Author Appreciation - Stephen King

To continuing to show love to some of my favorite authors could not be done without discussing the king of horror novels, the one and only Mr. Stephen King.

I couldn't begin to tell you the number of strange looks and double takes I had gotten through my childhood years when I was seen reading a King book. From a young age I was always able to separate fiction from reality, so horror books and movies intrigued and entertained me, rather than leaving me scared of the dark and things that go bump in the night. King always has an amazing voice for his characters, making them compelling and easily able to draw you into the story. It always amazed me how he could write such complicated and intricate stories, like The Stand, keeping all the characters and their own little subplots straight while still being able to have them lead to the main plot. It makes my head spin to even try to think about how he managed that.

I loved that he could keep pumping out all these great books while keeping them different enough so I didn't feel like I was reading the same thing over and over with different character names. He certainly has quite an arsenal of stories running around in that head of his. I especially loved when he came out with something different from the norm, case in point: Eye of the Dragon. I love that book sooooo much! It showed me a much more comical side of King.

So to an author who could get me to read a 1000+ page book in under two weeks at the age of 12, an author who made me realize how damn creepy and scary clowns really are, an author would made me first brave the adult reading section of the library, I tip my glass to you and offer a hardy thank you!

Author Appreciation - Carolyn Keene

So the first author I'm going to discuss this week..is kind of an odd choice considering she doesn't exactly exist. Let me go back a little and give some personal details on why this is my choice before we move on.

Even as a child I was a voracious reader. I was using all my allowance, birthday monies, etc. towards books. While there were several books of the Sweet Valley variety, peppered with Babysitters Club, my main brain food of choice were Nancy Drew books. My mom had started me on the Bobbsey Twins and Trixie Belden books and I graduated to Nancy, Bess, George and of course Ned. I just couldn't get enough of Nancy and her adventures. The best? When she teamed up with the Hardy Boys! God I was in heaven with those books. Double the size, double the "crime" fighters, double the action and hi-jinx!

While I don't write mysteries, a certain aspect of the writing style has stuck with me in my own endeavors. I am speaking of the end of chapter cliff hangers. They are the reason I would breeze through the books so quickly. I'd HAVE to keep reading to see what happened. Just one more chapter would turn into two and three and four! I loved the anticipation of that and I try to put it into my own writing.

So enough of skipping down memory lane. Let me explain Carolyn Keene for those who don't know. There kind of is no Carolyne Keene (hence why it might seem odd for "her" to be my choice). Ms. Keene is actually a pseudonym for the ghostwriters who penned the many Nancy Drew books. I had no idea growing up that there were such things as ghostwriters and pen names, etc., but I still love that all the different authors stuck to the format and kept Nancy pretty much the same for me.

Therefore, my hat's off today to the many different authors posing as Carolyn Keene. For helping nurture my love of reading, for the cliff hangers that kept me up at night with a flashlight and for fooling me into thinking there was only one person writing all those books!

Author Appreciation Week!

As you can see, today starts Author Appreciation Week! A week dedicated to letting our favorite authors know how much we appreciate all the hard work that goes into crafting their stories. As an aspiring author, I know it's not a simple thing to get your ideas onto paper in a coherent and entertaining way. It takes a long time between an idea and a final product. There are outlines, research, first drafts, beta readers, edits, rewrites, etc. The process is long and tedious so that the readers can have the best experience possible with the stories they dive into.

The idea for this great week was the brain child of author Heidi R. Kling. Stop by her blog and drop her a line or thank her for coming up with a great idea!

Keep checking back as I will try to post something everyday this week to thank some of my favorite authors!

Post of a different color - Book photos

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here, but besides being an aspiring author, I'm also an amateur photographer. I thought I'd use my other skill to show you guys about my reading habits. They say it's important to know your genre and to read all you can. I take that advice to heart and here is the proof!

Teaser Tuesday

Natalie cautiously maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her feet touching the cool wood flooring. She quickly threw up a prayer to the gods that today she’d be able to get up and move around without much difficulty. She would have to make it work if she planned to leave tonight. For a moment she stopped and realized how many more people were going to be upset with her once they realized she was gone, but she couldn’t let anything stop her from what she had to do. Not even her traitorous body. Grabbing the back of the chair, Natalie took a deep breath and stood She was still for a moment and let herself register the aches and pain. Eventually the lightheadedness pass. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the day before. It might just work. She let go of the safety of the chair back and carefully took a step towards the cabinet. So far, so good. By making it over to the cabinet, she felt triumphant. Tired but elated that she could do it. She rummaged through her bag before deciding it would just be easier to bring the whole thing down with her. Natalie easily made it out her door, but stopped at the stairs. Looking down she felt as if she was going to be descending down Mount Everest. She took a deep breath, and carefully stepped down the first step. There was a jarring pain that set her teeth on edge as she put her foot down. This would not be a fun excursion. Holding onto the railing for dear life, Natalie slowly and painfully made her way down the staircase. So involved and focused on what she was doing, she failed to notice Lindsay was sitting at the table drinking a mug of something hot. She only realized someone else was in the room when there was a smattering of applause when Natalie reached the bottom. Her head shot up and she thought for sure she was going to see Kirin standing there, a sarcastic grin on his pretty face. Natalie exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in when she saw it was only Lindsay. The other girl was wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. Her shiny blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun and her face was scrubbed clean of makeup. Her eyes were clear and bright as she assessed her patient from across the room.

“That was impressive,” Lindsay commented, taking a sip from her mug, her long fingers wrapped around it for warmth.

“It was terrifying,” admitted Natalie.

How about some smut with your romance?

I'm a healthy, single girl who enjoys some smut from time to time. While I'm all for a good romance, it drives me crazy, in a good way, when I read romances chock full of sexual tension, but no actual action! I have been known to occasionally yell at my books in the hopes that the characters will hear me: "KISS HER ALREADY!!"

I've seen some debates about whether or not smut should be included in YA books.I'm not so old that I can't remember being a teen. I was interested and curious about sex and all that goes along with it. I think it's a natural step in a relationship and that teens today can handle reading it. I don't think it should be immensely graphic and detailed, but alluding to things and some heavy petting should be acceptable.

That being said, expect it from me. I keep it relatively tame (I'm not an erotica writer), but keep it steamy enough that readers can picture it in their minds. I do admit to call it heavy petting, when the MC's love interest is a cat boy, cracks me up, but hopefully it'll get my readers a little hot and bothered rather than make them laugh!

I'd love to hear about others' thoughts on the topic. Do you think it's acceptable? Do you think some YA authors out there have crossed the line with it? (my 2 cents says "no"). Do you write it yourself? Do you enjoy writing it? (I find it HARD!). I do wonder if people struggle with it as much as I do. I swear I blush while writing some of it! Heh. It's a good thing I write in private most of the time...

Teaser Tuesday

How about something steamy this week?

“Is this ok?” he whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin. Unable to reply, she simply nodded her head. He tightened his arms around her and told her to keep watching the lake. They sat in silence for several minutes when Natalie noticed something slide across the incredibly still body of liquid. She sat up a little trying to make out what it was. The one was followed by several more. They looked like stars shooting through the water.

“OH!” she exclaimed suddenly looking up. Just as she thought, there was a meteor shower going on in the sky. It was beautiful, but to watch the same show reflected on the lake top was incredible. She wished she had a camera to record the moment so she could remember it forever.

“Kirin, it’s beautiful,” she gasped.

“I’m glad you like it,” he told her, his voice deep and husky. Natalie turned her head to thank him for bringing her but when she saw his face, the words would not come out. All the passion and the heat from the night before had returned to his eyes. They were glowing bright with desire. Natalie was sure it was echoed in her own eyes. Kirin deftly shifted Natalie so she was sitting in his lap, facing to one side. Cupping her face in his warm hands, he turned her chin to meet him. Her hazel eyes closed in anticipation. The kiss was soft and gentle, at first, then the heat of their passion took over. It was as if they couldn’t get enough of each other. Natalie ran her hands through his hair. As she gently scratched behind his ear, he became perfectly still. Concerned she did something wrong, Natalie opened her eyes and went to move her hands from his head.

“Don’t,” he choked out, his eyes closed in ecstasy. “Please, don’t stop.” Feeling emboldened by Kirin’s reaction, she resumed scratching him behind his ears while kissing his face and neck. Kirin let out little moans of pleasure and purrs. His breathing quickened and she could feel how fast his heart was beating. In one swift move, Kirin shifted their bodies again so Natalie was lying on her back and Kirin was hovering above her. Both of them were breathing heavily. Natalie lazily noticed that the meteor shower was still playing in the background. Kirin brought his head down and gave her a long slow kiss. He settled himself down next to her, propping himself up on one elbow. His free hand caressed the length of her torso. That hand crept under her shirt as he continued stroking her body. Natalie shivered.

“Cold?” he stopped kissing her to ask. She shook her head.

“I’m on fire.”

Spurred on by her admission, Kirin re-took possession of her mouth. Both of their hands were under each other’s shirt, exploring the unfamiliar territory. Each touch lit a new flame of fire. When Kirin began fumbling with the button on Natalie’s jeans, she grew still. She placed one of her hands over his and slowly shook her head. Looking in her eyes, Kirin realized that he had tread into uncharted waters. He removed his hand and gave her one last sweet gentle kiss while surreptitiously pulling her shirt back down to cover her bare skin. He gave her a compassionate and understanding smile while stroking her hair.

“It’s late,” he finally said. “I should take you home.” While Natalie never wanted the night to end, she knew it was for the best. It was breaking her heart to think that she might never see this man again.