My Wedding!

Omg, you guys, my wedding was awesome! It was more than practically everything going as planned.

We were married at my grandma's beautiful tree farm in Hayden Lake.



My husband made the cake and it was delicious. It had huckleberry filling and cream cheese frosting. MMMM! And everyone loved the cake topper I made.


My dress fit and I had lilacs, which are my favorite.


The groom was HOT and the kids looked great.


The wedding party looked awesome!



And afterwards, I finally got the picture of me biting the octopus on the corner of 4th and Coeur d'Alene.


SIGH! It was perfect. Stay tuned for the honeymoon recap.

On hiatus due to wedding and honeymoon.

My bachelor part is tonight and I'm getting married on Sunday, so I shall have little time for blogging. When I get back I will post pics and details about my day!
I will be on my honeymoon until next Sunday, I'll be writing, but not blogging. Again, details will be posted!

My contest is still open.

Have a wonderful day all, and keep writing.

Yay Twitter! Contest!

I've said this many times and I will say it again. I love Twitter. I have gotten so much further with my writing career with it than without it. If you are a writer and you're not on Twitter, here's what you're missing:

1.)A fingertip on the pulse of the publishing world. There are tweets and links galore from everyone in the industry 24/7 that provide invaluable information.

2.) #AskAgent! Approximately once a month, a few literary agents volunteer their time to answer questions. Editors often jump in too!

3.) Connections to other authors. This has been my favorite. We constantly motivate each other and share our struggles. In fact, I have found all my critique partners on twitter.

4.) Contests! They are all over the place. You can win free books, critiques, and other fun stuff.

And speaking of contests: I am having one here. My 1000th follower will win his or her choice of one of these gently used classics.

1.)FRANKENSTEIN, by Mary Shelley

2.) INFERNO, the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri

3.) UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

4.) JANE EYRE, by Charlotte Bronte

5.) THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, by William Strunk and E.B. White

Not only that but 2 new random blog followers will be entered, and one who leaves a comment.

On Genre Bending

For years I have been working on and off on a series that breaks so many genre rules that it isn't even funny. In the first book, most of the characters are between ages 17 and 19, which apparently is a no-no for adult romance, but I can't make it YA because they are older in subsequent books. So far I'm gonna call it an urban fantasy, though I don't know how well that'll end up working because eventually the series really begins to lean towards straight fantasy. Either way, there is a love story within every one.

This got me to thinking of other authors that broke the genre rules and made new genres. Laurell K. Hamilton, Lillith Saint Crow, and others pioneered Urban Fantasy. Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, and more started paranormal romance.

Right now I'm reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and damn does it break a lot of rules. I love that it is similar to mine in that it blends urban fantasy with straight fantasy. Not only that, but the fourth novel, WIZARD AND GLASS, completely interrupts the storyline and is all back story. (I have mixed feelings about that one.) All over the place are connections to his other books, as if every story he wrote is part of an interlinked web.

Once you ignore that King is labelled a horror author, it is hard to nail down the genres of some of his stories. The Shawshank Redemption and The Body, to name a few are literary fiction, in my opinion. Really, where would The Dark Tower novels fit if they weren't written by a horror author? Fantasy? Urban Fantasy? Science Fiction? Is it a dystopian? How the hell would one query such an oddball series?

I await your thoughts.

On Anatomy and Romance Plots. Pt. 1

Today we get to talk a little bit about the female sex organs, and since they are far more complicated that even I had imagined, it won't be the first time.
For now, check out this very interesting tidbit I found:

"Contrary to popular myth, the presence or absence of a hymen in no way indicates that a girl or women has or has not had vaginal intercourse. The hymen of some girls totally disappears prior to birth. The tissue of the hymen is very thin, it does not take much tension on the surrounding tissues to cause it to stretch open. Normal childhood activities like spreading the legs widely during gymnastics, riding a bicycle, playing on the jungle gym, and masturbating can result in the hymen disappearing prior to puberty. Later usage of tampons, and the insertion of fingers into the vagina may also stretch the hymen. Some hymen are elastic enough that when a penis is inserted slowly and gently, it may stretch versus tear, so that when the penis is removed, the hymen returns to it prior shape. It appears that about 50% of women experience bleeding when they first have intercourse. This explains the common practices of getting married while a girl is menstruating, inserting a fertilized bird's egg into the vagina, and the staining of the bed sheets with the blood from a chicken when proof of virginity was required."

Quote from site: The-Clitoris.com: Anatomy of the Vulva http://www.the-clitoris.com/n_html/anatomy_of_vulva.htm#frenum


Now think of all the "deflowering" scenes in romance novels, especially historicals. Only 50% bleed? That just opens up a plethora of plot twists.

On a more serious note, it also reassures a few of us that we aren't blocking out memories of childhood rape.

And as for the "fertilized bird's egg," Ewwwww!!!

So, if you have a virginal character, she may not have a hymen. If she doesn't, how will this affect your plot? Will the hero think that she's slept around? Or will he be aware of the fact that if he's gentle, the sheets won't be gory?

Thoughts, please!

I LOVE IT WHEN AGENTS....

I’ve only been online for a little over a year now. So I missed out on the epic events of #queryfail and its response #agentfail. I have read all of the posts and responses and I have agreements and disagreements with both sides. I noticed on the #agentfail comments, several people wanted to do an #agentawesome session for the agents that are professional and courteous to writers. I think that’s a great idea. Let’s focus more on the positive, people!

I love it when agents…

Thank the writer for thinking of them in their correspondence whether it’s a request OR a rejection. Agents need writers and it’s good to know when we are appreciated.

Acknowledge receipt of requested materials. It is a big load off our shoulders to know that our work didn’t get lost. This whole process is stressful enough as it is.

Give an estimated time for a response to materials and respond courteously to inquiries when that time has lapsed. We know you are busy, but we really appreciate knowing where we stand.

Blog or twitter. Some writers complained about this and I heartily disagree with them. Besides the wonderful fount of useful information about writing and the industry, I like getting to know them as human beings. It gives me a better idea on who’s a good fit.

Give details on their website/blog/twitter about what they represent and their tastes. Though it’s sad to see “If I see another vampire book I’ll scream” it is nice to know so I don’t waste time. I also love when they list some favorite authors.

Have an auto-reply with an estimated time if they are non responders. I think authors hate the “no response means no” policy more because they have no way of knowing if the agent received their query.

These next three go above and beyond in my opinion.

Do the #askagent sessions on twitter. Every agent who participates should get daily cookies and massages. You are awesome incarnate when you give up your personal time to help us.

Give us a reason why you passed on our project. Even one sentence can help me figure out if improvements are needed.

Recommend our work to other agents when they pass. I want to hug you and bake you cookies.

Thank you so much, awesome agents. You have my undying gratitude and respect for all the hard work you do on our behalf.

Special Guest Author: Sloan Parker!!!

I have enjoyed interviewing all different types of romance authors and am very pleased that it seems that there is sub-genre of romance for everyone. I am pleased to welcome Sloan Parker. Sloan writes erotic gay romance.

Sloan: Thanks for having me, Brooklyn! I’m thrilled to be featured on your blog today.

1.)What made you stand up one day and say, “I’m going to write a romance novel.”?

What a great question. I don’t think it was an overnight decision for me. When I first started writing novels, I attempted to write suspense, but it never worked out all that well until I threw the characters into bed and watched them fall in love with each other. And that was about the same time I started writing stories featuring gay characters. I found that I was more passionate and excited about my work. Blending erotic romance and other genres like suspense and paranormal just made things click for me. I finally finished writing a novel (a gay vampire story which still needs some serious edits before I can do anything with it, but at least I had finished it!). The next full novel I wrote was More, an m/m/m erotic suspense and my first release.

2.)What made you decide to write gay romance?

As I said, I had been writing for years, but hadn’t found my voice, hadn’t found a story that compelled me to actually finish a manuscript, edit it, and submit it to anyone. Then I started reading gay romances, and I was hooked. I like the idea of writing about LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender) characters falling in love for many reasons, but mostly I liked the idea of contributing (in some small way) to positive stories of LGBT characters in the romance genre. These are the stories in my head; these are the ones that have moved me to spend hours at my computer every day. And for now, these are the ones I plan to continue writing.

3.)I’ve seen that your latest novel is a m/m romance. As a woman, what challenges do you face “getting into the heads” of gay male characters?

I think the challenges are the same for any character I write. They aren’t me. They don’t have the same experiences or personality that I have. So I have to use a blend of imagination, general observations, and my own personal experiences with a variety of people to develop who the characters are and how they think and feel. I probably pull a lot from the men I’ve known in my own life too (how they act, speak, etc.). For all my characters, I do a character sketch (their bio, personality, and life experiences) and try to keep those details in mind with every action or dialogue I write for them. With each character (male or female), I’m not trying to write him/her as a real-life person, but as a fictional character living in the world I’ve created with the conflicts I’ve constructed. I hope to add nuances that feel real, but no one character will match any one real person.

4.)What is some memorable feedback that you’ve received from your fans?

I love getting feedback from individual readers. It means so much to me when someone takes the time to let me know what he/she thought of my work. It’s one of the best things I’ve experienced since my book first released. One of my favorite responses wasn’t related to my book, though. It was an email I received after I posted a guest blog about my first crush and the regrets I had about it (he died in a car accident before I had a chance to kiss him or tell him how I felt about him) and how that story related to my writing. The woman who emailed thanked me for the post. It seems my story inspired her to go for her own dream and start writing again. I loved that something I wrote helped inspire someone else.

5.)Have you gotten any trouble from bigots?

In real life, unfortunately I have to say yes. As a writer of gay romance, so far I’ve been fortunate to avoid any issues. Mostly people have been curious about me and my work. I don’t mind answering questions, and everyone who’s asked about what I write has been polite and interested. I’m sure I’ll get some hateful comments at some point. Negativity can really mess with my writing mojo, so I hope that I’m able to shrug off any homophobic comments. I think it’ll just spur me on. Inspire me to write about more loving, passionate LGBT relationships.

6.)Tell us a little about your next project.

I am currently finishing a gay romantic suspense titled Breathe. It’s about two men who are stuck in a world of misery (one can’t forgive himself for a mistake and the other can’t forget the loss of his wife). They can’t go back and they can’t move forward. Once they meet, they begin learning how to live again, to move beyond the past, but the world around them doesn’t want them to move on. Guilt, anger, and threats surround them until neither man can imagine a future where they can ever be together. Too bad they’re already in love.

I’m also hoping to write more books with the characters from my first release, More, and someday I’d like to do some serious edits to my gay vampire novel and submit that as well.

Thanks so much for coming today, Sloan!
You can purchase a copy of MORE here:

Thanks again, Brooklyn. These were great questions that really got me thinking and were a lot of fun to answer.
You can purchase a copy of MORE here: http://www.loose-id.com/More.aspx



Whoah, that cover is hot.