Turn Me On

Turn Me On

5 Simple Rules to Sex Scenes

I've made it quite evident among my fans that the two things I love to write are action and sex. Two things that can be both very exhausting but also very fun to write. They both require a certain mood and the right pacing in order to create a great scene that draws the readers in and keeps them hooked. I always feel that those two kinds of scenes shape and epitomize your characters. Both sex and fighting cut deep to the bone and uproot emotions (or even lack there of) in the character and can show just what kind of person (or animal) they are.

Of course, they can also be one of the hardest things to write. I've had countless people ask me how I write my sex and fight scenes. I'm not going to touch on the action today (maybe another day?) but I compiled a few simple rules that I feel can assist in writing a hot and steamy sex scene that gets your panties and boxers wet.

Forward Motion

So I recently just did an overhaul for the new year and updated most of my social networking sites -- including this! I'm going to attempt to be more interactive with all of this. Key work being attempt. I suck at blogging -- I'm the first to admit it -- so I don't know how good I'll be about blogging. Most likely you'll see the most updates on my tumblr and twitter.

For any of you who followed me while I posted stories on Fictionpress.com, this post is mostly directed towards you.

First off I want to say how grateful I am to all those that have read my stories and left reviews, favorited, or sent me messages about them. I am always happy to hear from fans. I know a lot of stories have been posted over the years on FP and most of those are either unfinished, one-shots, or the first book in a series (which was never finished). So there are a lot of stories people are waiting to see finished or continued.

Regretfully, I must say that with my current workload, I just don't have time to sort out ALL of those stories. That isn't to say that some aren't still on the back burner, but I have other stories that take priority and creative juices. For those that would like to follow a free story, I do have one posted on tumblr. I'll warn you though, that one will be updated sporadically. It is a story I'll work on in between my other manuscripts.

I am terribly sorry to all those that followed my stories, but I want to assure you some have not been forgotten and are in either current works of being revamped or will eventually be. Just so no one is left guessing, I'll address my most popular stories.

First off, Kingdom Come. By far one of my most popular stories and one I hold close to my heart. This one is need of some serious -- and I stress serious -- overhauling. Characters need to be fleshed out. Plot holes need to be filled. Details need to be covered. And just the editing, my God. It's a full time job. I haven't had the energy nor the desire to approach it just yet. I plan to. I plan on reworking the story (keeping all the original characters), possibly turning into a stand alone instead of a trilogy. But it's a big project and like I said, I haven't been up to it quite yet.

Sentinel/War Cry has definitely not been forgotten and I'm happy to say I'm working on the prequel series (posted under the title Age of Anima [which has been removed]). I have finished the 1st drafft of the manuscript and have begun to edit it. The prequel explains the world that Sebastian and Eben lives in and sets the back story that will eventually lead up to their tale. So that is definitely in the works and please, please, keep checking back to find out more about it. I know you'll love the characters from the prequel as much as you love Sebastian and Eben. I expand on the world and you learn things that work so horribly glossed over in the previous story.

Chasing August/Seattle Rain these stories and their characters are special to my heart. They are the first ones I had posted on FP and I love them to pieces, but in the end... I'm just not going to continue or come back to it. I have no desire to. I've tried, I swear I have. But I lost inspiration and whenever I come to it in an attempt to rewrite Ashley and Beau's tale, I just hit a wall. I'm not a big fan of writing contemporaries and I really don't want to work on one. I'm sorry, really... but this one is done.

Monster & Ainsley & Anna will be reworked at some point, I just don't know when. I like them both and while I don't like doing contemporaries, I feel a desire to see these ones through. I just haven't figured out when.

God of the Machine/Deus ex Machina will be continued eventually. It is too big and too complicated, so I need to go back and do some serious overhaul, just like in Kingdom Come. I haven't been up to it and other projects have taken priority. Keep looking back though because it will be continued.

If there are any stories that you have questions about please feel free to e-mail, message, or comment and ask. I'll answer all the questions you have. Once again I am sorry to all my fans who were reading those stories. I hope you understand and keep looking back to find out what I'm doing next! Thanks for reading!

Win a Copy of I AM HERE

Sawyer wants Jesse and Topher.

Topher and Jesse want Sawyer.

Sawyer is dating Jesse.

Jesse use to date Topher.

Topher wants to date Sawyer.

They all just want to survive.

The zombie apocalypse has never been this HOT!

Want a chance to win a free copy of I AM HERE? Well here's your chance! I'll be giving one free copy (ebook format of your choice) of I AM HERE to one lucky winner. Just submit your e-mail address with your name and your zombie survival plan. Just click the link for how enter! Good luck!

Cut & Run Review

Cut & Run

Book I

by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban

Genre: LGBT Contemporary Romance

Heat Level: HOT
Stars: 3/5

Congrats!

Congratulations to Mary Preston for winning the Amazon GC on my blog tour. It was a really fun experience and I'm so grateful to Goddess Fish for their help and support. Thanks to all that participated and commented. I hope that everyone enjoys Event Horizon~!

Blog Tour Kick Off!

Hey ya'll! The Event Horizon Blog Tour starts tomorrow! You can get a full agenda of the tour via my website. Follow me and you could win an Amazon Gift Card!

REVIEW MONDAY!

Here's my review for the Adrien English series, a wonderfully witty mystery series! Don't expect reviews every Monday, I can barely blog every month!

Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex

So I just finished a sex scene for the new manuscript I'm working on. I was really nervous as I grew closer to the scene. It dawned on me as soon as I set the scene up that it had been a long time since I had written a heterosexual sex scene.

What does that say?

Is gay sex really that different from straight? (Ignoring the obvious parts used). It all is based on an emotional/physical connection. The same emotions and pleasure apply. Yet when I got to that scene I found myself thinking "okay, now what?". There were even a few minutes where I had to go back and rewrite because women don't/can't do that!

It was almost pathetic... okay very pathetic. I'm a woman and I had issues! My world has been filled with so many men humping like rabbits that I've begun to neglect the women!

Maybe I should write some more straight stories?

For the last few days this has been me:



I'm glad to be finished, but I'm wondering if it turned out okay. That and I'm leading into another scene so... back to square one.

Gay sex vs. Straight sex.

Which one is harder to write?

Maybe it's the mood music... should I turn on some Barry White?

Thanks Everyone!

I'm glad so many people took part in the Hop Against Homophobia! It's really great to see so many people standing up and taking a stand.

The winner of the raffle is..... drum roll please~!!

Qbee2! Congratulations dearie!

Hop Against Homophobia!

Well I’m so late it isn’t even funny. This should have been out this morning. Whoops, my bad. That’s okay though, I’m getting it out now. I really struggled with what to write for this. In a time when homophobia and gay rights is at the tip of everyone’s tongues, what is there to say? I personally have not felt the heartache of homophobia, though I have seen the pain it can cause. There are moments when I wonder if people forget that in the end we’re all the same. We all just want to be loved and to give love in return, so why does it matter what ethnicity or gender that person is?

I can remember when I was younger watching Will & Grace with my mom. It took me forever to understand what it was about. As a teenager I read a lot of coming out novels. Alex Sanchez’s Rainbow Boys was one of my favorite series. But as I got older and found my own calling in writing I realized that I wanted to create a story that helped fight against homophobia. I wanted to create a character that faced challenges not because he was gay, but that he just happened to be gay and had challenges to face. Theo became that character, someone who is not defined by their sexuality but by their actions.

Right now things are shaky in the world. Hatred is spelled out callously on church signs and posted on Facebook. We can’t forget that no matter what side we’re on, whether supporting or not, we are all entitle to our opinions and should open our minds. It is not about telling a person their wrong, but about showing that while they may not agree they do NOT have to be belligerent. There is a difference between being non-accepting and being prejudice.

My best friend and I constantly bash heads, but in the end we both accept that we have different stances. She does not support gay rights while I on the other hand am a firm supporter. Her views are derived from her religious beliefs, while I stand under the belief that love is love. Despite what she believes though, she has never once been cruel or hateful. While she doesn’t agree, she still treats everyone with the same decency she expects to be treated with.
Hop Against Homophobia is about taking a stance and showing that we don’t have to be hateful. Over 250 authors have band together to spread to word through the 20th. As an author of LGBT, it is my duty to use my voice to spread the world. As readers, it is your job to do the same. We all need to band together and teach the world that in the end, all you need is love~!

So now here’s a chance for you to jump in and show your support. Bounce around and check out other blogs. Don’t forget to like Hop Against Homophobia’s Facebook.

Show your support by winning this awesome tote. And what’s a tote without goodies? See where Theo started with a e-book copy of The Hunting Moon. Here’s how to win (winner will be announced Monday the 21^st):

• Leave a comment with your e-mail
• Follow my Blog

 

Excerpt from The Hunting Moon
(PG-13)

Facebook Banner

Well it's finally time for me to hop on the Facebook bandwagon. With the new format design that means my author page will look even more beautiful. The only issue is I don't have time to come up with a cover design for it. Not wanting to be left in the digital dust, I've decided that it's time to start a contest! So here's how it goes.

I need a banner. You design one. The theme should in some how embody the Theo Bourne series. Just e-mail your entries to Evelynshepherd@evelynshepherd.com and on April 30th I'll select a winner. The winner will get a $50 gift card to Amazon.com.

Easy! So all you graphic designers, artists and fans out there get designing!

Media Wagon

Random post alert. I'm not good at this keeping up with the post thing. Can't make promises to get any better. On the plus side, the reason I fail is because I'm focused on working on manuscripts.

One thing I've been trying to work out lately is publicity. I've been trying to line up ways to get the word out. It's a lot of work and while my editor/publisher are amazing, I still need to do my own leg work. It's hard, especially when I don't have the foggiest clue what to do and well... lets face it, I'm more interested in just writing.

There needs to be a nice balance between writing and publicizing, but I don't know where that balance is. It's stressful at times. Give-me-a-six-pack-kind-of-stress.

So when is it a good time to push aside the key board and focus on publicity? Authors have always struggled. We think the battle is over when we land that deal, but it isn't. It's continuing to spread the word of your story and boast sales. While I'm not in it for the money, that still is how I make my living. So one just wonders when I should set it all aside and try to sale. Should I turn off the muse at some point and focus solely on trying to sell?

Is there ever a point when that doesn't happen?

What is the best way to sell?

Well, I don't have a lot of answers. I'll figure them out. I will be doing some blog tours in the future. I'm working on getting them lined up, so when they do appear I'll definitely post. I will be participating in Hop Against Homophobia this May, a great tour focused on spreading the world equality as well as the love of m/m writing. So look for that. Until then chickadees, I shall try to find that balance of writing-media.

GIVEAWAY!

In celebration of the release of Event Horizon (1/24), the second book in the Theo Bourne Series, I'll be giving away a free copy of The Hunting Moon (e-book). All you have to do is e-mail me @ evelynshepherd@evelynshepherd.com with what race Theo Bourne is. The answer can be found on my website: http://www.evelynshepherd.com. Contest ends January 24th. Good luck!

What's in a Name?

A question that our good ol' friend William Shakespeare introduced. Ironically, now there's a question in on him. Though that really isn't old news, and completely irrelevant for that matter.

I just finished a manuscript that I've been working on for the last few months. I'm rather proud of it, though it is still a long way from being finished. It definitely needs some polishing and a bit more character development.

The major thing it needs is a title.

I've always felt that a title can say a thousand words. A title in the end can be the deciding factor on a story. I'm more likely to take a story seriously when it's given a thought provoking name such as And Then There Were None and Women of the Silk, compared to Harlequin titles that lay the plot of the story out ( I.E. our ever favorite The Prince Boss's Mistresses Secret Affair Million Dollar Baby). I'm not knocking Harlequin. When I was younger I totally cracked into my next door neighbor's Harles.

Of course I was like thirteen and had yet to develop taste buds when it came to literature.

I'm not saying you should judge a story by it's title fully, just like you shouldn't judge it by it's cover. In the end the writing is what matters. But lets face it, a title is important.

So when I finished my manuscript and sat down to pick a name, I was stumped. Because I want something that gives the full force of the story. It must be a powerful title because I want this story to be a powerful novel. When I first started I threw a title on and called it a day. But that doesn't suit it anymore.

Now I'm stuck picking something out.

Luckily, with the help of mulling over my work for a little bit and the help of some inspirational music, I think I've selected something that'll definitely have some driving force behind it. But I'm not going to settle until I've read through the manuscript one more time and decided that it's a good fit.

Oh titles, why must you elude me?!

Freebies

Happy Halloween!

So I've spent the night carting kiddies around to collect candy and dishing out some candy myself. After all the festivities and a major case of sweet tooth, I've churned out a new publicity stunt -- eer I mean story!

In honor of the holiday I've started a horror story, which I'll be updating on my Tumblr account twice a month. Check it out and follow it, then check out my story available for purchase The Hunting Moon another grizzly horror/urban fantasy!

Cotton suffers from chronic nightmares. Just as he thought his and Esteban's life would settle into a peaceful normalcy, he finds that their quiet home holds dark secrets. Someone or something is out to get them. If Cotton wants to put an end to the nightmares, he and Esteban are going to have to put to rest the spirits that haunt their home.


PENROSE

Excerpt

Okay, so I've lacked majorly in updating this thing. This was why I never kept a journal when I was a kid. I always forgot to write in it.

So to give everyone (you nonexistent chickadees out there) a quick overview of how my months have been so far: CRAZY.

I've had a book release, finished two novels and begun the process of editing one, still hammering out the first draft for the other, and finishing up a third. As well as inserting about a million book ideas in between that. I finally got smart and bought some journals to track my ideas.

Writing Tip: Keep paper on you, whether loose, a notepad, or a journal. When those ideas hit, JOT THEM DOWN!

In between that I've been balancing family life and writing, I've barely had time to collect my thoughts and key them in

As an apology, here is an excerpt from my published novel THE HUNTING MOON

Sex and Editing -- Not Your Normal Duo

So my life went from relatively uncomplicated to about Dante's Inferno level of bedlam.  I've just started the second round of editing for my novel, which is due by the end of the month.  I'm the kind of person that when I know time is ticking, I feel it.  So I'm nail biting the fuck out of my fingers because I'm trying to get things done and the rest of my life is pulling me in different directions.

Editing, for all those that haven't experienced, is the painful combination of exciting (at least the first time) and tedious.  The first round was, though stressful, very educational and fun.  Yes, I tore my story to shreds and added/removed things, but it was a process I've never done before.  So I loved it all.  Not to say that I'm not enjoying this.  But it's about as exciting as watching dog shit...just not as disgusting.  I'm staring at a computer for hours, going through and making grammatical corrections.  You wouldn't think that's exhausting, but it is.  So for all you newbie authors out there, brace your self for the tedious side of writing.  Every job has it.  Ours just sucks majorly.

So what does sex have to do with anything?

Well, in the midst of all my editing/writing chaos, I'm also playing cupid.  And it's damn near as stressful.  Trying to make arrangements for your best friend to get with someone (I won't say who~) is tiring, when you have to make everyone happy.

It probably doesn't help that my sex/love life has severely dropped to a big ol' fat 0 once I got back from Cali.  So long love life.  I'm devoted to writing.  The only male company I get is two gay guys in a story and the man in my dreams.

Can we all say, pathetic?  Anyone else running through a dry spell?  Lets all have a collective sigh.

To Outline or Not to Outline?

So one of the biggest things I discuss with my friends (at least my fellow authors) is the beginning process.  Everyone does it differently.  And between gossiping about boys and clothes, we each break down how we start our novel.  Seeing as how I've just begun my second novel in the Theo Bourne Series, I've decided that now would be a good time to discuss outlining processes.  See, it isn't all about sex.

So the question is: to outline or not to outline?  Good ol' Bill, I bet he never knew his one little quote would be butchered so horrifically.

In the end, it all depends on how you're comfortable.  I know authors who don't outline.  They get an idea and after working it through their heads, they start writing.  Whatever comes, comes.  If you're comfortable with that (I know I'm not) than you can definitely just ignore this post.

If you're someone that likes outlining, than maybe I can shed a bit of advice.  There are hundreds of ways to outline, but I've found the two major ones are minor outlines and detailed.  I've done them both and I prefer the detailed.  I feel more in control.

I'll just give a brief breakdown of each forum:

Minor Outlines

This is when you just need a general direction to go with your story.  Minor outlines for me consist of key points that will happen through out the story, major arcs.  General I don't do a chapter breakdown with minor outlines.  I have a list of characters, places, and a series of events.  Usually ten.  Minor outlines gives you a lot of elbow room to shift things around, without feeling too tied down to the plot.  This is great for someone who doesn't like to sit down and work out the entire plot in one go.  If you're a writer who wings it through the chapters, then I'd suggest this form of outlining.

Detailed Outlines

Detailed outlines are far more extensive.  For me, this is an entire breakdown of the story.  It sometimes ties you down to the plot (than again, maybe that's just me!) but it also gives you a clear view from beginning to end.  You always have room to change the plot, never forget that.  With a detailed, I break the entire story down from chapter to chapter.  Each chapter has a list of major events that are going to happen.  I also include days/time/seasons (whatever is relevant, important to note) and a list of places and characters.  I find that with a detailed outline I have a clear view of where I'm going and I can't stray from the plot.  It also helps me prevent events from getting confused/obscured/forgotten.  For me, I have a tendency to forget what I write unless I look back.  So with a detailed outline, I have the ability to go back and take a peek of what happened the previous chapter without actually having to reread the entire chapter.

I actually do both a minor and detailed outline.  I use the minor to help place the larger events through out the story, breaking them down into each chapter.  In the end, it's what you're comfortable with.  There are plenty of other ways to outline.  This is just how I roll! :)

A good resource for writing tips is Janet Evanovich's How I Write.  I'd also check out Writer's Digest Magazine, which is loaded with oodles of tips for you lovely chickadees!

California is a long way...

So I've just gotten back from a weekend romp on the west coast.  Originally it was suppose to be a vacation where I could recharge my batteries and indulge in a little sex fantasy.  Somehow it went from that to something very stressful and lacking in the fantasy department.  I think my characters have a better sex life than I do.

How pathetic is that?

So my very first note of advice for all you readers out there (here by dubbed chickadees): California is a long way to go to get sex.

I guess to say in my defense, I was also trying to figure out if a relationship could work.  That's a giant NO.  Who would have thought an author and a theater tech wouldn't work? Then again, if you don't have imagination in the bedroom, it's never going to work.  At least for this particular author.  Boring doesn't even begin to describe it.

I won't touch on the dreary weather that Cali produced for me.  The sunshine that I was told about, that I always hear about, some how escaped me.  So this woman came back to humble Ohio with nothing more then some great plot bunnies for her next novel.

When all else fails in life, turn to plotting.  It definitely helps.  I covered some serious outlining and worked out the major key points for my next novel.  And I guess thanks to the lack of sex, I was able to fantasies about new things to use for my characters.  So when life gives you lemons, turn them into a juicy love scene!