I recently got a lovely email from a reader telling me how much she loved my book, SEX, LIES & WEDDING BELLS. She mentioned details about the storyline and the characters and how following their relationship had been so enjoyable.

It gave me such a great feeling that I felt an immediate boost in not only my mood but my enthusiasm to get back to work on one of my current writing projects. I have gotten similar comments about my writing before, including a number of readers who said they stayed up all night reading because they couldn't put the book down, even if they'd be tired at work. One reader told me she left work early one day to get home and finish the book! I cannot even put into words how flattered I felt that readers were re-organizing their schedules around reading my work!

These uplifting comments made me wonder about how often other authors receive direct feedback from readers, and how they feel about the experience. I also wanted to discover if readers knew just how much we love getting those emails or letters! [read more]

Tags: EM Lynley | fan mail | reader opinion | sex lies & wedding bells | motivation | writing

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My new novel CHASTITY FLAME is available as part of the Breathless line. I wanted to share some of the words of praise she has already received.

The fabulous Dana Fredsti AKA Inara Levay gave me a stellar blurb for my forthcoming erotic thriller, Chastity Flame. Dana’s the author of Murder for Hire: The Peruvian Pigeon and (as Inara) Ripping the Bodice. Her work is filled with her singular sense of humour and lots of lively action. She writes:

"Step aside, 007, and make room for Chastity Flame. Ms. Flame outwits, out-spies and definitely out-sexes James Bond in this rollicking, witty and exceptionally well-written erotic spy thriller. If you’re a fan of British media, look for the in-jokes. If you’re not,
there’s more than enough humor, action and hot sex to satisfy any lover of romantic suspense!"

It helps a new writer to get pull quotes from better-known authors. I have been lucky to get a terrific one right off the bat for my thriller novel.  From the lethally charming Phil:

“Chastity Flame is my kind of woman — smart, savvy and always ready for a romp with the guy of her choice. I wish I’d created this character, but in C. Margery Kempe’s capable hands you won’t be disappointed. Erotic and witty, this is a page-turner.”

– Philip Nutman
multiple award-nominated author of WET WORK

Thanks Dana & Phil!

Tags: breathless | publication | writing | inspiration | Chastity Flame

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I've been incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to write short stories for Ravenous Romance's anthologies.  One of the things I love about short stories and the ebook market in general is the quick turn around time from turning in the story to when it goes into electronic print.  As I reflect that I began writing shorts for publication in November of 2008 and I already have stories in Power Plays, Experimental, Ambrosia, and Sweaty Sex and have received acceptance into the upcoming Rekindled, DILF, and Women of the Bite anthologies, I can't help but have warm fuzzies.  RR was the first publisher to which I submitted.

I'm still plugging away at some longer works.

All of my reflection has caused me to realize how important studying the craft of writing is to success.  As writers, we're all told that writing is only one piece of the puzzle to success.  There are marketing, blogging, freebies, queries, proposals, building a fan base, social networking, commenting on other people's blogs, building a platform, and endless other tasks to complete.

I agree that all those things are important, but experimentation, writing, rewriting, and paying attention to my mistakes couldn't be more important.  Sure, I write a dud every now and again.  Nobody receives acceptances 100% of the time.  My duds are fermenting into other pieces altogether.  Dud wine can be perfectly sweet after the pieces morph into something else altogether!

On a side note, I recently searched google blog search (www.blogsearch.google.com) using the world "erotica."  My personal blog today showed up on the first page as the 8th result out of 766,414 hits for the word erotica.  I'm thrilled that jenbluekissederotica.blogspot.com is doing well.  You all must be googling me!

Tags: google blog search | revision | writing | Sweaty Sex | Women of the Bite | Rekindled | Power Plays | Experimental | DILF | anthology | Jen Bluekissed

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Tags: chat | Angela Cameron | Blood & Sex | writing

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“Write every day.” That’s something many writers tell others who want to write. “It doesn’t matter if what you put down sucks,” they say, “put it down anyway. It’s the only way to become a writer! Write. Write. Write!” That’s good advice. So is this: “Don’t write.”

I quit my day job to become a full time writer in 1994. Jumping into the full time writing fray was thrilling, liberating, and scary. Writing full time continues to be thrilling, liberating, and scary.

All this time later I’m still writing full time. Erotica. Horror. Historicals. Most days I spend hours upon hour at the computer, creating fictional adventures. Some steamy and graphically sexual. Some scary. Some set in the past. Some set in contemporary times.
Good fun, hard work. I write – a lot. I want to. I have to.

“Yep,” other writers might say, “That’s what she has to do. That’s what she’s gotta do. Don’t let a day go by. Write something everyday!”

But you know what I’ve discovered in all this time? Sometimes that old well runs low. And you have to fill it back up or you start scraping the bottom. What you come up with is thick mud and worm poop. You have to turn off the computer or lay aside the pen.

I took a vacation a couple weeks ago. Went to the beach with Mitch for five days. Stayed in an inexpensive motel on the oceanfront, one that was all the more inexpensive because it was off season. Ninth floor. Nonsmoking room. Balcony overlooking a pier and the great gray sea. I didn’t take a laptop. I didn’t take a legal pad, though I was going to. I was tempted, Lord don’cha know it. Instead, I just sucked up the vacation. I stood on the balcony to breathe in the frosty, salt-laced February air. I watched the people below on the boardwalk, pier, and sand, braving the chill in their coats and gloves, throwing sticks to dogs who leapt into the foamy waves to retrieve them. At daybreak I watched the orange slice of sun on the horizon, followed by several old men on the sand, waving their “treasure hunters” back and forth, looking for quarters and other valuable finds. One afternoon I watched a group of retarded people on a day’s trip with their counselor, sitting on boardwalk benches in matching wool caps, dutifully eating the sandwiches that had been brought in a wheeled cooler. I saw lovers buried deep against each other and against the wind, wandering past, unaware of the beauty around them, absorbed in the beauty that was their intimate connection. I observed the waves at high tide. The waves at low tide. The “Sand-Boni” leveling the sand soon after sunrise. Laughing gulls diving for leftovers. Herring gulls looking pissed and bored. Little sand pipers running around and just being cute. Pelicans in the sky. Dolphins embroidering the surface of the water.

Mitch and I also did our share of wandering. I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my jeans to test the winter waves. We meandered through the closed-for-the-season amusement park, studying the graffiti, the old newspapers blown against wire fences, the boarded up concession stands. I stared up in horrified fascination (I have a major fear of heights)) at the “Skyscraper,” a 165-feet high, 65-mile an hour Ferris Wheel-type thing that seemed content to be left alone for the time being. Bought cool, kitchy souvenirs made of shells and glue at one of the few gift shops open. Then, I challenged one of my fears and climbed the wrought-iron spiral staircase to the top of the 200-year-old Old Cape Henry Lighthouse. For five days I watched, I touched, I smelled (yeah, okay, shut up), I tasted, and I listened. I took it all in. And I didn’t write a damned thing.

Now I’m home. My mind’s well is full again. I’m ready to get back to work. Not writing for those five days was inspiring and enjoyable. And I’ll attack my writing once again with inspiration and enjoyment.

If you are a writer or aspire to be one, write, write, write! But also, don’t forget to shut down the computer some times. Spend a day in a park or an afternoon in a bookstore. Do some gardening, go wandering, sit in a coffee shop and experience the world beyond the screen. Don’t tell yourself, “Okay, I’m here to get inspired for a story, a novel and I better come back with some ideas.” Remove yourself from urgency. Just be there. Just suck it in. Relax. Don’t fear a little time to let the well refill, for it will. And when it does, drink deeply. (But spit out any residual worm poop.)

Love,

Morgan

Tags: writing | relaxing | erotica | historical fiction | horror | vacation | advice | inspiration | rejuvenation

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I just finished a novel (a sexy espionage thriller) and experienced once more the incredible relief and joy that typing the very last words of a book brings.  There's such satisfaction in finally reaching that point after the long haul of chapters.  This was a relatively short process, about two months (some novels have taken me years), so the beginning was still fresh enough in my mind to feel a genuine sense of wonder that I had reached the end.

It's satisfying to have created something out of nothing.  That's the magic of writing.  

I find it especially gratifying when it's on the scale of a novel.  You're conscious of juggling narrative threads, characters and locations with manic energy throughout, so when you can finally set them all down neatly in a row, the sense of accomplishment is worth savouring—and celebrating.

But then comes the inevitable sadness; with luck, you get to enjoy the happiness for a while before you realise that the people with whom you've spent so much time have gone away.  You miss them.  They've been talking in your head for so long and now the voices are silent.  Fortunately, I will in all likelihood be seeing many of these characters again.

However, the only real solution is to find yourself typing those other words that have as much thrill as "The End"—those words, of course, are "Chapter One" or any other start up phrases. Think of the thrill inherent in the phrase "Once upon a time".

Begin again—writing is an endless cycle.  Stories only end so new ones can begin.  The magic is always waiting to be reborn.

 Make some magic today.

Tags: inspiration | composing | writing | magic | suspense | characters

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Picture me as the cat.  Then imagine the toy as Time.  MY time.   My increasingly decreasing FREE time.  Is it any wonder I clutch it to me with teeth and claws much as Bug Bear hordes his favorite stuffed mouse?

Oh, I know what you're thinking.  "This is just another excuse to show a cute cat picture, isn't it, Inara?"

Er...

NO!

Er...

Well...

Maybe just a little bit.

But after taking the last week off of writing and now getting back into my schedule with a new book deadline of May 1st, I really do feel like Gollum with his Preciousss when it comes to free time.  I guard it jealously.  And unlike Bug Bear and his toy, I don't play fetch with it.

Tags: cute cats | free time | deadlines | writing

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I just came back from a walk around my neighborhood.

We've had rain for most of the week, but yesterday and today the sun is shining and it's really warm, so I went outside for some fresh air and vitamin D.

I wish I had a digital camera because the trees are blooming and it's just so damn pretty out there. I love dogwoods. I grew up in Florida where we had no seasons and no flowering trees. We had beach sand and crabs on the front doorstep and mango trees in the backyard and of course coconut palm trees.  I never saw flowers on a real tree until I was 11 and we moved to New Jersey. That was probably the only thing I liked about NJ, all the flowers on the trees and every week in the spring a different tree would come into bloom and it was just so ... pretty.

The dogwoods started blooming a couple of weeks ago, and so did the cherry blossoms. At least the dogwoods hold their blooms. The cherry blossoms start losing petals right away. I know this because my car is parked under one and it's constantly covered in tiny pale pink petals that dry and stick to the windshield. I almost feel another "when I lived in Japan" story coming on here, but I'll spare you all, unless anyone is interested, then let me know.

But anyway, I can highly recommend a stroll around flowering trees for putting oneself in a better mood. Now, I'm ready to sit down and put in a few solid hours of writing on my next novel for Ravenous. I'll share some information about that next time!

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Tags: flowers | springtime | writing

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Tags: writing | agents

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I've been working double-time lately to catch up after a few weeks of illness. Now that my vampire novel Blood & Sex, Vol. 2: Jonas has been turned in, I can't wait to see Jonas's cover after the wonderful job that Ravenous did with the first one. It's so exciting to see this dream developing into something everyone can see and share.

I also wrote my first witch story this month, which will be in the upcoming Rekindled anthology edited by Elle Amery. I hope it's as much fun for you to read this paranormal short as it has been to write. Wynd, the hero, developed into a strong character that has me dreaming up new stories even now.  I can definitely see a new novel or two spinning out of this short.

There are a few other pieces I'm putting together. New curiosities are opening me to strange and diverse story lines. I'm learning more about the various fetishes that people have and exploring their depths to see what new lessons of human nature I can find. But I'm torn between so many fascinating subjects that I'm lost for a defined direction.

That's why I'm putting a shout out now to all the readers. I'd like to know what interests you, what you'd like to read about. I'd also like to know what you found interesting in the stories I have out so far. If you have thoughts that you'd like to post, please comment here or email me.

I'm looking forward to chatting with you!

Angela

Tags: writing | latest | new | in progress | Angela Cameron | blood | sex | Jonas | vampire | witch | paranormal | process | Fetishes

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I've always been interested in how other writers work and create. This post isn't going to be about the detailed aspects, but more about how things work in a general sense.

I guess my own habits go back to when I was a freshman in college. In many ways, I look at writing as a science. I signed up for basic EN101, expecting to learn nothing more than how to answer an essay question on a final exam. And I already knew how to do that. So I was delighted and shocked when the Professor, Dr. Jean Atthowe, in Fairleigh Dickinson University, at the Florham-Madison Campus, opened the class with this comment: "By the time you get out of here, you'll be expected to write fifteen hundred words on the color blue."

The point behind her technique was as simple as it was complicated. She wanted us to learn how to write about anything...even something as mundane as the color blue...without going into a panic. And over the course of that semester, she used metaphors to help us remember; she used little tricks that trained us how to write on any topic. One in particular I loved was her reference to a paragraph as a sandwich, comparing the first and last sentences to slices of bread.

I'm also always interested in the process of getting commentary and critiqued. I've heard of beta readers, but I've never done that. I've heard of critique groups, but I've never been part of one. For me, and this is different for every writer, I have a rule that I never show anything I've written to anyone but the editor, the publisher or my agent. I know writers who disagree with me, but it's how I do things. I'm always open to any revises and changes, and any editor or copy editor who has ever worked with me knows this. But I'm not open to sharing my work with anyone else until it's been published.

Tags: the science of writing | technique | writing

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I was going to post something about my upcoming book, Ripping the Bodice, and the sordid history behind it, but after an evening of working on a non-fiction project and feeling distinctly cranky about it (Zin, my notorious Muse, is NOT happy about being pulled away from the fiction erotica AT all, crabby creature), I thought I'd share another part of my life that's always added inspiration when I've needed it the most! 

I love all animals (even the ugly ones), but I’ve always had a special affinity for felines. Like many other kids, I used to fantasize about having a pet tiger or lion. The heck with owning a horse; I wanted a black leopard named Sheba as my companion. I knew on some level this was an impractical dream, but not until I hit my mid-thirties and started volunteering at the Exotic Feline Breeding Facility/Feline Conservation Center (otherwise known as The Cathouse) did I fully understand just why exotic felines do not make good pets.

This is me and Paco, a jaguar cub born at EFBC/FCC.  While it isn't the sort of cathouse where women sell sexual favors, there is a lot of sex going on at EFBC!  Rough, wild, and very brief bouts of feline love-making.  A satisfied female leopard rolls on the ground...the males just look kind of smug. 

Volunteering at EFBC-FCC has been a life-changing experience (click here to read about my experiences) and I would urge anyone in the L.A. area (or willing to put in a bit of a commute) to check out the site. 

And next post will be about Ripping the Bodice and writing!  I just have to get Zin to cooperate. 

Tags: efbc-fcc | cathouse | felines | ripping the bodice | writing | muse

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I was interviewed a few days ago by fellow author Jesse Blair, and the question came up: Why do I write erotica?

It's a good question. Especially for someone who has been writing and publishing in other genres - historical fiction, horror/suspense, media tie-ins, nonfiction, mainstream - for quite some time. But it basically comes down to one thing. I write realistic characters and their experiences. Their lives. What the encounter, what scares them, excites them, makes them angry or sad or overjoyed. Yes, the stories often get pretty wild or scary and sometimes surreal, but the characters themselves are rooted firmly in reality. They love, they hurt, they bleed, they cry, they laugh, they tremble, they desire. We read about them because we want to experience what they are experiencing. We want to learn what they learn, go where they go, discover what they discover. So when the opportunity came to write about sexuality, it seemed to fit right into what I was already doing.

Granted, I've never been as explicit with my sex scenes as I have been with my Ravenous Romance novels and short stories. But real sex is pretty graphic, right? And so it didn't take much to open the bedroom doors just a bit wider so the reader could see more clearly what was going on. And what's wrong with a little literary voyeurism? I mean, isn't all fiction a bit voyeuristic by nature?

Love,

Morgan

Tags: sex | bedroom | writing | fiction | romance | erotica

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It's a weary truism that it remains taboo for women to talk publicly about what turns them on. Another of the contributors, Joan Smith, says she has been fielding scandalised callers demanding to know why a feminist such as herself would even countenance writing erotica. For all the jocular gloss, the media's imperative to identify Lette's writers carries an unpleasant undercurrent of the scarlet letter.

“So many cultures have quite strict codes governing female sexuality,” she said. “If that sexuality is relatively passive, then why so many rules to control it? Why is it so frightening?” There was the implication, in her words, that she might never illuminate her subject because she could not even see it, that the data she and her colleagues collect might be deceptive, might represent only the creations of culture, and that her interpretations might be leading away from underlying truth. There was the intimation that, at its core, women’s sexuality might not be passive at all. There was the chance that the long history of fear might have buried the nature of women’s lust too deeply to unearth, to view.

Tags: desire | writing | inspiration | erotica | sexuality

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Tags: replies | editing | writing

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It's Virginia Woolf's birthday today.  You may tend to think of the resigned suicide portrayed in The Hours, but she was an innovative writer with a good sense of humour and an ambition to write the kind of stories that fired her imagination.

While troubled and struggling for much of her life, Woolf survived longer than she might have done because she had a community of other writers and creators who gave her inspiration and support.  Without that safety net, Woolf probably would have given in to despair even sooner.  She was able to complete a number of fascinating and ground-breaking works before she took that final walk to the river.

Woolf wrote, "Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends."

Woolf reminds me of the importance of community for writers.  Our work is solitary.  It requires a lot of hours simply putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.  While you can do that anywhere—in your office or out in a coffee shop—the process is one that requires spending much of your day inside your own head where the movies unfurl and you try to capture every nuance (or where you kick the projector to get it running again).

That's why you need that community—people who understand that need for solitude, the difficulty of the process and the hunger to fill your head.  One of the best things about Ravenous Romance is that it has brought together a whole new community of writers.  There's a broad range here, from old hands who've been writing erotica for years, to people new to the genre and even folks who are publishing for the first time (yay you!).

Without fail, the other writers here have been supportive, cheerleading and generous with their knowledge and experience.  Just look at the blog entries here, where folks offer advice, tips and insight into the writing process.  Experienced writers model the way to promote their works without being overbearing, while new writers get to share their excitement and pleasure to a wider audience. I have new friends here, on Facebook, on Twitter and the ripples widen.

In other situations, I have seen writers overwhelmed by envy and so competitive as to grudge the least bit of success to others. There's none of that here.  We all know that the success of Ravenous Romance is a tide that raises all boats.  We spread the word not just to promote our own projects, but all our friends here, too.  We're an eclectic bunch and we have a publisher who celebrates it. How great is that?

Tags: community | classics | Virginia Woolf | inspiration | writing

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You know that sick feeling you get when you've spent a lot of time with someone you really enjoy, but now you've got to leave them indefinitely? It's almost the same as being homesick. Well, I have it...but over a character.

I'm wrapping up the second novel in the Blood & Sex series, and I'm finding that I have a severe case of separation anxiety. Jonas and his new love have been such entertaining people to spend time with. I've enjoyed writing his story and watching them fall in love. As always, that fratello has taken me to some pretty kinky places and shown me things beyond what I could have imagined. He's so fascinating and such a strong personality that throughout the story, I found that I was dreaming about him. I would wake up and couldn't wait to write more, just so that I could see him. Talk about a case of writer's schizophrenia!

Now, I'm finishing the edits and still writing about him here and there. It's new stuff that has nothing to do with his romance with Elena. It won't even be in the books, but I can't stop. He's insatiable. I thought that he just enjoyed watching me drool. But now I'm starting to wonder if he's going to make room for the third hero. Michael was fun, but by the time I was done with Michael's first draft, Jonas was standing around, tapping his foot, and occasionally flashing a set of handcuffs and a lascivious grin in my direction. The third hero is quiet, not quite the flirt that Jonas is.

I think I'm going to have to strap Jonas into some of his bondage equipment and leave him there while I spend a little time with bachelor number three.

Until tomorrow...

Angie

Tags: Blood & Sex | bondage | characters | Elena | handcuffs | Jonas | Michael | muse | new work | process | ravenous romance | schizophrenia | vampire | vampires | writing

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Balance.  Yin and Yang.

Contrary to popular myth (especially amongst wanna be writers), a lot of us don't make our living writing full time.  It's our dream and ambition, but not always the reality.  I work full time, a job having nothing to do with creativity or writing. I have a full time relationship, 11 cats, the need for daily exercise, and a love of odd crafts and hobbies, also having nothing to do with writing. I have 8 upcoming books with Ravenous (and oh, I am having so much fun writing them), plus several writing projects of a more unerotic nature.  So I have a strict (most of the time) writing schedule and, as much as I love spontaneity, generally have to plan ahead to fit everything I want/need to do into my life.  It really is all about finding the balance and keeping stress at a minimum.

The cats tend to be involved in most aspects of my life.  Several are very interactive when I exercise.  Yoga is very popular; I think they like showing off their flexibility as their mother struggles to do yet one more Downward Dog.  When I write, I generally have at least one feline on my lap above my laptop.  Sometimes ON my laptop, which leads to cryptic messages such as Q%Rf09u2.  Probably feline for 'we are taking over the world, surrender your opposable thumbs, human!' When I do any sort of crafts...well, I take the wood burner and hot glue gun outside.  Trust me.  It's better that way.

So far I've managed to stay sane and meet my deadlines.  I'm almost enjoying the challenge of juggling it all and staying balanced.  But I am definitely working towards the goal of full time writer.  In the meantime, I will continue to do feline enhanced yoga and enjoy the challenge!

And yes, Lilah...More Mewses.  Any excuse....

Tags: balance | yin yang | writing | yoga | cats

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Hello readers!

For my first blog post I wanted to simply say hello and how happy I am to be part of the growing Ravenous Romance family.  This is an incredible new imprint and with every release I am more impressed.

I also want to say thank you for the wonderful reception you've given my first books from Ravenous - THE GLASS STILETTO and DESTINY'S JEWEL as well as the SPELLBOUND Fairy Tale Anthology.   Those were special books for me and I am thrilled to have shared them.  I also have a story, UNMASKED, in the SEXTROLOGY anthology.

For those who like sneak peeks, later this year there will be two more books in the Destiny series: DESTINY'S JOURNEY is Omri's story and DESTINY'S JOY is Penina's story.  You meet both of them in Jewel; they are Ellards siblings.  Currently I'm working on a contemporary, and my first romantic suspense, STEADFAST where past loves Jillian Wagner and Miles Anderson are finding love again while an arsonist causes problems in the town where they grew up. 

I look forward to hearing from you and keeping you updated on my writing world.  "See" you soon!

Tags: Rachel Kenley | The Glass Stiletto | writing | future | Steadfast

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Tags: Short story | Bert and Betty | Ryan Field | writing

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