Isabelle Drake's Blog, page 60

Bikinis to Bestsellers, how I got started writing

As a writer, I know lots of other writers and book industry people, so I often forget that being an erotic romance writer is a bit unusual. I wouldn’t say people are shocked when they find out what I write but they are often curious. Do they ask questions? Sure, all kinds. Serious questions, How do you handle your taxes? Flirty questions, Do you need help with research? Naughty questions, Are the stories based on your life? Inspirational questions, How did you get started?
How I got started can be broken up into two parts. How I got started writing and how I got started writing erotic romance.
I started writing because I love stories. I know that isn’t a flashy answer but it’s the truth. I bought a book on how to write and wrote my first short story. I decided to start with a short story because the thought of writing an entire novel was intimidating. A 7,000 word story sounded manageable. I used what I learned in the book, wrote a story and sent it in. I received the contract about a month later. I was hooked.
The story was for True Confessions magazine. It’s about a woman who runs away from a disappointment at home and enters a bikini contest in Florida. That’s a reasonable thing to do in a time of strife, right? Take your clothes off and dance around? Works for me. It worked for her too. The experience changed her perspective, which is what she needed, then she went back home and took care of the business of getting what she wanted from life.
After that story, I wrote several more for confession magazines, then I started writing novels. The first couple novels I wrote were sweet romances. Writing sweet romances taught me to focus on emotion and the complicated push-pull of romantic relationships. The move to erotic stories came gradually. As I found new ways to push my characters into more intense situations, the stories became sexier.
I love writing erotic romance because it gives me the opportunity to let my imagination go. The possibilities are limitless and the farther out I go with my plot ideas, the further I get to push my characters. Pushing characters doesn’t have to mean sending them off to do really outrageous things, like hook up with aliens or rob banks, it just means finding ways to push a particular character into situations that challenge them in ways they’ve never been challenged before.
Sound good? Get your copy.While writing my new novel, Unfinished Business, I worked to come up with a way to challenge my main character, Hayley. After suffering through a really public, humiliating scandal, she’s moved from her country hometown to the city of Detroit, Michigan. She’s started fresh with new friends, new clothes and an edgy attitude. Her plan, avoid anything having to do with the country and anyone who will expose her past. At the start of the story she’s totally ready to have some spur-of-the-moment random sex because she thinks that’s way to figure herself out. Readers will catch on pretty quick to the idea that while satisfying in the short term, getting naked with a guy she’s not that into isn’t really going to help her comes to terms with her past.
What guy will offer the acceptance she craves and challenge her to get over her past? A man who loves her for who she is.  The catch? He’s from the country, too. So loving him will force her to find a way to love the part of herself she hates.
In this excerpt of Unfinished Business, we get a glimpse of that building conflict and a hint of her true feelings for Nick.

About a minute later, Nick and I pull into the VFW lot, and he glides around looking for a place to park. He finds a space behind a red F-150 pickup truck that has a white window decal of a woman’s silhouette on the driver’s side. She’s flexing her biceps and grinning from beneath wind-blown hair. It reads—‘Fear This City Boy’. Nick stares at it then at the one on the passenger side that reads—‘Redneck Girl’. He points and laughs. “I feel right at home.”
I should but I don’t. I can already feel the weight of the stares and hear the whispers of rumors. I turn away from Nick as I cringe, feeling like maybe I should tell him about my past. It’d be better if he heard it from me but my stomach turns sour just thinking about saying the words aloud. My own stupidity and shame swirl in my heart and make my chest hot.

I’m just not ready. Yet.

Unfinished Business from the bestselling What's Her Secret series

Hayley, the main character, has left her small hometown and started a new life for herself in the city of Detroit, Michigan. She wants to hide everything about her country past and reinvent herself as a hip city woman. Problem is, she doesn’t really know who is she. Back home, she always did what her family and friends thought she should do, rather than what she wanted to do. So, when she arrives in the city, she doesn’t have much of an idea of who she really is or what she really wants. The perfect man for her? Nick. A country guy who sees through her city pretenses and encourages her to be herself. His insistence that she accept who she is creates conflict for two reasons. One, the only things she knows about herself, her country past and her part in the scandal, she doesn’t like and two, she doesn’t know how to start in figuring out who she really is.


Hayley’s struggle to accept her past and discover her new self is at the heart of the story. Using Nick as part of the conflict gave me the chance to make sure there is plenty of yummy sex and a satisfying romance. No, getting to the happy ending isn’t easy but who says easy is good?
Sound good? Get your copy.
Or read more about it:multitaskingmomma : Blog Tour, eARC Review & Guest Post: Unfinished Bu...

Talking about sex on Valentine's Day, 2015

Writing about Relationships: The Tricky Bits
Date: February 14Time: 2:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non-membersLocation: CADL Okemos Library, 4321 Okemos Road, Okemos, MI 48864
Just like in real life, the relationships between your characters can be tricky and fraught with emotional landmines. Whether you’re writing about romance, siblings, friends, or the parent-child relationship, each character’s actions and baggage has an effect on the characters around him. Struggling with intimacy and conflict? The twisting and turning arcs of different characters? Writing a love scene? We’ve got you covered! 
Join us for this premier workshop featuring romance authors Alyssa Alexander, Diana Stout, Isabelle Drake, and Malea Powell (And don’t worry. We’ll get you out in time for date night with your honey.)
Alyssa Alexander: “The 12 Steps of Intimacy…Modified”
Diana Stout: “Character Motivation & Conflict: How Does It All Drive Plot?”
Isabelle Drake: “Making the Good Bad: Using Intimacy & Sex Scenes to Create & Increase Conflict”
Malea Powell: “Diverse Relationships: The Tricky Task of Writing Across Cultures”

Click here to register!

Sex and the small town scandal...

Sound good? Get your copy.Sizzling sex, humor, relatable characters and heart wrenching conflicts, Unfinished Business, my recent novel, has all of these.  Add in a devastating small town scandal and the woman who wants to hide it and you have the latest book in Totally Bound’s bestselling What’s Her Secret line.
From an author’s perspective, the fun challenge of writing a book centered around a secret is, obviously, coming up with a secret. The trick is the secret must be compelling and tension building but also something understandable and relatable. To achieve that satisfying balance in my story, I created the character, gave her a goal and then used her motivation to dig around in her past to uncover her secret. I say uncover because I didn’t know what her secret was until I got to know her first.
At the start of the story, Hayley, the main character, wants to reinvent herself. She’s left her small, country hometown and moved to the city to a fresh start. She has a new job and new friends who know very little about her past.  At the heart of her desire to reinvent herself is a search for her own identity. As a member of a small community, she had been surrounded by people who knew most everything about her. They influenced her in ways she didn’t realize. It was only after she moved to the city, away from everyone and everything she’d ever known, that she understood how much she’d been influenced by their values and lifestyle. Once she’s on her own, the freedom to become who she wants is both thrilling and intimidating.  As she struggles to find herself, she does a couple crazy things. Lucky for her, Nick, her guy friend, is looking out for her.
Better still, Nick is that sweet, sexy guy-next-door type who know when to be gentle and encouraging and when to be tough and demanding.


Read more: Behind Closed Doors: Unfinished Business by Isabelle Drake: Guest Post

What Country Girls Know

Sound good? Get your copy.There are a couple things city girls can learn from their country sisters.

Like what?

How to kiss a guy with a beard without getting a ‘tash rash, for starters.

Everyone knows the trend of guys having beards--long, short, full, trimmed, totally wild, you name it--came from the country. County dudes have been wearing beards for forever. Don’t believe me? Try watching any movie or television show set in the country. Then compare what you see on the screen to what you see on the city streets. Nuf said, ‘cause there’s your proof. So, it makes sense that country girls have the 411 on dealing with this itchy situation.

Here’s what you do: Coat your face with lotion before for the smooching starts.
Sound unromantic? No worries. Embrace some hipster irony and use the country cure-all for skin irritations--Bag Balm. Yep. Bag Balm. The stuff that comes in the cute green and red square tin. Yep, with the clovers and cow head on top. Don’t have any on hand? No worries. Just go ask a dairy farmer for some. He’ll have it on hand because what Bag Balm is actually for is treating cow udders after milking. Bonus to rubbing it all over your face before you start locking lips? If you have any stitches the Bag Balm will loosen them up so you can pull them out yourself. Later, of course. There are many other very practical uses for this awesome ointment but you’re getting the idea.


Read the rest: http://eroticaforall.co.uk/guest-blogs/what-country-girls-know-by-isabelle-drake-isabelledrake/

Behind Closed Doors: Unfinished Business by Isabelle Drake: Guest Post

"From an author’s perspective, the fun challenge of writing a book centered around a secret is, obviously, coming up with a secret. The trick is the secret must be compelling and tension building but also something understandable and relatable. 
"To achieve that satisfying balance in my story, I created the character, gave her a goal and then used her motivation to dig around in her past to uncover her secret. I say uncover because I didn’t know what her secret was until I got to know her first."



Read more: Behind Closed Doors: Unfinished Business by Isabelle Drake: Guest Post

multitaskingmomma : Blog Tour, eARC Review & Guest Post: Unfinished Bu...

"Hayley’s struggle to accept her past and discover her new self is at the heart of the story. Using Nick as part of the conflict gave me the chance to make sure there is plenty of yummy sex and a satisfying romance. No, getting to the happy ending isn’t easy but who says easy is good?"




Read more:
multitaskingmomma : Blog Tour, eARC Review & Guest Post: Unfinished Bu...

Signings, Promo Events and Other Writerly Stuff, photos from this 'n that

Post by Isabelle Drake.

Unfinished Business, pre-order now from Totally Bound

She ran away from the town that wouldn’t forget, to a city that doesn’t forgive, right into the arms of the guy who insists she set things right.
Less than a year ago, Hayley Jones made a scandalous decision that sent her packing. She left her country hometown, moved to the city and made a new life for herself. But it’s hard being someone else when the real you has some unfinished business.
Hayley knows taking care of the unresolved piece of her past could stir up more trouble and humiliation, so she dodges the truth and puts her energy into her new friends and job. That strategy works for a short while but people from her past start showing up in her present.
Life gets even more complicated when she realizes she’s falling for Nick Noel, a guy who knows she’s running from something, and continually challenges her to be herself. But Hayley is afraid of what will happen if Nick finds out who she really is and what she did back home.
Pre-order Unfinished Business now from Totally Bound

Killer Query Quick, a Madlibs style template to get started

A little something for writers...

Need a query letter in a hurry? Try out this template.Here's how it works:

Select one of the 1's to start the letter. If you have 2 main characters, you may want to fill out the section for each main character.1A is an alternative start or an alternative add-on.Pick one of the 2's.Add 3, the closing.

1~Character & Conflict{Adjective}_________________ {adjective} _________________________ {noun}_______________________, {character name} _____________________, wants{goal} __________________________________________________because{motivation}______________________________________________________but{conflict}_______________________________________.


1~Character & Conflict{Adjective} ____________________ {adjective} ____________________ {character name} _________________________ is {describe character}_________________________________. When {state initial conflict} ______________________________________________. Then {state what intensifies conflict} ________________________________________________. The only way out is _______________________________________, but {conflict}__________________________. Unwilling to give up because {motivation} ________________________________________________, {character} ___________________, must {state what character must learn/do/change/learn/accomplish} _______________________________________________________________________.


1A ~ Setting & Conflict{Adjective} ____________________ {adjective} ____________________ {setting} ___________________________ is {describe setting}___________________________________. The place that or A place where ___________________________________. But {state initial conflict} and {what intensifies conflict}___________________________________.


2 ~ Manuscript Details{TITLE} ________________________ is a {genre} _______________________, _________________________ words in length.



2 ~ Manuscript Details{TITLE}_______________________________, tells a/the story of {theme} _______________________ and shows that {what changes/how character grows/what learned} _________________________________________.


3 ~ ClosingI {tell a bit about yourself} ___________________________. If you’d like to see {TITLE} __________________, I’ll be happy to send it.