Barbara Elsborg's Blog: https://www.barbaraelsborg.com/blog, page 14
April 6, 2013
Decisions
I'm in the unusual position of having several projects half-started on my laptop. I'm not good at multi-tasking. I might have lots of half-formed ideas written in note form but not usually actual stories part written. I wrote a short story for a friends' anthology but it didn't work for them. I wrote another and that didn't work either so I gave up on the anthology but not the stories.
I suspect that part of the issue was that they were more long stories condensed than proper short stories. So I decided to expand them. Explain the characters motivations etc etc
The one I started with I'd only intended to convert 5,000 words into maybe 15,000 but I'm already at that and haven't even had my hero and heroine meet yet. Nor had I intended to write a werewolf story but seems my fingers had other ideas. I nicked an idea from one of my earlier books, Falling For You, and changed it a bit and now I'm racing away.
But I'm also pulled to the other story - about Faeries and I also started a contemporary MF one based on me and husband getting stranded at Philadelphia airport one snowy January. I can't write them all at the same time. But I want to. Plus I have a suspense story I need to tidy and get out there.
Let alone all the household stuff. Cleaning, dishwasher, ironing etc What I really need is another few of me so I can do everything at the same time.
I put the suggestion to husband.
His answer - One of you is quite enough.
And looking at me = I think he's right.
I suspect that part of the issue was that they were more long stories condensed than proper short stories. So I decided to expand them. Explain the characters motivations etc etc
The one I started with I'd only intended to convert 5,000 words into maybe 15,000 but I'm already at that and haven't even had my hero and heroine meet yet. Nor had I intended to write a werewolf story but seems my fingers had other ideas. I nicked an idea from one of my earlier books, Falling For You, and changed it a bit and now I'm racing away.
But I'm also pulled to the other story - about Faeries and I also started a contemporary MF one based on me and husband getting stranded at Philadelphia airport one snowy January. I can't write them all at the same time. But I want to. Plus I have a suspense story I need to tidy and get out there.
Let alone all the household stuff. Cleaning, dishwasher, ironing etc What I really need is another few of me so I can do everything at the same time.
I put the suggestion to husband.
His answer - One of you is quite enough.
And looking at me = I think he's right.
April 2, 2013
Another dimension!
My crit partner, Arlene Webb, has a new book out called Blood Alert. It's the second in a series of three about some fantastic beings called Rons. You don't have to have read book one to enjoy book two and in fact, the two books are a little different in tone. Incoming Alert - the first - is about a Ron who comes of age and phases to Earth. Caron is cute. I couldn't help but fall in love with him.
Blood Alert, the second book, introduces us to another set of characters and the main ones are Cham and his sister, Kylee.
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Alert-Chronicle-IF-ebook/dp/B00C4U2VR4/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364898690&sr=1-2&keywords=blood+alert#_
Here's the blurb!
Born with a strange addiction, Cham needs a pint or two of blood on a regular basis to stay alive, healthy and solid. To make a miserable life worse, most everyone around him, except for his sister Kylee, overlook him as if he's not clearly there. If not for the rage and questions pushing at him, he'd wonder if he really exists.
Cham's mother died giving birth to him, leaving him and four-year-old Kylee in the hands of an angry, uncaring father. From the moment his infant fingers clutched hers, Kylee has been determined to protect him from the visible and invisible monsters.
After fleeing an abusive home, their lives revolve around stealing what Cham needs to survive. When he confides detail about a man from their past no one but he could see, Kylee refuses to leave him or let him fade into insanity. All is fine in their little world, until the cops arrest her for theft, and hallucinations do much worse than torment his memory.
They become so violently real, Cham wishes it was as simple as throwing himself in a padded cell.
Blood Alert, the second book, introduces us to another set of characters and the main ones are Cham and his sister, Kylee.
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Alert-Chronicle-IF-ebook/dp/B00C4U2VR4/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364898690&sr=1-2&keywords=blood+alert#_
Here's the blurb!
Born with a strange addiction, Cham needs a pint or two of blood on a regular basis to stay alive, healthy and solid. To make a miserable life worse, most everyone around him, except for his sister Kylee, overlook him as if he's not clearly there. If not for the rage and questions pushing at him, he'd wonder if he really exists.
Cham's mother died giving birth to him, leaving him and four-year-old Kylee in the hands of an angry, uncaring father. From the moment his infant fingers clutched hers, Kylee has been determined to protect him from the visible and invisible monsters.
After fleeing an abusive home, their lives revolve around stealing what Cham needs to survive. When he confides detail about a man from their past no one but he could see, Kylee refuses to leave him or let him fade into insanity. All is fine in their little world, until the cops arrest her for theft, and hallucinations do much worse than torment his memory.
They become so violently real, Cham wishes it was as simple as throwing himself in a padded cell.
March 29, 2013
Three in a bed
This little chap, for those who don't already know, is Winnie, the long haired miniature dachshund that belongs to my son and his partner. Winnie's lying in the blowup bed that hubs and I sleep in when we go visit. When my kids begged me for a dog, I said no. The moment they had their own places, both of them got dogs. Daughter has a crazy loveable rogue called Riley - a flat coated retriever and son has Winnie. Plus another. Yesterday he held up a little blond puppy - a golden retriever aged 8 weeks called Charlotte. Winnie is NOT impressed. The puppy is already bigger than him. So looks like we'll be walking two dogs next time we go to Texas. It might end up as four in a bed!
March 26, 2013
Another blog tour! Woohoo!!!!
Thanks to Holly for organising this!!! And to Decadent Publishing for their support.
http://www.fmbpromotions.com/2013/03/book-blitz-tour-princess-and-prepper-by.html
Tour Schedule: March 27thDustykatt's Stuff (Review/Giveaway)Coffee & A Book Anytime (Review/Giveaway)Free Erotica Books (Spotlight/Giveaway)Review From Here (Spotlight/Giveaway)Books Amour (Spotlight/Giveaway)My Reading Obsession (Review/Giveaway)Musings of a Writing Reader (Spotlight/Giveaway)March 28thThe Many Muses of MaryLynn (Review/Giveaway)Sweet n' Sassi (Review/Giveaway)Jersey Girl Sizzling Book Reviews (Review/Giveaway)A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books (Review/Giveaway)Paranormal Romance and Beyond (Spotlight/Giveaway)
March 9, 2013
Me and BDSM
Well, to be fair, there is no - me and BDSM. I know very little about the lifestyle other than what I've read. I've never dabbled in it, been to a club or even spoken to anyone who's into it. But I have read a lot about it and I've read a few novels where it was the theme. After I'd read the books, I came to the conclusion that I don't like BDSM between a guy and a woman - which probably accounts for the reason I haven't yet read 50 Shades - though I've been told it's not real BDSM anyway. There's something that makes me very uncomfortable reading about a man tying up a woman and doing things to her - yes, with her consent but maybe it's because I don't want to even imagine those things being done to me. It never interests me or turns me on.
BUT - BDSM between two guys - er - yes, I do like reading books about that. I find it fascinating- the power play, the control thing, all of it. So why? Why with MM and not with MF? The characters of the Doms and subs are very similar regardless of their sex. I have to assume it has something to do with identifying with characters. I'm safe in an MM book because I'm not a guy. What happens, isn't happening to me. But with a MF book, if a woman begs to be spanked, beaten, whipped, punished - I don't want to be that woman. But is it as simple as that? I have no idea. I wish I was a psychologist!
I do have a few BDSM scenes in my books - a bit at the start of An Ordinary Girl, (two guys), a section in Fight to Remember ( two guys - well not human but male) and a little more than normal in my latest WIP - tentatively called - With or Without Him.
A snippet from my new one - not out until December. (Unedited too)
More and more people were gathering around the platform in the center of the room and as Haris watched, a heavily muscled Asian man, his chest and arms smothered in dragon tattoos, hauled the St. Andrew’s cross into the air until it rested at an angle. A naked guy with black wings hung from it, his wrists and ankles secured by rope. Lines of metal clips ran from his nipples to his hips and his balls and cock were smothered in them. The bound man lifted his head and Haris froze. Shit. He sucked in a disappointed breath and turned away. Tyler wasn’t the guy he hoped for. No need to stay longer.One last look. He swiveled round and Tyler lifted his head again, scanning the crowd with his wide-eyed gaze, a ball gag distorting his mouth. Haris released a quiet groan. Unless Tyler was a very good actor, not only was he not enjoying this, he was terrified. Haris curled his fingers into fists. The problem was—what could he do about it? Interfering in someone’s bondage play was frowned on and unwise unless it was an emergency. This wasn’t an emergency. Tyler had to have voluntarily let himself be tied and gagged, so had things gone too far or was he just pretending? He seemed distressed and frightened, but didn’t appear to be in immediate danger. Even so, the look in his eyes unsettled Haris to the point that he couldn’t walk away. He moved closer.The Asian rigger crouched with his back to Tyler, chatting to a guy on the far side of the platform and Haris bristled. Someone should be monitoring the sub at all times, checking he could breathe, making sure his hands and fingers weren’t losing sensation. Anxiety coiled like a snake in his gut. Tyler’s eyelids fluttered, drool seeped from around the gag and even above the ambient noise, Haris could hear the muffled sounds of his misery. He pushed through the last onlookers to stand in front of the rigger. “Take his ball gag out.”The bastard laughed. “You want me gag you instead?”“He’s having problems.”The rigger walked back to Tyler and ran his hand over a line of clips. Tyler squirmed and gave a muted anguished groan. Haris clenched his jaw.“This BDSM,” said the rigger. “This what he want. This what they want.” He gestured to the watching crowd.Tyler shook his head, more saliva trickling down his chin as he struggled. His gaze locked with Haris, his eyes desperate, his breathing frantic. “Did you check it was what he wanted?” Haris asked. “With that gag in, he can’t tell you.”“He brat. Talk too much. He give sign if problem.” The man shrugged. “No sign.”What fucking sign can he give you when he’s bound and gagged? Or when you’ve got your back toward him?
BUT - BDSM between two guys - er - yes, I do like reading books about that. I find it fascinating- the power play, the control thing, all of it. So why? Why with MM and not with MF? The characters of the Doms and subs are very similar regardless of their sex. I have to assume it has something to do with identifying with characters. I'm safe in an MM book because I'm not a guy. What happens, isn't happening to me. But with a MF book, if a woman begs to be spanked, beaten, whipped, punished - I don't want to be that woman. But is it as simple as that? I have no idea. I wish I was a psychologist!
I do have a few BDSM scenes in my books - a bit at the start of An Ordinary Girl, (two guys), a section in Fight to Remember ( two guys - well not human but male) and a little more than normal in my latest WIP - tentatively called - With or Without Him.
A snippet from my new one - not out until December. (Unedited too)
More and more people were gathering around the platform in the center of the room and as Haris watched, a heavily muscled Asian man, his chest and arms smothered in dragon tattoos, hauled the St. Andrew’s cross into the air until it rested at an angle. A naked guy with black wings hung from it, his wrists and ankles secured by rope. Lines of metal clips ran from his nipples to his hips and his balls and cock were smothered in them. The bound man lifted his head and Haris froze. Shit. He sucked in a disappointed breath and turned away. Tyler wasn’t the guy he hoped for. No need to stay longer.One last look. He swiveled round and Tyler lifted his head again, scanning the crowd with his wide-eyed gaze, a ball gag distorting his mouth. Haris released a quiet groan. Unless Tyler was a very good actor, not only was he not enjoying this, he was terrified. Haris curled his fingers into fists. The problem was—what could he do about it? Interfering in someone’s bondage play was frowned on and unwise unless it was an emergency. This wasn’t an emergency. Tyler had to have voluntarily let himself be tied and gagged, so had things gone too far or was he just pretending? He seemed distressed and frightened, but didn’t appear to be in immediate danger. Even so, the look in his eyes unsettled Haris to the point that he couldn’t walk away. He moved closer.The Asian rigger crouched with his back to Tyler, chatting to a guy on the far side of the platform and Haris bristled. Someone should be monitoring the sub at all times, checking he could breathe, making sure his hands and fingers weren’t losing sensation. Anxiety coiled like a snake in his gut. Tyler’s eyelids fluttered, drool seeped from around the gag and even above the ambient noise, Haris could hear the muffled sounds of his misery. He pushed through the last onlookers to stand in front of the rigger. “Take his ball gag out.”The bastard laughed. “You want me gag you instead?”“He’s having problems.”The rigger walked back to Tyler and ran his hand over a line of clips. Tyler squirmed and gave a muted anguished groan. Haris clenched his jaw.“This BDSM,” said the rigger. “This what he want. This what they want.” He gestured to the watching crowd.Tyler shook his head, more saliva trickling down his chin as he struggled. His gaze locked with Haris, his eyes desperate, his breathing frantic. “Did you check it was what he wanted?” Haris asked. “With that gag in, he can’t tell you.”“He brat. Talk too much. He give sign if problem.” The man shrugged. “No sign.”What fucking sign can he give you when he’s bound and gagged? Or when you’ve got your back toward him?
March 4, 2013
Being Prepared
I’m one of those annoying people who if someone says – we need a flashlight – I can open my purse and find one. I feel the need to be prepared for every eventuality and I suspect that’s fed nicely into my writing. My husband likes to tell the story of how we were shopping together and he was going on and on – as he does – about the price of some item from the grocery store, and I said – what would we do if a plane crashed on the parking lot? Or my other big one – what should I do if a wall of water rushed at us? His answer to the first was – die. His answer to the second – run and then die. But not in my mind. In my head, I’m working out where I’d hide, what I’d do, how I’d try to save others etc etc. Always the noble heroine! I like to put my characters in difficult situations and then figure out ways to extricate them and I wonder if in my head, I fear being in those situations without any clue how to survive. If I’ve already thought about what I’d do if I was trapped in a shark infested sea, I’d have a better chance of survival – right? Please let me live with the delusion! In The Princess and the Prepper, my heroine is half naked in a snow storm, having been dumped from a truck. What would I do? Same as Lili does. Walk as far as I could and hope for the best. There was no way she could have been prepared for what happened, though she might have avoided getting stranded if she’d thought before she acted.
Somewhere in between two extremes is where most people lie. We can’t be prepared for every eventuality but we should all take steps to ensure our own safety and well being and that of our family and friends. Or marry a guy who has everything under control so you don’t need to bother. Sadly, my husband really has no clue what to do if an alien knocked on the door, or if giant cockroaches invaded our house. So I have to lie awake worrying….http://www.amazon.com/The-Princess-Prepper-Romance-ebook/dp/B00ARKLYS0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362434066&sr=1-1&keywords=princess+and+the+prepper
February 24, 2013
Blog Tour!!!!
I'm doing a blog tour. Five different posts from me and I'd really love it if you could drop by and leave a comment.
Feb 25: Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More
Feb 27: Love in a Book
Feb 27: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
Feb 28: BookShelves Of Dreams
Mar 1: Queen of the Night Reviews
Feb 25: Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More
Feb 27: Love in a Book
Feb 27: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
Feb 28: BookShelves Of Dreams
Mar 1: Queen of the Night Reviews
February 9, 2013
What's wrong?
Please be honest. Jumping In Puddles - hasn't made the slightest bit of a splash. So what's wrong? The cover, the blurb, the price? Too much choice out there? Everyone want rough alphas rather than funny ones? Too much sex, not enough sex. Don't like paranormal? Don't like me?
I thought Jumping in Puddles was one of my better stories but I'm obviously not connecting somehow. Any ideas as to what I can do?
In a desperate desire for a few comments or even better - a few reviews, I offer an ecopy of this book for the first person to ask for it. Which will be no one I suspect. There, that's the sort of mood I'm in!
Jago doesn't just inherit a title after the death of his parents, he's saddled with the crumbling money pit of a mansion that's been in his family for centuries. With his medical career on hold, he struggles to secure the future of Sharwood Hall, trudging uphill with no finish line in sight.
The sins of a past generation fall on faerie Ellie and her family, and each year they must trek to the exact center of the UK to recharge their energy. Until they find the Kewen, treasure guarded and lost by their ancestors hundreds of years ago, they're banished from Faerieland. Ellie's father has spent fifty years searching, now it's his eldest child's burden.
As a stunning woman sweeps into Jago's world in a thunderstorm, he can't stop thinking she's too good to be true. For little reason other than her sweet and generous heart, Ellie is helping to put Sharwood to rights and leaving him more and more suspicious she wants something other than him. When family and duty clashes with trust and love, it's debatable whether a perilous leap of faith, directly off a bridge into treacherous waters, will keep lovers from being swept apart.
I thought Jumping in Puddles was one of my better stories but I'm obviously not connecting somehow. Any ideas as to what I can do?
In a desperate desire for a few comments or even better - a few reviews, I offer an ecopy of this book for the first person to ask for it. Which will be no one I suspect. There, that's the sort of mood I'm in!
Jago doesn't just inherit a title after the death of his parents, he's saddled with the crumbling money pit of a mansion that's been in his family for centuries. With his medical career on hold, he struggles to secure the future of Sharwood Hall, trudging uphill with no finish line in sight.
The sins of a past generation fall on faerie Ellie and her family, and each year they must trek to the exact center of the UK to recharge their energy. Until they find the Kewen, treasure guarded and lost by their ancestors hundreds of years ago, they're banished from Faerieland. Ellie's father has spent fifty years searching, now it's his eldest child's burden.
As a stunning woman sweeps into Jago's world in a thunderstorm, he can't stop thinking she's too good to be true. For little reason other than her sweet and generous heart, Ellie is helping to put Sharwood to rights and leaving him more and more suspicious she wants something other than him. When family and duty clashes with trust and love, it's debatable whether a perilous leap of faith, directly off a bridge into treacherous waters, will keep lovers from being swept apart.
February 7, 2013
The end
Lots of my writer friends like to type THE END on the last page of their book. I don't think I've ever done that! I'n not sure why. Maybe because I have a love hate relationships with endings. No matter how long it's taken me to write the story, no matter how many hiccups I've had along the way, getting to that final page makes me sad. Just as readers tell me they've fallen in love with my characters, so I love them too. I dream about them, talk to them, listen to them and even when I leave them happy ever after, it's always a bitter sweet moment.
My latest story - as yet title is undecided - is an MM romance between Tyler, a college music student, and Haris, a half-Saudi venture capitalist. The plot is quite complicated and I did have a week of teeth gnashing when I couldn't figure out where I was going. The perils of not planning things out before you start!
But 95,000 words later I've reached the end. My fantastic critique partner and great writer Arlene Webb is beta reading for me. Then I'll need to go through it again before I let it loose looking for a home.
So what to do now? Start another and that's the one good thing about the end - if you're a writer, it's always followed by a beginning.
Just my random shot of a cloud creeping along the ground - which gave me an idea for a story!
My latest story - as yet title is undecided - is an MM romance between Tyler, a college music student, and Haris, a half-Saudi venture capitalist. The plot is quite complicated and I did have a week of teeth gnashing when I couldn't figure out where I was going. The perils of not planning things out before you start!
But 95,000 words later I've reached the end. My fantastic critique partner and great writer Arlene Webb is beta reading for me. Then I'll need to go through it again before I let it loose looking for a home.
So what to do now? Start another and that's the one good thing about the end - if you're a writer, it's always followed by a beginning.
Just my random shot of a cloud creeping along the ground - which gave me an idea for a story!
January 31, 2013
The Classics
Every so often, in the midst of my long reading list, I like to tackle a 'classic'. I'm not going to attempt to define what that means, but to me, it's a book that's well known and published some time ago. DH Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' is my latest selection. I've read it before but a long time ago. I have links with DH Lawrence. He went to school on the site of the school that I attended. He was born a stone's throw from where I lived for 18 years. He was a student teacher at an infant school I attended. Er - a long while before I attended. He wrote a book that was considered so disgusting, they tried to ban it. Since I write hot erotic romance - I thought, I'll read that book again.
Oh dear. I'm sure it's very worthy but so far I'm finding it hard going. It's so dense and learned and meaningful that the pace is slow enough to send me to sleep. I haven't got to 'those' pages yet. Maybe it will pick up then. I do like the show of society at that time - attitudes of men toward women and both genders' attitudes to sex but tastes change. We're a fast moving society who like constant stimulation (not necessarily sexual!), we want page turners, to be caught up in the world the author creates and this world DH Lawrence describes is long gone and of little interest to me.
I will finish it. There are bits I've liked very much but I fear I'm not clever enough to understand anything but the sexy bits! I think I thought that the first time round. The thing that really tickles me is that my books, example above, would most definitely have been banned!
Oh dear. I'm sure it's very worthy but so far I'm finding it hard going. It's so dense and learned and meaningful that the pace is slow enough to send me to sleep. I haven't got to 'those' pages yet. Maybe it will pick up then. I do like the show of society at that time - attitudes of men toward women and both genders' attitudes to sex but tastes change. We're a fast moving society who like constant stimulation (not necessarily sexual!), we want page turners, to be caught up in the world the author creates and this world DH Lawrence describes is long gone and of little interest to me.
I will finish it. There are bits I've liked very much but I fear I'm not clever enough to understand anything but the sexy bits! I think I thought that the first time round. The thing that really tickles me is that my books, example above, would most definitely have been banned!
