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I can't help but want to start this post out with a squeal of delight! So here it goes...
*SQUEE!!!*
It may be hard to take your eyes off all the sexy goodness that the cover has to offer, but try to, because this post has so much awesome stuff to offer, you don't want to miss out.
So welcome to my post for Elizabeth Seckman's Healing Summer Blog Tour!
Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds
Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is
having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your
breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the
past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a
drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the
route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of
the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to
find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?
Now, as part of the blog tour, I got to pick the topic that Elizabeth had to talk about and I asked her to share how she feels about writing love scenes and having kids. Does she worry her kids will read them or is she okay with it?
Lets see what she has to say, shall we...
Miss Leigh (can’t help use my Scarlett O’Hara voice when I
say that!) suggested the following
prompt in the “Healing Summer” pick my brain blog tour:
When writing loves
scenes, do I worry about my kids reading them?
I’m no E.L. James and my love scenes won’t win me too many
hot peppers on the heat scale.
But there is sex.
And when I first started writing love stories, I struggled
with them.
I am, by nature…reserved. (Don’t laugh Leigh…it’s true!!!)
I’m not one to be open with personal stuff and I cringe at TMI moments. So, my
first instinct was to leave the sex out completely. You know, lead the reader
to the moment, then shut the door.
So, I did.
Then my betas gave me thunder.
Disappointed and let down…they weren’t shy in asking, “What’s
your problem?! That stunk!”
I whispered back, “My kids
might read this one day.”
They screamed, “SOOOOO what????!!!”
I stood firm. The door was staying closed. Other writers do
it and get away with it.
So would I.
Then I re-read my manuscript and I had to admit…my betas
were right.
I was leading the horse to the water then sealing the trough
with Saran wrap.
Dissatisfied and discombobulated, I did some soul searching.
I cut my young, romantic teeth on Danielle Steele. I vividly
remember “Palimino” as one of my firsts… mostly because I got detention in the
eighth grade for participating in a dramatic reading of a particularly hot
scene for my math class while my teacher was out of the room (okay, so maybe
calling myself reserved was a
stretch!).
I would read and re-read love scenes until the pages were worn thin.
When I’d get a new book, I’d scout out the sex (geesh, this is feeling like a
piece for True Confessions!).
In hindsight, I realize I wasn’t looking for the
sex per se, I was looking for the love. My addiction to romances didn’t turn me
into a nympho (poor husband just said darn) or a tramp (I think I heard a whew
from the man), but it did make me a true believer.
I think I might have a hard time believing that "reserved" bit, but that makes it all the more fun. I love all the funny stories you share on your blog and believe me, I love the "love scenes" in your books! You write them so well - I'm glad you decided to take off the seran wrap!
I had to ask this question because I know it's something that a lot of writers struggle with.
Thanks for sharing Elizabeth, and thanks everyone for joining us for Elizabeth's Healing Summer Blog Tour. You can find this marvelous author and her books by clicking on the following links:
If you visit the blog tour page, you can see all the other spots Elizabeth will be hopping around to. Then - YOU get to VOTE on which blog topic was the best! (Obviously, this one!) So be sure to hop over and vote!
Also, she is doing a Rafflecopter Giveaway so be sure to enter!
26 comments:
Door remains shut in my books! I did good to get a kiss on the page.
Congratulations, Elizabeth.
I guess Alex is saying he won't be the next Nicholas Sparks...but that's all right. You stay just the way you are spectacular sci-fi man!
Oh, and thanks for having me over Leigh. Hugs and love to you chick!!
Hot, steamy-- cover and scenes. Great to read about the authors and books. Thanks Elizabeth and Leigh.
What a great post! I worry about sex scenes because my mum will read them, but I am slowly getting over it now lol!
Thanks Julie.
Kyra- my mother and my sisters were the first to complain about my boring-ness. Go figure!
Reserved? (using southern old fashioned accent) I do declare! I never thought but you've made me a believer. This reminds me of ye old rap song by salt n peppa....lets talk about sex baby....crap now I got it stuck in my head!
I shut the door right when it's about to happen. Then again, I write YA, so no one wants to watch that awkward stuff happen anyway. Let's just have them assume the guy thought it was awesome and the girl thought it was supposed to last longer than 60 seconds. ;)
All joking aside, I love this prompt because it is something a lot of romance writers struggle with.
This prompt gives mine a run for it's money. Reading this was fun, yeah I'm coming out the reserved gate of sex scenes myself but since I'm doing ya right now I don't need to be too worried about that yet. YET.
Excellent Job Leigh interviewing Liz on this topic. I say Liz if your kids read it then you just have more fans. Hopefully not the teasing kind.
Great post, Elizabeth, Leigh.
I've yet to really right a hot and heavy scene - close, but not enough because it didn't feel needed. When I finally get around to the epic fantasy I have in mind, things might change. :)
If I wrote steamy romances, I'd go all out. Since I write YA, I keep things vague enough to let the reader decide what happened.
Cassie Mae, you kill me! Harlequin might be calling you for the 60 second love scene!
I agree...keep YA PG. (though honestly, by today's standards, mine might only qualify for a pg-13)
I suppose it's whatever feels natural with the story.
Great prompt choice!
I struggle with writing love scenes, too. (Fortunately I am mainly able to avoid them by mostly writing MG & YA.) To be honest though, I hadn't even thought about my kids reading it someday! (I did think about my dad reading it, or my husband's grandma.)
Congrats Elizabeth!!! I don't even lead the horses to the water. Haha. I write YA and I don't really write romance. LOL. But I was just like you when I was growing up. Skimming the books for the naughty scenes. Haha.
Oh my gosh! I didn't even THINK about my MOM reading them! EEK! She'll freak, but that's how she is. My grandma will probably read it too. She might blush a little, but she'll survive. hahaha! Love everyone's comments! Thanks for being here today Elizabeth!
Whether or not my parents, my rabbis, my rebbetzins, my aunts, my uncle, or anyone else might read sex scenes in my books doesn't really bother me that much. I just figure I'll tell my primary rabbi and rebbetzin (who are Orthodox) ahead of time that certain of my books have mature content and they might not feel comfortable with their kids reading it. I always try to focus on the emotions instead of just writing some graphic sex scene for its own sake. Even when a scene is highly erotic, I never put it there just to titillate, and I never use crude or off-color words for body parts or functions. I've been told I have a real way with writing first-time sexual experiences.
Oh my gosh, I can just tell you are a fabulous writer Elizabeth. This is SO funny:
I was leading the horse to the water then sealing the trough with Saran wrap.
HAHA. Marking it all TBR now! :)
I love anything romance (except erotica - hate that genre), so expect me to read this! Can't wait to read this novel - now I gotta buy it for my nook! Congratulations, Elizabeth! Success is headed your way! :)
Leigh (Abby) Thanks for having me over. And thanks for the wonderful prompt. I love hearing everyone's thoughts on it.
Rachel, I was pleasantly surprised by the response from people. Most people sort of laughed at me for being such a worry wart!
Jenny, I tried something other than romance, but I draw a blank. Funny how the muse leads, huh?
Kelley, if this prompt brings you into the book store, then Leigh gets a high five!!
Carrie-Anne, I agree with you 100% I think they have to be heated by the love, not the raunchy factor.
Livia, hope you do get it, and hope you enjoy it! (and trust me, it's far from erotica!)
Elizabeth, that is a fantastic take on love scenes in general. I'm not a connoisseur of the romance genre so I'd never thought about that part of it. Excellent post.
Thanks Rena! I've been a love story junkie since I was a young teen. Ruined by the bodice rippers early on...lol
Great post! Love a good romance. I think it requires major skill to figure out if a scene needs more or a door shut. I write YA so it's mostly shutting the door. :)
Great job, Elizabeth!
Sealing the trough with seran wrap! Ha - that's a great line. I tend to do the lead-and-shut-door thing myself.
Coleen and Nicole, I agree with you guys...YA is done best with the door closed.
Thanks ilima!
" I was leading the horse to the water then sealing the trough with Saran wrap."
hahaha - great analogy
I debated this, too, but sex won out. As far as my kids reading it, I'm more worried about the moral thread of books than the sex scenes themselves.
Great interview. Love your sense of humor. :D
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