Since today is my 1st time as a guest blogger for Romance Junkies what better topic than 1st’s. I’m very excited to be a regular monthly blogger at RJ. I’ll be blogging here every month on the 28th .

This past year I had a few 1st milestones.

First book contract.
First publisher.
First editor.
First book published.
First review.

With all these firsts I celebrated these milestones in some way. There are a lot of firsts out there. I still remember my 1st job I had then the 1st paycheck from that job I got. My first day of college. My first day after college when I realized I had to find a career. LOL.

Some of the firsts that made me cry. The first time I held my niece after she was born. She was so tiny and precious Then more of my nieces 1st’s. First step, word and time she ate solid food.

As I mentioned there are many firsts out there. Many milestones of the 1st to celebrate.

Now that I’ve had a few 1st in my writing career and with a New Year approaching I plan to have some 2nd’s and beyond. They are to be celebrated just like 1st’s.

Here’s wishing you a happy new year of many 1st’s and lots of 2nd’s and beyond.

What are some of your 1st’s?

McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com
… sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend? Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules. Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed. His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings. His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

Hi! I’m Sharie Silva. Thanks Romance Junkies for letting me blog today.

One of the great things about this world is the varying ways people celebrate this holiday season. It saddens me when people nitpick the wording used or when they discount someone else’s traditions. It’s enough for me to know that we are all enjoying our families and faiths in our own way.  I find it hard to believe that tolerance is in such short supply.  It really is no one’s business how I celebrate Christmas, ya know?

Sex is similar in that everyone has their own preferences and taboos. What we, as an individual, are uncomfortable with might be the norm for someone else.  Again, it’s none of my business how other people enjoy sex and it’s none of theirs how I enjoy mine.

I bring this up because I write erotic fiction. My short holiday story, Paper Chains, is an erotica which includes BDSM.  I realize some people would be appalled at that. I respect their choice not to read it. In truth, I have family who fit into that category and so Sharie Silva is my pseudonym in an effort to make their lives more comfortable. I write plenty of fiction they can enjoy but I’m not about to let their reservations prevent me from writing sexy stuff.  Just as I’m not about to let someone tell me how to celebrate my Christmas season.

I guess my wish for this world would be the gift of tolerance.  However you choose to celebrate this time of year, I wish you the warmest of holidays, filled with lots of wonderful memories and good food.

If you’re interested in Paper Chains, check it out on the Eternal Press website.  Here’s a direct link:  http://www.eternalpress.ca/paperchains.html

Writing, Kids, and  Regency Yuletide Tidbits
by Linore Rose Burkard
http://www.LinoreRoseBurkard.com
“Inspirational Romance for the Jane Austen Soul”

   Writing historical romance doesn’t mean my head is always in the past–though sometimes my kids seem to think so. In fact, at times I think I have to prove to them that I am still involved in their daily lives.  (Just cooking, cleaning, keeping the family calendar straight, paying bills, chauffering, and all that doesn’t do it, you know!) One year, I baked up piles of little cut-out cookies and constructed an Advent calendar using simple plastic snack bags (like sandwich bags, only smaller) and pinned them (using safety pins) in calendar fashion, to a felt background. I hung the finished “calendar” from a wooden dowel. Each day’s bag held four cookies–one for each child, as I only had four, then–and was numbered on the outside with a permanent marker. My calendar wouldn’t have won any “Good Housekeeping” awards for beauty, but oh, the children loved it! Since it was a visual reminder of the coming big day as well as a gustatory delight, it had a double impact. Add to that a simple daily reading from scripture or an appropriate book of our choice, and we had a wonderful family activity that brought meaning to all the bustle and busyness of the season. Importantly for me, it also “translated” into kid consciousness that I was still their mom, still involved with THEM. Kids can sense when your activity does NOT have to do with them, by the way. They never say, “Mom, you cook too much,” or, “Mom, you do too much laundry.” These things have to do with them. But they sure can say, “Mom, you write too much!”

    And Christmastime gives me no break since I enjoyed researching Christmas during the Regency to such a degree that I eventually wrote a whole book about it. (Regency House Christmas: The Definitive Guide to a Remarkably Regency Yuletide!)  The downside of having done this research, however, is that I’m always adding to my files, keeping the ebook alive with marketing during this busiest of seasons, and in short, missing the very season that I love! Or could be, if I let myself. I try not to let myself. And my kids don’t let me, either! Fortunately for them, we’ve started traditions that they hold me to, and I have to admit, I’m blessed that they do! By the way, another downside of researching an early 19th century Christmas is that I sort of wince when I see a Regency set during the holidays on the shelves of a bookstore. Most of them show big Christmas trees on the cover–wrong.  Regency homes didn’t always have a tree at all and if they did, it was a table-top one, not the big tall type the Victorians popularized. More often they had the “Yule Log” and a hearty fire as a result, with wassail steaming over it, and a pudding wrapped in cloth in another pot. The regency didn’t have the commercialism, the huge number of presents, Christmas cards,  or outdoor caroling parties. (”Carolers” were usually “the waits,” a special town band, who got remuneration for their efforts.) Instead, Christmas was more centered around the church calendar, and decoration was mostly live greenery with berries, including mistletoe. So many differences! Was anything the same?  Yes. Joy at the birth of the Saviour. I wish you a Merry Christmas. May it be happy, healthy, warm and wonderful. And for a special treat, enjoy a historical romance!  What better time to curl up with a good book and travel through time than during the holidays? 
–
Thank you for this opportunity!
Blessings,

Linore

–
Linore Rose Burkard.com
Inspirational Romance for the Jane Austen Soul
Get Linore’s FREE monthly e-mag about the Regency
Before the Season Ends  Available Now!
The House in Grosvenor Square–Coming Soon!

“Hi, my name is Chelle and I am a romance writer.” I receive a round of applause and several personal shouts of “Hi Chelle!” And over milk and cookies, we discuss the 12-steps towards REAL writing… (the preceding is a dramatization and should not be attempted, etc and so forth)

Why is it that many writers in the romance genre feel that they must announce their forte in clandestine meetings and apologize for their behavior?

Hey all, I write romance. I am not ashamed of the stories I weave. Yes, there is sex and sometimes I may even find myself blushing as I read aloud at an author event. I have oft been the recipient of “tsk, tsk” and “I’m sorry, I won’t read romance books.” And men, oy, they won’t be caught reading a romance novel, no matter how good a story you may tell. My son-in-law teased me that he planned to cover my first novel with a cookbook cover so he could read it on the train while heading in to work!

The romance genre has gotten a bad rep and romance writers are regarded with condescending amusement. And yet, Romance Writers of America has the following statistics on their website: “Romance fiction: $1.375 billion in estimated revenue for 2007, Religion/inspirational: $819 million, Science fiction/fantasy: $700 million, Mystery: $650 million, and Classic literary fiction: $466 million. Of those who read books in 2007, one in five read romance novels.” Impressive.Often referred to as escapism or fluff, the romance genre is known for the “formula” – boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy loses girl over some stupidity that can’t be helped, boy wins girl back, and they live happily ever after. But if all writers followed the “formula” without a real story plot, do you honestly believe that $1.375 billion would have changed hands in 2007? Romance has many sub-genres as well and contemporary romance (the here and now, situations the average reader can relate to) remains the leader of the pack.

During a recent discussion with my editor/publisher, I asked for her definition of romance, erotica and porn – all too often used to delineate categories of romance. Her response was simple, the focus of the story and whether the plot and love came before or after the sex in the book. This put it all into perspective for me. Just like the ingredient label on our breakfast cereals, which comes first?

To date I have written four contemporary romance novels; three have been published and the fourth, Courage of the Heart (actually a modernized re-release from 2001) is due out in February. The ingredient labels on Bartlett’s Rule, Forgotten, Within the Law and the aforementioned Courage of the Heart would read: Love story. Sub-plots and twists, Sex – yep, they are romance novels. A fifth novel, due out in the summer, is called Final Sin. Final Sin’s ingredient label would read Crime-Suspense story, sub-plots and twist, love story and sex; while there is certainly sex involved, it is more relevant to the crime than to the love story. (I have been assured by the haters of romance novels that they are looking forward to reading my NON-romance.)

Some of the most popular stories throughout time have involved intricate love stories although some do not have happy-ever-after endings: Romeo and Juliet, Gone With the Wind, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Gift of the Magi, and more. Many modern day movies and box-office hits illustrate the theme of love and sex: 27 Dresses, Pretty Woman, Love Story, Casablanca, Sleepless in Seattle…

It seems that the story of romance is here to stay. And if you decide to pick up a romance novel, you just might find yourself intrigued by the story.

http://chellecordero.blogspot.com

available from Amazon.com