Something Cool: 5 Tips to Keep Cool while writing Hot Romantic Scenes by Jina Bacarr
August 11, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as brook, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, cool, hot, icebreakers, romance heroes, romantic scenes, writing
Unlike my heroine, Breezy Malone, in Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, who’s been known to cool off on her job as a federal agent interrogating Russian spies with an ice cube placed in strategic places, I find the soothing sounds of water running in a brook keep me cool while I’m writing hot romantic scenes.
So as summer winds down and we’re all trying to figure out how to keep cool as the temperature goes up, way up, here are my 5 tips to keeping cool:
1. Keep the décor in your work area simple, selecting “cool†tones such as green, blue, or lavender. Avoid hot direct overhead lighting, use natural light whenever possible.
2. Cool fans. Not just the electric “blowing in your face†kind, but hand fans at your fingertips when you want to feel a cool breeze. Have some fun and paste photos of sexy hunks on the each side and fan away.
3. Create an illusion of coolness by diverting your senses. Hang wind chimes or Chinese lanterns where they will catch a breeze. Add beaded curtains in your doorway that move gently in the breeze. Then put on a sarong and write barefoot.
4. Tall, cool drinks. Make ice-cubes out of your favorite beverage (juice, cola, sports drinks), then toss the ice cubes into a tall glass of unflavored sparkling water. Add a sprig of mint. Spoon sorbet into ice-frosted glass bowls and enjoy!
5. Cool, running water soothes the senses and conjures up scenes of a man and a woman kissing passionately in the surf as foamy waves rush around them. Sounds delish…but if you don’t happen to have a running brook nearby, here is a short video of running water in a brook.
How hot the scenes are that you write while you’ll listening to the sounds of the running brook is up to you.
Best,
Jina
The Blonde Samurai: “She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha ,Cleopatra’s Perfume, Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs
visit my website: http://www.jinabacarr.com/
Romance Writers of America 2006 Conference in Atlanta with Jina Bacarr
July 11, 2010 by Jina Bacarr in category Archives tagged as Atlanta, audio books, author, Blonde Geisha, booksigning, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, Disneyland, Florida, Georgia, Golden Heart, Harlequin, literacy, Orlando, Rita, RWA Conference, spice
Yes, you read the title correctly. That’s the RWA Conference in Atlanta back in 2006.
Where did the time go? Several SPICE books, blogs, videos, Tweets and Facebook friends later, I’ve been thinking about all the wonderful things RWA and OCC/RWA offer its members.
Especially the annual conference. It’s always an exciting time. Here’s the official information about this year’s conference:
“RWA is proud to host its 30th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, July 28 – 31, 2010.
“Be sure to join us to enhance your writing and knowledge of the ins and outs of publishing at more than 100 workshops; get the inside track at panels and round-tables featuring publishing professionals; schedule a one-on-one pitch meeting with an acquiring editor or literary agent; attend parties and network with the stars of romance fiction; and be a part of RWA’s massive, 500-author strong “Readers for Life” charity book signing. And let’s not forget the 2010 RITA and Golden Heart Awards.” For more information go to the RWA website.
To everyone who is going, have a great time!
I’ll never forget my first RWA conference. (What girl ever forgets her first?)
So here is a video I made taking you back to July 2006 and the Romance Writers of America Conference in Atlanta.
From the Literacy Signing to the Spice Books workshop to the Harlequin party and the RITA Awards, re-live the conference in this fun video podcast.
As you can see in the photo above, I signed copies of The Blonde Geisha that year at the RWA Conference in Atlanta.
Hard to believe that since then, The Blonde Geisha has been translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish and two weeks ago it came out in the Czech Republic as “The Geisha with the Emerald Eyes.”
So sit back and relax and come with me as we go back to the RWA Conference in Atlanta in 2006!
Best,
Jina
The Blonde Samurai: “She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha ,Cleopatra’s Perfume, Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighsvisit my website: http://www.jinabacarr.com/
0 0 Read moreMy JEM Interview: “Roxy Rumbles†for Literacy by Jina Bacarr
June 11, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as books, cartoons, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, JEM, kids' TV, literacy, reading
Imagine if you couldn’t read.
You’d miss out on connecting with friends at Facebook, couldn’t check your bank account (though at times you’d rather not), never be able to write a grocery list (can’t forget the chocolate chip cookies), check out the menu board at Starbucks for the latest latte sensation.
Or read the fabulous posts here at OCC Slice of Orange.
Hard to imagine that at one time in history being “literate†meant that a person could sign his name. It later evolved to mean that you could read Latin. During the early days of Queen Victoria, close to fifty percent of all women signed their marriage certificate with their “mark†on their wedding day because they couldn’t write.
It wasn’t until later in the nineteenth century that books became affordable to everyone.
Yet literacy is still a problem. According to a story in USA Today by Greg Toppo, a study in 2009 estimates that “…32 million adults in the USA—about one in seven—are saddled with such low literacy skills that it would be tough for them to read anything more challenging than a children’s picture book or to understand a medication’s side effects listed on a pill bottle.â€
More than ever, it’s important to read, read, read. It spurs our imagination, educates us and gives us the opportunity to explore new and exciting worlds.
Reading books is just as important today as it was when I wrote a cartoon script for the girl band series JEM and the Holograms called “Roxy Rumbles.â€
Roxy, the “bad girl,†can’t read, which gets her into all kinds of trouble.
You can see the first part of my “Roxy Rumbles†episode here (next 2 parts are listed on this same page):I am delighted to discover that JEM is still popular–and my message about reading more important than ever.
I was recently interviewed by Steve Savicki on his website devoted to JEM.
Read my interview here and find out all about this fab series!
Best,
Jina
The Blonde Samurai: “She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha ,
Cleopatra’s Perfume, Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs
visit my website: http://www.jinabacarr.com/
0 0 Read moreA Naughty Victorian Lady travels to Italy as “Bionda Samurai†by Jina Bacarr
May 11, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as blonde samurai, book trailer, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, England, Japan, Japanese, kimono, lady, naughty, Victorian
Morning sunlight, wiggling through the petit-point pattern on the lacy curtain, hovers over my shoulder to see what I’m writing. A red-breasted robin fluttering about on the window sill holds its breath, pen scratchings fill my ears.
I am beside myself with excitement, spilling blue ink on my gown and smudging the fine rice paper upon which I write with dirty fingerprints, but I know you shall forgive me for word has reached me that my memoir, The Blonde Samurai, has found its way to faraway shores.
To Italy.
A place where–
The romance of carnival and exquisite masks enchants the eye.
The sacred mount of the holy saints restores one’s faith.
The musical language of the arts and literature delights the ear and enriches the soul.
I must recount to you how pleased I am that the story of this Irish-American lass and her samurai has made its way to such a grand place.
Here then is the visual and audio presentation in Italian of the publisher’s synopsis of “Bionda Samurai†(available May 13th). Grazie!
=====
Postscript: I have also included the English translation for you:
“She is determined to recount her adventures in every detail, from the electrifying moments to the salacious, her life ruled by her insatiable appetite for all things sensual. Her story takes us from London to Japan, where the journey takes you through a maze of raw and vivid eroticism.
“Tantalizing and provocative scenes of sensuality await you in Japan. This is the return of class because Jina Bacarr (author of “The Blonde Geisha†and “Cleopatra’s Perfume“) puts forward with her usual skill a story that is unique and has earned her millions of readers around the world, her themes more endearing and bold with provocative situations raw and sexy but always romantic.”
5 Tips to Writing Fiction that I learned from writing kids’ cartoons for TV by Jina Bacarr
April 11, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as cartoons, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, Inspirational fiction, TV, writing process
When I was preparing for a teleconference with author Heidi Richards for her publishing series about writing fiction, I thought about my early days in TV and the valuable lessons that I learned from writing scripts.
I discussed this topic in depth with Heidi in the teleconference, but I’ve included my 5 tips for writing fiction for you at the end of this blog. But first–
How did I start writing sexy fiction?
When I wrote a monthly column for a computer magazine called Sweet Savage Byte, who knew years later mainstream would meet bitstream, making e-books (including sexy fiction) available at the click of a mouse. The Internet’s easy access and anonymity made it all possible.
It also gave the opportunity for so many writers to bring out those stories from underneath their beds and see their works published.
My sexy coming-of-age story “The Blonde Geisha“ was published by Harlequin Spice during that time. That novel was followed by several other titles that I’ve written for Spice as well as a non-fiction book for Stone Bridge Press, “The Japanese Art of Sex: how to tease, seduce and pleasure the samurai in your bedroom.”
Here is the short version of my 5 Tips for writing fiction that I learned from writing kids’ cartoons for TV:
1. Beat It: know your story beats
2. You gotta have heart. What is your emotional theme?
3. Dialogue is king (or queen).
4. The white rabbit syndrome: getting into the scene as late as you can and out as quickly as you can.
5. Writing is rewriting.
So the next time you sit down to watch your favorite TV show, watch it with the eye of a television writer: note the story beats, boil down the emotional core of the story to one or two words, listen to the dialogue, watch how they get in and out of a scene, then press rewind and watch it again.
And don’t forget the most important tip of all when you write your story: let your imagination soar.
It’s the magic that makes the elephant fly.
The Blonde Samurai
“She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
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