When Pam Met Roger: An Almost Perfect Meeting

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

 

I’m guest blogging today with Casea Major over at Major Passion…Major Romance.  Pam and Roger from Almost Perfect wanted to tell their side of the story about how they met.  I spilled the beans in a post on Daily Dose of Decadence and they protested.  So the day before Almost Perfect releases, I thought I’d give them their shot to set the record straight. LOL  As with anything having to do with Pam and Roger, it’s a story!

Join us over at Casea’s blog site by clicking this link, Major Passion…Major Romance, or the blog site under the blogroll.

Tomorrow, RELEASE DAY!, I’m at the 1Night Stand blog site, with some Christmas cheer from the Almost Perfect crew to celebrate.  So come on by!

Posted in 1Night Stand, Guest Bloggers, On Almost Perfect, On Blogging, On Writing Erotic Romance, On Writing Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Making Your Characters Really Miserable: The Black Moment

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

With the whole rebel alliance counting on him, Luke Skywalker has one shot left to kill the Death Star.  His on-board targeting system has failed to work.  The Death Star has cleared the moon and is about to blast the planet killing everyone. And Darth Vader has Luke in his crosshairs.

Talk about a Black Moment for our hero!

Every movie, every book, every hero or heroine has their black moment.  It is that point at which things cannot get any worse for the H/H and they are forced to make a decision to act, usually doing the one thing that they would never have been caught dead doing in a million years.

In Star Wars, Luke’s black moment compels him to turn off his targeting computer and trust the Force to save the day.  And he does.  HEA or really HFN (until the Empire Strikes Back LOL).

Black Moments are essential in romance writing.  According to the website Learn the Elements of A Novel:  Structure and Plot, the “black moment” is the point in the novel “at which all is lost and the goal cannot be achieved.”  By this point in the story the hero has to struggle against external and internal forces until he/she reaches “a ‘Black’ moment, where the stakes are highest and danger at its worst. During this moment, the hero draws upon the new strengths or lessons he’s learned in order to take action and bring the story to a conclusion.”

When crafting the Black Moment, many writers have found the advice of Donald Maas extremely helpful.  Anna Campbell, in her excellent article, “Illuminating The Black Moment” cites Maas’s advice as being most helpful to her:

1.)  Work out the one thing your character would never do, then make him/her do it.

2.)  Work out the one thing your character would never sacrifice, then make him/her sacrifice it.

3.)  Work out your character’s greatest fear then make him/her face that.

Using one, two, or all three of these wrenching scenarios will help you craft the darkest black moment imaginable for your H/H.  And it is a matter of craft to pick and choose the perfect set of circumstances that will torment each particular hero/heroine from the beginning of the novel.  Anna Campbell suggests that the seeds of the black moment should be sown in the first pages of the novel, so we see the potential for it develop throughout.  And each Black Moment must be tailored to each individual hero.

To my mind, one of the best examples of crafting the Black Moment is in Jo Beverley’s historical romance Devilish.  The Marquess of Rothgar has vowed never to marry because his mother exhibited signs of madness and killed her second child. (We have been told this for four books previously.)  Then, Rothgar meets a woman who is the perfect match for him, his soul mate in every way who is deeply in love with him also but who, at the King’s command, must marry.  So Rothgar must choose to lose the love of his life or risk sowing the seeds of madness in future generations of his family.  (Read the book to find out how this Black Moment was resolved!)

And the blacker the moment, the sweeter the ultimate pay-off for the reader.   When, against all odds, the hero or heroine does the one thing he would never do, sacrifices the one thing he would never give up, or overcomes the crippling fear he/she has been struggling with, the reader experiences an emotional catharsis, a purging of all the built-up tension they have endured as the hero struggled.  The tighter you have wound the suspense, the greater the relief when things come right again.

I usually find myself struggling with crafting the perfect Black Moment, though in Almost Perfect, my erotic contemporary that releases on Friday, I pretty much knew about half-way through plotting what I wanted that moment to be.  Again, I won’t spoil it for you, but I tried to paint that moment with the inky black strokes of a midnight dreary.  I want to hear the reader shriek “No!  You can’t do that!” with a sob in their voice that would be sweet music to my ears.  I think authors not only torture their heroes, but their readers as well.  Because catharsis is good for all souls.

As a writer, do you struggle with creating the black moment?  Or does it come naturally to you?  Readers, do you enjoy this exquisite form of torture from the pen of your favorite authors?  Do you secretly thrill to be brought to the edge of your seat, as your hero/heroine is brought to the brink of destruction?  What is your favorite black moment in a romance novel?  Please share!

Posted in On Writing Romance, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Guest Blogger Leia Shaw–Destiny Unchained (Destiny of Shadows)

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Today I’m welcoming author Leia Shaw to Jenna’s Journal with her new release Destiny Unchained.

I’m Leia Shaw and I write love stories with a supernatural twist. I have three books and one short novella. Each story promises action packed adventure; a healthy dose of magic; sexy alpha males; smart, strong women; and hot, steamy romance.  My series can be read out of order as each is a stand alone, but if you’d like the correct reading order, they go like this: Destiny Divided, Destiny United, For the Love of Harmony (novella), and Destiny Unchained.

Readers can get For the Love of Harmony FREE at this link: http://www.leiashaw.com/promo.php

And they can read the first 5 chapters of Destiny Unchained here: http://www.leiashaw.com/e_read.php?samp=duc2

Blurb for Destiny Unchained:

They call her The Huntress. A vampire with lethal focus, Natalia hunts rogue werewolves and kills them without mercy. She buried her heart centuries ago. Now she lives only for revenge. But when she’s forced to team up with the alpha of the northwest werewolf pack to catch a werewolf serial killer, her carefully controlled world is shattered by the passionate Cristian

Cristian can’t help be intrigued by the icy Natalia. He hasn’t been attracted to a female since his mate died decades ago. But now he vows to break that hard shell she wears and find the warm, nurturing woman inside.

Will Natalia accept Cristian’s claim on her heart even if it means sacrificing a part of who she is?

Adult Excerpt from Destiny Unchained:

She opened her mouth to call for Cristian. But something that felt like a bus rammed into her, toppling her to the ground. For the second time, the air rushed out of her lungs and she struggled to breathe. The beast was heavy on top of her, but took care not to crush her. His powerful arms thrust hers over head, pinning her to the ground. Even with five-inch-long nails, he was careful not to hurt her. His chest heaved, blood dripped from a bite mark on his neck. With every ragged breath, a snarl escaped his throat and blew the hair from her face. When she struggled, he growled quietly in warning.

His gaze roved her over rapidly. Her eyes, her lips, her neck, down to her breasts, back to her eyes again.

She could have killed him. Probably. Maybe. But she didn’t want to kill him, she wanted to calm him. In an ultimate act of trust, she yielded. Her body sagged underneath him, her pride stinging a bit. And, in the wolf way, she turned her head and bared her throat. Male satisfaction burned in his eyes before he leaned into her neck with his nose and inhaled.

His savage moan tickled her skin. Then his body contorted. It melted on top of hers, fur disappearing, and half its mass. In only seconds, a human took its place. A naked human.

She tried to pull her arms down but he gripped them harder. “Be still, Talia,” he said, his voice husky like gravel. “Don’t move.” His face warmed the crook of her neck. “I could hear your pain from miles away. Do you know what that does to a man?” She couldn’t speak, only lay there under his heaving body. “My Natalia, hurt and afraid.”

She opened her mouth to deny that last part, but he bit her chin.

Lifting his head, he stared down at her. Calmer, more human now, but still on edge. “Don’t argue, Talia, for once. Please. I have to taste you. Do not deny me this.”

It was a command, but his eyes asked for permission. She nodded.

He pressed her wrists into the snow. “Leave them there.” In a flurry of movement she could barely process, he had her stripped from the waist down. Her lips parted and she exhaled a gasp. Bared in the middle of the snowy mountains and she stilled burned for him. His hands, one of each of her thighs, pressed down, holding them open for his gaze. His groan of approval was so animalistic she shivered all over.

She watched him through half-lidded eyes as he leaned down and blew on her clit. Her hips arched off the ground. He threw both her legs over his shoulders and held her off the snow with her ass in his hands. Her arms, obediently placed over her head, and her shoulders were the only thing touching the snow. Then he feasted on her. Nipping and sucking, licking and teasing.

Her gasps turned into cries for mercy. Her squirms turned into flails. But he held her tight and steadily went on, bringing her to the edge then slowing, over and over.

When her clit burned and throbbed and she couldn’t take anymore, she pleaded, “Cristian, please!”

One more long decadent lick then he flipped her to her hands and knees, nudging her thighs apart with his. He entered her too slowly and she pushed back into him. His soft chuckle vibrated through her body. His hand snaked forward and grabbed her breast. As he thrust in and out, he pinched and tortured her nipples, and she moaned in delight. His thrusts grew harder and his hand moved down to her swollen clit.

“Ahhh…yes!” she cried. He teased her clit lightly and her pleasure grew to an intensity she’d never experienced.

“Oh, God, Natalia. You’re perfect,” he panted, driving into her over and over. Just when she was about to climax, he leaned over her and bit into her shoulder, pinning her while he finished inside her. “Mine.”

HOT Excerpt!  Here are the buy links to this smoking hot novel:

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Unchained-Shadows-ebook/dp/B006FPFW0M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323030525&sr=8-1

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/109194

website – http://www.leiashaw.com

Thank you so much for joining me today, Leia.  I’m looking forward to putting Destiny Unchained on my Christmas list!

And I’ll be guest blogging myself tomorrow at Casea Major’s blog Major Passion…Major Romance in anticipation of my new release, Almost Perfect, that will be out on Friday.  Hope to see you there!

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Six Sentence Sunday–12/04 Almost Perfect

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

A new Six Sentence Sunday.   Welcome to both first-time visitors and to those who return each week.  Thank you for coming by and commenting.   

Almost Perfect, my contemporary erotic, is scheduled for release in just five days!  I’m so excited I just had to post six more from the book this week. Hope you enjoy them!  LOL  

Stranded on a desert island,  expecting her fantasy 1 Night Stand date–an Orlando Bloom-esque pirate ready to ravish her with her full permission–Pam finds instead her ex-husband.  After their conversation turns from nasty to downright rude, Roger wants to make-up and brings a bottle of water as a peace-offering.  He gets his revenge, however, by tricking Pam into showing him her breasts, then taking off for the water.

She stared as he splashed into the water and dove under, his pale, rounded butt flashing her before sliding under the waves. Her heart pounded and blood sang through her veins as it had not done in years. A deep ache bloomed between her thighs, pitifully familiar; it too had lain dormant until now. The problem was it had been so long since she’d had sex—she just knew she’d be twice as horny if that were her pirate out there.

Roger’s head broke the surface and he flipped his hair out of his face, calling “Come on in, I promise not to bite.”

“But I might,” she muttered, starting for the water, afraid they had the makings of a real live Blue Lagoon.

And don’t forget to visit the other Six Sentence Sunday snippets.  You’ll be glad you did!

Have a great Sunday!

Posted in 1Night Stand, On Almost Perfect, On Six Sentence Sunday | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Sweet Saturday Sample–12/03 Almost Perfect

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

 

Welcome back to my Sweet Saturday Sample!   Thanks for returning each week or for visiting for the first time. I appreciate everyone who stops by.  

Today’s sample  is another continuation of my erotic Contemporary Almost Perfect.  Its new release date is Friday, December 9, exactly a week away.  So this week’s sample continues with a PG-13 rating, though the book certainly is not.

“Since when did you become an optimist?”

He chuckled. “Sometime during the past two years.” His gaze flickered up and down her body. “It’s good to see you, Pam. Despite the circumstances.”

Damn. Now she had to be gracious as well. “Yeah, it’s good to see you too after all this time.” And it was good. Roger had been a part of her life for five years, and though the breakup had been nightmarish, there had been good times, too. That should count for something.

“Are you hungry?”

His question caught her off guard. Food had been the last thing on her mind ever since she’d been dumped overboard. “No, I got stranded after lunch. But if you want to eat…do you have food?” She had absolutely nothing until the Nautilus returned.

“Yeah, I’ve got the stuff for my romantic dinner, remember? The whole nine yards. But I’m okay. They fed me on the way out, too.” He peered out over the water then glanced up at the sun. “I don’t see your ship yet and it’s pretty hot. Mind if we talk up in the shade?” He nodded to the palm trees where she had spread her shirt.

“Oh, sure.” And just what the hell are they supposed to talk about? But she’d try to be nice. She led the way toward the clearing underneath the palms, already at a loss for words.

He grabbed some fallen fronds to make mats for them to sit on. Pam lowered into the lotus position; Roger stretched his long legs out in front of him and leaned back on his arms, smiling at her.

The silence grew deadly.

The silence isn’t half as deadly as some of their words!  If you come by for Six Sentence Sunday tomorrow you might get another dose of their spice–so called so we’re in keeping with the theme of my blog from yesterday.   I’m posting another six tomorrow from this section–sparks are going to fly at some point!  LOL 

You can also join in the fun with your own sample next week.  And follow this link to Sweet Saturday Sample to find more “sweet” offerings. 

 Have a great weekend!

Posted in 1Night Stand, On Almost Perfect, On Sweet Saturday Sample | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Spice It Up!

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

It’s December and I associate the whole month with the holidays.  A time for family and friends to share food, drink, and a general camaraderie that we don’t often find during the rest of the year.

This season I get to share with all the wonderful writers and readers I’ve gotten to know this past year.  And as most are readers and writers of romance, I thought perhaps I should start the month off by spicing it up!  Not only with the delicious wassail pictured above, but with spicy hot hunk pictured below.  It never hurts to turn up the heat in December!  Talk about Christmas candy!

I’ve recently returned to writing my erotic contemporary Seven Days of Seduction and while doing research for it, I’ve discovered a new way to turn up the heat in my December nights.  I actually plan to blog on it next week, so I’ll leave you to wonder how I plan to “spice it up” this Christmas.

In the meantime, do you plan to add spice to your holidays?  A new recipe, a new way of decorating, a new chapter in romance (or a new take on an old one)?  Remember, it is the time of year for sharing! LOL

And now (brace for shameless plug) if you’re in the mood for Christmas romance, don’t forget All Wrapped Up, my collection of Christmas short stories, available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.  Four stories ranging from a little naughty to awfully nice. 

Have a Fantastic Friday!

 

Posted in On All Wrapped Up, On Holiday Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

All Blogged Out: Getting Your Blog Groove Back

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

I’ve been hyper-busy lately with my job, edits, blog hops, preparing for the release of Almost Perfect in December.  As a result, I’ve been blogging like a fiend!  I posted with two blog Hops on one day, was a guest blogger for Casea Major, and have written three more posts for Decadent Publishing blogs.  Plus a couple for the Journal.

The result:  I’m all blogged out!  My brain fizzles when I try to think of a topic to blog on.  I have a list of posts I could write, but my motivation factor is about a 2 this time of year.  I’m hoping once my job calms down and I have more free time I’ll be champing at the bit again to write for the Journal.

I’m encouraged to find I’m not alone in suffering Blogger’s Burn Out.  I checked Google and there are many posts where the blogger is taking a vacation from blogging or complaining that they can’t think of anything to blog about.  So of course I had to do research–what to do when you’re all blogged out.

Five Topics You Can Use to Break the Dam:

1.  Answer a question.  This can be a question you have (you’ll have to go do that research to answer it) or one posed to you by other writers, readers, email contacts.

2.  Post a Photo Journal Entry.  Do a photo documentary of some topic you are interested in instead of just writing about it.

3.  Write about what you know/write.  As  a writer of romance I should be able to write about romance, especially pertaining to historical and erotic romance since that’s what I write.  Popular posts also include character interviews and posts from the character’s perspective.

4.  Director’s Notes on how and why you got your inspiration for your story.  Backstory on your story can also create a good post.  One of the blogs I just posted gave the “lowdown” on my characters–every dirty little secret I figured they wouldn’t want readers to know.

5.  Give a quiz on one of your works, offering a nice prize to the winner. (I may actually do this one soon!)

I culled some of these ideas from various posts on the internet, but two most helpful posts were Michael Hyatt’s 13 Blog Post Ideas for Novelists and The Publicity Hound’s Blog on Fiction Authors:  Blog About These 19 Topics.

All kinds of ideas can be implemented as a blog post.  A month or so ago I was again stuck for a topic, so I decided to appeal to my writer friends.  I set up a writing prompt and asked them to “Tell Me A Story” by adding sentences to the original prompt.  It didn’t go very far, though it took some amazing turns.  But that post–tagged as Scheherazade–has gotten an incredible amount of hits.  I plan to resurrect it, start the story again, and see where she goes.  The fun part is the creativity in the post.

Most writers I know have a blog, so ladies (and gentlemen), what are some of your favorite post topics?  Is there a topic you’d like to see here on Jenna’s Journal?  What do you do when you’re “all blogged out?”

My shameless promotion follows for Cyber Monday:

The following works are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well as their respective publishers (click on covers to access publishers):

Posted in On Blogging, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Six Sentence Sunday–11/27 Almost Perfect

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Once again it’s time for Six Sentence Sunday.   Thank you to both first-time visitors and those who return each week.  I appreciate everyone stopping by.  

The release of my erotic Contemporary Almost Perfect has been moved to early December, still in time for the holidays.  I’ve got six more from the book this week Hope you enjoy them!  LOL  

Stranded on a desert island,  expecting her fantasy 1 Night Stand date–an Orlando Bloom-esque pirate ready to ravish her with her full permission–Pam finds instead her ex-husband.  After their conversation turns from nasty to downright rude, Roger wants to make-up and brings a bottle of water as a peace offering.  He gets his revenge, however, by tricking Pam into showing him her breasts.

“You still look fine, Pam, mighty fine.” Her ex-husband licked his lips, his grin reaching almost ear to ear. If there weren’t still some water left in the bottle, she’d brain him with it.

He reached down and slipped off his sandals, then untied his drawstring, all the while gawking at her breasts. With one swift movement, he shucked his pants to reveal a hard, tanned body, complete with a serious erection.

She hadn’t seen that coming.

Come back next week for the last six from Almost Perfect.   And please visit the other Six Sentence Sunday snippets.  You’ll be glad you did!

Have a great Sunday!

Posted in 1Night Stand, On Almost Perfect, On Six Sentence Sunday | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Sweet Saturday Sample–11/26 Almost Perfect

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

 

Welcome back to my Sweet Saturday Sample!   Thanks for returning each week or for visiting for the first time. I appreciate everyone who stops by.  

Today’s sample  is again a continuation of my erotic Contemporary Almost Perfect.  Its release has been moved back to early December, but you can still sample a bit of it here until then. This week’s sample continues in the PG-13 vein.

“That’s what I ordered for my fantasy.”

 “Oh, no. Not—”

“Pirates of the Caribbean. Why the hell not?” Defensive, her voice came out sharper than she intended.

“Well, for your information, Miss Know-It-All,” his tone sharpened as well, “my fantasy was simply a deserted island, a splendid, romantic candlelight dinner, a moonlit walk, and all-night sex on the beach. No pirates whatsoever.”

Boring as usual. “Then you think this whole thing is a mistake?”

“Bad luck all around. Things were going so well I should have expected it.”

“Oh, gee, thanks.”

“Sorry.” He shifted his weight and frowned at her. “So your adventure was a pirate on a deserted island?”

“No, my fantasy was to be ravished by an Orlando Bloom look-alike pirate. Deserted island not required.” His stare made her uncomfortable. Or was it talking about another man ravishing her that felt odd?

“Then why are you here?”

“The yacht they brought me out on, the Nautilus—you should see it, Roger, straight out of Some Like It Hot—got a distress call from some other Castillo ship. Modern day pirates shot at them so they had to go to the rescue, though what a vintage 1928 wood yacht can do against an Uzi is beyond me. Company policy required me to be out of harm’s way, so they dropped me off here.”

To her consternation, his face cleared into a charming smile. “That proves it then. You’re here by accident, I’m here by design. Your ship will come back for you, my girl will be dropped off, and we’ll both have a fantastic night.”

Things are rather civil now, but as you may have seen in Six Sentence Sunday, the gloves come off quickly between these two.  I’m posting another six tomorrow from this–a less than civil part of their exchange.  LOL 

You can also join in the fun with your own sample next week.  And follow this link to Sweet Saturday Sample to find more “sweet” offerings. 

Don’t forget the In-Between Days Blog Hop continues until the end of the month. Monday’s featured author is Emily Cale so please hop over to her site for some great giveaways.  Just click the Button to take you to the ‘Tweener’s Hop.

Sure hope to see you tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Posted in 1Night Stand, On Almost Perfect, On Sweet Saturday Sample | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Guest Blogging Today at Daily Dose of Decadence

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Happy Black Friday!  I wish all of you who are shopping until you drop the best of luck with your sales.  You have more stamina than me, but you go ladies and gentlemen!

For years I’ve avoided the Black Friday rush and used the day to address Christmas cards instead.  A more relaxing but just as productive day. 

Today, however, I’m a little busier.  I’m a guest blogger on the Daily Dose of Decadence blog with some Friday Facts about my hero and heroine from Almost Perfect.  And these are not just any facts.  Oh, no.  These are the “dirty little secret” facts that Pam and Roger wouldn’t normally want revealed.  But with the release of Almost Perfect imminent, I thought the truth would come out eventually anyway. 🙂

I also wanted to let my readers know that the tentative date for the book’s release has been changed now to early December.  I’ll keep you posted as to when it will be available.  Until then you’ll just have to read my posts on Sweet Saturday Sample and Six Sentence Sunday to get your Almost Perfect fix! LOL

Posted in 1Night Stand, Guest Bloggers, On Almost Perfect | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments