The ties that bind

The other day a friend and I were remarking on the 'hotness' of a man we'd just seen (yes, guys, women do this too), the consensus being 'very,' and I said something about his tie. She gave me this look of complete confusion. First, before I go any further, let me just say my appreciation of neckties does NOT rise to the level of a fetish. I'm quite capable of appreciating a man's other attributes without the help of a piece of silk wrapped around his neck. But I have to admit, there's just something about a nice tie ... (mind you, an ugly tie, or one covered with, say, cartoon creatures, does have the opposite effect).
So her theory was it's because I find them easier to manipulate than, say, a pair of handcuffs. Not so. You have to admit, though, they're a lot more versatile. You know, even if you have enough pairs (or the right kind) to cuff both hands and both feet to, say, the bedposts, you cannot use a pair of handcuffs as a blindfold. It just doesn't work. You can, of course, trail a pair of handcuffs down the body, but I maintain silk is more fun.
Also, unless you carry them in your purse (gets heavy), there are just gonna be times when you want them, and don't have them. At the office, say. Where the man in question (whomever he happens to be) will quite likely be already wearing a necktie. The rest, I'll leave to your imagination.

Oh, yeah -- when I was looking for pictures (much harder than I thought!), one Google entry mentioned that ties are a phallic symbol.....but that couldn't have anything to do with it ....

Cover for The Fortuneteller's Lay!

Whew, what a week. I'm three posts behind, so be on the lookout for neckties, more bad boys, and a couple of other topics that escape me at the moment. Of course, getting the cover art for The Fortuneteller's Lay did a good job of throwing everything else out of my head!

So, without further ado ... here 'tis.

My heroes have always been cowboys

Not really. But Rita Thedford, KyAnn Waters, and Eve Savage (on the Wilder Roses yahoo group) are doing a good job of changing my mind ....

He's just got 'tall, dark and brooding' written all over him, doesn't he?

The foods of love

Yesterday a friend and I were discussing wines for Valentine's Day. Rosés (they're pink? Me, I'd rather have a Sin Zin ...), Champagnes (of course!) -- and I suggested Chablis, for the perfectly reasonable reason that it traditionally goes with oysters (so does Champagne, but I was looking for variety, which we all know is the spice of love).

Of course, some of them also go very well with things like strawberries (also a great Champagne food), chocolate (a great anything food) ...
Turns out that lots of spices are aphrodisiacs as well -- cinnamon, saffron (the essential oil of saffron is said to promote extended orgasms) and coriander among them.
And then there's whipped cream. Which has this reputation of being more interesting in the bedroom than you'd think (like some people). I mean, really, it's the grown-up version of something our mothers told us was good for us and would make us strong (there is no grown-up version of spinach, though). But where does this reputation come from? It's not the taste (you could add cocoa or cinnamon -- I don't recommend adding oysters). Is it the texture? Maybe ... is it the stickiness? Or maybe it's what you can do with it (sort of like body paints). Whipped cream does have the remarkable ability to ... but see, then it's just for the excuse of licking it off.

Any favorites? Or any unusual edibles I ought to know about? Someone suggested asparagus (phallic image) .... but you know ....

One last note. When I was looking for pictures to add to this post (under the tag "whipped cream") I realized again that people will take pictures of anything. Anything. And anyone. Resist. Don't do it. Or, do what you want, but don't take pictures. And if you have to take pictures, keep them tucked away in your own little blackmail album. Let the professionals take the pictures. (Frankly, one of the better pics was this famous cover shot.) Or at least people with taste (no, not you). A perfectly delicious pic of a guy neatly decorated with strategically placed whipped cream was completely ruined ... by the picture of the guy wearing it. I'm sure a perfectly nice, charming, intelligent, funny, sexy man (when not wearing whipped cream), but not really whipped cream material. And who would YOU like to see wearing it?

The bad boy next door

I have a new neighbor. I haven't met him, I just know he's there. And moved here from someplace interesting -- a place, in fact, that conjures up all sorts of luscious masculine images. But that's not the point. The point is that I haven't met him, so it's as good a time as any to move a fantasy hero into that address, right?
In an ideal world, the boy next door is a bad boy. You know the type. Bad boys are redeemable, once they've met the woman who can peel away all the onion layers (yes, those are the smelly ones that make you cry) to get to the sweetness inside. But not too much sweetness, because what fun is that? Or, the boy next door LOOKS like he's the sweet, nice guy, maybe a bit (not too much, please) of a traditional by-the-books sort of guy, with a wild streak that tucks in next to yours just perfectly. Kind of like Clark Kent. Mild mannered something by day, superhero by night ... or any time you want him to be.
I'll let you know ...

I resolve to write more ... sex scenes

This post was originally going to be about New Year's resolutions, but I got distracted ...
I've spent a large portion of the last few days thinking about and talking about and writing about sex. Okay, so given that I write erotic romance, this may not seem like much, but it was the context. First, I'm signed up to take a plotting workshop -- plotting is not my strong point. But I have a difficult time finishing what I've started, because I get distracted -- and it's tougher to get distracted if I know where I'm going and don't have to think about it too much. So what does this have to do with sex? Don't answer that -- I know where your mind is going, and it's not an attractive destination.
So ... point one: plotting workshop. And several writers write, or are interested in writing, erotic romance. And a couple questions came up that prompted this post -- you know, how do you sorts of questions. Yesterday, I met with my brilliant plotting/goal-setting/critique partner, Macy O'Neal ... and one of the topics we discussed was fantasy vs reality in sex scenes (aka "do people DO that??????!!!!!?????). And so because of these, I've spent more than the usual non-writing time thinking about sex -- from a writer's/crafter's POV.
Then, there was a workshop posted from KOD (an RWA chapter) on writing sexual tension (I'm going to sign up for it, I think -- as soon as I figure out whether I'm going to survive boot camp).
I write erotic romance short stories -- mostly because when I try to write anything longer, people (in the stories) die. Or something equally dramatic (Quote of the year -- last year: "The thing about homicide is it's so ... fatal."). But there are some challenges with writing erotic romance. Notice, first, that I use the phrase 'erotic romance' -- to distinguish it from erotica, which I (my personal opinion, here) think is about the sex -- no romance required. It's a hot fantasy, and whether you think it's hot kind of depends on whether you can get into the fantasy (anyone who's read erotica, or, say, Nancy Friday's books, probably knows what I mean -- not everyone gets turned on by the same fantasy). Erotic romance, though -- happy ending. It's a romance, but with hot sex. Yes, I realize that not everyone's definition of hot sex is the same, but the point is that the romance is the point. There's an emotional hook. Face it, has anyone gotten emotionally involved in ... well, I won't go there, but you know what I mean.
The first challenge is keeping that emotional hook in there -- of not getting so absorbed in writing the sex that you lose the emotional thread. Not an easy task. Partly, you worry about how much is enough, and is there such a thing as too much?
The next challenge is keeping the sex both hot and real. This is why I call it the "do people DO that????!!!???" question -- and the more question marks and exclamation points, the more likely your reader is being pulled out of the story. You want them enjoying the story, NOT stopping in the middle of it to see if there's actually enough room on the bathroom counter, or whether you could actually reach what the heroine is supposed to be reaching while the hero is standing where he's supposed to be standing (or whatever). Frankly, shower scenes kill me (and that's not a Psycho reference) for that reason. Unless the writer is really good (there's a good shower scene in Paisley Scott's Secret Santa 4 U), it's too easy to get caught in the "but, could you DO that?".
More on this later ... I just realized how late it is. But tell me what you think -- any particular types of scenes that threaten to pull you out of the story? Or you just don't care? Any reasons writing sex scenes is tough for you? Or do you think I'm crazy?