#WriteTip - Don't Fight Your Characters by @SiobhanSWrites, spotlighting her @DecadentPub #LesFic #FFRomance

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I'm delighted to welcome fellow Decadent Publishing author Siobhan Shannon to my blog today. She has a brand new lesbian romance out, and we'll get to learn more about it after this short writing tip break.

If the characters want to take a left turn where I planned to turn right, I let them. Fighting them is the fastest way to writer's block. - Siobhan Shannon, author of Dressing Lily

Dressing Lily

Sans Soucis House

by Siobhan Shannon

 A lesbian romance....

If life is a game, Olivia Lyons wishes someone would let her in on the rules. From picking the wrong sweetheart to telling the wrong secrets, she just can’t seem to win. But then she falls in love, and her world seems brighter. However, when her romance is discovered, her father sends Olivia to live with her mother in New Orleans.

Broken hearted, Olivia starts her life over, working for Claude DeCloux, who owns a jazz club. There, she meets the infamous Lily LaRue, Queen of Burlesque and learns more about herself and the world she lives in than she believes possible. Lily, however, is very possessive, tangling Olivia in a web of exhibition and money that seems impossible to escape. Can she break free and find her way back to the only woman who’s ever truly owned her heart?

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Excerpt

I didn’t set out to deliberately ruin my life. I don’t guess anyone does, and then when the walls come crashing down, it’s just so . . . surprising. One day you wake up and nothing looks the same anymore and the next, people are asking you why you’re destroying their lives. I don’t know. I woke up on one of those desperately close mornings in July when the air feels like a blanket and nothing was the same any more. I didn’t even like my coffee the same way anymore. It might have been meeting Daisy Bledsoe. Or it could have been a virus, God only knows. All I can tell you is that on that morning, everything changed.

She wasn’t the prettiest girl I ever saw. She was tall and weathered and snaggle-toothed, but when she smiled her face lit up and you couldn’t resist smiling too. She certainly wasn’t the smartest girl I ever met, either. There were times I wanted to pull my hair out over the things she did. But on that July morning, she mesmerized me, and before I knew it I was making decisions that snowballed into a freight train that could have ruined my life. Strange but true, I think I’d do it all over again.

I must have been about twenty when Pa sent me to Tom Harmon’s place to see if he had a fuel pump for our old tractor. I had never been out to Harmon’s before and missed my turn. I came down a road that just kept getting narrower until I had no choice but to go forward. I found myself on a grass track that petered out among dead machines and rusting farm implements in front of her house. I finally found a place where I could turn around, but that was when I met Daisy.

It was hot and I had the windows down. I came round a bend and a big black dog decided I didn’t belong there. He jumped up at the window of Pa’s truck raising hell. All I could do is hit the brakes and lean away.

“Max!” I heard a voice like a sack of gravel shout, “Come heah.” Max shut up and left the side of my truck, making me happy. One look at her, and I knew I was lost.

“Can I help you?”

“I believe you already have.”

About Siobhan Shannon

Siobhan Shannon lives in Texas with her husband and a very well behaved dog. She writes, makes lace, dances, sings and plays fiddle every chance she gets. She loves everything about having grown-up children and hopes to live at the seashore one day. She frequently misses appointments because she is writing and fails to heed the time. She has written Dressing Lily and two speculative fiction novels. You can contact her at siobhan@siobhanshannon.com

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#WriteTip - VS Morgan (@vsmorgan1) Talks Characterization. Check out her @DecadentPub #LGBT #PNR

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Some of you might have noticed my slight Pinterest addiction. As such, I'm a huge proponent of this writing tip from fellow Decadent Publishing author V.S. Morgan. Not only does her new release feature an interracial couple, it also includes not one, but two hot men. 

Details Make the Character

by V.S. Morgan 

Create a detailed background of your main characters and any key secondary characters. What they look like, their hobbies,  family situation, quirks, strengths, and weaknesses, etc.  I even find photos on stock photo sites as inspiration. This allows the characters to become 'real' for me, which translates into characters who don't seem like cardboard cutouts. Knowing your characters on a deeper level can also drive your story to places you may not have originally expected but are thrilled they did.

Rex's Mate

V.S. Morgan

Former assassin Rex realizes retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be without someone to share it with. He longs for the kind of connection his friends Hunter and Casey have. Tired of meaningless hookups, Rex and his wolf are ready to find their mate. But what if his mate is the human-were bunny shifter his former boss placed in his care? Can he win the heart of this fierce and beautiful man?

Abducted and genetically altered against his will, Aaron is thrust into a world he’d thought was only make-believe. Under the protection of a Minnesota wolf pack, he struggles with his new abilities as a rabbit shifter and his growing attraction for his cocky protector. Can he trust the former assassin to keep him safe and find his brother still being held captive by the evil group responsible for changing his life forever?

Excerpt

Something tickled his ear, and teeth nipped the lobe. Oh, he liked it a bit rough.

“Oh yeah, baby. Bite me again. Harder.” Rex opened his eyes, finding himself on his side, face-to-face with the rabbit.

“Screw that!” He scrambled back, landing bare-assed on the floor.

Screw bunny?

His wolf’s puzzled response had him crab walking toward the door. How the hell had it gotten in bed with him? Hunter. That shithead.

Leaving the rabbit there, Rex shoved onto his feet and stormed upstairs to their room. He opened the door with so much force it slammed against the wall, causing Priss to bark at the end of the bed.

His righteous indignation diminished slightly with Hunter’s Glock trained on him. Maybe he needed to rethink how soft the former assassin had gotten. His friend lowered the gun and glared at him.

“What the hell, Hunter?” He planted his hands on his hips, more confident without a gun pointed at his face.

Casey sat up and rubbed his eyes, his reddish-blond hair standing on end. “What’s the naked, crazy man yelling about?”

Hunter covered the little wolf’s eyes. Shifters weren’t prudes, but he was one possessive dude now he had a mate. “What’s your damage? And go put some clothes on. Casey doesn’t need to see your man bits.”

“As if you didn’t know. I moved here, froze my balls off last winter, and how do you repay that friendship? By putting a rabbit on my bed. That wasn’t funny. I could have eaten him.” His stomach churned even though his wolf huffed in denial, insulted by the accusation.

No eat. Wolf like bunny.

Yeah, probably too much, you dumb wolf.

About V.S. Morgan

V.S. Morgan has lived all over the US but calls Minnesota her home now. Her family includes her hubby, son, and a menagerie of pets. 

She's been writing stories since she could hold a pencil and dreams of happily-ever-afters - even for two hot men - because love knows no boundaries. V.S. writes IRMC contemporary, paranormal, and suspense m/m and m/f with heart. 

 V.S. is a GLBT ally and a lifetime contributor of The Trevor Project.

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#WriteTip - Sticky Notes and Storyboards by @ErzabetBishop, spotlighting her @DecadenPub #LesbianFantasy #Romance

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I'm delighted to welcome fellow Love Spanks contributer Erzabet Bishop here today. If you're a fan of smoking hot Lesbian Romance (aka FF Romance), she's probably already one of your go-to gals. Also, here's a little-known fact about me: my first manuscript (which has been trunked and will never ever see the light of day) was a retelling of the myth of Persephone. Once you read Erzabet's blurb, you'll know why I'm so excited. 

Let's get this writing tip out of the way, shall we?

Sticky Notes and Storyboards

by Erzabet Bishop

Every writer has that moment where the story sticks and you just have to knuckle down and figure something out when it doesn't flow the way you think it should. What works for me every time is an old foam-core poster board and a selection of colorful sticky notes so I can move plot elements around until they make sense again. And they always do. Eventually. Whether it's sideways or up and down, I twist the board until it fits what I need. Character arc, plot weirdness or just overall story. I have even used the back of my bedroom door. (Much to my husband's horror.) It's about what helps you get the story done. One plot bunny at a time...

Pomegranate

Myth and Magic #1

by Erzabet Bishop

What if everything you thought you knew was a lie?

Crafting spells, running her shop, and hanging with her lover, Hayden, was all Persephone Carraway wanted out of life. The future was filled with endless possibilities as long as it was with the girl of her dreams. But Hayden has a secret and, it turns out, so does Persephone.

One night in the Underworld will change things forever…

Demi, Persephone’s mother has developed a designer pomegranate, infusing it with her daughter’s blood. A single act of betrayal will craft war with the old gods and the Fae, leaving destruction in its wake. Persephone is drawn into a web of myth and magick where nothing is as it seems, even herself.

Myth. Magic. Pomegranates…

Excerpt

Persephone took a breath. Her mouth was dry and her skin slick with sweat. She was thirsty. So thirsty. Her eyes wouldn’t focus, and her heart was racing.

“You look like you could use this.” A woman in a black mask and unbuttoned tux jacket approached, holding out a bottle of water. The white dress shirt was halfway open, straining against her breasts. Every movement tugged against the soft flesh, hinting at the bounty buried beneath the fabric. Vest unbuttoned over leather pants and kickass boots, she made Persephone’s breath catch in her throat. The woman’s black hair was slicked back into a tight bun, her red lips plump and succulent.

Hands shaking, Persephone took the bottle. “Thank you.” What is wrong with me?”

“This is your first rave, I take it?”

“Yes.” She drank the cool water, each swallow bringing her more clarity. Soon the bottle was drained and dangled empty in her grasp.

“It can be a little much when they turn on the purple wave. Here. Sit.” The masked woman led her to a chair. Large and white, it faced an enormous fireplace. Green fire burned within. Persephone fell into the chair, her dress spilling around her. She watched the green fire dance, marveling at the images unfolding. Her mind was still muzzy but she saw...no....

“Faces...there are faces,” she gasped, trying to push herself up from the chair.

About Erzabet Bishop 

Erzabet Bishop is an award winning author who loves to write naughty stories. She is the author of Lipstick, Dinner Date, Crave,The Science of Lust, Arcane Imaginarium: Spirit Board, Holidays in Hell, Mallory’s Mark (upcoming 2016),The Devil’s Due (upcoming 2016), Charity Benshaw’s Enchanted Paddle Emporium (upcoming 2016),Tethered, Sigil Fire, Glitter Lust (upcoming 2016), Written on Skin, Club Beam, Pomegranate, A Red Dress for Christmas, The Black Magic Café, Fantasies in Red, Sweet Seductions: The Erzabet Bishop Collection, Holiday Cruise, Fetish Fair, Temptation Resorts: Jess, Temptation Resorts: Marnie, Taming the Beast, The Erotic Pagans Series: Beltane Fires, Samhain Shadows and Yuletide Temptation along with being a contributor to many anthologies. Erzabet has been a finalist in the GCLS awards for 2014 and 2015. She lives in Texas with her husband, furry children and can often be found lurking in local bookstores. She loves to bake, make naughty crochet projects and watch monster movies. When she isn’t writing, she loves to review music and books.

Follow her reviews and posts on Twitter @erzabetbishop.

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