversbookreviewsmore.blogspot.com/

Is Erotica Becoming the New Harlequin Romance?

Remember when romance novels pretty much followed one formula or another?

Victorian romances always presented a mystery and some element of danger, along with usually two romantic rivals between whom the heroine had to chose? The heroine tended to be chaste but responsive, yet never did more than kiss the man. Often there were children in the story, usually belonging to one of the romantic rivals, and the heroine was their governess/teacher/nanny. These novels were set in castles or huge Victorian homes belonging to men of vast wealth. They were entertaining, but not full of surprises. And there was no sex.

Regular romance novels had their own cookie cutter themes. Although the settings were more widely varied, several common plot devices repetitively surfaced. The heroine and her man were intensely attracted to each other but for any number of inane reasons, deprived themselves of quenching their hunger. There was usually a misunderstanding, sometimes so trivial the reader is screaming “get over it!”, that eventually resolves and the lovestruck couple ends up together, happily. There was very little sex, lots of buildup and hot kissing.

Then romance books began to move into modern times and the heroines were often divorced or widowed, often with a child. She was not innocent, but neither was she promiscuous. There was sex, but not graphic. Still the same tired plots persisted, however. The lovers resist committing to each other, generally over some misconception or a blunder committed by one or the other. Yawn.

Now we have erotic romance. The genre is like regular romance novels, but with sharp edges and added sex. We have heroines who are lusty and free. We have open-minded characters willing to explore alternate sexual experiences. We have explicit descriptions of the sexual acts, and the sharp bite of blunt terms for body parts. So we would assume, we also have fresh plots and storylines. Not so. Even in the world of erotica, there are rules and formulas to be followed. Although the characters experiment feverishly, they will ultimately end up as an exclusive couple (or threesome). There is little or no nonconsensual play. And there is some deliberately induced pain, but it’s all in fun and completely acceptable to both the painer and the painee. We don’t generally have deeply conflicted characters, surprising developments, or edgy insights.

The cookie cutter is back. It’s just naked now.

Why Authors Have to Help Sell Their Own Books: Writers Can Actively Promote and Market Their Stories

Why Authors Have to Help Sell Their Own Books: Writers Can Actively Promote and Market Their Stories.

This is a helpful article for aspiring writers.

How Writers Can Develop an Online Presence: Tools to Promote Freelance Writing, Blogs, and Books

How Writers Can Develop an Online Presence: Tools to Promote Freelance Writing, Blogs, and Books.

Talk about your book

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-gypsy-pall/8678043

Have you just written a book? Tell me about it. Give me a short blurb about the story, the publisher, and where a reader can obtain your book. I just published my own book, The Gypsy Pall. It is an odd erotica book that is really not a romance, so it fits no genre. For that reason, I chose to self publish.  As a new writer, I am trying to figure out ways to promote my book. If you have ideas on self-promotion, please share those as well. Thanks!

The well worn

Tell me what the words “well worn” mean to you.