Thursday 17 April 2014

Who Said It Was Easy?

I remember reading a blog post about a year back from a sweet romance writer. I love sweet romance. I read it all the time and have nothing against it. I also have written several sweet romance novels.

What I don't like is someone giving an opinion without actually having tried something themselves. This writer said that erotic romance writers were lazy - that they weren't very good writers who used sex scenes to fill up the page.

I'm a little like a caterpillar undergoing transformation. I started off as a writer in a different form. I actually started off with very chaste inspirational romances and slowly started dipping my feet into the pool of erotic romance. I'm a newbie. Not to romance, but to writing sex. I've written sweet romances - I have five published under another name. Yes, it was hard to get that first publishing contract. It was very hard to edit my books and make them worthwhile but none of them were any bit as hard as writing erotic romance.

I've recently revised one of my novels to resend back to a publisher. They asked me to up the heat - to bring in more sex and longer sex, to add more sexual tension. Whew, it's been a very intense road. I sent off my revisions today but I added and changed things many times before I was ready to send it.

Because you can't just write sex scenes. It goes much deeper than just the technical side. And believe me, the technical side isn't easy also. You don't only have to make it hot, but you have to make it believable and true to life of your characters. Your imagination has to rise to a new level. Your writing skills are put to the ultimate test. You can't use the same overused phrases. You have to come up with something new and fresh without being wacky and stupid.

And technical details aside, you still have to touch the emotions in each sex scene. Every scene has to bring the characters closer to that "happily-ever-after." It's not just sex for the sake of sex. It's part of the plot.

Erotic romance requires weaving in many coloured threads - the romance, the plot, the conflict, the character arc, and the sexual tension.

So, I'd like to say to those who have only written sweet romance and who think that erotic romance writers are lazy, think again. Before you jump to conclusions, try it yourself. You never know, you may get hooked on a new thrilling genre. I know I am.

Friday 4 April 2014

Cover Reveal of Keeping Secrets by Kiru Taye



Keeping Secrets
By
Kiru Taye

Series: The Essien Trilogy, Book 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Multicultural
Length: Full length novel
Release date: May 12, 2014

The Essien Trilogy - Series Blurb

Secrets, Scandals, and Seduction under the African skies.

The Essiens are the kings of African finance. A close-knit family, their father is the patriarch of a finance dynasty that ranges from retail to investment banking spanning the African continent. Yet all is not as it seems as the three brothers—Felix, Mark and Tony—soon discover when their family is rocked by secrets and scandals. Blood ties or not, family is family.

If you like your book boyfriends to be tall, dark and handsome billionaires, then say hello to the Essien brothers.



Keeping Secrets – Blurb

Have you ever loved someone and didn’t even know it?

That’s the dilemma facing Felix Essien when he wakes from a coma to find he is married to the most beautiful and sensual woman he’s ever known. He cannot remember her or their wedding. He who had sworn never to get married or to give his heart to another. Yet he feels an intense bond with her that he intends to explore fully.

Ebony can’t believe her good fortune when her paper husband wakes not remembering the temporary marriage arrangement with no intimacies he’d proposed but is now the adoring husband she’s always dreamt of. She plans to make the most of the passion blossoming between them.

However would he still feel that way when he regains his memory and realises she’s been keeping secrets and their marriage is not what he thinks it is.

Teasers




About the author
A lover of books, as a teenager Kiru Taye used to read novels under the blanket during lights-outs in boarding school. These days, with a young family to take care of, she's still sacrificing sleep for the pleasures of a good book.
During the day though, she transforms her wildly vivid imagination into sensual, atmospheric romance stories with passionate characters.
When she’s not writing or reading, she'd hanging out with family and friends or travelling. Born in Nigeria, she currently lives in the UK with husband and children.
You reach her via her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest
Follow her blog for latest news and giveaways: http://kirutayewrites.blogspot.com

Read book excerpts and free short stories on her website: http://www.kirutaye.com

Link to her Amazon author page



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