Holidays

Okay once again this has nothing to do with writing. BUT I thought I would entertain those of you who care. This year I am having my BIL, his new girlfriend, his 27 year old daughter and her new boyfriend, my best friend and her two children over. With the hubby that makes 9.
We have a table that comfortably sits 4. Can be made to sit 6. Hubby thinks we don't need a kid table for the children. (um, yeah, right) So, 7 adults at a table that you can squeeze 6. 2 kids in the living room - where we don't have a second table, don't have a coffee table, don't even have a large ottoman.
Tablecloths are burgundy -with a stain in the middle, or light green. I have 6 dark green napkins, 6 ecru napkins, 6 white napkins, 6 flowered napkins. 4 brass/silver napkin rings 4(which I can only find 3) silver star napkin holders.

Our dishes - a set of 8, one of which has broken, so a set of 7. (one of which has a chip underneath - that will be mine)

So, light green tablecloth, flowered and dark green napkins (cause of course the flowered napkins are DARK, and won't go with the white or the ecru)which I will alternate with alternating napkin rings.

Yes, I will somehow get a story out of this situation. I promise.

Happy Halloween

Okay, Halloween is MY holiday. Pretty much always has been. When I moved in with hubby I started to decorate his very tiny (like 4 feet by 4 feet) porch/landing. Then he got a job at a major drug store and his discount was like cost plus 20%, so we got almost everything at half price. . (sometimes I wish he still worked there, just for that) So then I started buying more and more. And our decorations spilled out into the yard. Soon we had lights and cobwebs everwhere, pumpkins, "scary" things, and even a skeleton.
THEN we moved here. And every year it has gotten bigger. A large graveyard with a "cast iron" fence, lights, gravestones, dead bodies, skeletons, ROTTING bodies, a 7-foot grim reaper, a zombie king.
Today is my day.
Tomorrow they all come down.
Maybe come November 2, I will have more time.
Happy Halloween!!!!

My first perfect hero

Hubby was flicking the channels the other day and decided to stop on The Empire Strikes Back. I make no secret of the fact that the original Star Wars trilogy is one of my favorite set of movies.

One of the reasons for this is Han Solo. Han is my first perfect hero. I love Han. I always have. I just saw one of my favorite scenes, when he kisses Leia for the first time. I love Han Solo.

New Obsession

Most of my heroines tend to be plus sized women. I very rarely give an actual size, as we each have our own thoughts on what plus sized means. For some of us it is a size 14, for some of us it is a size 24 or larger.

I like writing larger women because the average size in America is a size 14. Not size 0 or 2 or even 8. Size 14. That means more women are a size 14 than women who are sized like a model, or even like a professional athlete. So if I am writing a romance, something on the idea that each and every woman has a chance of, why not pick a “real” woman? Let me rephrase that, all women are real women. Let’s say a woman that is closer the average woman.

I have been watching a tv show lately, Drop Dead Diva. It is about a skinny pretty young model in her early twenties that dies, and when she comes back, she is in the body of a plus size 34 year old brunette lawyer. When I heard about it, my husband and I both were kind of like “that can go two ways”. We figured it would be really good or really insulting to plus sized women.

I have to say that I am impressed. I like the show. A lot. They seem to do a good job of presenting how a plus sized woman, and how a thin young woman would both view something. I can’t wait for more episodes of this show. I think I might just ask hubby to buy me season 1 for Christmas :).

Goals

Goals can be wonderful things. They can be motivating things. Ways to measure how far you've come. Ways to reward yourself for a job well done.

They can also be the most depressing things in the world. When you don't make your goals you can get depressed, frustrated, feel defeated, and eventually give up.

Which is why goals should be attainable.

I was recently involved in a two week writing thing. We were each to set our goals for every day and then meet them. Well the first week I set an incredibly easy goal and surpassed it every day. So the next week I tripled that goal and failed miserably for the next four days. BUT by the end of two weeks I had written 30,000 words - a complete new novella, AND rewritten the first 4,000 words of another story that just wasn't working for me at all.

So, yes, I met some goals, I didn't meet others. But having those goals to strive for helped me accomplish something I had no intention of doing.

I am a happy camper.

My heroines are Beautiful

All my heroines are beautiful. Some are larger than others, but all are beautiful and if you can't handle a woman that is larger than a size 14 being considered beautiful, then don't read my books, and don't read my blog :)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. - Miss Piggy

Someone asked my why I tend to write "fat chicks". I write fat chicks cause we are allowed to have some happiness, too. Not all men in this world only want skinny sticks with tits. Believe it or not, there are plenty of good men - black, white, hispanic, native american, all types - that like larger women. And no, that does not make them "chubby chasers." That makes them men.

Been a While

Wow. I suck. :)
I was so trying to post here regularly, to be a good girl. And I was almost kind of doing a pretty good job at it, as well. But lately I have gotten really bad.
Sorry.
Some of it has been family stuff. Some of it has been work. Some of it has been writing.
Which means there is a good side to this disappearing act.
Kansas City Shuffle has a tentative release date of August 18 with Loose-Id.

For those of you who do not know (which I have been told is most people) The Kansas City Shuffle is an old blues song. "When you look left and they fall right" Trust me, the only reason I know is cause I am weird like that. Basically it means that everyone thinks one thing is happening when in reality it is something totally different.

That's what's going on for Larissa. The heroine of KCS. She thinks she has won an all expense trip to Kansas City for a shopping spree and three fantasy dates. But she doesn't know that the Ozark Wolves, the pack of weres she's been reading about for the past 8 years is a real werewolf pack, and that they have more than just her shopping spree planned for her.

More in the next few days. :)

Another Wedding Date

I went home to visit my mom this past week and timed the visit for now for a very specific reason. I had a wedding to go to. Not a regular run of the mill wedding (not that any wedding is run of the mill for the participants) but a same sex wedding.

I have to say I am very proud of the people of this nation that they are slowly but surely realizing that just because people are of the same gender doesn't mean they can't be equally in love. That people should have the same rights regardless of their sexual orientation.

This wedding involved two men. One I have known for 20 years and one I have only met once or twice before. Both are wonderful people and deserve to be happy. I have to say it was the most beautiful and elegant wedding I have seen in years, if not ever. There were no frilly overdone flowers and bows (which many people like, and which, I too, had at my wedding). It was classic, classy, and beautiful.

The minister was awesome. I have never laughed so much at a wedding in my life. And get this - it was a Baptist wedding. Now for some of you that may not be a big surprise, but for me, a person only used to fairly strict Southern Baptists, this was incredible. I have to give the pastor kudos.

But I am not telling about this wedding to brag about it, or to up my credentials as a writer that has LGBT themes in some of her stories. I am telling about this because I was brought to tears. They have waited ten years to be able to do this, and they finally had the chance, the LEGAL RIGHT to do this. And that makes me too happy to describe.

The Wedding Date

You ever see a movie and and realize how much you love it? It might not be a great movie, hell, it might not even be a good movie, but there is something about it that you just love. There is something about "The Wedding Date" that I just love. It's cute, silly and just plain fun. I laugh every time I see it. There are parts that I am not fond of, but I am watching it right now and just enjoying it. Maybe it's the fact that an ex wants her back, or that she has the balls to hire an escort, or something. I don't know. I just like it :)

But I found it strange that she was acting like she'd never shared a bed with a man she wasn't having sex with. I know I've shared a bed with a male before that I had no sexual interest in. Anyone else?

I'm a Pervert

The grumpy people across the street recently sold their house. These were the kind of neighbors that you live opposite for nearly a decade and have shared maybe 10 words. They don't wave, they don't say hi, they don't acknowledge you even when you are both in your front yards. But they took care of their house and their yard, so I guess by suburb standards, that made them good neighbors, right?

But, the thing I wanted to talk about today was the new family that moved in. Or at least the men that are helping the new family move in. It is nearly 90 degrees out today, so I can see four young men, all shirtless, carrying in large pieces of furniture from the Uhaul truck into the house. I want to sit in my living room and watch them. Just watch them as they lift things, their muscles bulging, glistening with sweat. Oooh, one just stopped and grabbed a drink. He ran it across his chest. Oh gods.

How sick and perverted does that make me? I think they are all at least 18, does that make it any better?

First vs Second Job

So, which is my first job and which is my second? Is writing my first, or is my EDJ (evil day job) my first?
I work part time, with the chance to go full time for about 6-8 weeks at a time once or twice a year. Financially it would be nice to be full time all year, but we take what we can get, right? I would love my writing to be my first job, but unfortunately, like most of us authors, I am not at that stage just yet.

So, in the last few weeks my first job has taken over my life. I was asked to come in and basically play "catch up" for someone that has been let go as she hasn't been doing her job for a while. So I get to work 12 hour days on average (many of them more than that) with people complaining because I am forcing them to do things in a short period of time that they should have been able to stretch out over time.

And I haven't written one word of a story in all that time.

Yesterday I had my little "breakdown moment" when everything got to me, and I realized that I need to start being true to both my halves. The half that loves what I do in the EDJ, and the half that loves what I do at my computer when no one else is around. (write, silly, get your mind out of the gutter)

So, given the nature of my EDJ I may not be able to take my jump drive in and write on my stories during my lunch half hour, but I CAN take an hour at home at night, put away my paperwork and just write. I can take that lunch half hour and not work.

I need to remember that I am not just the person at the EDJ. I have a life and responsibilities outside of that. So today is a day for errands, cleaning (maybe) and WRITING.

And I am so excited. :)

Bragging on Me

Okay, I know that my blog is supposed to be a place where I am allowed to brag on me, hell, probably even expected, but honestly I find it difficult at times. But I really am excited about this, so I have to share. I think I mentioned I was like #5 or something earlier at All Romances eBooks in sales. Well, Redesigning Adele is now #1 in sales. It might change tomorrow or the next day, or hell even later today. But I have to say weeeeeeeee for me. I am really excited. That makes me feel good. Thank you everyone who has bought (and loved) the book.

Stowaway out today - Excerpt

Stowaway by Talya Bosco
ISBN #9781419921100
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
$4.45




Aurelia is on the run. Stowing away on an interstellar cargo ship seems the perfect solution. Except for the fact it’s crewed by three very large, scary and extremely sexy men.
Ursine traders Dov, Tarlo and Ardal are a bonded family. That means they share everything. When the little golden-haired beauty reveals herself to them, they fully intend to share her as they do everything else. Far from being repelled at seeing the three men love each other, Aurelia finds the physical intimacy and passion they share together—and with her—an aphrodisiac she could easily become addicted to. But the four-way physical sharing turns into much more, and as strong emotions come into play, that sharing could come at a price none are willing to pay.

Excerpt

Setup: Aurelia has been found hiding in one of the holds by a very large, and very sexy man. She tried to explain why she had snuck aboard the ship, but he hadn't seemed to accept her stumbling excuses. Instead, he threw her over his shoulder and headed down the corridor.


He was so tall that her head didn't even come to his waist despite the fact she was hanging over his shoulder. From her angle, though, his ass looked nice and firm and her hands itched to grab it and see if it really was as nice as it looked.

Aurelia snorted. She was in trouble. In more ways than one.

When a door slid open, she realized they'd come to their destination. She could only hope he'd give her a chance to explain or beg or something. She'd do anything to keep from being forced back to Risla.

Aurelia began to shake, her hands sweating. Only now it was true fear. She was at their mercy. She should have gone another route. What were they going to do to her?

She tried to assure herself the big man had yet to harm her. He could have slapped her or knocked her out, but he hadn't. Still, it sure wasn't a welcome with open arms and smiles.

"Boys, look what I found hiding in the tertiary hold." As he spoke, he shifted his grip, lifting her and placing her in his arms to be held like a child.

He'd taken her to the bridge, not the brig. And there were two more large men, both working at their stations, neither facing the door.

"Come on, Dov, stop messing around," one of them responded as they both turned around. Aurelia gasped.

The closest man was the most striking man she'd every seen. His height was the only normal thing about him. Beautiful long white hair hung straight down his back, nearly brushing his hips in a wave of snow. The kind of snow she'd only seen on vids of ancient Earth or planets colder than her own. His eyes were a bright violet that she could see all the way from her side of the room and his black skin nearly sparkled in the glow of the computers on the console in front of him. Not regular human black, but midnight black, so black it was almost blue. The contrast was strong enough to have her heart nearly jumping into her throat.

A movement pulled her attention further into the room only for her to gasp once again.

The third man was almost bland in comparison to the white-haired man, except he was nearly as tall as the man who still held her in his arms. A long, lean body that went on and on made her salivate before her eyes ever reached his face. His hair was deep black, nearly the same color as the other man's skin, but all similarity ended there. His curly mop of waves just begged to be played with. It, too, was shoulder-length like the first man's and framed his green eyes beautifully, but his skin was entirely different. The deep chestnut tone to it lent him an air of being permanently tanned, but she doubted he got much sun onboard an interstellar ship.

By the gods, no one told her all Ursine men were so attractive. Or maybe she'd just won the stowaway lottery.

Shout out for Kim Knox

Okay, I have read a couple excerpts from this story, and I have to say that this sounds HOT! I can't wait to get it. But Kim always writes hot. I can't afford everyone I like anymore.




Consort by Kim Knox


November Eve. The Hunt Ball. And to prove her right to rule, Tate must capture a mate. It should’ve been simple. Snag a vampire barely turned and have him kneel and swear devotion to her. But Fate has other plans…and one of them involves the powerful son of the ruling Queen.


Jager, a vampire she’s hungered after for years, allows himself to become her prey. But with his promise of sinful, wicked pleasure comes a catch. Jager only wants her as his slave. Nothing more.


Tate has no plans to bow down to him…until Jager shares a shocking truth with her. Suddenly Fate is playing hardball.


There's a naughty excerpt here and you can buy it here icon_smile.gif

Ooooh Staff Pick

Oooh, lookie. Redesigning Adele has been granted a "staff pick" status at All Romances Ebooks.
weeeee
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/newsletter168-2009-04-02.html

Deleting Scenes

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but one of my least favorite things about writing is deleting scenes. Not just any old scene, but a scene that just works. A scene that clicked for you when you were writing it and your fingers flew across the keyboard. A scene you love.

So if this is all true, then why would we be deleting it? Simple. Because even though the scene works, even though it is perfect and you love it, it simply doesn't work FOR THIS STORY. And unfortunately you can't really save it and use it again. The scene was written for Chararacters A & B and it isn't gonna fit another set of characters that well. The next set aren't as likely to say and do everything that this set would (Or I hope they aren't. If you write were you can interchange all your scenes throughout your characters, I have to say that I would get tired of your characters pretty darn quickly.)

So take that scene and remember what they would have done had they been put in that situation. And use it to help them be round, fully fleshed characters for you and the reader.

Performance Anxiety

Okay, I have to warn you, despite this being the blog of an erotic romance author, the performance anxiety you are thinking of is not the kind I am thinking of :)

I'm thinking of writing. I never really understood this before I was contracted, but I have since learned what authors mean when they say writing is hard work.

Don't get me wrong, even before being accepted I knew that it could be hard. That getting things just right was hard. Getting situations so they don't seem too pat, putting a heroine in danger in a way she didn't come across as TSTL (Too Stupid To Live), creating believable characters. All that IS hard work.

But I have decided that this is even harder. Once you've been published and people have liked your stuff, suddenly you have to live up to that stuff. You have to make sure the next story is as good as the last. You have to give something to your editor that is just as good. When you sign up to write something, you need to get it written.

That is even harder, I think, than writing to get published. The writing to not disappoint those that have supported you on your road to publishing. Now that is hard work.

Hungry Like a Wolf is OUT!!!!

Flavors of Ecstasy 1
Cavemen Anthology, 2009
Ebook: 9781419917738
$9.99
Print: 9781419958519
$16.99
Ellora's Cave Publishing

Hungry Like a Wolf by Talya Bosco

Twelve months after the crushing heartbreak of being dumped by Ethan, the gorgeous Alpha werewolf who was the love of her life, Amanda is finally picking up the pieces. But the ties that bind the two lovers are strong, stronger than Ethan's resolve to stay away. One sizzling touch, one passionate kiss, is all it takes for the insatiable hunger inside each of them to explode into life.

But Ethan has a determined rival, for Amanda's affection and a whole lot more, and he'll stop at nothing to win it all.

Flavors of Ecstasy also includes some great stories by Desiree Holt, Solange Ayre, Debra Glass, Kristin Daniels and Cindy Spencer Pape

Interesting Conversation, part 2

Well after the interesting conversation I had with my mother, I thought I would have the same one with my sisters. After all, they are the same generation as me. And neither of them are innocent little virgins. I am sure that at least one of them has gotten herself into situations that I would be aghast at. So, I ask them what they think of a woman with two men.

"That's sick."
"She's a pig."

But when I asked them what about a guy with two women, then that was more acceptable. Now they won't admit to being willing to do anything like that - which I can understand, it isn't even in my realm of fantasy, personally - but that is much more acceptable to them.

Now this threw me for a loop. It's okay for a guy to be with two girls, and the girls aren't sick pigs, they are kinky and probably stupid, but stick a girl with two guys and it is wrong any way you spell it.

One of them even said that society says it's more acceptable. I asked her why just because society says it is okay, then it is okay. She couldn't give me a decent answer. But she is adamant in her surety that the woman that does two men - even if it is something she wants to do, if it is her fantasy, if she gets more pleasure out of it than she ever imagined-that woman is still a sick pig and disgusting.

It is things like this attitude that really blow me away. I thought most of us had grown out of the idea that women can be sluts but men can't. Her boyfriend can have slept with 50 women (I don't know if he has) over the years, and that is okay. But she (or any other woman) has to keep her numbers down or she is a slut.

Interesting Conversation

So, I had a conversation with my mom the other day. I will be honest, she doesn't like my "smut books" so have to say that up front. But, I asked her what she would do if I came home with two men.

She didn't like the idea. I asked her even if they were both as good to me as my present husband? (I said suppose I wasn't married and met these two men at the same time.) I pointed out twice the help around the house, twice the financial help, (she interrupted and said 'twice the sex' - I was thinking that, but I wasn't gonna say it, after all, she is still my mother :) )

She said she'd love me regardless, but she wouldn't be comfortable with it at all. She doesn't think men can do it and not get jealous. She asked me what I would do if hubby brought home another woman. I told her that wasn't the issue, I KNOW I couldn't handle that. And I am not asking for her permission to be in a triad, I was being hypothetical. Her answer still stands that she wants me to be happy but she wouldn't like it and she wouldn't be comfortable with it. But yes, they would still be welcome in her house.

I guess I am lucky that I can have all the triads I want in my writing, huh? And I can make those heroes and heroines have the most disapproving or accepting parents/family members I want.

Although, to be honest, I don't need a triad personally, I like my hubby and me alone :) But I still LOVE my triads in my writing.

My New Favorite Thing

Fan Mail

Yup. I have decided. Fan mail is my new favorite thing. Redesigning Adele has been out for a few weeks, and within days of its release I received fan mail. From more than one person. :). I know, those of you authors that have been doing this a while probably think, "whippee". But, you know, it is my first round of fan mail and I have to say that it has made my week, month, maybe the entire year :).

Okay, so, yeah, I knew someone else beside me and my crit partner liked the story. At the very least two someones. (acquiring editor and a higher up) But that's not the same thing as an actual fan liking my stuff.

I have gotten some awesome letters and heard some wonderful things about my writing lately, and all I can say is "THANK YOU!" It means the world to me and makes me feel incredible.

First Release!!!

Redesigning Adele is OUT!!!!
My first release with Loose-Id has come out!!!! WoooHoo!!!

Redesigning Adele

Talya Bosco’s Redesigning Adele
Genre: Full-figured Heroine Polyamory
Length: Novella (30,000 words)
ISBN: 978-1-59632-554-8
Price: $4.99

Adele is the head designer for the firm owned by her two best friends, Max and Leo. She's worked with them for years and wanted them in her bed almost as long. But they're in a committed relationship with each other and would never look at plus sized Adele as anything other than a best friend. Right?

Max and Leo are tired of waiting for Adele to face up to what she wants and needs. And as far as they are concerned, she wants and needs them. They're determined to make her finally realize it, even if it takes a little bit of redesigning Adele to get her to see things their way.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices, ménage (m/m/f).

Been Absent

Hi all!!! Sorry I have been absent, I went home to take care of a sick mother for a couple weeks. She was supposed to have a minor operation, and as we all know minor operations can sometimes turn into something more. So I was out there helping her get back on her feet. She didn't have internet, and I couldn't manage to steal wireless from any of the neighbors. Imagine that, they all had secured connections :). My plans to hit an internet cafe or two while I was gone never came to fruition, either. Sooo, although I am late on letting you know about my first release, I will let you know about it now, in the next post :)

Naughty Video

I hope this is still available, because it looks like youtube was taking some versions of this down.

This is NOT kid friendly or work friendly, but I found it absolutely hilarious. I am gonna try to embed it, but not sure how to do it, so if it doesn't work, you can go HERE to watch it. It is the Durex condom one, without people, in case you have seen it already :)

Cover Art

I have to say one of the scariest things about writing is the idea of cover art. We have input and get to make suggestions, but we do not design our covers. (Which is a good thing in my case. I tell people that I flunked coloring in kindergarten.) So, after my suggestions and input, I had to wait to see what Loose-Id gave me for cover art. And all I can say is WOOHOO. I love it. I really do.


Adele is a designer at the architecture and design firm owned by her two best friends, Max and Leo. Now look at this picture, isn't it perfect? I love Loose cover artists.