Lucynda Storey-Erotic Romance Writer

July 2008 We’re 2 Years Old!

To celebrate our birthday, Aspen Mountain Press is sending one lucky winner* a picnic basket lunch (retail value of $100) to create the deli sandwich of your dreams from Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Choose from Sherman’s Sure Choice Reuben - Black Angus lean corned beef, rye; Binny’s Brooklyn Reuben - Pastrami, pumpernickel; Georgia Reuben - Roasted turkey, rye. Also included are Zingerman’s homemade redskin potato salad, cole slaw and Russian dressing along with Emmentaler Swiss cheese, garlicky pickles and magic brownies.

To be included in the drawing all you have to do is purchase a book at Aspen Mountain Press. The more books you buy between July 1st and July 31st, the more times you will automatically be entered!

According to Oprah, “Zingerman’s sandwiches are an ‘11 on a scale of 1 to 5.’”

Don’t miss out on a terrific opportunity to sample some of the best deli food the mid-west has to offer along with some awesome stories of adventure, mystery, and passion. Remember, each story purchased is an automatic entry into the drawing!

See the Aspen Mountain Press website for additional details.

Every once in a while I look at something and realize, gosh, I haven’t done that in a while.  A while being a month, a quarter, sometimes even a year.

I spend a lot of time these days reading and trying to help newer author’s hone their talents.  Some of them are really taking off.  There is a part of me that is jealous, but then, I’m alternately prouder of their accomplishments because I know, I KNOW, I played a small part in their success.

The great thing, though, is they play a part in mine.  I can’t tell you how many times another author has lifted me when my spirits were at the bottom.  How many times I’ve asked for someone to give me an impression of what they’ve just read and let me know where it needs work.  All those times, my sisters and brothers in writing have helped me be better.

In a life that seems far too busy, I’m not too busy to say thank you, especially to the ladies of LAW.

I didn’t realize it, but I enjoy timed writing.

Last night, I attended a workshop in which that was all we did.  Various and assundry pieces of timed writing.  I liked it.  A lot.

Why?  It provided a jump start to my creativity.  It is non-judgmental.  I knew I wouldn’t be sitting in my seat for two hours trying to “come up with” something.  It had an end.

With timed writing, your body knows, it knows that there must be a beginning, a middle and most definitely an end.  The end is often a pithy sentence of clarity we didn’t even know we had within us.

Timed writing, like Julia Cameron’s morning pages, helps us clear our thoughts, dump the junk that may actually get in the way of our producing something better.  When we sit down to do the work, we can actually do the work.

The simplest plot is to know that there is a problem, to take an action, and then find a resolution.  Timed writing can allow us to go through these steps in a much more natural process.

Try it.  Set a timer for four minutes.  When it goes off, mentally tell yourself that now  you must wrap it up.  See what your mind creates.  Look for the arc, the beginning, middle and end.  Drain from your brain the worries and appointments and shopping lists and all the “to do’s” cluttering your mind. 

Now you’re really ready to create.

It pays to have friends.

Christmas Eve day I got a notice from author Dawn Montgomery that my novel, The Captive’s Release was a CAPA nominee.  What incredible good news!  Last year, Blind Devotion was so honored.

The CAPA, the Cupid and Psyche Award honors excellence in several categories of romance and erotic romance.  Titles are nominated by reviewers at The Romance Studio for books reviewed during the period of November 23, 2006 and November 25, 2007.

The Captive’s Release was nominated for Best Fantasy Erotic Romance.  My good friend, Lena Austin, challenged me to write an erotic fantasy, and the end result was The Captive’s Release.

The story follows a strong willed princess, Finola, who runs from her father’s decree she marry a man not of her choice.  This is especially galling since the women in the kingdom have the right to marry whom they choose.  In the woods she meets her almost lover, Calder and they engage in some hot hanky-panky, the sort that manages to keep her precioius virginity intact.  Unknown to them, they have been watched by soldiers from the very man she is to marry, the king of a neighboring kingdom who is know for his unusual bedroom practices. 

Calder is hauled off to the dungeons and Finola is left to endure the long march to her betrothed.  As she journeys she hears tales of Calder’s activities including his lack of fidelity.  Finaola finds herself wondering if the masked man who has taken her captive is telling the truth. 

Known only to her by her own nickname of “Broadsword” she’s also curious about the mask covering a large portion of his face.   Lust builds in her for this stranger…or could it be something more altogether?  And what will she do if she is still forced to marry the King if her divided heart is somewhere else?  Only one man, Calder, or Broadsword can be responsible for her physical, emotoinal, and sexual release.  Who will it be?

Stay tuned to hear more about the CAPA results.  If you’d like to see a complete list of nominees, go to The Romance Studio.

It has recently occurred to me that a lot of people shoot themselves in the foot by shooting off their mouths.  In the age of the Internet where everything can be copied, pasted, and forwarded, it seems ill advised to be particularly nasty about a given subject without having taken appropriate, professional steps to resolve any question, error or other difficulty.

Courtesy is free.  Courtesy will make you a friend and champion far faster than snarky, nastiness will.  There’s a saying that you will catch more flies with honey than vinegar.  I’ve seen it be the case in the electronic world.

People who are nasty are avoided.  What does a little kindness and politeness really cost?  It doens’t mean being a doormat, it doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion; it means you state your concerns with tact and decorum.

Being strong isn’t about being a bully.  Getting ahead isn’t about pushing people out of your way.

I’d rather be honey.

I remember being a lot younger and listening to Rush Limbaugh talk about the Clinton White House years like the way they talked about the hostage crisis in the Middle East during the Carter years.

Authors have a different sort of captivity; our captivity to words.  No matter what, we have these stories going on in our heads…stories that won’t give us rest until we get those words onto the page.

In November, we make the captivity worse by engaging in a bit of extra curricular insanity called NaNoWriMo.  NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month wherein authors and wanna be authors are challenged to push their limits…to write an awe inspiring 50,000 words.  No one at NaNo expects that their words are going to be ultra polished, perfect prose-not with that sort of output in 30 days or less.  And we do face it, we attempt this feat knowing we are going into the winter holiday season.  A lot of us lose an extra two or more days due to Thanksgiving.

But what NaNo really does is challenge us to reach beyond our comfort zone, to stretch when it is far more comfortable to do as we’ve been doing the past eleven months.

So, far, early on the 7th day of my NaNo captivity, I’ve topped 8,200 words on a brand new novel (totally, brand spanking new, not a word written previously on it).  41,800 to go. 

Can I do it?  I don’t know, but I’m hopeful.  I’ve got more on my plate than ever before, but I also feel more organized.  And hey, I’m already averaging more than 1,000 words a day. 

Lucynda

I spent the entire day yesterday at a conference sponsored by my local RWA chapter, the only reason I would stay with that organization since the parent organization has long abandoned me to vanity press.  We had an agent representative from Kristen Nelson Agency, Theresa Stevens from Red Sage Publishing, and authors Roxanne Rustand and CJ Lyons.

For writers, brushing shoulders and learning from other writers is essential for your continued growth as a story teller.  I learned something new from each one of these presenters.

Education of some form or another should be a frequent, common occurance for writers.  In chatting with CJ, I found out about her next WIP (work in progress) and it happened that I know someone in the field of specialty that she is going to use as the basis of her thriller.  She in turn had some excellent insight into how the world building of thrillers can help romance writers and how the characterization exhibited by most romance writers can help those who pen thrillers.  What a terrific exchange!

Writers must keep learning.  Not just about their craft, but about other subjects.  Little tidbits here and there are highly likely to lend an air of authenticity to a scene.  Craft books help provide knowledge on how story is put together, perhaps giving you a more solid foundation for “why” you do what you do.

Writers, Keep Learning!

Often I’ve been heard to say that I don’t believe in so-called “writer’s block.”  Mason  Cooley once said that “Excuses change nothing, but make everyone feel better.”  I believe it is also true of “writer’s block”.

I probably sound rather harsh and judgmental when I say I don’t believe in this malady.  Maybe I am.  I happen to believe we are responsible for our own actions and that if we are not writing, it is not because we are blocked, it is because of some other reason, or perhaps even a poor excuse.

For the writer, the story must get out.  For the writer, writing is serious business.   When we choose to weed the garden, wash the car, or call Dear Aunt Bertha rather than write, we are using excuses to keep us from our task.

Can there be a lack of words to put on paper?  Perhaps.

Some things are easily remedied.  Perhaps your creative well needs to be refilled.  Perhaps you have been writing so long or with such intensity, you need to read for a while.  Perhaps you are truly physically ill.  If this is the case, you don’t have writer’s block, you have something else going on. 

Be sure of one thing…there are a hundred excuses but not one good reason.  If you are truly lacking the ability to put pen to paper, perhaps it is time to take a look at what is really holding you back and finding a way to deal with that hindrance.

Recently I was able to interview author Rob Graham…Rob describes himself as a romantic heretic.  Indeed, he travels a path few male authors venture…that of an erotic romance writer.  

LS:  How long have you been writing and when did you have your first release?  Where and when? 

RG: I’ve been writing just a little over of three years now. My first release was In The Dark, an anthology of vampire stories I’ve written. It was released by Aspen Mountain Press in February 2007. They feature my favourite character to date, Georges Belleveau. It’s a lot of fun chronicling his adventures. 

LS:  Do you have a writing routine?  What is it?  GH: Sad to say, no. I don’t have a writing routine. I am trying to learn one though. Mostly I write when the muse moves me. 

LS:  Do you have a “day” job? or are you able to write full time? 

RG: No day job. I can’t work anymore. Rather I can work, but most jobs consist of things that don’t have much to do with work. That’s where I have the problems. Sigh. So I guess I’m a ‘full time writer’.  LS: Who inspired you and how? RG: My first inspiration was from hanging out at the Author’s Hangout at Literotica. I wasn’t an author and set about fixing that with a story called Fatima. That story by the way will be released in an upcoming anthology from Aspen Mountain Press with the title Gillian’s Place. My single greatest inspiration is probably Colleen Thomas. She was a person I knew over at the Author’s Hangout. A wonderful writer and a very sweet, strong and intelligent person. I say ‘knew’ as we lost her last year to a heart attack. She was thirty-six. I keep her in my heart and hope that my work pleases her whereever her soul rests. 

LS:  Where is home?  Have you lived your entire life in one place? 

RG: I live in Toronto, Canada. I’ve pretty much lived my whole life here. It’s a lovely city. I like being in one place. My family moved at least once a year the first decade of my life and I got really sick of being rootless. 

LS:  What genre do you write in?  Is there one you’d like to try? What is it? 

RG: I’ll write just about anything.  

LS:  What was the most memorable, positive experience of your life? 

RG: It’s not the sort of thing a gentleman talks about. *wink* I’ll extend my thanks once again to the beautiful woman I shared it with though. LS:  What was the toughest thing you had to go through and how did you manage? 

RG: Going insane was a hard thing to do. I ended up in a very dark place for a long time. I handled it by removing myself from the stresses of my life, making sure I took my medication properly and taking a long look at myself to decide who I was and what I wanted. 

LS:  In The Dark is a special book to you.  Can you tell my readers about how this book came to be? 

RG: The best way to describe this book is that it accreted, grew over the space of a year.  I had read a couple of Colleen Thomas’ stories, Latin and Latin Ch. 02. I found the main character quite interesting and rather revolting, a woman who was falling into evil because of the hurt she’d suffered at the hands of others. She’d discovered power through sorcery and was misusing it. That sparked something in me. “What,” I wondered, “would happen if she encountered something truly powerful and evil?” The first truly powerful and evil thing I could think of was a vampire. I started wondering what a conflict between Colleen’s character and a vampire would be like. In the process I created Georges Belleveau, a vampire, and he grew into something more than just your standard bloodsucking creature of the night. He became, in many ways, an avatar of humanity. Someone with power and dark wants. Unlike most people, he’s aware of this and works very hard not to act on them. He became a perfect foil for Mandy, Colleen’s character, who isn’t aware of how she’s falling and wouldn’t care if it was pointed out to her. She loves her power and what it allows her to do. Eventually the story became Abyss, one of the pieces that comprise In The Dark. I asked Colleen if I could use her characters in my story and she graciously agreed. When I finished it, she loved it! I was very pleased. I entered Abyss in the Literotica Halloween 2005 Contest. To my great surprise it won! A good trick with over 160 entries and some by very fine writers.

That was when I first started to think about getting published. After Abyss I picked up another vampire story that had been sitting on my hard drive and rewrote it so that Georges was the central character. Then I wondered what happened after Abyss, and I got the story Embrace out of it. After that came the story You Can’t Go Home Again, which covered events after Embrace. All these stories ended up on Literotica and all were well received. 

Then, one evening, I was on a chat at Realms Of Love. Cyn was there and she said that her company, Aspen Mountain Press, was looking for vampire stories. I directed her to my work at Literotica. I got to work polishing them up for publication and put together In The Dark. 

She must have liked it as I got the contract the day after I sent the manuscript in. *wink* The rest is history. In The Dark is the best selling of my work to date and has received glowing reviews. How it affected me is that all these events have really done wonders for my self confidence as a writer. LS: Some one or the other questions:

Coke or Pepsi products - Thanks, but no.

Julia Roberts or Kim Basinger - Uhm, no thanks.

CSI or Bones - Never seen either. I don’t watch TV. Movies or Theater - I like theatre, but it’s too expensive for me to go to often.

Rocky Horror Picture Show or Reservoir Dogs - Both.

Nicole Kidman or Drew Barrymore - Nicole Kidman. Mmmmmm.

Spain or France - France.

Leonardo deCaprio or Mark Wahlberg - Uh, straight guy here.

Florida or California - France

The Eagles or The Beach Boys - Elvis Costello

Lucynda Storey has been MIA for the past week.  Rest assured the erotic writer has been found, with her feet in the air and her eyes closed from sheer exhaustion.

What have I been doing?

The insanity started last weekend, Saturday the 25th of August.   We started off shopping for a picnic that commenced at 11.  Clean-up and then we were off to Invesco Field at Mile High to begin preparations for the 7 pm Denver Bronco preseaon game.  The game night was beautiful and the crowds thick.  I was in the back of a concessions booth cooking polish sausage, hot dogs, brats, and pretzels.  When not engaged in those activities I spent my time washing dishes.  Concession stand work is brutal.  Next time you attend a professional game, remember, there is a good chance those workers are volunteers and really don’t know what they are doing.

We got home at midnight, headed out to obligations on Sunday, and then began the week.  Thursday night found a repeat of Saturday, but the crowds were less dense.  Ordinarily, this may be a good thing, except standing puts a lot of pressure on my sciatic nerve.  It was far better to be busy the way were were on Saturday!

We finished up around the same time and found our way home by midnight.  At 3:45 AM (yes, AM) I was awakened to get ready to go to Parent’s Weekend at the Air Force Academy.  We left the house at 5 AM and attended classes.  We took in two Military Stategic Studies courses, a Chinese course and class on Geo-spacial Anyalysis. 

We got home relatively early, but I was up and at it again early Saturday morning (on the road by 6 AM) to work the Colorado University/Colorado State University football game.  The game started at 10:00 AM which meant we didn’t sell many brats and dogs and sausages until half-time.  We got home around 4:00 PM, and I collapsed into bed around 7.

The swelling in my aching feet is finally diminishing!  I’ve asked my family to tie me down if I’m ever in a situation where I have five major events happening in one week.

We do hope all the work will benefit my daughter, who is raising funds to travel to New York City next spring.