You know what sounds nice?

A trip to Hawaii…

A beach front getaway to Mexico…

One week stay at a Ranch in Wyoming…

A night at Nora Roberts Inn…

Or maybe you don’t want to get away, maybe you’d just love a chance to rub elbows or get a read from an editor/agent?

The Read of a Proposal from Roberta Brown at The Brown Agency…

Evaluation of a Proposal and Drinks at RWA National with Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Agency…

Lunch with Kensington Books Editor Kate Duffy in San Francisco…

The Read of A Book Proposal W/Telephone Conference WITHIN 1 WEEK by Harlequin Editor Brenda Chin …

So where am I going with all this? Is it all just fantasy talk? Not at all! These are just a few of the fabulous items up for bid at the 4th annual Brenda Novak auction to raise money for Diabetes research! The first year raised $34,982, which went directly to research. Year 2 did even better raising $62,705. In year three, they more than doubled at $141,700. This years goal is 150k!

Well, we ladies at Naughty and Spice are getting involved too! We’ve donated a ‘basket’ with lots of fun things to be bid on. Check it out here.

The auction runs from May 1-May 31st (with some one day auctions!) But the items are already up for you to peruse. So really, go check out all the great stuff. It’s all for a good cause, and some of the items truly are once in a life time opportunity!

Okay I am without a doubt totally cheating here today. What do you think? And if you click on the cover, you can read an excerpt on my website :)

Here’s the blurb from the back:

When the Cavanaugh sisters* inherit the family moving company, they figure they’re “man” enough for the job. They’ll show those bad boys of Texas just how good these three gals are at getting exactly what they want….

Reecie is a caretaker from teh word go–she’s all business,w ehther it’s family or work. So she is more htan ready to let easygoing Jack Sunders step in and take care of her in the most intimate way possible…

Robbie Jo loves a good time at work and in bed–until she meets rodeo rider Cash McBride and realizes she’s ready to settle down and ride one man long and hard…

Carla is tired of sweating for a living. But getting hot and bothered around real estate attorney Josh Winters puts her in the mood for some seriously steamy sex…

Now…here’s where the NOT cheating comes in. Here’s where knowing how to write a killer query letter pays off.

1. Killer queries get you noticed (requests)

2. The most important part of your query is, without a doubt, the part where you tell your agent or editor about your book–We’ll call it the blurb.

3. Killer queries means writing a killer blurb.

4. I write killer blurbs. Matter of fact, my editor said I made her job easy. Why you ask? I’ll show you.

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I’m going to go simple today. I don’t want to think too hard, and I’m sure you don’t either.

Let’s talk sandwiches. No, not that kind. That kind.

Pick your fantasy, it can be wherever your dirty mind takes you…..

You’re stuck on an island together

The fate of the world depends on you populating it

The world is being invaded by aliens (and no, you can’t f*ck the aliens)

You get way drunk and will never remember (or so you tell yourself)

Which men/women would you chose to complete your fantasy sandwich?

Me? I’m a Matthew, Shelli, Joaquin sandwich.

So, what kind of sandwich do you want to be? And, oh, okay. You can f*ck that alien if you really wanna.

Oh no, this starts off iffy, but it’s great!

Today we have author Jenna Bayley-Burke visiting Naughty and Spice. She’s writes for multiple publishers and today is asking everyone quite a fun question! Should love scenes be tested? Or stay a fantasy…

* * *

Would you could you in a tree?

Could you would on your knees?

Would you could you in a box?

Could you would you with a Fox?

Would you could you on a boat?

Could you would you do what you wrote?

Maybe?

Thanks for having me at Naughty & Spice y’all. When I started to write this post I knew I wanted to talk about where our characters make love because it plays a part in my last two releases…but Feisty’s post yesterday got me thinking…if there is such a thing as TMI from authors about their personal lives, isn’t it sometimes because people ask?

I know I had to be careful in both For Kicks and Her Cinderella Complex when they had water scenes. When I read a sex in water scene written as a slip and slide I roll my eyes. It’s not that easy. It works, yes, but it’s all in how you do it.

In For Kicks the heroine is a virgin. Kinda. It’s complicated. But anyway, sex in the tub that first time? Not so much. Fun in the tub? Great prelude to coming attractions. Things progressed. Phone sex. Hotel room sex. And THEN pool sex. But that is the cherry on top. Hmmm…pun intended?

Locations for lovin’ become part of the dirty talk for the couple in Her Cinderella Complex. When Heather realizes she’s just lived out two of her fantasies (skinny dipping, kissing under water) she decides to list them all…and then improvise a few more as things go really, really well. The pool, under a waterfall, on a trampoline…

I love reading about different locations as much as I love writing about them. But do I want to know the reality behind it? Do I want to know if an author made sure you really can have sex on a cruise ship balcony or in a treehouse?

Nope. I like my fantasies much better J No worries about pictures surfacing on the internet or having to call your best friend and explain why you need bail money. But then, I am a total chicken.

What do you think? Do you like thinking the love scenes in books come with an ‘reliably tested, completely approved’ stamp, or should they just stay part of the fantasy? And if you ‘don’t wanna know’…then next time you hear someone make a snide comment about how acrobatic an author must be to keep up with all the research for her writing be sure to chime in that Stephen King never killed anyone to research his books. That we know of at least…

Thanks for having me, y’all!

Jenna Bayley-Burke

http://www.jennabayleyburke.com/;

HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX

FOR KICKS

There has been a lot of talk on the internet lately about authors sharing personal information with the general public.

A lot of people really do NOT want to know anything about an author’s sex life and are incredibly turned off when an author shares intimate details on her blog. As someone who walks the line of TMI quite often, I think I fall somewhere in the middle. Anyone who has met me in person knows that being open about my sexuality—and pretty much anything else—is just a natural part of me, so I have to make an effort to tone things down on my blog and this blog.

Some people think that because a woman does not want to discuss her sex life in public it makes he a prude. I happen to know this isn’t true, but that’s besides the point. My point is that I try and not cross the TMI line in a place that is not appropriate. The problem is, everyone’s TMI line is different. For example, you can tell my pretty much anything about your sex life and I won’t blink but please don’t tell me anything about your bowel movements. Really, please. I mean it.

Anyway. I don’t have a problem with authors who choose to openly discuss the details of their sex life but I do think it can limit ones audience. And hey, I’m in this to make a living, so I figure why piss off people if I don’t have to? Sure, folks expect a certain amount of sex talk from me, but, at least to me, there is a difference between speaking generally about my life and giving specific details. Does that make sense?

And now that I’ve sold to a major publisher, I keep in mind the fact that I am not only representing myself, but my publisher as well. So even though I may try and hold back disclosing things like how many orgasms I had last night (five) I’m still willing to discuss pretty much anything in a private environment. That’s just me. If you don’t want to know those things I highly recommend you stay away from the Alt section at Romance Divas or the TMI thread over at Passionate Ink.

So, while I’ll never win any win any discretion awards, believe it or not, I do try. Does this mean I’ll behave perfectly all the time?  I really don’t think that’s possible.  I mean, I am the girl who posted a picture of her collection of vibrators right here on this blog. TMI? Probably. But hey, that’s just me. Now, if had posted specific details about how I’d used those vibrators (and believe me, folks really wanted to know what the goggles were for), that would have crossed a line.

Clear?

What do you think? What crosses your TMI line?

This week has been declared Read an E-Book Week. Now I’m assuming if you hang out at this site with any regularity, then you’ve read an e-book. And many of you have been published via e-book. So y’all know what I’m talking about, right?

Well many people have NO CLUE what they are. At least people I know. And I know I’m not the first e-published author to say this. Heck a few years ago, I didn’t know they existed!

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