SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY–WEEK 6

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome back for six more this Easter Sunday.  This week’s sentences are again from my new work Hog Wild.  Not exactly Easter fare, but hopefully a fun way to wake up this morning.  This six begins almost exactly after last week’s sentences.  Enjoy!

“I want to measure you.”

“I think there’s a tape measure in my toolbox.” Beau couldn’t help his proud grin.

Lula’s gaze rested on his long rod, standing like a lone pine tree. “I have a much better way to measure such things.” She reached out and pushed his shoulders back onto the mattress, then dropped to her knees.

That’s it for this week!  Go have fun and check out other snippets at http//sixsunday.blogspot.com.  See you next week!

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SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY–WEEK 5

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

My six this week are from my Erotic Contemporary Romance, Hog Wild.  It’s a fractured retelling of The Three Little Pigs (who are now Harley riders or HOGs).  But my big news is that Hog Wild just got accepted for publication by New Dawning International Bookseller!

In this six, Lula Wolfendale is seducing her first victim, Beau Hogue, in order to steal his motorcycle after hers leaves her stranded in the desert.  Hope you enjoy!

Beau’s jaw hit the ground for a second time that morning when the bathroom door opened and Lula strutted into his bedroom, naked except for her tall black boots and onyx navel ring. His cock had calmed down after her statement about just wanting to wash up; now it sprang to attention with such enthusiasm he expected it to unzip his jeans. Her red mouth curled into a feral smile that made him wonder if this was some retroactive pipe dream from the last time he smoked weed. If so, he was gonna make Jesse get him some more of that shit.

Well, that’s my six for this week.  Hope you liked it–if so please leave a comment and let me know.  And be sure to check out other fantastic snippets at Six Sentence Sunday:  http//sixsunday.blogspot.com.  See you next week.

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PERMISSION TO WRITE? GRANTED!

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Recently, I have found one question beginning to consume me almost as much as writing itself does:  do I hold out for traditional print publishing via an agent, or do I go with an epublisher first to try and get my name out there with a couple of books under my belt before querying more agents?

This question has been much on my mind due in part to Amanda Hocking, but due also to my own tendency to always be behind the times.  I’ve always been the one who assumes a fashion or trend just as it’s morphing into something else.  If the fashion is bell-bottom jeans this year you can bet I’ll be wearing them–next year.

With more at stake here than just a raid by the fashion police, I am very antsy about putting off the pursuit of epublishing.  As I told someone recently, “If epublishing is the wave of the future, I’d much rather ride the wave than drown.”

I am not usually an impatient person.  You will probably laugh in my face at that statement when I say that I have only been aggressively querying my historical romance to agents since early February.  And I have had several requests for partials and fulls.  Responses have been fairly good, but there’s been no offer of representation.  And even if I get an offer, that’s only hurdle no. 1.  The agent still has to sell the manuscript.  Which could take years in the current economy and climate of publishing.

So as I sit teetering on the fence, along comes an article from Kristine Katherine Rusch’s blog that pushed me over the edge.

http://kriswrites.com/2011/04/06/the-business-rusch-promotion/

Granted this article is about promotion.  But it also encouraged me to think that if I can get my work published via epublishers, whose turn-around is much quicker than traditional publishers, then by the time I do break into traditional publishing (ever the optimist, I believe I will eventually), I will be able to use the model Kristin suggests because I will have built up a readership via the ebook.

Does it matter whether my first book is published traditionally or by an epublisher?  I’m beginning to think the answer is still yes.  But the preference will be for the epublisher.  A statement I never thought I would make.  Just like my husband thought I would never request a Kindle.

There is one other big upside to the model Kristin outlines in her article.  My job as writer becomes streamlined.  I don’t have to get a Facebook or Twitter account and spend hours a week on them.  I don’t have to write a blog (but I will because I do enjoy this type of writing).  I do, however, have to write.  I have to keep producing novels, and novellas, and short stories.  Which is a fantastic task for a writer!  Permission to write like the devil was on my heels has been granted.

You won’t have to tell me twice!

If you have ever asked yourself the “traditional or epublisher” question, please share your answers with me.  Which wave will you ride? Or are you already cresting on one or the other?

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SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY – WEEK 4

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome back for six more sentences this Sunday.  I decided to continue this week with another six from my Victorian era historical romance As Long As You’re Mine.  Rafael has just reminded Lady Samantha Easterling about their passionate encounter the evening before.

         He ran his tongue lightly over her closed lips and felt her shudder in his embrace.  Encouraged, he teased along the seam, but she pushed strenuously against his chest, so he concentrated instead on seducing her lips, teasing them with gentle tugs, nibbling here and there.  She went deathly still.  He lifted his head and opened his eyes to find ice picks of gray steel staring back at him from less than an inch away.  Reflexes made him straighten abruptly, then. . .

            Wham!  Pain exploded along his left cheek. 

Well, there’s my six for this week.  If you enjoyed this snippet with Rafe and Samantha, please leave me a comment and let me know!  And check out  other great sixes at  http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/ or share your six with us by joining Six Sentence Sunday. 

     Next week I’ll be posting six sentences from my newest WIP Hog Wild, an erotic contemporary twisted fairy tale, based on The Three Little Pigs.  See you then!

 

Posted in On As Long As You're Mine, On Works in Progress | Tagged , , , , | 33 Comments

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY–WEEK #3

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

This must have ben the shortest week on record!  I can’t believe it is Sunday again so soon.  But I have my six for the week, this time from my current WIP As Long As You’re Mine.

Set in London and Richmond, Va in 1892, the story follows Lady Samantha Easterling who, when her plan to force a marriage her father disapproves of backfires, ends up betrothed to a perfect stranger, American Rafael Beauregard.  In this scene, Rafael is trying to talk to Samantha about the wedding, but ends up reminding her of their first meeting:

           Rafael smiled, a slow, dangerous smile.  “Let us revisit what you dared to do last night, Lady Samantha, before either of us becomes indignant.  Let us remember that I was awakened by a most insistent hand on my shoulder and then. . . .”

            “Don’t you dare continue, sir!”

            “We certainly continued last night.”  Rafael’s mind burned with the memory of her hot mouth, her smooth, silken body, the tight, moist sheath, and unconsciously stepped toward her.

That’s all for this week.  Hope you enjoyed my six.  If so, you might want to read more snippets at   http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/ or join in the fun next week with your own six. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please let me know if you liked my six.

Posted in On As Long As You're Mine, On Works in Progress, On Writing, On Writing Historical Romance | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY–WEEK TWO

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

I can’t believe it’s Sunday again already!  This week has flown by, but I’m really excited to be posting my six this week from Only Scandal Will Do, my WIP currently completed and out with agents.

The scene is London, the time March 1761.  These are the opening six where we meet the heroine:

   “Put her back in the carriage, now.”

   Her assailant’s gravelly voice next to her ear sent a shiver of fear through Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam.  Violent hands seized her and tossed her back into the carriage.

   Now she was gagged, her hands pinioned behind her back, and her ankles bound together.  Trussed like a Christmas goose, she could only lie in a cramped bundle on the hard plank floor of the dim carriage, her diaphanous Grecian costume in ruins, and scheme how to get out of this predicament.  The horses jerked forward and the uneven cobblestones of the London streets jounced her already aching body.

There are my six for this week.  Hope you enjoyed meeting Lady Katarina.  If so, check out more authors as they post their six sentences or join us next week at

http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/

Come back next Sunday for a peek at my Victorian WIP–As Long As You’re Mine.



Posted in On Only Scandal Will Do, On Writing Historical Romance | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

CHARACTER ARC OF THE HEROINE

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

I want to begin this post with a question to you:  Do you, as romance readers in today’s society, only want to read about plucky, spirited heroines?  Women whose attributes of courage and positive self-worth are established from page 1 and do not waver throughout the novel?  Or does this not get old after a while?  I have noticed this trend in the books I read and it has given me some concerns.

I am planning to revise a WIP this summer, set in medieval England and France, where the heroine is young (another drawback I’ve been told) and begins as a very traditional woman for the time period.  Not exactly meek, but certainly not a sword-wielding Amazon either.  But by the end of the novel her character arc has taken her from young and passive to mature, strong, and fearless.

I’ve been told women do not want to read about this type of heroine.  I wonder, however, how true that statement is.  My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that it is just as interesting to see the journey from weakness to strength as to see the journey from strength to…well, strength.  More interesting, in fact, to see the heroine truly grow into the character she is meant to be.  Of course the seeds of the end product must be sown in the first chapters—the potential for change must be there.  But having set that up, I would hope that readers would be excited to see how the heroine makes that transition.

One book that uses this trope is Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower.

When the book opens Heather, the heroine, is a veritable dishrag of a 17 year old girl, but by the end she is the competent and adored mistress of a huge plantation, with her volatile but devastatingly gorgeous husband wrapped around her finger.  How did she do that?  Read the book to find out.

Two movie examples also come readily to mind:  The Terminator and Romancing the Stone.

In the first Terminator movie, Sarah Connor starts out as a soft-spoken sort of party-girl type—rather milque-toast in my opinion.

Yet by the end of the movie she is tough as nails and ready to take on the world.  In Terminator 2 she’s become capable of doing just that—a force to be reckoned with.

In Romancing the Stone, Joan Wilder, romance novelist (!), starts out as a woman scared of her own shadow.  Through the trials of her adventure in the South American jungle, she gains the confidence to believe in herself and becomes the feisty heroine she’s always written about.  Her transformation is visually stunning:  after Joan’s identity as a romance novelist saves the day for her and her hero, she blossoms from the repressed-looking spinster into the vibrant adventuress.

These three examples, all from the 1970s and 80s, make me wonder if this scenario was popular then because the second wave of feminism was sweeping the country at that time and women were fascinated by the prospect of  becoming more than they ever dreamed possible.  Today’s romance readers have grown up in the post-second wave era with the idea that women are strong, are the equal of men, and can do anything they set their minds to.  Does that sensibility, then, preclude them from identifying with a woman who is not any of those things, but who has the potential to be?  Would you not want to cheer her on to her ultimate destiny?

What is your preference?  The strong, plucky heroine who is a steadfast character throughout with minimal change, or the shy, meek mouse who turns into the lion?  Would you read both?

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SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Good Morning!  This is my first week participating in Six Sentence Sunday and today my six sentences are from my historical romance short story “Heart of Deception,” which is under contract and will be available shortly from Books to Go Now.

In the story, Celinda Graham—young, naïve, passionate—is head-over-heels in love with Andrew Finley, and insists on marrying him. Unfortunately, Andrew’s family has been feuding with Celinda’s for generations.  When her father refuses to allow the marriage, however, Andrew has a plan:

“Celinda, I have an idea of how we can get your father’s approval for our marriage, and quickly, but it’s rather daring.  I don’t know if you would agree to it.”  His eyes glinted with a roguish flare.  “I don’t know if you should agree to it.”

As if an icicle had been drawn down her spine, gooseflesh rose on Celinda’s arms.  She could barely whisper, “What is it, Andrew?”

Hope you enjoyed this teaser from “Heart of Deception.”  If you’d like to read more great snippets or join in the fun, check out the Six Sentence Sunday site:

http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/

Join me next Sunday for a look at one of my WIPs–Only Scandal Will Do.

 

Posted in On Heart of Deception, On Writing Historical Romance | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

RED LETTER WEEK

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

I am sorry I have not posted since March 5  but the past couple of weeks have been full of expectation, high hopes and exciting news.  This past week has been a true red letter week. As this blog is about a writer’s journey, and these are all milestones along the way, I thought I’d share my “red letters.”

This magical section of my journey began with an online chat with Mary Murray, editor for Lyrical Press that ended with an invitation to send her my manuscript Only Scandal Will Do.  After polishing it, Monday morning I sent it to Mary and to an agent who had requested a revision. 

I also entered The Knight Agency’s Speed Dating 2 contest—put your name on their blog between 12 and 1 pm and if you are randomly chosen, you send in three pages.  And lo and behold, I won that lottery!  I sent in my 3 pages, bit my nails for three days, and made the cut to Round 2: a request for 10 pages. 

On Friday, March 11 I also submitted an HR short story, “Heart of Deception,” to Books to Go Now!  They have a two week turnaround, so I was not expecting the email I got at 11pm on Sunday night:  the offer of a contract for the story.  Walking on sunshine at midnight!

Less than 12 hours later another magical moment:  I made it into Round 3 of The Knight Agency contest: request for three chapters. A request for a partial! Things were getting scary good, though I kept remembering Harvey Keitel’s line from Thelma and Louise:  “Brains will only get you so far, and luck always runs out.”  Meanwhile, my crit partners were telling me to buy a lottery ticket!

The bubble burst on Thursday when I got the email that the Knight Agency had determined my work was not a good fit for them at this time.  Looking at their website I tend to agree.  They seem to not handle much historical romance, making us not a good fit.  But apparently my writing impressed them enough for them to take me to Round 3.  I’d like to think that at any rate.  I started out as one of 466 people who left comments and ended as one of 15 participants from whom they requested chapters.  Although I’d have liked to have continued, I’ll take the ride I was given and say thank you.

But that’s not the end of the story.  Last night I sent out five new queries for Scandal and within half an hour I had a request for a partial and synopsis.  The absolute cherry on top of the Red Letter Week.

So the rollercoaster continues.  Will anything come of the queries or requests I have out?  I have no idea.  That is part of the life of a writer.  It is a constant pull between feast and famine.  But despite the ups and downs of the process, you have to keep trying.  The week before Red Letter Week was Black Letter Week- depths of despair, nothing happening, nothing going to happen.  Let’s have a pity party tonight. 

Okay, break’s over.  Get back out there and make it happen.  No one can do it but you.

Have you had Red Letter days when nothing could go wrong?  How about Black Letter days, when it seemed someone was dumping the sewer down your shirt?  Please share a comment about how you cope with either/both of these writers’ experiences.

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LES MISERABLES – Romance not for the faint of heart

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Most readers today think of romance within the current conventions of the genre.  What we don’t realize is that in the beginning of the romantic movement the expectations were very different.  When viewing or reading a classic romance, such as Les Miserables, the reader will probably be struck with how dark these works are.  Not the dim lighting, but the dark nature of the works themselves.

Last of the Mohicans, The Three Musketeers, House of the Seven Gables, and Les Miserables are all novels from the romantic period of the 19th century, all include great love stories.  None have an HEA.

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, was turned into a legendary musical in the late 1980s, whose several intertwined love stories end only in death and sorrow.  Yet it was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had, hearing the incredible music, seeing the exquisite performances in person Wednesday night. 

It made me wonder, why do current romances not have a darker vein to them?  Why can we not have that undertone of tragedy along with the assurance of the happy ending? Some of the great romantic novels have had such undertones:  Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre most readily come to mind. But of the current romance novels I have read only one has had any kind of tragedy in it:  Samantha James’ Just One Kiss. It may simply be that I have not stumbled upon those in the historical romance genre. I know the paranormals can be rather dark, but do they incorporate tragedy into their stories as well?

Back to Les Miserables:  The two love stories that end badly, Fantine’s lover who abandons her with a child, and Eponine’s unrequited love for Marius, inspired me last night.  The songs these women sing, “I Dreamed A Dream” and “A Little Fall of Rain”, are achingly poignant and got me to wondering how I could incorporate their scenarios somehow into a romance with a happy ending.  During my four hour drive home, having nothing better to think about, I came up with at least skeletal outlines for each story. Both set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars just around Waterloo.

 Perhaps, like the true romantics, some good will come of their tragedies—or as Eponine sings, “Rain will make the flowers grow.”

 A third outline was inspired by the name of the restaurant my daughter and I were supposed to dine at but didn’t have time.  The Alewife is now the title of a Restoration revel, a tavern notorious for assignations in a time when assignations were the norm. I have the outline for this racy romp perking merrily in my head.  It may even turn into erotica—I was also inspired by Johnny Depp’s The Libertine (R-rated with good reason!).

Below is the trailer for the 25th Anniversary Tour of Les Miserables—I hope the trailer will inspire you to look beneath the happy ending—for each HEA is founded upon someone’s sacrifice.

  

 

 What is your favorite romantic story?  Not necessarily a genre romance. Some romances don’t have happy endings.  Case in point Gone with the Wind.  Does romance benefit from a darker tragedy lurking somewhere in the story, making the happily-ever-after more sweet because the H/H won through while others did not?  Please share your thoughts.

 

Posted in On Writing Historical Romance | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments