Hi! Lou Sylvre, here, so glad to be back on Love Bytes after missing my November slot. One of the reasons I missed it was because, having a novel I’d barely started due in December, I decided to try to kick my writing speed up a notch by participating in Nanowrimo. It was the second time I participated, but the first time under the name Lou Sylvre. I won! I’m putting in a picture of the evidence. A little further on, I’m going to tell you about some December book news, but first, let’s talk about the Nano experience.
I had a tough time getting the words down at first, and it’s because I couldn’t let go of some habits I’ve formed over the years. Namely: 1) I edit every day, and also constantly as I write; and 2) I love research, so if a point in my narrative seems to require validation or isn’t clear, I stop writing and do the exploring. I’m not going to say these are bad habits, though I know some writers believe in only editing after a draft is done, and doing all the research ahead of time. For me, making the prose that comes before the current writing work, making sure I’ve not left something out or confused a date or action—those things help me move forward with confidence. And as for doing the research ahead of time? I’m not sure that’s possible for someone who writes the way I do, starting out as a plotter and then pantsing the hell out of it as I get involved with my characters and their story.
Which brings me to a second reason I started out slow in my November Nano-adventure: I kept trying to make myself stick to the outline. I tried to direct my characters instead of encourage and empower them.
Okay, I can see some people out there scratching their heads or rolling their eyes, mumbling things like “WTH?” Sounds crazy—that’s true. But as I see it, if I want my characters to live on the page and in the hearts of readers, I must expect them to be real. Expectations are a funny thing when it comes to real people. As most people who’ve had a hand in raising children or supervising staff can tell you, if you have high (but achievable expectations), you stand a good chance to see them fulfilled. If you set expectations low, you will certainly get what you expected. I think it’s the same when I delve into the lives of my characters. I must expect them to behave like real people, and not only that, but people who can reach the hearts and minds they touch via the story. This goes for my protagonists, but also the “bad guys”—because “touch” isn’t always a positive vibe.
So, as well as not breaking free of writing habits that didn’t work in this instance, trying to do this new thing of sticking hard to an outline, was a mistake. I think it’s a little funny that both doing the usual and not doing the usual were wrong courses of action. There’s probably a life lesson in there, but I don’t know what it is.
I did end up with over 50,000 words of a novel down in pixels. It’s the messiest thing I’ve produced in quite a long time, and it doesn’t complete a first draft of the novel, but it’s a starting point. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me this month to clean it up and complete it, but still, there are some passages I’m pleased with. I’ll share one here. Just remember this is rough cut stuff, not refined at all. Still, I hope you can see something shiny peeking through…. (Fair warning, not as explicit as it might be, but still NSFW, and contains BDSM.)
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Excerpt from A Shot of Courage, Book 3 in the One Shot at Love series, coming in 2019
No matter about secrets or mysteries or hidden agendas or whatever it was that Brian was holding close to the vest, he was Jackie’s light in the dark, his music of life. He loved him, treasured his smiles, sought his regard, and as much as any other part of their relationship, he cherished and needed Brian’s loving Dominance, his beautiful ropes, his careful pain. So he worked on that too. Their sessions had never been frequent, but they’d always been good—they always put trouble, worry, even anger aside as soon as they stepped into their D/s roles. And their kink-lives had been even better ever since last summer when Brian had used Dominance to help lift Jackie out of the emotional quagmire he’d sunk into after his leg was removed.
Riding the bus on the way home from working late at the university, Jackie thought of their time in the playroom the previous night. Jackie kneeling as close to perfect as he could, with one leg that didn’t have a knee, eyes down, head up—submissive just the way Brian liked it. Naked this time except for midnight blue thong tied at the hips with braided silver threads. Brian had stood behind him, his hands warm on his shoulders, and made him look in the mirror.
“This is what beautiful means, Jackie. What it means to me.”
Then he’d bound him in careful loops and twists of silver and blue ropes and lifted him into suspension. Jackie had gone completely under and all he really remembered from that moment on was floating like on a cloud, swinging and twirling fast enough to create his own sweet, cooling breeze, and Brian’s hands ghosting everywhere over his electrified skin. And then love-making, still deep in submission, accepting Brian’s touches and his body, taking him in, following his softly spoken commands.
“Suck.”
“Stop.”
“Legs apart.”
“Stroke your cock.”
“Come. Now.”
On the bus, Jackie closed his eyes remembering, but he opened them when the bus came to a sudden stop. A quick shiver passed over him, and the arousal that would possibly have been too evident if someone had been sitting next to him faded. He looked out the window, and all worries and all remembrances of sweet submission and slow-burn sex disappeared.
Because something was happening out there on the street, and it didn’t look okay.
Now for the December news!
First, I’ve got a new holiday season novella that will be out in ebook and paperback a little over a week from now, on December 15! The Holiday Home Hotel is part of Mischief Corner Books 2018 holiday collection, Escape from the Holidays. I loved writing this magical romance, and I’m excited to get it out to readers. It’s the sort of story that can brighten up a winter’s day—a second chance love story with a supernatural assist:
Lelia has practiced her mysteries as a goddess of luck and springtime for thousands of years. Transplanted from Slavic roots to the Pacific Northwest, she’s as magical as ever, but what can she do when her favorite human is pining for a lost love and he doesn’t even know it?
A lot, as it turns out.
Especially if she calls in Leshy. A brethren forest spirit whose mischief traditionally runs from funny to calamitous, the crush he has on Lelia compels him to limit his cunning hijinks to a well-timed winter storm, a magical tea party for two, and maybe sexing things up a bit in the clutch.
Like every year, Daren Slovak plans to spend his holiday season doing two things: running a unique hotel where everyone can find a warm place to feel at home for the holidays, and singing his heart out in drag for their entertainment and his fulfillment.
Gunner Schiller just wants to escape for a day from the loneliness of his holidays by taking a snowy hike through the snow-hushed forest of a mountain wilderness.
Lelia, clothed in the form of Daren’s furry white canine companion, and Leshy, as a brown-furred black bear, make sure both men get what they wanted.
And a whole lot more.
Here are some links:
And there’s a giveaway
Follow the blog tour for chances to win an ebook or a $10 Amazon gift card! Here’s where you can find the blog tour links, once the schedule is set. (That post isn’t ‘live yet’ as of the date of the Love Bytes Post. Check back around the 12th.)
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And I’ve got a special on at Dreamspinner!
Need a bundle of books to cozy up with this winter? If you haven’t fallen in love with Luki and Sonny, now’s your chance! Watch their love grow through 6 books, 10 years of chilling suspense and blazing romance. PLUS Falling Snow on Snow, FREE—Beck and Oleg, love, and family in a snowy Seattle December. This month only, all 7 books for under $10.
Here’s the link at the Dreamspinner catalogue.
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Thank you everyone for reading! Have a wonderful December, whatever the month brings for you and yours. See you next month… er… next year!
Enjoyed the post, and I can relate! I usually stop and edit/research when I write too, and I didn’t for NaNoWriMo….