Round Robin Blog Fest Feb 16 2019

With a snow storm outside and my knee limiting my physical activities, what a better time to jump in and rejoin the Blog Fest with a new post. That and I get to share some great news! I have a new book released as of February 14th!

Glitter Bay Mystery Series

Book 1:  All That Sparkles

What do a trunk full of vintage clothes, a handsome land developer, and a fifty year old diamond heist have in common? Laken Miller receives a trunk full of expensive vintage clothing and a stack of newspaper clippings about a fifty-year old diamond heist. Now all she has to do is figure out who murdered Tilly San Vicente before the killer silences her as well.

And now back to the Blog Fest question of the month:  

Love, sex, and relationships are part of many books. What seems acceptable, what do you think current readers want, and what (for you) is going to far?

I think readers read such a wide variety of genres, heat levels, and deviant types of books that there really is no longer unacceptable materials - depending on your target market. Something like Fifty-Shades of Gray began as Twilight fan fiction. A book for teens and young adults. In fact, I know many people who write erotica and sell very well.

When it comes to my books, however, I prefer to keep the heat at a low simmer which seems to go better with cozy mysteries. Probably the steamiest novel I've written was The Bakery Lady that sees Leo Blue run into a woman he can't resist, Christina Davidson:

     Christina folded her arms across her chest. “Are you here to buy something or just stand here and psychoanalyze me to death?”

    “I’ll take a dozen éclairs and a half dozen cookies.” He straightened up. “All I’m saying is that every other shop in town is all decked out for the holidays and you don’t have so much as a candy cane or the radio on, which I know you have since Clancy turned the music on yesterday.”

    “And?” She walked into the warmth of the back room, trying to pretend he wasn’t there. The smell of his cologne mingled with the fresh baking as she opened the oven door. “I think you should go now.”

    “And I think you need to show a little Christmas spirit.” Leo followed, pausing to hold his hands in front of the open oven door and bask in the warmth. He wore a leather bomber jacket and a cheery red scarf which clashed with his spiked red hair, but he didn’t seem to care. “By the way, I still want cookies and dozen éclairs.”

    While Clancy had mentioned Leo was a boxer and martial artist, she hadn’t realized that meant he enjoyed picking fights outside the ring with five-foot-nothing women covered in enriched white flour. She nudged him out of the way, put several trays of raw cookie dough into the oven then shut the door before Leo could get too comfortable. “So I’m not into Christmas. Big deal. Not everyone in the world is, you know.”

    “You used to be. Clancy told me so.”

I have read books with far more heat than that, but I'm not so sure I could write one without copious amounts of wine to loosen my inhibitions! Let alone what my mother would say! Lol! My ears are red just thinking about it!

For me personally, when it comes to books, and even to movies, I find the innuendo is far sexier than the in-your-face descriptions. I like a little bit of sexual tension between my characters, both in books I write and the ones I read. A little bit of heat from a furtive look, a touch of skin, a lingering kiss... Is it hot in here?

Now that you've heard from me, let's see what the other writers think:

Margaret Fieland 

Skye Taylor 
Victoria Chatham 
Beverley Bateman 
A.J. Maguire  
Marci Baun  
Dr. Bob Rich 
 And our fearless leader:   Rhobin L Courtright