Jen Winters's Blog, page 16
February 6, 2015
Friday Guest Blogger: Kelly D. Smith
Can Teenagers Write Romance/Erotica?
Hello! First, I would like to say a huge thank you to Jen for letting me stop by!
Today, I���m going to talk a little bit about my experience as a romance/erotica writer. I���m currently 20 and I began writing romance when I was 16. I moved to erotica/romance when I was almost 18 and submitted my first story to a publisher on the day I turned 18. Six months later I had my first story published!
Over the past couple years I’ve found several people seemingly look down on me for my age, or even a couple of people tell me that I am too young to be a romance writer/not old enough to understand what I am writing.
Oddly enough those people always say romance. I’ve even had people tell me that it is one thing to write erotica at my age, but that I���m too young to understand romance.
Now, putting aside the fact that a person can do a lot of research on google these days��� I don���t mean to toot my own horn, but I���m about to marry my high school sweetheart. Maybe 5 years isn’t the most impressive thing but I do think that would suggest I sort of know how to keep a relationship going, and might I even assume that I know a thing or two about love?!
Not only myself but I’ve been surrounded by love my entire life. My parents were high school sweethearts as well have always been open about their relationship. I���ve seen the ups and downs that my parents have gone through, I’ve seen the ups and downs that my friends have gone through with love, and I honestly believe that I understand it. At least as much as anyone else can.
Thankfully for me, I’ve never been one to listen to other people���s opinions on what I should or shouldn’t do, or what I can/can���t do. I’ve come to realize that people will have their own opinions, and I’ve come to accept that. I have my own opinion and I believe that writing romance has much more to do with maturity and understanding.
I wanted to talk about this because it���s a very unique experience. I know many people between the ages of 16 and 22 that want to get into the world of writing romance. I know that some of them already question their work a lot, let alone having someone tell them they are not old (which may be seen as ���good���) enough to be writing this genre.
To judge someone based on their age, is a silly mistake. One that shouldn’t be taken lightly– I know many mature people, who were taking care of a house when they were 15, or able to handle adult situations at that age.
I also wanted to talk about this because it is an interesting conversation. Do you believe age plays a factor in writing romance/erotica?
How young is too young to write romance/erotica?
How do you feel about it?
Once again, thanks Jen for having me!
Find Kelly on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and WordPress.
February 3, 2015
Harper-Collins Romance Festival, Feb. 7-8, 2015
I will be participating in this weekend’s Harper-Collins Romance Festival. I will post a blog or two, have an author interview, and participate on a panel for new writers. To join click here��and make sure you come back on Saturday, also find me on facebook, twitter, and here for links to��the festival when I get them.
Let’s make this a fun adventure and get our romance on this weekend!
Jen Winters, author Kissing Demons
UPDATE!
Here are the links to the Romance Festival!!
February 1, 2015
Kissing the Rain
So, my prequel kind of ran away with me. I do have more chapters to share, but instead of posting them under the prequel menu I am going to go ahead and publish it in a few days. You will be able to read the whole thing for free on Amazon as soon as it is out and I will keep you updated as to when that will be.
This novelette is so exciting! I can’t wait to share the rest with you!
Cover reveal coming soon!
Review: Finding Mikayla by Samantha Christy
Finding Mikayla kept me riveted!
I won this book in a lottery and have since become friends with the author.
I opened this book up today (1-31-15) fully expecting to take a few weeks to read it, and finished it in one sitting. Not even my regular TV shows could draw me out of this dystopian romance.
Finding Mikayla explores one woman’s struggle with finding her happiness in the midst of a changed world, the loss of a love and the discovery of friendships and new love. It delves into the depths of grief, guilt, joy, love, acceptance, and friendship.
I won’t lie, there were tears spilled���from both sadness and joy.
The last 6 hours of my life have been a wonderful roller coaster, getting to know Mikayla and Mitch, and Samantha Christy’s enviable romantic prowess.
January 30, 2015
Review: Magic Resistant (Enforcers and Coterie Book 1)
Veronica Del Rosa weaves together a world of magic and intrigue��that��took me for a ride that I will not soon forget.
Julia has spent her whole life keeping secrets and forcing herself to overcome her own inadequacies in magic. This has taught her both kindness toward other who are different, and given her an edge in her life as a Magic Enforcer, the people who keep the magically inclined in line with the law.
Jackson has spent his entire life as an Enforcer, fighting demons around every turn to keep the peace on Earth. Framed for a crime he didn’t commit, he finds himself on the run and losing a year of his life to the people who want to see him dead.
When Jackson kidnaps Julia, things start to heat up–for both of them.
I enjoyed the world that Del Rosa has woven together, the characters are kick-ass, but believable. I like my PNR��sassy and sexy and Veronica delivered both. This is not an emotional ride, if that is what you are looking for. This is an adventure that will keep you turning the page to find out the whodunit and the what-the-hell-is-going-on!
The Hunter’s Moon, prequel part 6
One deep breath into the club and I knew I had come to exactly the right place. The smells in the air were perfect for a werewolf���s nose. Food, drink, and sex permeated the air, pushing out the odors of the outside world and filling my olfactory with both comfort and desire. The wolf in me rumbled with deep pleasure, even the incubus felt a deep satisfaction from the environment. Dark and sultry corners lurked everywhere, occupied by supernaturals of every kind taking care of emotional, spiritual, and carnal needs. Once through the foyer, the main dance floor came into view, regaling me with the spectacular sight of a hundred bodies moving in time to a beat that only thrummed at the very edge of my hearing. Spells dampened the sound outside the dancefloor so that conversation could take place easily, but I could see the entranced state of the dancers and knew the music there would be loud enough to overcome every other noise.
The bar stretched the length of the club on one side with ten bartenders keeping the patrons happy. I felt a relieved smile crawl across my face as I made my way to an unoccupied bartender. He gave me an easy-going smile and slapped his rag onto the bar. ���What can I getcha?���
A strange scent wafted to me from his question: mesquite wood smoke and rose potpourri. My question must have been written all over my face because he chuckled gave me a cockeyed smirk. ���I���m a vamp-bitten wolf. Name���s Adam.���
He held out a friendly hand and I took it. ���Alex. How about a whiskey, double, on the rocks?���
Adam gave me a quick nod. ���Cominup.��� He danced to a bottle, his movements quick and competent. ���You want something to munch with this?���
The dialect gave me a chuckle. I had been in France long enough to have forgotten how American accents sounded. ���What���s on the menu?��� I asked, smothering my laughter with the question.
���We cater to all sorts. Whatever you need, we can make.���
���Then give me a rare burger and ch���fries.��� When in American, speak American.
���Sure thing. Everything on it or special order?���
���Everything is fine.���
Adam swung over to the kitchen window and shouted my order to one of the cooks back there. When he was satisfied that he had been heard, he came back over to me. ���You gonna sit at the bar or you want a number for a table?���
���I���ll sit here for now, thank you.���
He nodded again and went on to the next customer, who knew him by name and greeted him like an old friend. Given enough time, I thought Adam and I could be friends as well.
I turned on my bar stool and looked over the people scattered about. There were tables full of people drinking, chatting, and having fun. Across the dance floor from me was a section dedicated to comfort���couches, recliners, even beds occupied that space and were in turn occupied by a menagerie couples in the throes of love and lust. My incubus pushed me hard to go join the fun over there. I tamped it down, but admittedly, that looked like my kind of fun.
As I was contemplating the perfection of the club, a tall blond werewolf sauntered up to me with a lusty gaze. She gave me that come-hither gaze and held her hand out to me. ���Gotta dance in you?���
Dear God, yes!
���Order up!���
Adam���s voice distracted me long enough to clear the temptation of my incubus away and smile at the blond. ���Sure thing. Let me eat first,��� I patted the seat beside me and turned to my platter. The portions were perfect for a hungry wolf.
The woman sidled up beside me and stole a fry. ���I can wait…if you���re in the mood to share.���
I felt the pain of the flash just in time to look at my plate and hide my eyes. ���I���ll share, but I���m not a free lunch, ch��rie.���
She leaned in to my ear, nipping it lightly with her perfectly straight teeth. ���Neither am I.���
Her response sent a shiver of desire down my back. I could handle a woman who knew what she wanted and my wolf was begging me to take her. I keep my two halves balanced, but the wolf gets what the wolf wants. The burger retained my attention no more. I stood and nodded to the dance floor. ���Let���s dance.���
The blond took my hand and pulled me along, a knowing smile lifting her cheeks. As soon as I stepped my foot on the dance floor, my previous ruminations were proven true. The music thumped in my chest and drowned out the noise of every other thing around me. For a moment I lost the ability to think, but as soon as the blond started swaying in front of me, I knew I didn���t need to.
Club music designed to bring out the carnal nature of weres encased my entire being���every anxiety feeding my fears fell away as the music took me. Naturally, I matched my moves to my partner���s, swaying with her, stomping and pounding, shimmying after her. She moved into the crowd, slowly stripping her inhibitions and mine away. Somehow I lost my shirt, but I didn���t notice when. She had slipped her dress away and slid her barely clothed body up and down mine, keeping her rhythm and changing mine. Bare-breasted, she danced with her back to me, lifting her arms around my neck, inviting my caresses.
My incubus and werewolf were in agreement, Take her now.
I let them out to play.
Guest Blogger Coming February 6th
Friday, February 6th, reviewer, writer, and blogger, Kelly D. Smith will be sharing her insights and story about how she became a romance author. Be sure to make a date with the winsome Miss Smith and stop by for a more formal introduction.
January 29, 2015
Homecoming, prequel part 5
My arrival in DFW was anti-climactic. I expected to be pummeled by my father���s voice calling me to him, but it remained a steady stream in the back of my mind instead. My urge to go directly to him took a backseat to my determination to keep my distance, but I knew it wouldn���t last. I needed a place to go and I knew of only one place that could save me.
The Hunter���s Moon was the supernatural club in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. It was run by the Utmest Alpha of the Americas, Pete San Angelo, whose reputation as the most powerful werewolf in the world had reached even me in Cerdon. I knew of him���technically he was my great, great, great uncle���but I had never met him that I could recall. His reputation had reached me, though, through a series of halflings I had mentored. Each of them recounted a different encounter with him, but in each case the warning was the same���get off the continent or die. At least he had given them the chance to escape. Who knew how many hadn���t taken his warning seriously.
I caught a cab at the airport. The man behind the wheel asked me where I was heading and I had no idea. Pulling out my phone, I looked up the club���s address. It was a legitimate business and it was on Google, but the cabby was hesitant to go there.
���That���s a really bad neighborhood, friend. I don���t think you want to go there.���
The wards must be strong if the cabby was trying to convince me not to go this far away. ���Just get me as close as you feel comfortable and I���ll walk the rest of the way.��� I pushed the suggestion into his mind and enforced it with a strong will to obey.
One of the many powers my father had imbued me with included the ability to control the minds and memories of both humans and supernaturals alike. A simple push of my power overwhelmed his magically induced dread of the neighborhood around the club and he didn���t argue again.
The cityscape was beautiful, if very industrial most of the way to the club. The driver took highways nearly all the way there, and I got to see a lot of the bustling metropolis. Sky scrapers stood up in towering spires of human ingenuity, even the shorter buildings were grandly designed, wide and spacious, giving the impression of wide-open spaces in the middle of a huge city.
It only took an hour to reach downtown Dallas where The Hunter���s Moon stood in what looked like a five story warehouse on the outskirts of the area. I had looked it up on Google Earth and when the cabby stopped, I was surprised to discover I was merely a couple blocks away. I thanked the man and paid him with a substantial tip before wiping everything but the impression of a fare from him memory. The fewer people who knew I was here, the better.
I took a deep breath as soon as the taxi drove away and tried not to choke on the exhaust of the city. I knew the smell, but it was a cloud over this place unlike the cleaner air in Cerdon. I couldn���t help but wrinkle my nose. The smell of the city was much less pleasant than the view���garbage, rotting carcasses, exhaust, and the sweat and grime from humans punctuated every step I took. I wondered how on earth a whole pack of my brethren could reside here amid this disquieting stench.
The streets were busy with traffic, but the pedestrians were mostly headed the opposite direction as me. There were a few people heading my way, but I could tell from their slowing steps that they probably wouldn���t make it to their destination. I was close enough to feel the impact of the wards around The Hunter���s Moon. Humans would become disoriented and dread would fill them the closer they got to the building. If they got too close, a redirection ward would send them scurrying away. Everything about the neighborhood screamed, ���No Humans Allowed��� and that made me wonder if the entire neighborhood was populated solely by supernaturals or if it was deserted except for the club.
As my destination came into view, I masked my scent from other supernaturals. I didn���t know exactly what I smelled like to others, but Stephan had told me it was a strange combination of rain and sulfur���not altogether unpleasant, but definitely identifiable. I knew that if Pete realized who I was he might kill me on the spot, so I wove a spell that would make me smell like an ursine-were. Bears had an atrocious odor to me, but I figured that it would disincline the bouncer from investigating me too much.
It was early afternoon on Wednesday, so there was not a line into the club. I sent up a little prayer of thanks for that boon.
Alex! You���re here! Come to me, son. Come to me.
Halfway across the street in front of the club, Yuruch���s voice came to me with delighted laughter. It stopped me in my tracks. I could see the on-coming traffic, but no power on earth could move me unless he let go or I let in. ���I will die right here if you don���t let go, Yuruch,��� I said through clenched teeth, fighting with every ounce of power I had to stay in that spot.
His laughter echoed through me again. Come to me. You don���t have to die. I can give you a new life full of everything your heart has ever desired.
���I would rather die.���
A single burst of fleeting anger ran through my entire body. I���d pissed him off, but suddenly it was gone and I was free again. In a flash I dashed to the other side of the street, barely escaping a driver who had not seen me standing there, and ran to the club entrance.
Calling All Authors
I will be engaging with Kelly D. Smith on my birthday, February 9th! Come and join me for discussion and a giveaway of my novel KISSING DEMONS!
Originally posted on Kelly D. Smith :
I���m calling all authors to action!
I���m looking to on my author interviews and am looking for authors to help. If you are interested in taking a little time to fill out an interview about your writing process and offer advice to aspiring authors please let me know and we can work something out!
And of course you will be able to promote your work!
January 27, 2015
Succubus, prequel part 4
The second leg of my journey began almost as soon as we landed. I rushed from one gate to another in order to board immediately. I had planned it that way because there was nothing worse than airport sitting. For normal humans, it was just a boring wait, for me it was torture. All those sights and smells over-loaded my werewolf; the surge of emotions coming from every direction���love, lust, sorrow, longing, rage, frustration, pity���all of it tempted my incubus and gave my control a hard work-out. Not that I couldn���t, but it was better if I didn���t have to wait.
As I boarded the flight, I nearly choked on my own vomit; I could distinctly smell four unwashed men who had recently had sex with the same partner. They were all in the first-class cabin which meant they all had probably spent their waiting time with the same prostitute in the first-class lounge. I enjoyed a good multi-partner tryst as much as any incubus, but that was not what had happened and I could smell the syphilis from here. How none of them had noticed or cared enough to protect their junk disgusted me.
The flight from Madrid to New York was an eight hour trip. I was ready to actually sleep on this flight, but as soon as I sat down, I saw a good reason to stay awake. She was three people behind me���tall, lithe, buxom���her pixie-cut brown hair had been frosted and spiked to match a smattering of chrome studs in her ears and face. All of that got my attention, but what kept it was the distinct contradiction of her clothing choice. She wore a long sleeve, plain white blouse with a comfortable khaki skirt and delicate sandals. She had a feminine silver bracelet encircling her tiny wrist and she smiled like an angel on her way to a baptism.
Then she sat down next to me across the aisle. She smelled like the perfection of femininity: all natural musk from a workout hours before and the light scent of rose soap. Everyone noticed her, but I knew whose attentions would matter. I smiled at her and nodded, giving her an approval she hadn���t sought, and didn���t know she wanted.
She rewarded me with half a grin and a bashful nod back to me. I chuckled softly and turned my attention to the coming line of boarders. I would have eight hours to get to know this girl, I needn���t rush the process.
I was a pack animal, and I preferred the company and closeness of my family, but the cramped space in the plane, and the plethora of odors coming from what were essentially my prey, had me closing my eyes and meditating on the bars of the cage behind which I kept my beast. I needed to bolster them daily to keep them from cracking under the pressure the beast always exercised on my control. It wasn���t just my incubus behind those bars, my wolf also stood behind them, growling at me, ordering me to free it. Without my control, the wolf would emerge, and not only would that girl beside me be in danger of losing her aural chi to me, but she would also be in danger from a possessive wolf who liked what he saw and salivated at what he smelled.
I could afford to feed them both to keep myself strong, in fact, I needed to feed both beasts within, but I had to maintain control of their feedings and never allow myself to lose the balance I had fought so hard to find. Unbidden, the image of Sarah and Michel losing their lives struck me hard and my father���s voice rang in my ears. ���Come to me, Alex. Are you coming?���
He knew I was on my way; he was taunting me. How he could sweep past all my defenses like they were nothing baffled me and pissed me off. Get out of my head you bastard! You know I���m coming.
His teasing laughter echoed through my mind, but then he was gone again, just the continuous reminder to come to him repeating itself at the edge of my consciousness.
���Are you ok?���
My eyes snapped open at the whisper of lilies in the field. I looked over to the contradictory woman and saw her light grey eyes observing me with genuine concern featured strongly in them. More time had passed than I expected, we were already aloft and I hadn���t felt the pressure from take-off. ���I���m alright. I had a rough night, but it���s getting better.��� I felt my lips turn up in a half-smile that reflected her own.
���You looked like you were having a fight with yourself.��� Her astute observation threw me for a moment. I was not used to humans actually seeing me.
���Not so much myself, as with my father.��� My years of practicing honesty were not going to be wasted on petty lies that I didn���t have to speak.
She nodded and pursed her supple royal purple colored lips. The gaudy lipstick was the only make-up on her face, but it fit the look of her fashion. ���I do that too. All alone in my heard, I go over the argument I have either had or the one I want to have. Unfortunately practice doesn���t usually make an argument less destructive and it doesn���t take back words already spoken in anger.���
���True, but it helps us categorize our own thoughts and feelings and it gives us an outlet for expressing our mixed emotions, much like dreaming does.���
���What was the argument about?��� she asked, all curiosity and innocence.
I closed my eyes as soon as the stab of pain hit my temple. My eyes were changing again, but it only took a moment for them to revert back. One deep breath later I answered her question. ���He called me earlier today demanding my return home. I haven���t been home in more years that you would believe and all of the sudden he needs me. But he is my father, and I cannot break the bond we have no matter how hard I may want to or try. So, here I am, on a flight back to him.��� I laughed at the ridiculousness of my situation. ���I don���t even know why he wants me so bad.���
���Wow, that sounds exactly like what happened to me,��� she noted with a laugh. ���I just got a call from my dad too. He wants me in Dallas and he wants me there now. I have no earthly idea what he wants, but I have to go.��� She sighed and chuckled again and then I saw it.
Her eyes changed from light grey to bright, emerald green. It happened in a flash, and I almost missed it when she blinked, but it was there and then it was gone. She saw the look in my eyes and mistook it. I felt her succubus stab at me, trying to wipe away the memory of the green eyes, but instead of finding my memory, she found my incubus and immediately pulled back with a startled jump.
���What the hell?��� She whispered, trying to keep the humans around us from noticing our sudden interaction.
I couldn���t help but laugh at her question. ���Yes, exactly.���
She gave my laughter a confused look before she realized what she had said and laughed with me. ���Yes, that���s true.���
I help my hand out to her. ���Alex Wolfe.���
She took it and squeezed. ���Sylvia Gray.���
���I���m heading to Dallas as well, Sylvia. You wouldn���t happen to be the daughter of Yuruch, would you?���
She nodded and sighed. ���That I am.���
And now I was awestruck. She was my sister, but more than that, she was not a crazed halfling like most of our siblings. She was calm, funny, composed. ���Where did you learn control?��� I asked, unable to keep my surprise hidden.
She lifted a pretty brow at me. ���Probably the same place as you. Stephan found me when I was an infant and raised me in his school for special brats.��� She winked at me, joking, but we both knew her description was far from a lie.
���You must have graduated before me.��� So she was an older sister. Interesting.
���I left in 1903,��� she whispered so low, only I would be able to hear her.
���Long before me. Stephan found my in ���66. I was twelve at the time.���
She gave me her half smile. ���So you���re the Alex I���ve heard so much about.���
���What have you heard?���
Sylvia shrugged. ���Just a lot. Stephan and I keep in touch. But more importantly, you do realize that you can���t actually go to Yuruch, right? You need to hide away and keep yourself away from him at all costs.���
���I know. I have a plan, but I can���t stay away from Dallas. The urge to follow is too strong.���
She sighed. ���True. I���m going to die there. A seer I know told me that if I go, I am going to die. I can���t stop myself, but I���ve accepted my fate. I���ve had a really good life and if it���s time, then it���s time.���
���I���m so sorry,��� I held my hand out to her. There was nothing I could do to save her, we both knew that.
She took my hand and smiled again. ���Thank you.���
For a long time we held each other���s hands, preparing for our arrival and bolstering each other up. She was my sister, and I was her brother, and we both received comfort from that.
