Snippets from Victoria

I’ve been busy finalising my latest novella, probably to be called “Emerald Revenge”, so I’ve been distinctly uncreative in my flash fiction lately. So here’s the start of a few snippets from “Heavenly Revenge”:

Chapter One

“The poor, wee girl. Rose, Rose, can you hear me, love?”

Rose’s eyelids fluttered. A stark, white light stabbed into her eyes and she shut them again. But in that brief glimpse, she’d seen the blurry faces of two women peering down at her.

“Rose, are you with us, pet? Open your eyes, there’s a good girl. You don’t have much time.”

“Rose!” The other woman spoke this time, sharper in tone. Rose opened her eyes and studied the faces bent over her. Both were older women, about seventy perhaps, with fly-away white hair and white flowing gowns. As Rose struggled to her feet, they broke out in relieved smiles.

“Good girl. Och, Wilma, she looks so pale, the poor lassie.”

“Everyone who comes here is pale, Lily. I wish you would strive to be less foolish.”

“All I said—”

During this exchange, Rose glanced around at her surroundings, and recognized nothing. Flat, barren land, seared in that glaring white light, stretched to every mist shrouded horizon. Not another living thing in sight. She breathed in the cool, pure air, and frowned at the strange, spongy surface beneath her.

“Where the hell am I?”

Both ladies regarded her with shocked expressions, and the one whose name seemed to be Wilma said, “Now, now, Rose. This isn’t the best place to be using bad language.”

Rose blinked. “I’m sorry. I meant—where am I? And who are you? How do you know my name?”

“My name is Wilma and this is Lily,” the taller woman answered. Lily beamed, her pale blue eyes warm and welcoming behind her glasses. Rose found herself smiling in return. Wilma continued. “You’re dead. You’re outside the gates of Heaven, but you aren’t allowed to go in.”

You can purchase Heavenly Revenge from Secret Cravings, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookstrand and ARe.

LUBRICANT

Another author and I recently had a discussion about lubricant. It actually started when I wrote a scene where the heroine hurled a bottle at her lover’s truck and it covered the windshield. Of course, even though he knew better, he turned on the wipers and…well, you know. We can all identify with doing something we absolutely know is the wrong thing to do, but we do it anyway. My author friend did a test on her kitchen window so see how difficult it would be to clean it up. Warning: Do not try that at home, lol.

 

In any event, we then shared some personal stories about lubricant and it got me thinking about the stuff. I mean, I go to the store, find the product I presently use and buy it. Simple. But maybe there’s more to lubricant…so I researched it.            

 

LUBRICANT: A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles. The property of reducing friction is known as lubricity. (slipperiness)

A good lubricant possesses the following characteristics:

• High boiling point
• Low freezing point
• High viscosity index
• Thermal stability
• Hydraulic Stability
• Demulsibility
• Corrosion prevention
• High resistance to oxidation

Relax. The product described above is industrial lubricant, although it appears to do the same job as personal lubricant. Just keep it away from me.

Personal lubricants (colloquially termed lube) are specialized and used during human sexual activity to reduce friction between body parts, or between body parts and other objects. They are used during sexual acts such as intercourse and masturbation, to reduce friction to or between the penis and vagina, anus, or other body parts, or applied to sex toys to reduce friction or ease in penetration. Surgical or medical or gels, which are similar but not usually referred to or labelled as "personal" lubricants, may be used for medical purposes such as speculum insertion or introduction of a catheter.

Well, the last use took the edge off.

There are several different types of lubricant, and aside from the obvious value of them, it’s worth your while to research them all. Seriously. Eye opening and might be important for your health.

Water based (soluable) have surprising drawbacks, as do oil based lubricants.

Fertility lubricants are highly specialized, as they should be so as not to interfere with conception.

Silicone based lubricants make for interesting reading-sex toys beware.

Anal specific lubricants are quite different and I confess I learned something new—numbing qualities.

Having purchased specialty lubricants at those naughty parties your mother warned you about—or accompanied you to—aren’t always edible!

And of course there’s the household lube—vegetable shortening, cooking oil, butter and the like. I suppose in a pinch…or if you’re in the kitchen…just remember certain tissues are very sensitive and condoms don’t stand up well to certain substances.

My initial source was Wikipedia and then I read the information on several different brands of each type of lubricant. I also checked out the studies cited on some different sites. I’ll be spending more time in the family planning aisle—such a misnomer—the next time around, and making some different choices! Lubricant really is an individualized product.

Show, Don't Tell

from Victoria Black


For any authors out there, you've all heard the mantra "Show, Don't Tell".

I bought a good little book from Amazon the other day for only 99 cents, called Show or Tell by James Thayer. It's only short, but there's quite a lot of good advice in it. Here's some things I found useful.


In it, he says that as authors, we need to present the evidence and let the reader draw his own conclusion.


Telling is a lecture e.g. Stacey was warm. Whereas showing would be: Stacey fanned herself with her hand.

Show characters' reactions, don't tell e.g. Tell - She looked concerned. Show - "What's wrong?"

The context will make your showing accurate. e.g. John smiled.

You can make a description show two things e.g. what he is wearing and that he is poor.

When describing a face, tell is okay e.g. She was lovely. But showing adds more e.g. Men turned to look at her.

It's not necessary to show all the time - when a lot of information must be conveyed quickly e.g. He had a gun in his holster, a knife strapped to his thigh and a grenade on his belt. Also, back story can be told, but keep it short.

The key to showing is the question - IS THERE EVIDENCE?

James Thayer said that a summary of Show, Don't Tell is:

His arm itched. But is there evidence? He scratched his arm.

Hunk Friday DYLAN McDERMOTT

This bad boy speaks to me. I admire his dark good looks and tall, muscular body and inherent arrogance.                                            

                                                            Dylan McDermott!

Mark Anthony McDermott (born October 26, 1961), is better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott. His father was of Irish descent, and his mother had Italian, English, Irish, and French ancestry.

Dylan is an America actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice, which earned him a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination, and his roles in the first two seasons of American Horror Story. He also starred in the TNT series Dark Blue as Lt. Carter Shaw.

He was so very convincing in his role as a traitorous agent in Olympus Has Fallen. And then there's his upcoming role as a rogue FBI agent in the tv series Hostages. Looking forward to seeing him weekly.

Hunk Friday THOMAS MARK HARMON

Thomas Mark Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor. Since the mid-1970s, he has appeared in a variety of television, film and stage roles following a brief career as a collegiate football player with the UCLA Bruins. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the hit CBS series NCIS.

Mark has made his career on both medical and law enforcement roles although has appeared in a variety of other acting roles. Harmon's career reached several other high points in 1986. In January, he was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. He still does it for me. I think he just gets better with age.

 

 

 

 

I read John Sandford’s Prey novels voraciously and Mark Harmon played the hero in Certain Prey, definitely NOT who I would have chosen to depict Lucas Davenport, but he came pretty close.

 

 

Thomas Mark Harmon who manages to keep NCIS from being just another too long running series.

INSUFFICIENT SEX IS A SIN!

Today I received a rejection from a publishing company because my submitted novella “wasn’t erotic enough”. It made me smile.  I truly didn’t mind. I won’t be adding to the already explicit descriptions, or leaving home to indulge in some physical research sessions.  I have a fairly vivid imagination which fills in the gaps in my experience and knowledge.

 I can’t write a story without a plot. Scene after scene of erotic romping that doesn’t aid the plot, move  on the progress of the story line or is simply there for the sake of more sex, is not my style. I’m writing a story, not a series of descriptions of a physical marathon with gymnastic moves, performed in situ.

I did the best I could and I now have to find a home for this less than erotic romance. I could add some more sex scenes but I would then need to add lots of dialogue to keep my interest alert.  Perhaps I could introduce a sub-plot that is only ever discussed during sex? A different approach to consider but, nah, I don’t think so.

It boils down to this: I wrote it, I like it, and I’m happy to have it molder away in my computer's innards than rewrite it adding lots of sex scenes.  I know it’s been done in the Grey story, but even that story had a compelling layering to it which made you read all three books to find out why the male lead acted like he did.  I don’t want my readers to be thinking as I did by the second book - ‘another sex scene. I’ll skip these pages and get back to the real story.’

Thinking of this reminds me of the comment made by Elmore Leonard in No. 10 of his rules of writing: “Try and leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

With that in mind I might have to remove all the sex scenes and turn it into a murder mystery instead.

What would you do? Comments welcomed.

EXCERPT FROM 'MEMOIRS OF LADY MONSTROSE'

This erotic novella was a recommended read on USA TODAY HEA blog on the 3rd August. I hope you enjoy this sample. Cheers Virginnia.

 

His message, left on a nail in the garden shed last Thursday, had read ‘Hide and Seek’. He’d given her a week to think of a hiding place.  She checked the time, stripped off her clothes, sprayed on some perfume and ran to the library. Her bare feet made no sound on the carpet. Behind the long velvet drapes in the library seemed the best solution and that’s where she now stood, on a stool to keep her toes from peeping out. Wrapped close around her the drapes kept her warm, until found.  Just thinking about it raised her excitement and her sex thrummed its anticipation.  The hall chime ten o’clock.  Time for the game to begin.

  Mortlock’s footsteps thumped and his murmurings grew to sound very cross as he hunted without success.  Today he’d searched the library and in his hurry he’d missed her. He’d come so close the drapes had swayed. She’d suppressed a shiver and her nipples had hardened, brushed by the velvet.  Now his heav tread moved upstairs as he looked before he pounded down the staircase. The door of the billiard room thudded as it hit the wall.  Moments later the library door opened, its familiar creak giving away his progress into the carpeted room.

Their love sessions were usually enacted in near silence, a hangover from Brighton more than a lack of something to say, but today he groaned, presumably with frustration but possibly, she hoped, with lust.  

 He began his second search of the room beginning on the opposite wall. She heard him opening the cupboards, shifting the couch away from the window wall, swishing the curtains. Her skin tingled, her sex heated and her muscles tightened low in her belly. The thrill of knowing he would find her at any moment made her legs weaken and with a swish the curtain yanked back.  She stood revealed,  shivering in the draught,  her buttocks tense, her feet barely holding her on the low stool.

Her erect nipples ached, her flesh tingled with goose bumps and a giggle of delight escaped her as he stared, his gaze raking her from top to toe.

“At last.”

 She stretched her arms up high to relieve their tension from being still for long minutes. Excitement bubbled and fizzed within her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her against his bare chest. His exertions had given him a sheen of perspiration. She toppled as the stool tipped. He righted her while he sucked and nipped her breasts. He slid his other hand between her thighs.  Hiding for so long had wound her like a coiled spring. She yelped in surprise . He released her and as the stool tipped once more he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her steady.

“Minx.” He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder so her breasts rested on his back and her arse received a swift spank. ....