Escapism as a trend?

With everything going on in the world right now, I can honestly say, I have never been more grateful to live on an island in the middle of nowhere. I can’t fully escape seeing and feeling what is happening everywhere else, but I do get to walk on the beach and pretend I’m removed from it all for a few moments each day.

Home. The British Virgin Islands. 

Increasingly, people need an escape. This is reflected, in my view, in new trends in the world of romance books. We seem to be moving away from dark, angst-filled books, towards lighter romances, still with conflicts and tension but not as heavy as the sub-genres that have soared in recent years.

Another trend I have noticed is for shorts and novellas. Not necessarily as a replacement to novels but as alternative options. A fast escape from reality, whether they be enjoyed by readers lying in bed at night, during their lunch hour, or on a commuter train. See Carina Press’s call for erotic shorts and multiple anthologies, for example: http://carinapress.com/blog/submission-guidelines/ 

In terms of reading and writing, my own tastes are also reflective of the market. I am writing lighter books and dabbling in shorter books that are a little more removed from ‘real-life’ scenarios. My reading tastes are heading in the same direction. In fact, in the virtual book club I run through Facebook, my readers are choosing more fun reads and loving them. I am also listening to brighter music and watching rom-coms more often (together with eating copious amounts of chocolate but I’m not sure that’s relevant to the trend towards escapism J).

I want to make this blog interactive. So, tell me what you do to escape the realities of life, whether it be reading, writing, listening to music or something else.

I want to know whether you have noticed a shift towards less intense reads, and what you are reading of late.

Finally, I would love your suggestions for lighter books that I should read this summer and perhaps recommend in my book club.

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CITY SUSPENSE Vs. ISLAND SUSPENSE

                                 

Hi all,

As this is my first blog on Not Your Usual Suspects, let me introduce myself. I’m Laura Carter (*waves*) and I write sexy romantic suspense novels. My debut series, Vengeful Love, follows Scarlett Heath, a high-flying London lawyer, as she pitches to work for devastatingly attractive billionaire, Gregory Ryans. She wins the work, only to find out that the takeover Gregory is about to embark on is hostile. Cue a dark and twisted thriller, underpinning a passionate romance that sees Scarlett and Gregory mingling with high society in the glossy skyscrapers of London and Dubai.

I started writing Vengeful Love as a business lawyer living and working in the heart of London. It seemed like the perfect setting for an erotic, white-collar thriller. I had the backdrop of glitz and glamour—champagne, cocktails, sky views, limousines and black tie dinners—mixed with the ominous streets of the city. My hangouts looked something like this…

(View from the Shard, London)

Here’s the thing, six weeks ago, I changed my life by moving to a small island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. And as I sat down to my laptop in my new surroundings for the first time, I thought, Oh Crap! What have I done?

I went from dry martinis and the hustle and bustle of the city, to bottled beer and a sleepy, small-town beach life. My new style…

(Sunset British Virgin Islands)

Don’t get me wrong, the serenity of the island is wonderful. Being able to read and write in a hammock is pretty great. But I write CITY suspense novels. How am I supposed to make a beautiful sandy beach grave and threatening? I thought.

I worried about this for a couple of weeks, no kidding! Then I had that ‘lightbulb’ moment we all know so well. It came one day as I was driving past the island’s prison. It’s kind of idyllic for a prisoner—a low security compound with a garden and, from what I hear, pretty relaxed rules, with an outstanding view out to sea. I mean, this place would make the Count of Monte Cristo giddy!

So, I started wondering, what could a person possibly do to wind up in prison on this peaceful rock? And a few things dawned on me…we’re in the middle of the sea, accessible from all angles by boats and private planes…in other words, perfect for trafficking people and drugs—erm, hello gang crime and cartels! Then I thought, if you’re on the run, this is actually the PERFECT place to hide. It’s so small it barely gets a spot on the world map! And, given the fine waters for sailing, the low taxes and little regulation compared to, say, London or Manhattan, this is a billionaire’s paradise! Put all of that together and you get dark and (potentially) glamorous with no rules (*excited dance*).

It took some time and it was unexpected, but I started to see the small-town, island setting as having endless possibilities for crime and suspense novels. As an author, I think it is incredibly important to be able to draw inspiration from just about anything, to conjure a story from nothing. It’s what makes us a quirky (?) breed of species and, in my opinion, what makes our job one of the best in the world.

So, I ask you, authors, what is the most unexpected source of inspiration you have had? And to you, readers, do you prefer the backdrop of the dark and dangerous city, or the unsuspecting, kind of eerie, sleepy town?

If you’re interested in the Amazon bestselling Vengeful Love series you can check it out here:

Amazon US: amzn.to/1Tle3O3

Amazon UK: amzn.to/1M2lfqT

Barnes & Noble: bit.ly/1pd17Nm

Kobo: bit.ly/21mwLnN

iBooks: apple.co/1WeIGD2

GooglePlay: bit.ly/1RceZxQ

Come hang out with me:

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Website: www.lauracarterauthor.com 

Why Yes, I Did Write That Book...

Most of what I write leans toward the erotic edge of the spectrum. Which is perfectly acceptable, especially in the community of romance authors where I hang out on the web and at writers' conferences. Out there in my conservative neighborhood and work-a-day world, however, it's a whole different kettle of fish!

A while back I wrote three connected stories about brothers who ran a detective agency that catered to the rich and famous, the sort of clients who needed discreet security and were willing to pay top dollar for it. Being that the books were all erotic romantic suspense, I gave the brothers the last name of 'Long' and called their company 'Long Shot Detective Agency.'

My editor came up with a series title of Long and Hard, which I loved. When she told me a year or so later later that the publisher planned to release the collection in print, I was excited.

Everything was fine until release day. When I was sitting in a room full of non-writing people. And one of those people who happened to be one of my Facebook friends as well said from across the room, "Congratulations on your book release today."

I sat up a little straighter. No one else in the room even knew I was a writer. I muttered a thanks under my breath.

"You wrote a book?" someone asked from a far corner.

A middle-aged man next to me inquired about the title. Heat raced up my spine. There were at least thirty people staring at me now. My mouth grew dry. "Long and Hard," I said quietly.

"What?" a few people asked.

To hell with it, I thought. Yes, I wrote that book, and many more. And yes, it's erotic. And it already has good reviews. So why shouldn't I be proud. I sat up taller and squared my shoulders. "Long and Hard," I said louder.

A few people chuckled, most were silent. Within seconds, they'd gone on to another topic. No one suggested that they form a mob to stone me or that I be ex-communicated from the group. Not one person even gave me a dirty stare.

After the meeting, several of the attendees pulled me aside to inquire about where they could get my book. And I'd gained some new readers.

I learned a lesson that day about owning up to what I write, and who I am. I'm proud of what I do. So what that my prose are explicit and my characters engage in pretty smutty behavior. Lots of folks like to read about it.

So yeah, I did write that book. And yes - it's damn hot!

Color me Red

I write erotic romantic suspense. Doesn't sound so bad when I say it like that. Now I'm all for promotion -- heck, how else am I going to peddle my books? But I had a most embarrassing experience on the print release day of my Ellora's Cave collection, Long and Hard.

Yeah, I know. With a title like that I'm asking for it. Except I never knew the three novellas in the series would go to print as a collection. What ties the books together is the three brothers who work for the Long Shot Security company, which caters to the security needs of the rich and famous. The brothers' last name is Long. The heroine in each story is difficult -- or hard. Hence, we get Long and Hard. Had I known the publisher was going to eventually turn the series into a collection I might have thought long and hard about another series title!

Now, release day comes along a couple weeks ago. That evening I was sitting in a large meeting room with a group of about 30 people, at least half of them strangers to me. Right before the meeting was about to start, one woman I know, who happens to be a Facebook friend, says congratulations to me.

I rack my brain to think of a reason she'd be saying this to me. But she supplies the answer. "She had a book release today," she says. Several people in the room applaud me.

"What's the title?" one asks from across the room.

Now here's where I turn beet red. I have two choices -- tell the truth or make something up that doesn't sound so, well, smutty. Except the lady who congratulated me knows the title because it was on Facebook.

"Long and Hard" I say as quietly as possible. But not quiet enough because the room erupts in laughter. At least the embarrassment warmed me up in the freezing cold room. And maybe I'll get a sale or two out of it!

I-SPY : Writing M/M Romance

Join the authors and friends of Not Your Usual Suspects for an occasional series of posts about their world of reading, writing and publishing.

Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do.


TODAY'S POST: I-Spy something beginning with ...

WRITING M/M ROMANCE by Clare London

Here are just a few of my thoughts on one of my favourite topics :). I hope they're enjoyable, enlightening and expressed well enough - but remember, these are only my personal opinions.

What is it?  

M/M romance is the shorthand for male/male romance – in other words there are two heroes rather than a hero and heroine. A gay relationship is central to the book, though its plot can fit in any other genre – suspense, crime, fantasy, scifi etc. Many of fiction’s tropes are familiar too – cops and villains, star-crossed lovers, friends to lovers. It doesn't have to be erotic or explicit, but often is, like many romance books.

Why do you write it?  

I’ve written in several genres over the years, but m/m romance caught my imagination most strongly. I like men – no excuses there! – but I’m not talking about physical attraction alone. I also like to explore their character, behaviour, upbringing and attitude. The difference from my own character – and sometimes the similarity – is fascinating and intriguing. To set two of these men together in a romance novel is even more challenging, and I find it both empowering and refreshing. Other authors quote the excitement of creating a new dynamic on the page, and that’s certainly true. Both female and male characters can be portrayed away from the usual male/female stereotypes.

Can anyone write it?

Of course, anyone can write about anything they like, though to publish successfully you also have to consider issues such as publisher guidelines, the right market, and what’s popular. But even more importantly, in my opinion, you should follow your heart and instinct. An author knows what s/he likes to write, just as a reader knows what s/he likes to read. There’s a strong argument that if you try to write something you don’t love, it loses sincerity. In other words, if you try to write it for the wrong reasons – to keep up with other authors? To cash in on what looks like a new, better market? – it won’t feel right, either for you or your readers.

What are the challenges?

*As a female writer, the first challenge is that I’m not a man myself! However, my imagination is as strong as anyone else’s, so is my respect for reality, and my perception of human nature. Writing is a process of setting all that into an enjoyable story.

*There are logistical difficulties though. You can write “he put his hand on his shoulder, and turned him to face him” and no one knows who did what! It becomes even more tricky with intimate scenes, when you can easily lose track of whose (always male) leg went where :).

*There are significant differences in love scenes, of course, where – if you’ll excuse the bluntness – the whole process of Tab A and Slot B proceeds and concludes in very different ways.

*You should always show respect for your characters, and as they are, not as you’d like them to be. It may be tempting to take a classic m/f love story and replace the F with another M, but it rarely works successfully. Men think and act in a different way, even before the author allows for individual characters.

*You also need to step carefully into a genre where you can’t claim automatic, biological sisterhood with the main characters. It takes extra care to avoid being accused of being either ignorant or exploitative.

Why not?

All the things I love about m/m romance are the same as for other romance novels – after all, men are as strong, sexy and sympathetic as women can be, and a m/m relationship deserves its happy-ever-after the same as a m/f one. But…

*Some readers like to fall in love with their hero, and imagine themselves the heroine. Readers of m/m find a different excitement, because their hero will never fall for them!

*It’s not a guaranteed successful route. There’s fast growth in the genre at the moment, due to the accessibility of e-books and new exposure. But it’s still (excuse the pun) a closed book to a large percentage of the reading population. It’s a niche market: people can feel either uncomfortable or hostile with the subject matter, and this affects readers and book outlets.

So it’s different – but the same?

In many ways! As in any romance, if you write two-dimensional characters who talk and act the same way, whose motivations are boring or implausible, who don’t appeal to universal emotions – it won’t work, whatever gender they are.

Lastly (a late addition) - who reads it?
Well obviously I do LOL. But so do plenty of other people - men, women, gay, straight, young, old, and the list's not limited to these examples. Numbers are growing all the time. Some people who've never come across m/m romance before, assume it's for the same audience as the main characters - gay men - but that's far from the case. It genuinely is for anyone and everyone. We all have our valid preferences, but there are no restrictions on trying something out!

Needless to say, I love writing it - and hopefully my readers enjoy reading it!  Clare :)


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If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share them. Maybe we’ll return to the subject again if there's more you'd like to know!  

I’d also like to encourage anyone who’d like to try a m/m romance book, maybe for the first time. If you email me off-blog, I’m happy to offer you one of my short stories for free. 

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Clare London publishes novels and short stories of m/m romance, and is an author at Carina Press, Dreamspinner Press, Amber Quill Press, JCP Books, MLR Press, JMS Books, Torquere Press and Pink Squirrel Press.

Visit her at her website and her blog, and at Facebook and Twitter.

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FUTURE POSTS will cover:
Kindlegraph / the art of research / writing male/male romance / rejection and writer's block / building suspense / writing love scenes / anti-piracy strategies / audio books / interviews with editors and agents / using Calibre.
We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!

My struggling heroes - in BLINDED BY OUR EYES

Welcome to Romantic Suspense week on the NYUS blog.
DON'T FORGET: At the end of the week we're giving away a stack of ebooks (possibly a couple of print books too) to one lucky commentator. The more times you comment, the more times you'll go into the 'hat'. See this post. We'll name the winner on the blog next Monday.

I think I've always written suspense with my romance. To me, it can be either external or internal: my heroes are either struggling with mad stalkers, murderers or social hardships - or they're struggling with their own emotional feelings! And I confess I like it that way, both as a reader and as an author. It's exciting and challenging, and even if it's exaggerated in fiction, it's often true to real life. Call me cruel to my characters LOL.

I'm Clare London and I write m/m romance, usually erotic though not always. I write in both contemporary and fantasy genres, and include drama, suspense, action, humour, angst - or a mixture of all!

My first title at Carina Press was very exciting for me, as my first murder mystery. Blinded by Our Eyes is set in London, in the art world. Its psychological drama is more reminsicent of a WHY-dunnit than a WHO-dunnit, though I enjoyed my Agatha Christie-style denouement at the end :). And of course the suspense is flavoured with a strong dose of erotic romance between my two leading men, Charles Garrett the art gallery owner, and Antony Walker, the strong, silent, potentially dangerous sculptor.

The blurb and an excerpt follows here.
Happy reading!


BLURB: London art dealer Charles Garrett has devoted his life to appreciating and acquiring beauty, both in art and in his companions. His fashionable life is rocked to the core when he discovers the body of a young artist, Paolo Valero, in a pool of blood in his gallery.
As Paolo's mentor, Charles is haunted by the horror of his violent death. Seeking closure, he investigates Paolo's past and soon discovers a tangled web of motives and potential suspects, some closer to home than he ever imagined. He's drawn to Antony Walker, an aggressive, handsome sculptor with unsavory ties to Paolo. Charles is unsettled by Antony's forceful nature but irresistibly attracted to his passion and his art.
When the evidence points toward Antony's guilt, Charles is thrown into emotional turmoil. Has he lost his heart to a killer?

EXCERPT: (adult-rated for language)

Walker laughed again, but more softly. He’d made his coffee while still doing something with the tools on the table, gathering them up, putting them away in the wooden box. I couldn’t see around his torso, couldn’t see what his hands were doing in front of his body. I heard the bolt snap shut on the box and he turned back around.

“What are you doing there?” I said, too loudly. I didn’t seem to have full control of my voice. “Why are you bothering with that now? I just want to talk to you.” What are you hiding from me?

He just glared at me, his eyes dark and unwelcoming.

I glanced over at his work in progress. “What kind of themes do you work with, Walker? Did you work with Paolo? He’s…he was a very talented sculptor.” Is that why you were together—as artists? Or was your relationship something else?

Something fierce…

“He was a shit,” Walker growled, shaking his head.

His bluntness shocked me. “That’s—what the hell do you mean?”

His eyes narrowed. “You think people shouldn’t speak ill of the dead? Paolo Valero leeched off people. He was pretty and he was talented, but for all the time I knew him, he was a liar and a thief.”

I was stunned. “Money?”

“He stole money, yeah. And materials. And ideas.” Walker sighed. “But he stole time and attention, too. From me—probably from you, too.”

“Why are you saying this? Why are you slandering him like this?”

For the first time I saw uncertainty in Walker’s expression. “You have no fucking idea, do you? It doesn’t mean I wasn’t his friend. Though plenty of people in this business will tell you he got everything he deserved.”

“What do you mean?” I nearly shouted.

Walker shook his head. His frown got deeper. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Is that what happened with you and Paolo?” I persisted. “What did he steal from you? How much?” Maybe too much?

Walker gazed steadily back at me. “You look at everyone like that, Garrett?”

“What do you mean?”

He took a step toward me, threateningly, yet I didn’t move away. I couldn’t identify the expression in his eyes, but it chilled me. “I know guys like you, right? Dealers.” He made it sound like a disease. “You watch other people create, you give your critique, then you pimp the goods. Always on the outside, never really involved. You look around this room with cold eyes. You see a block of stone, you see banknotes, where I see breath and beauty.”

I was furious—suddenly, blindingly furious. “Who do you think you are? You arrogant shit.”

He didn’t even flinch. “And that’s the same look you’re turning on me now. Appraising me.”

I couldn’t speak, my throat was closing tight with the anger. He was right, I couldn’t tear my eyes from him, but it was from anger, not admiration, wasn’t it? Nothing to do with the fierce, sensual attraction that emanated from him, the way his dark eyes caught and fascinated my attention.

“You’re looking at me the same way you look at the stone.” He stepped even closer. A trickle of sweat ran from his throat down the middle of his bare torso. I imagined it pooling above his navel, glistening and bobbing as his belly clenched.

“I’m not.” That’s not me.

“No?” he murmured. He peered at me, sounding puzzled. “Then it’s something else…” His chest was heaving, as if he had the same difficulty breathing as I did. Behind him, the point chisel was still on the edge of the table. He hadn’t locked it away with the other tools. Its handle was a foot from his grasp.

“Get away from me,” I whispered.

He frowned. “Say that again. And this time like you mean it.” He was still searching my face, but now his expression was confused, as if he’d lost whatever he was seeking. And then his eyes slid away from my face to my chest and down the whole of my body, slowly and carefully. When his gaze came back up, lingering for too long on my groin, I blanched. The sexual intent was never in any doubt.

And my body shuddered in response.

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Also available in AUDIO book.

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Website: http://www.clarelondon.co.uk

Blog: http://clarelondon.livejournal.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clarelondon

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/clarelondon

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/clare_london

Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/clarelondon

GLBT Wiki: http://bookworld.editme.com/clarelondonbooks

Personal Rituals

I was looking through my old emails the other day (which I have broken up into files for each of my publishers and other categories) and I noticed something interesting. I had kept the very first emails I’d gotten from each of my publishers – that note that said ‘welcome to the company’ or ‘we’d like to offer you a contract on your submission.’ But it’s not only the very first email, but nearly all the letters pertaining to that first book with that company. I just can’t bring myself to delete those emails. I guess I’m afraid I’ll jinx myself if I do. Saving those emails is my personal ritual, a comfort of sorts. I occasionally go back and reread one or two, just to pump up my confidence when those pesky self-doubts creep into my head.

Another little ritual I have is to celebrate on the day of a book release. And today is one of those days for me. Not only is Protective Custody out today, but tomorrow is my birthday, so I’ll be doing a little extra celebrating.

In Protective Custody, Megan Jackson has a different type of ritual, a way more personal one. She has a candle at her bedside that she lights when she has male company. (Nod, nod, wink, wink.) Her ex-boyfriend, Will McCoy knows this ritual and when he goes into her bedroom after they’ve been apart for months, the first thing he notices is that candle and whether it's burned down at all since he was last there. But you'll have to read the book to find out!

Here’s a little about Protective Custody from Carina Press:

Witness to a murder, but no one will believe her…

Shocked by the brutal crime she witnesses through the window of her small office, Megan Jackson calls the police and is devastated when they question the truth of her story. With no body and no evidence of a crime, she’s written off as a nutcase.

Megan suspects the killer saw her face. Terrified, she calls the only person she can trust—her ex-boyfriend and former police officer, Will McCoy.

Despite a devastating breakup, Will jumps at the chance to help the woman who broke his heart. When the killer ramps up the stakes, Will is forced to take her into hiding—where the passion they once shared reignites, deeper and hotter than ever. But can Will keep Megan alive long enough to win back her heart?

What about you? Do you have any rituals (that you can share;-) that you’re not willing to deviate from?

Text Copyright © 2011 by Wynter Daniels

Cover Copyright © 2011 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.