Having a BLOCK Party

Each month I delve into my weird mind to come up with ideas of subjects to write about. Everyone has read about the theory of writing, the best way to sell books, how to draw in readers, etc, etc.

I tend to write about things I like to talk about, music, my twisted mind, last time it was pussy…cats.

So what has this twisted mind come up with this month?
Writers Block
We all get it. Like a disease, as a writer you are rolling along writing the best scene ever and you are almost filled with tears because it seems so easy.

You go to sleep plotting the rest of the book in your weary brain to finish the next day and wake up after dreaming about having a birthday cake over your…ummmm, private parts and having Kate Beckinsale (sorry, this is MY dream) blowing the candles out.

You stretch, climb out of bed, adjust certain things, scratch inappropriately, then sit at your laptop and WHAM, the block drops on your head.

The sweat beads up on your forehead as you stare blankly at the screen that could easily be written in Japanese for all you know because something happened to your creative mojo. Panic sets in, you try re-reading your previous pages, four cups of coffee, three donuts and a banana, don’t help.

It can be a couple hours, days, weeks, months but the groove is gone.

As writers I know a lot of you don’t need to be in “the mood” to write and can crank out a couple thousand words a day like it isn’t a big deal. I really wish I could but writing humor and romance together is tough. I mean how many jokes can you make about naming body parts and the negative effects of extra-spicy-bean-burritos in a book.

For me I won’t write if not in the mood. The reader will feel how I am forcing myself to write romantic scenarios and scenes where my mood is that of a dead fish. At least that’s how I see it.

All types of creative people go through these struggles. Losing the muse can be devastating. Personally, I have this happening now because of scattering my focus like a fart in a tornado, it’s everywhere and all twisted up.

Yes I am rambling but I was told to just write your thoughts and the words will come. Just writing this blog is a creative burst of thoughts, no matter how scattered.

I’m no expert but writers block is pretty scary and quite common. As a writer it gets frustrating and you end up writing something unworthy of your efforts. For the readers they can feel the passion missing that spark that burns in the words.


And don't forget to connect with S. L. on FACEBOOK and TWITTER

Only 99¢ on Amazon!

BLURB:

They’re ordinary women trying to make a life for themselves, just like everyone else. But these three are about to stumble into the greatest of adventures - love. 

For Eleanor, it’s a chance meeting at a cheerful country bar, while her sister Jodi opens a new restaurant next door and discovers the bartender has hidden talents. 

Tracy’s world expands dramatically when she visits her college buddy Eleanor – and learns that domination and submission can lead to unexpected pleasures! They didn’t expect happy endings, but sometimes things just feel so right…

Buy it HERE.

Dirty Talking Heroes

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Office Space Without the Space

When I had images in my head of writers, I had elaborate fantasies of going to work for the day with a cup of coffee in hand and locking myself in a beautiful office, getting eight productive hours of quiet and penning epic novel after epic novel.

I'll wait while all the other authors out there stop laughing.

Don't worry. I'll wait.

Are you done yet?

Okay. So...yeah. I was wrong. Aside from the coffee, I don't have any of those things. A muse doesn't report for duty and punch a time card. And you don't magically have the funds and space to set aside to create an office with it's own separate room that holds all the most beautiful office supplies.

I know a few authors that have made their own personal haven to write in. Those authors have penned quite a few more novels than me. 

So with that in mind here's...

Roxy's must haves for writing when you have no office

1. Laptop Computer. 

This is an investment, and it's the only one that I find really worth it. I write in my living room on the couch, in my bedroom curled up in a chair I found for $15 at Goodwill, and at various places that won't kick me out while I hijack their WiFi. Having a portable computer, makes this possible. 

2. Ear buds. 

Drowning out the noise of my house or the priests behind me working over their next weeks' sermons is VITAL when writing double penetration. I have my favorite songs cued up and blasting in my ears to keep all the outside noise at bay. And yes. I really did write a DP scene next to some priests. I am totally going to hell.

3. A Clean House

When I work from home, those cobwebs on the ceiling never seem more vital than when I have to work through a round of rough edits. I think my husband would prefer to always have me editing because I find things that HAVE to be cleaned immediately when there's edit work in my inbox. If my house isn't clean and I know I have to work...well...that's why the laptop computer is important. (See #1)

4. An Old Kindle (Kindle Keyboard, and 1st Gen Touch work)

One of the things I've heard over and over again is that you're supposed to read your work out loud. And I agree. Having to say the words you've written on the page, lets you see where a sentence is too long, because you run out of breath before the end of it. Too many of those and you'll pass out, and nobody wants that to happen when alcohol isn't involved. 

When you don't have an office, reading about "cock" and "pussy" while kids throw french fries on the floor of a restaurant is generally frowned upon. Although to be fair, so is the throwing of food, but I'd be the one to get tossed out on my ass. I use a feature on my Kindle called TTS (Text To Speech). This device reads my story to me in a monotonous robotic voice and the missed words or improper spelling jumps out.  I swear my kindle practically moans the word "Fuck". Yes. I've corrupted my e-reader.

5. Motivation

The biggest thing I've discovered in this business...no one is going to do the work for you. Finishing that first draft, doing your edits, and doing that terrifying first submission. ALL that's on you. So I make up motivators. If I write 500 more words, I get a candy bar. If I finish these edits, I get beer. If I finish this post, I get to dance in my bedroom to Pizza Balls.

Huh. What do you know? I get my reward. :D

Yes. I have issues. No. I don't care. Bass.

Do you have any work-arounds for small space living?

~Roxy

To find Roxy's books with buy links and what she has coming up next check out her website at RoxyRocksMe.com


And if you do have an office, remember it's good for things other than work! Check out my short story that takes place in an office supply store bathroom. Lots of fun things can happen When the Lights Go Out.

 

Blurb:

Named after the date of her conception, April Prime was used to hiding away and avoiding the world on April Fools' Day. Or at the very least avoiding her parents who tended to celebrate the holiday very differently from the rest of the world.

This year would be different. This year she closed on a home, and was taking control of her life. A few hiccups had her headed to an office supply store in search of moving supplies. Crashing through a bathroom door, she stumbled on a bit more than she expected when mister tall, dark, and indisposed was already using the facilities.

Taylor James was stuck being the brunt of yet another round of April Fools' pranks. One of them being a change of the bathroom door signs. He went to work knowing he'd have to navigate a mine field. What he didn't expect was a woman bursting in on him only to send his head spinning.

Despite the scenery, April is ready to make a red-faced retreat. That's when a car crash knocks out the power to everything inside the store, including the electronic locks.

By the glow of the emergency flood light the two realize they may be stuck for a long while. April and Taylor could wait out the inconvenience in silence, or they could capture a moment together, and just maybe find something special when the lights go out.

Warning: Sex in the dark may lead to orgasms and head injury.

Buy it on Amazon HERE!

Seduction begins in the...

photo credit:
"Oh, you're so sweet, and those beautiful eyes,
by that tricky cook I was hypnotized"
via photopin (license)

For those of you who don't read post titles, here it is again :)

Fill in this sentence: Seduction begins in the...

And yes, I know the proper way to say it is "finish this sentence" or "complete this sentence", but that takes me back to grade school and I don't want to go there so why should I take you?

So. Did you come up with your full sentence?

Seduction begins in the--

How many of you said brain?

iZombie aside (Roxy keeps talking about it. I haven't seen any zombie shows because I think I'm a reincarnated druid and I suspect I was ritually brained so the idea of eating 'em just doesn't go for me...someone give me a rundown on iZombies?), the brain is where we get ideas. And I don't know about you, but some of my most fun times started with an idea.

Some of my most fun times started with a brewery tour too, but that's off topic.

I started thinking about this when Amy K wrote this post on right brain/left brain. Which are you? Take the quickie quiz here.

photo credit: Acro Yoga Dhanurasana via photopin (license)

We can logically plan a seduction with our left brain. Or creatively come up with a new position with the right.

And have you seen those pictures of a brain on orgasm? According to Nan Wise in this ABC News article, “Secondary to an epileptic seizure, there’s no bigger brain networking event.”

Here's a picture. (I don't recommend searching for "Brain on Orgasm" because  it comes up with a lot of pics that are less scientific than this. What?? You looked?!? See. What'd I tell you?)

So what about you? Where does seduction begin?

NEW BOX SET ALERT!!

Biting Love Nibbles (Biting Love Short Bites collection)

Sparkling, sassy, sinfully sexy. Indulge your yen for action-packed vampire romance with these short bites.

Biting Holiday Honeymoons
That special night with their master vampires is interrupted by Dracula and Santa Vamp. Biting Halloween—Elena and Bo's honeymoon in the Dells is derailed when they get run off the road by a vampire. They chase him, only to find out Dracula—the real Dracula—is on the loose. Introduces Glynn Rhys-Jenkins from Biting Oz. Biting Christmas—Nixie and Julian slide into a hot-tub honeymoon, but things turn nasty when Santa Vamp and Mrs. Claus show up. Warning: These titles contain vampires. Fighting, biting, loving vampires. And adult couples trying to have sexy times on their wedding nights. Explicit language. Slang guide included.
Oz Bites
Vampires and sex and flamingos oh my! Punk musician Nixie Emerson is now married to her master vampire and life is grand. Until the mayor “voluntells” her to assemble a pit orchestra for Oz, Wonderful Oz, a new Broadway-caliber musical. Problem—she has no budget. Add in a vampire turf war and a pregnancy that makes finding the right sexual position a challenge and running from rogue vampires impossible, and she’s getting overwhelmed. As a rebel who thrives on creative solos, she’s getting zilch for solo time. Then someone blabs there’s no pay and her musicians back out. Worse, whoever’s stealing secrets isn’t just stealing Nixie’s. Warning: Contains wild sex, explicit violence, and a frazzled punk heroine. Or is that explicit sex, wild violence, and a frazzled lawyer vampire? What the heck. There’s sex, swearing, fighting and smiles.
Murder at Chipmunk Lake
Nixie's lost her mojo! Nixie Emerson, punk rock musician and first-time mom-to-be, has a stalker. Her band Guns and Polkas has gone national after their big stage debut, but the price of fame is the stalker trying to scare her into leaving the band. Her husband, master vampire Julian, whisks Nixie away to the Wisconsin north woods—where they meet the stalker on the pier of their cabin and he again threatens Nixie. Julian punches him out and the couple walks away thinking the problem is over. But when the next evening the stalker is found dead, they find out the trouble is only starting. Warning: contains a cranky pregnant lady trying to control her swearing, a master vampire appeasing his wife with food and creative sex, murder, mayhem and several arguments over what to name the baby.
Biting Serendipity
Best April Fools joke ever—falling in love. Serendipity “Sera” Braun hoists beer steins at her tavern job, where a Viking bouncer is bedsheets waiting to get sweaty. But Thor only scowls at her. Warning: A terribly lonely vampire, a conflicted schoolmarm with a caged wild side, nosy roommates and the female version of a bromance, not to mention scorching sex, swearing with the **** filled in, a whole town full of busybodies—and the best April Fools joke ever.

These stories contain material intended for mature audiences. Reader discretion advised.

Website | Kindle | Nook | Smashwords | Kobo | iBooks | Google | ARE | Kindle UK | Nook UK

Thanks to author Sahara Kelly for suggesting Nibbles for the title. Thanks to P&N Graphics for the amazing cover.