Trimming off the Fat?

Ok, so after the office party, family gatherings, and other holiday celebrations, people unsnap their pants and put on their sweats to lounge around in and think, "I shouldn't have eaten that last cheese log all by myself."  Hey let's face it, we all face that guilt of over indulging during the holiday season.  Once the season is over, the gym membership becomes activated after several months of no use along with dusting off the old treadmill in the bedroom corner.  Yes, trimming down becomes the goal; however as a writer, coming to that conclusion can be a daunting task.

When writing a story, there are times which trimming away the extra, unimportant, or the non-necessities is essential.  Then at other moments within the story, the extra crispy bacon fat along with the side dish of buttered potatoes is just the right touch.  Yet deciding what extra ingredients make the right combination of sleek muscles and round curve appeal, instead of the nasty cottage cheese fat pockets, can be mind boggling for a writer. 

As writers, we often ask 'what motivates the character' and throughout the story we drop bread crumbs of background information with the sultry details of the hero's past.  Yet as I write, I find myself giving away too much of the goods too soon or not enough at other times, especially during the rough draft stage of the manuscript.  It can be frustrating but with patience, time, and the help from a critique partner, the finished product can have the right balance of everything needed to create a well written story.

So as we continue our writing endeavors, let's not be too hard on ourselves.  We can add and delete and then add some more when needed.  Nothing is written in stone; therefore, it can be changed...until published.  And by then, it's obvious others have found your story included the perfect combination of muscles and fats too.  So don't worry about not fitting into those skinny jeans or filling out that curving dress because it's one size fits all. 

A Little Holiday Inspiration

I am wrapping up a lot of grading and Christmas shopping, but I thought while I was working on that, you could take enjoy these hot and sexy Santas or Christmas attired gentleman to get you into the spirit of Christmas. I think there is something for everyone! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Help Me Hurt My Hero

I do not consider myself a contest junkie. I don't even consider myself on the contest circuit, but I entered a few this year and got some constructive and encouraging feedback even if the judges' missed my genius, and I didn't final. But my delusions of genius aside, one comment stuck with me. More than once, a judge commented that my hero didn't have enough clear motivation for his actions. He really wasn't tortured enough for his current behavior. Hmmm. Another judge suggested I think of a couple of my recent reads that featured a tortured hero and analyze how and when the author revealed the character's motivation. Where to begin? Many of my favorite reads feature angsty heroes. One of my all time faves, Wuthering Heights, comes to mind first. Poor, poor Heathcliff was as tortured as they come, and when I first read it years ago, I remember feeling his pain so deeply and reacting with intensely strong emotion (I cried). And although I've never seen this version of the movie, I can imagine it was well cast. Ralph Fiennes plays a great, tortured hero.


But more recently, I have gotten into Kresley Cole's Immortal After Dark series. She does a great job of creating a tortured Alpha male. I could list many from this series alone. One of my favorites is Bowen MacRieve from Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night. Ms. Cole creates major angst for Bowen, a werewolf who believes he unintentionally caused the death of his one true mate, and just when he has the opportunity to go back and undo it, he encounters an irresistable witch who impossibly evokes his mating instinct, causing intense guilt. I don't want to spoil it for any who haven't read it, but let's just say, I fell in love with Bowen and wanted to be the one to ease his torment.











To me Hugh Jackman makes the perfect Bowen MacRieve.














Of course, T. V. shows and movies are loaded with tortured heroes. Take your pick:

So, what do these gorgeous (ahem), I mean, troubled men have that we find irresistible? Is it the fact that they are in so much pain that draws us? Maybe we have what it takes to fix them? Maybe we'd just like to try? It's possible, but I think it's their resiliency that attracts us as well. They are modern-day warriors. They take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. These men are worthy of the strong heroine, and they can work through anything that comes their way without caving under the pressure.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a hero who hasn't hurt enough. *sound of knuckles cracking* Let the torture begin.

How about you? Which tortured heroes have stuck with you long after you closed the book?

Happy writing!

Sherry Cahill www.sherrycahill.blogspot.com

Jail Bait Hottie

ZAC EFRON

The male characters in my stories are usually based on people in my life or that have caught my eye at the coffee shop, in restaurants and more recently, fellow writer's blogs. My preference has always veered towards older more experienced men, however, when my eyes caught sight of this jail bait cutie's abs on E News, I had to take a second look.

He starred in the movie 17 Again, where he flirted with his soon to be ex-wife. Mama Mia! His smile was playful, seductive, and his expressions sultry, and when he twirled his older co-star around the dimly lit patio, I thought, I could easily do him.

He sings and dances and can spin a basketball on one finger. How sexy is that? Although he's technically not jail bait, he is younger than most men who hold my attention and not just catch my eye with their hot bodies.

So, tell me ladies, are there any jail bait hotties hiding in your closet or that have inspired you or a character in your story? You can tell me. I promise not to call the police.

Memorable, emotional, tender...what causes you to go back for more?

Fellow Angels, I know for me there has to be some kind of connection between a story and I. Otherwise, it gets put off to the side, ignored or only read when I am bored and can't find nothing else. There haven't been many of those, but there are a few. I'm not going to name names because that would be rude, but if you want to email me then I will divulge those names/books. On the other hand, there are many, MANY books that I have read and re-read time and again.

I believe that the emotional impact of the story is what gets me. The twists and turns that the h/h go through to finally get together pulls me in every time. I also love sexual tension. It has to be done precise and clean and you know it has been done correctly when the impact of the h/h fulfilling their relationship (and it isn't always the fulfilling of something sexual, it can be a kiss or something a bit bigger) is enough to cause tears to fill your eyes.

Whether it is paranormal, contemporary, historical or suspense, certain elements have to be there for us to enjoy these stories. And there also has to be memorable moments, either a simple sentence or one scene that takes up three pages and makes you love the book instantly.

I have condensed a few of mine down for your enjoyment. And these aren't all of them, heck, I wouldn't have room to list all of my favorites! Enjoy them and let me know some of yours!

HUGS
Trish aka Wackycajun

________________________________________________________________

Clayton Westmoreland, 9th Duke of Claymore

Whitney, My Love

"Several months ago in Paris, a lovely young woman accused me of 'pretending' to be a duke. She said that I was such a poor 'impostor' that I really ought to choose some other title to which to aspire - some title that would suit me better. I decided there was only one other title I wanted: that of her husband...Believe me, my first title was far more easily acquired than the second, and of far, far less value."

Stephen Westmoreland
Earl of Langford
Until You, Judith McNaught

Her eyes fluttered open, and he tried to smile, to tell her he loved her, but his chest was constricted with emotion, and there was an unfamiliar lump in his throat as he looked at their clasped hands on the pillow.
He had never held a woman’s hand at a time like this in his life.
He had never thought of it.
He had never wanted to.
Until Now.
Stephen bent down to kiss her, he closed his eyes and swallowed, and tried to tell her again what he felt, to explain that he’d never known there were feelings like this, but the emotions were still too raw, and he was still out of breath. All he could manage to say was, “Until you...”
She understood. He knew she did, because her hands tightened convulsively on his and she turned her face and kissed his fingers.

______________________________________________________

Hardy Cates
Blue Eyed Devil, Lisa Kleypas

“Nick’s not worth going to jail for,” I said.
“I don’t know about that.” Hardy stared at me for a moment, registering my uneasiness. His expression deliberately softened. “The way I was brought up, ‘he needed killing’ is an airtight legal defense.”
***
“Feel good?” I whispered.
Hardy shook his head, struggling to breathe. His face was flushed as if with a high fever.
“No?” I asked.
“Felt good a half hour ago,” He managed to say, his accent slurry like he’d just done about ten tequila shots. “Fifteen minutes after that it was the greatest sex I’ve ever had, and right about now...I’m pretty sure I’m in the middle of a heart attack.”
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________________
***
Smooth Talking Stranger
Lisa Kleypas

“You can’t stand between a Texan and his power tools. We like them. Big ones that drain the national grid. We also like truck stop breakfasts, large moving objects, Monday night football, and the missionary position. We don’t drink light beer, drive Smart Cars, or admit to knowing the names of more than about five or six colors. And we don’t wax our chests. Ever.”
**
While Jack and Ella are putting together a crib…
“Can you do meatloaf?”
“Yep.”
“Marry me, Ella.”
I looked into his wicked dark eyes, and even though I knew he was joking I felt a wild pulse inside, and my hands trembled. “Sure,” I said lightly. “Want some bread?”
***
And later in the story…
“You may not know this, but the other time I asked you to marry you, the night I put the crib together, I meant it. Even though I knew you weren’t ready.
God, I hope you’re ready now.”

________________________________________________

And there is one other scene that I remember well. The ‘staring’ scene in Renee Bernard’s, Revenge Wears Rubies is one that is steamy, sultry and very memorable. I can’t list it here because it is lengthy, but the page numbers are…70-73.

Dancers Can Be Theraputic

Watching 'Sexy' Males Leads to Better Chicks, Study Says

Love that headline.

Oh, all right. In the interests of fair disclosure, it's from an article in the July 29 National Geographic about "mating success of the Houbara bustard, a sandy-colored desert bird found throughout parts of northern Africa and Asia."

The French study (oh, those French !) found that female birds that watched male birds dance were stimulated and produced healthier chicks. What's this 'dance' like?

The male birds run around in circles and throw back their heads.

The actions of the males sound familiar, hummm? Running in circles with their heads in the air to show off?

No, I'm not really taking digs at our luscious other halves. Well, perhaps a tiny one. :>

Even if we females are not in the chick-producing mode, sexy dancing men can still lead to stimulation--and other things. To get our positive energy flowing, here's a glance at some sexy dancers, part of the Chippendales. I really don't know why they're standing in the water in that first picture, but who cares, right?

The one with long blond hair is Kevin Cornell. Check out his website for more pix of him and the others. http://www.kevincornell.com/

Marathoning vs Writing

When I tell my fellow writers I just ran a marathon, they look at me like I’m crazy. I’m here to tell you that running a marathon is a whole lot easier than writing a book.

I can take any of you and turn you into a successful marathon runner. All you have to do is commit six months of your life to the training, be willing to work hard, sweat profusely, and lose a few toenails along the way. What do you get out of all of this? Pride in yourself. Statistics say that only .1 percent of the world population has ever run a marathon. Why? Because it hurts to run 26.2 miles. It’s daunting. It feels unobtainable for someone who has never run a mile. But, it can be done by anyone in reasonably good health. Anyone!

The same can’t be said about becoming a successful author. No matter how hard you work, how much sweat you profuse, or how many toenails you’re willing to lose for the cause, no one can guarantee that they will get you a traditional publishing contract.

You can become a marathon runner in six months but the average writer takes ten years to find a measure of success. A marathon runner loses weight while in training. A writer gains weight while in training. A marathon runner gets to socialize with others as they train. A writer sits in their cubbyhole alone pounding on the keys. A marathon runner gets a medal when they're done. A writer gets a book review – it might be good, or it might be bad.

So, why would anyone choose to become a writer when it’s harder than running a marathon and the success rate is less? Well, I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I can speak for myself. I write books because it’s a passion I can’t ignore.

Why do you write books?

And while you’re thinking about this and contemplating running a marathon, now that you know you can, let me leave you with a few pics of some famous marathon runners. Enjoy

Lisa Wells

William Baldwin ran the New York Marathon

The bare asses are running a marathon in France

David Elliot ran the Boston Marathon