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First up the easy question, what is your current release?

My current release is ASK FOR IT, a Brava historical. There are a lot of reasons why it means a lot to me, not the least of which is that it’s the first book I ever wrote.  It was written long before BAD BOYS AHOY!, which some readers find interesting. They assume books are released in the order they’re written, but that’s rarely the case. It was my first contest winner and won multiple times. It was the first book to garner requests for more from agents and it was the book that landed me my first agent. It’s been the #4 Highest Rated book overall on Fictionwise for a few weeks now, and has been awarded a few Reviewers’ Choice awards.

Summary, excerpt, reviews and book trailer

In November, I have two trade paperback releases of my EC e-books (This will take all of my EC titles into print, which is nice for my readers who only like that format) — WHITE HOT HOLIDAYS (VOL. II) which features my holiday story “Wish List”, and DECLASSIFIED: DARK KISSES which is a single-author anthology featuring MISLED and KISS OF THE NIGHT.

What do you think Avon Red has to offer readers that is different from the other erotic romance prints?

I think their decision to stay with one release a month is an excellent one. The market is flooded with erotic works. The tide will turn faster because of this, and then readers will be clamoring for ‘sweeter’ works. As I tell my husband, “Too much of anything is too much.” The smaller number of releases allows them to be more selective.I agree with Toni in that the levels of sexual explicitness are all across the board. For those of you who are familiar with my work, you may be surprised to hear that one of the PotN edits was a request to kick the sex up a notch. This surprised me, but I kept it in the same style and quantity I’ve always written.

Speaking of erotic romance, how do you define the difference between ‘erotic romance’ and ‘erotica’.

Erotica: stories written about the sexual journey of the characters and how this impacts them as individuals. Emotion and character growth are important facets of a true erotic story. However, erotica is NOT designed to show the development of a romantic relationship, although it’s not prohibited if the author chooses to explore romance. Happily Ever Afters are NOT an intrinsic part of erotica, though they can be included.Erotic Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT to be an erotic romance.

Sexy Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship that just happen to have more explicit sex. The sex is not an inherent part of the story, character growth, or relationship development, and it could easily be toned down without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a given as this is basically a standard romance with hotter sex.

Do people know you write erotic romance? If your friends and family do know, how has their reaction been?

Yes, everyone knows what I write. I’m very clear on that point so I don’t shock anyone. My mom loves my books (of course!). My SIL, on the other hand, was shocked, but still liked them. Both women have done a great job of promoting my books to their friends and family, which I appreciate immensely. Word of mouth is so important, and they’ve done a great job of building that amongst their circle of associates.

As a writer do you have any ‘do not cross’ lines or do you go wherever the story takes you? Have you looked back on something you wrote and been surprised you came up with it. Wanna share what it was *g*.

I’m a vanilla sex writer. I use graphic verbiage, but the sex itself is your ‘standard’ sex. I’ve only used a sex toy once (“A Familiar Kind of Magic” in ALLURING TALES: AWAKEN THE FANTASY) and I’ve had one anal sex scene (MISLED).I’m happy with the “type” and “heat level” of the sex I write. I write at the limits of my comfort level. But yes, if a story started going into unchartered territory I would follow it, but I’ve no plans to deliberately set out to write anything beyond vanilla sex.

Not that I have anything against those storylines that do. As a reader, I enjoy them. As a writer, I prefer to write m/f sweaty, gritty, no-toys-involved sex done in ‘standard’ sexual positions. 🙂

The anal scene in MISLED still makes me blush.

What is up next? We are book whores, give us names dates and summaries!

I have LOTS coming up, thanks to my wonderful editors who schedule me in their line-ups fairly often (and buy lots of books!) The following are the trade paperback books that I’m presently contracted for:2006
DECLASSIFIED: DARK KISSES – Ellora’s Cave – 11/06
“Wish List” in WHITE HOT HOLIDAYS antho- Ellora’s Cave 11/06

2007
THE STRANGER I MARRIED – Kensington Brava – 01/07 (Dec. 25 release)
“A Familiar Kind of Magic” in ALLURING TALES: AWAKEN THE FANTASY – Avon Red – 3/07
PLEASURES OF THE NIGHT – Avon Red – 5/07
PASSION FOR THE GAME – Brava – 6/07
PERFECT KISSES (anthology with NY Times bestseller Susan Johnson and Aphrodisia author Noelle Mack) – Brava – 7/07
TBD – Brava – 11/07
Book II of the Dream Guardians series – Avon Red – 12/07

2008
One more single title with Brava
three single titles with Zebra – a new futuristic mass market series

I’ve also got another story contracted with Avon, but I’m not sure when it will be released.

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