The Endless Circle of Creation

I've just gotten another round of edits for 'Arctic Winds' back from my editor, so I've been hard at work re-phrasing, adding context, and whatnot. It's both exciting and nerve wracking looking through someone's comments on something you worked so hard on. Something you put a piece of your soul into. I constantly find myself cheering at the positive and berating myself for the negative and I have to remind myself this is the process. Ultimately, it's exciting to watch the piece become better than before, more focused.

With each round, the release date looms closer and I get more and more excited. I can't wait for the day I can search the Lyrical store or Amazon and find a book with my name on it!

The Food of Love

Today, I'm participating in the Blogfeast hosted by Jaded Love Junkies. Yes, I said feAst, not fest. Click HERE for more details. The concept was to make a "feast" of blog posts. And what better way to combine food and romance than talking about aphrodisiacs, the food of love.

We all know they exist, but many people don't realize how easy it is to find and use aphrodisiacs in every day life. These foods, taking their name from the Greek God of Love Aphrodite, are not potions found in dimly lit gypsy huts, but things you see and buy at your local grocery store.

There are a few different categories aphrodisiacs fall under. Some of these foods, like garlic, basil, and asparagus are known to increase blood flow and heart rate which generate feelings of excitement and anticipation. Others, such as hot chilies, pomegranates, and vanilla, stimulate nerve endings making every touch feel better. Still others have aromas that encourage arousal in both men and women. Additional common aphrodisiacs include almonds, bananas, honey, red wine, figs, strawberries, oysters (of course), and the king of them all, chocolate. 

Today, I'm going to provide you with the perfect recipe for a romantic (and arousing) evening at home. I'm using a recipe from "Intercourses: an aphrodisiac cookbook" by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge. This cookbook has everything from appetizers to desserts and all their recipes include aphrodisiacs. A must have for anyone looking to spice up their love life and their dinner menu.

I've chosen to share their Spicy Gingered Shrimp:
Ingredients:
Juice and zest of 2 limes plus one lime cut into wedges for garnish
3 hot chili peppers seeded and sliced
1 stalk lemongrass outer leaves discarded and inner stalk thinly sliced
1 piece ginger grated (about 2 tablespoons)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
1 pound jumbo shrimp cleaned

salt and pepper to taste

Combine lime juice, zest, chilies, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, honey, olive oil, and cilantro in a casserole dish large enough to accommodate skewers, mix well. Thread 4 shrimp to a skewer. Add skewers to marinade, turning several times to coat well. You can also marinate loose shrimp ina  large, resealable, plastic bag (I recommend this option). Refrigerate 30 minutes to 1 hour, turning once or twice while marinating. Prepare grill or broiler to medium high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Grill or broil for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. Garnish with extra cilantro and lime wedges.

I hope you enjoy but remember, just because these foods are aphrodisiacs doesn't mean you can rely solely on them to get your engines running. Try combining these foods into foreplay. Sip champagne out of your loved ones belly button, or give them a chocolate massage for dessert and see where the evening takes you...

Madly in Love on Monday

I'm running a bit late this morning. I usually make my blog posts a few days in advance but this week has been a bit hectic. Sometimes life gets in the way of fun things like blogging and writing. Anyway, today I'm participating in a new weekly event. Head over to The Delusional Diaries for more details or to participate as well.


Madly in Love on Monday is a meme hosted by The Delusional Diaries. It shines the spotlight on that rare book gem you have found and fallen so "madly in love" with that you want to tell everyone about it so they can read it too.

The book I've chosen is one of the few books I've considered buying in both paperback and e-book: Shelly Laurenston's Beasts Behaving Badly.

blurb:
Ten years after Blayne Thorpe first encountered Bo Novikov, she still can't get the smooth talking shifter out of her head. Now he's shadowing her in New York - all seven-plus feet of him - determined to protect her from stalkers who want to use her in shifter dogfights. Even if he has to drag her off to an isolated Maine town where the only neighbors are other bears almost as crazy as he is. Let sleeping dogs lie. Bo knows it's good advice, but he can't leave Blayne be. She may insist Bo's nothing but a pain in her delectable behind, but polar bears have patience in spades. Soon she'll realize how good they can be together. And when she does, animal instinct tells him it'll be worth the wait.

Shelly Laurenston has quickly made it onto my auto-buy list for reasons that are hard for me to explain. Typically, my favorite characters are those who behave like people I meet in everyday life and most of Ms. Laurenston's are...well crazy. But in such a lovable way, you can't help but feel for them. Their quirks are the very things that made me love them and care about what happens to them. "Beasts Behaving Badly" is the latest in the series and although you can read it as a standalone, I would recommend starting from the beginning, "The Beast in Him". If you like shifter romances, I highly recommend checking out this series. It's very different than other shifter romances but the unique perspective is one not to be missed.

And the Winner Is....

Thank you everyone who stopped by my blog yesterday and this morning. It was a great turnout!

I employed a very technical and scientific method to choose the winner of the PDF Rhonda Leah book, picking a name from a hat. Yes, I know, its all very complicated.

And the winner is...drumroll please.....

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you through your email shortly. If blogger is not connected to your email (or if you don't receive anything from me in the next hour) please contact me at Sondraebennett@gmail.com to claim your prize! Thank you everyone who participated.

An Interview and a Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to have Rhonda Leah with me today! I finished her latest release "About Last Night" last week and not only were her main characters, Misty and Tanner, easy to like, their story absolutely charmed me. Without further ado, join me in welcoming Rhonda Leah.

Welcome Rhonda! Why don't you start us off by telling us a little about your latest release, "About Last Night".

It's a friends to lovers story, which is a theme I enjoy reading, so I wanted to try it. But more than that the title of the book,  About Last Night, is what actually inspired the whole story. It started out as a writing challenge and I wanted to use those three little words in an unexpected way.

blurb:
Her life is an endless string of disasters.

When Misty McNeil is arrested for breaking and entering, calling Tanner Theroit to bail her out seems like a good idea...until he asks what's so important she'd risk going to jail for. Admitting she was trying to retrieve a gift he'd given isn't something she wants to confess. Misty's night in the slammer is only the tip of the iceberg. Her life quickly takes a turn for the worse. With only one week to move out of her apartment, she turns - yet again - to Tanner to bail her out.

Tanner is determined to prove her wants nothing less than all of her. Too bad Misty has a been-there-done-that attitude when it comes to relationships. But...will Tanner be the one man who can offer her a deal she can't refuse?

Content warning: explicit sex, strong language, and a sexy, hard bodied construction worker turned executive.

What are you working on now? Any releases in the near future we can look forward to?
My next release isn't until April 2011, but it's one I'm super excited about. The series is about a group of friends who were/are extreme sports junkies. The first one is in edits now and I'm happy to say it'll be my first novel length work to be published. I'm currently working on the follow up story, which is getting interesting.

If you had to pick a favorite among all your characters, which one would you pick and why?
Um, really? My gut answer is I have no idea. But once I think about it - I would have to say Laurel Delacroix from The Business of Sex. She's feisty and independent and so sure of what she wants until she's not *g*.

What do you want readers to take away from your books?
A sense of contentment that their time was well spent.

What's your favorite thing about being a writer?
Taking a thread of an idea and turning it into an entire journey.
 
Where do you want to be in five years?
Still writing, with a regular release schedule!
 
What music do you listen to in the car (or dare I ask, while you write)?
I love music - all types, my favorites are light rock, and country. I very rarely listen to music while I write.
 
Not including your own work, what's your favorite book(s)?
Bet Me, by Jennifer Cruise, I just love that book. I've read it about 1/2 dozen times, of course I'm a huge JC fan girl! And even though it doesn't have a HEA, I love Gone with the Wind more than words.
 
Any advice for aspiring writers?
Find a good critique partner, one you trust - they are worth their weight in gold. If not- nothing beats reading your work out loud. It is the easiest thing you could ever do to help you really hear your story as others will. Do this before you submit, you'll be surprised at the little things - easy fixes you can take care of before you send your work out.
 
Any last parting thoughts?
Don't get overwhelmed, don't take yourself too seriously and just write. Then take your time, do your research and leg work before you start submitting. I love weaving stories and feel privileged that I can share my stories with readers!
Sondrae, thank you so much for having me today!
 
Thank You Rhonda for joining us! You can find more information about Rhonda at her website www.rhondaleah.com
 
Now onto the contest! If you'd like to win a PDF copy of one of Rhonda Leah's romances, leave a comment or question for Rhonda. I will be announcing a winner Friday (tomorrow) at noon so get your comment in before then for your chance to win. Be sure to note which of Rhonda's books you would like to receive.
 
For more information about each book, or to purchase, please click on the titles below:
 
One Wilde Night

The Business of Sex

About Last Night

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

"The man beside them spurred his horse forward. Cullen stroked her hip once more. She turned her head and glared at his boldness."

-"In the Warrior's Bed" by Mary Wine

I picked this book up because it was being offered as a free kindle book a few months back (I'm a sucker for free books) but I've waited a long time to read it because the free books are really hit or miss. I finally decided to pick it up and so far, I've been pleasantly surprised. I would definitely pick up another Mary Wine book after reading this one. If you like Scottish historicals, I would recommend it.

On Thurdsay I'm having an interview with the fabulous Rhonda Leah! She's offering an e-copy of one of her novels to one lucky commenter. Be sure to come back then for a chance to win!

Back on track!

Every writer has a different method to creating a story. Personally, I always start with the characters. I create them in my mind long before I even put pen to paper. It's only after I've developed a friendship with my main characters that I begin placing them into a story. That's just the way I write.

Now, I'm sure everyone reading this is wondering WHY I'm making this post. Well, to put it simply, I screwed up with my latest story. It just wasn't working for me and I tried rewriting and just could not get it right. I struggled every time I sat down to write and couldn't get a flow going. I must have gone over the first 5,000 words a hundred times and it just wasn't reading naturally to me. I loved everything done in my hero's POV but hated what I wrote in my heroine's POV. Everything was dry and boring. If I didn't find it interesting, I knew nobody else would.

Finally, last night, I was pushing forward and it hit me, almost as if my heroine literally knocked me over the head with a baseball bat. I thought I knew her character well enough to start writing but I was clearly wrong. I'd been trying to make her react the way I wanted her to instead of working with what was already there. Well, I'm happy to say she's taken control now and we're back on track. I've started rewriting and editing the beginning and I'm so thrilled with how it's starting to sound! I have no idea where the story is going to go from here but I'm just so excited that I've figured out and solved the problem that I needed to share.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Stay tuned this week I'm going to be participating in "Teaser Tuesday" from 'Should be Reading' blog and later I'm having an interview/giveaway with the fabulous Rhonda Leah! Be sure to keep checking in so you don't miss the fun!

5 Memorable Movie Moments

There are those movie moments that stick with you and become a part of movie history. They're the moments that make us feel joy, laughter, sorrow, disbelief. When someone says a line from these memorable moments, our minds immediately conjure images from the movie. When someone says, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn", who doesn't think of Gone With The Wind. Today, I'm bringing you five memorable movie moments. Now these are not my favorite movies of all time (although all are pretty high ranking on my list) but they are five of my favorite standalone movie moments.

1. Let's start us off with an easy one. "Luke, I am your father." If you don't know this one you need to go out to Blockbuster and rent the Star Wars trilogy right now. Seriously, stop reading, get in your car, and go right now. This will be apart of movie history for many many years to come. Millions of people watched in the movie theaters, shocked when this little tidbit was revealed during Empire Strikes Back. It may be an obvious one to put on a list like this but it's overused for a reason, pure brilliance. Audiences felt Luke Skywalker's shock and pain and it was George Lucas' ability to evoke these emotions that propelled this moment into movie history.

2. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Who's heart doesn't melt even just hearing these words, much less seeing a very sexy Patrick Swayze defend his woman like a knight of old at the end of Dirty Dancing.

3. "Big Mistage. Big. HUGE." This quote might be a bit more ambiguous as theres not much to work with but let me set the scene. Who didn't cheer when they watched Julie Roberts walk into the snooty clothing store that had turned her away the day before and told them to shove it (in a much nicer way). I know I sat there and put the face of everyone who's ever made me feel beneath respect in place of that shopgirl, wishing I had the guts Julia Roberts had in Pretty Woman.

4. Along the same lines of number 3, "How do you like them Apples?" I love this moment for the same reasons I love number 3. Matt Damon rocked this scene in Good Will Hunting.

5. My last scene doesn't have words. But it involves a chair, an '80s cut off shirt and leg warmers. That's right...Flashdance. To this day, I can't hear the song "What a Feeling" without picturing Jennifer Beals arching over a chair. Although maybe not the greatest movie of all times, certainly one that influenced movie pop culture for many years afterward. Hearing this song on my way to work this morning is actually what motivated this post in the first place.

Well, I've come to the end of my list. What are your favorite memorable movie moments?

Bacon Money

I love writing. If I could do it twenty-four seven, I absolutely would. Usually when I'm not writing, my brain is working, thinking of potential new stories and characters. Even when I intentionally try to take a break, a character will pop into my head and demand attention.

Eventually, I want to be able to write full time. But alas, I'm not there yet. Until such a time when my dream is a reality, I need some 'bring home the bacon' money to well...bring home the bacon. And pay rent, bills and all that fun stuff.

In many ways I'm very lucky. I love my 'bacon' money job. I get to work with a group of incredibly talented people and genuinely have fun. Granted, I occasionally work myself to the bone, leaving little to no time to write/blog. But in the end I can't complain. I have two jobs I love and my philosophy remains: "I can sleep when I'm dead."

The First Kiss

I've been reading a lot of author interviews lately. I feel it's important to (A) support my fellow authors and bloggers and (B) stay tuned in to the writing world and keep appraised of new releases, etc. I'm also keeping a list of all interesting questions I come across to improve my own interviews. Every now and then in my reading I'll come upon a question that really gets me thinking. I happened upon such a question on Natasha Bennett's blog. During an interview she asked the author, "What was your favorite scene to write?". It got me wondering how I would answer that question. Yes, I love everything I write as it all comes from me and is all apart of shaping the story. But when thinking back to writing Arctic Winds, a few scenes jump out at me. One of the first that comes to mind, and possibly my favorite, is the first kiss shared between Samantha and Jason.

There's something about a first kiss, the first time emotions bubble over until it can only be expressed with the meeting of lips and tongue. The nervous butterflies that can't be contained until the heroine is in the arms of the hero for the first time. It can be funny, sweet, or sizzling. Whatever shape it takes, it's truly magical.

Now, it's possibly I just have the first kiss scenes in my head as it's where I currently am in writing my next novel. My mind always gets wrapped around whatever I'm currently working on. However, even beyond that I think there's something special about a first kiss. And if you think about it, Can you remember your very first kiss? Your first kiss with a serious boyfriend? Or maybe your first kiss with your husband? Everyone remembers their first kiss because theres magic in it. Magic that imprints the memory in your conscience forever. So as your kissing your loved ones tonight or when next you see them, think about the first time and let the magic take you away.