Why I wrote Naked Sushi by Jina Bacarr
October 11, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as computer programmer, Cosmo, Cosmopolitan, erotic, erotic romance, espionage, Harlequin, hottie, Instagram, naked, Red-Hot Reads, sexy, spy, sushi, video, VineI’ve always been a geek.
I got my first computer when the screen was black and the print orange. I was a member of an infamous BBS (bulletin board system) back in the day when I wrote a column for a computer magazine called “Sweet Savage Byte.”
I did podcasts on a video camera with a floppy disk that only allowed you to record a minute of time. I remember setting this up in a Borders bookstore in Hollywood. Yes, those were the days…
I’m also a huge James Bond fan.
And I love Covert Affairs with the fab heroine Annie Walker.
You put all that together and you get…Naked Sushi.
It’s also a story about facing the fear of rejection. We’ve all been there. Often that’s the reason we don’t finish a manuscript because we’re afraid of rejection. In Naked Sushi, Pepper O’Malley realizes with the help of the hero that’s what is keeping her from achieving her dream of becoming a spy. She poses as a naked sushi model to get the goods on her sleazy ex-boss with the hero FBI hottie getting in on the action in this excerpt from Naked Sushi.
Six days days until Naked Sushi, my Cosmo Red-Hot Read from Harlequin, is released! So here are two videos with an excerpt from my story. What’s wild is that we’ve gone from 60 seconds max in the early days of video to 6 seconds on Vine and 16 seconds on Instagram…
What’s fun is that the Vine video loops forever and you can take your time reading the sexy snippet. I found some hot music that adds to the fun atmos.
Pepper hits the digital stores on October 15th.
PS — the silky border that I used as a frame around my videos is a remnant from ornate kimono designed by a designer I met when I was taking kimono lessons from a Japanese sensei
Coming on October 15, 2013 from Cosmo Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin:
0 0 Read moreNAKED SUSHI is available for pre-order on Amazon!
Text Copyright © 2013 by Jina BacarrCover Art Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Enterprises LimitedPermission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved.® and â„¢ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license. by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.â€Music:He’s So SexyDream Valley MusicComposer: Michael Stephen Decker Publisher: Shockwave-Sound.Com
Naked Sushi, Harlequin, and Cosmo, oh my! by Jina Bacarr
September 11, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as August, Cosmo, Cosmopolitan, erotic, erotic romance, espionage, Gail Chasan, Harlequin, Malle Vallik, naked, OCC, OCC/RWA, Red-Hot Reads, romance, spy, sushiThe hot, lazy days of summer heated up last month when Harlequin editors, Gail Chasan and Malle Vallik came to speak at our August OCC meeting.
I was especially thrilled to see Malle Vallik. I’ll never forget the excitement racing through me when I found out that Malle wanted my NAKED SUSHI novella for the new Cosmo Red-Hot Read line from Harlequin. Not only did the Harlequin team have to approve each manuscript, but also the team from Cosmopolitan. This was a story I loved because I used my own experiences producing video podcasts as well as working for a computer magazine and a video game company to create her character.
A selfie of Malle and me — somehow the OCC Chapter sign got reversed when I put it up on Instagram.
In Naked Sushi, Pepper O’Malley is a tech-head but under that flannel shirt, she’s just itchin’ to find the right guy and fall in love. And she wants to be a spy:
Here’s the cover copy:
One day I’m getting canned from my job as a computer programmer for having wild copy-room sex with a guy I thought was the new game designer. The next, I’m crashing my ex-boss’s business lunch in a creative attempt to get my job back and men are eating sushi off my naked body!
——————
Here’s a fun Instagram video I made with the opening lines from Naked Sushi:
Coming in October 2013 from Cosmo Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin:
Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Cover copy text used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved.
used under license. by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.”
Music:
Publisher: Shockwave-Sound.Com
Between the Red-Hot Covers by Jina Bacarr
June 11, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Amazon Kindle, Cosmo, cover art, erotic romance, espionage, Harlequin, naked, Red-Hot Reads, spy, sushiWe’ve seen it all over the years in book covers.
Cute cartoon covers, clinch covers, and the recent addition of “elegant bling” covers. Masks, cufflinks, a man’s tie–you know what I mean.
Now I’m excited about a new trend: Temp covers!
For the first time since I’ve published, Harlequin has put up “temp” covers for the Cosmo Red-Hot Reads.
Each of the books that I’ve found on Amazon by Lauren Dane, Tawny Weber, and Helen Kay Dimon all show the same wildly sexy, raspberry-red covers with the Cosmo logo.
Here’s the RED-HOT Temp Cover for my Cosmo Red Hot-Read: NAKED SUSHI!!
Amateur spy PEPPER O’MALLEY gets more than she bargained for when she discovers her sleazy boss is hiding corporate secrets.
She gets fired.
Was it her fault she got caught in the copy room with her pants down with a hunky thief?
The only way Pepper can get her job back is to become a naked sushi model and spy on her ex-boss.
She’s thrown into a world of corporate espionage she never imagined…
What do you think of the idea of Temp Covers? It’s definitely branding the books in a unique and exciting way. I can only imagine the sexy cover Harlequin has up their sleeve for Naked Sushi…
Oh Heck! E-rotica or E-romance?
June 15, 2011 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as Digital only publishing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, Rebecca Forster
by Rebecca Forster
Oh, that word erotica. Written, it looks naked and naughty; spoken it sounds enticing and exciting. Close your eyes and – well, only you know what images it conjures up. Which brings us to the topic of the day: When it comes to sexy books, where do both reader and writer draw the line between erotica and steamy romances?
The Editor/Publisher: Normally, this is not a topic I would have visited but a few things have caught my eye in the last few years. First, erotica started being pulled into the mainstream of my local bookstore. Second, category romance became more inventive and definitely steamier. Finally, the advent of E-books and independent publishing allows more sexually explicit material do be read in utter privacy. Think of your Kindle or Nook as the new brown paper wrapper and there’s lots to put inside. Nookbooks (Barnes & Noble) offers 7,718 books defined as erotica; Kindle (Amazon), 24,901 (as of this writing). One online publisher reports that 12% of his offerings are listed as erotica but, in all instances, romance inventory is far greater.
That still left me curious as to the blurring of the line between erotica and steamy romance. Audrey LeFehr who edits books for Kensington’s Aphrodisia imprint as well as other genres was very clear about what she looks for. There are no ‘romance rules’ in erotica (one woman, one man, commitment no matter how steamy the sex). Rather erotica explores the boundaries of a woman’s sexual satisfaction without being depressing, degrading or seriously frightening. This could include same sex or multiple lovers.
The Erotic Author:
The reason an author decides to write erotica are basic: a burning story line, creative expression, pushing the boundaries of their art.- not to mention that the adult entertainment market is huge and there is money to be made.
Locklyn Swallow, author of numerous shorts including her most recent Love By Disguise, admits money was her initial motivation and her objectives have been met. While not making her a millionaire, the return on her short stories, published for digital download and reasonably priced, has been greater than expected.
I.M.Beckett, a pseudonym for a traditionally published author, saw erotica as a challenge after reading a classic erotic novel. According to Beckett, there was an extraordinary beauty that came from linking life and death to sexual encounters with an emphasis on writing style, not just sexual description. The Traveler: An Erotic Journey (part I) is a nod to noir erotica.
Victoria Hawke, a newcomer to the erotic scene with her Wet, Wild &Wacky, 3 sexy shorts that have a wonderful, tongue in cheek energy, liked that erotica offered a greater range for readers. With erotica, there are not tonal rules that need to be adhered to as in traditional genre writing.
All three met their original objectives but then went on to say that, as authors, the genre allowed them to grow in ways they never expected. Erotic readers, they believe, don’t just want to be sexual voyeurs. These readers also want to be invested in character and plot. Short or long, erotica must deliver on all traditional literary levels and then one more – the sexual narrative.
The Reader:Recently, I saw a reader on an Amazon Kindle thread apologize for being an avid romance reader. That doesn’t happen very often any more. The days of being embarrassed about enjoying a romantic reading experience are just about over. Not so for erotica.
There were some erotica threads on the boards but no one answered my query about why erotica was a genre of choice. Surprising? No. Erotica is, perhaps, the most personal of all reading choices. As with all genres, there is a range within erotica that will blur the lines. What one person calls erotica, another will deem a hot romance and yet someone else will swear it crosses the line to pornography. Then again, isn’t it the same for mainstream genres? What some call literature, others dismiss as commercial fiction.
Bottom line, E-books have brought both erotic readers and authors out of the shadows. I for one will be curious to see what the future brings for this genre. Will it bend toward true E-rotica or will it somehow be embraced and engulfed by E-romance? One thing is for certain, as ownership of e-readers grows erotica options will find ever broader distribution. It will be up readers to determine how successful this genre – like all genres – will be.
1 0 Read moree-maginings: Passion, Heat & Ecstasy
January 16, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as e-maginings, erotic romance, Lyndi Lamont, Online ClassNext month, I’ll be teaching an online class on writing erotic romance with Dee Ann Palmer w/a Carolina Valdez. Passion, Heat & Ecstasy: Writing the Erotic Romance is sponsored by the Yosemite chapter of RWA and runs from Feb. 1 to 26. Details are at http://www.yosemiteromancewriters.com/6.html; scroll down to find our class.
I’ve been compiling my section of the bibliography for the class, and decided to pull out a couple of books to recommend here. Both books are available at Amazon.com if you can’t find them in the bookstore.
Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance by Angela Knight, Loose Id, LLC, 2007. In my opinion, this is the best book to get if you want to write erotic romance. Knight understands the genre and has some useful tips, like her “romantic conflict†chart.
Knight distinguishes between sensual and erotic romance by looking at what drives the story. In her opionion, what drives sensual romances “isn’t sex, but not having sexâ€. In order to maintain sexual tension between hero and heroine, the writer devises external and internal reasons why going to bed with each other is a bad idea. The actual act of making love often signals a significant drop in sexual tension and the writer then has to find a way to make the conflict kick in again.
Erotic romance is driven by what she calls “romantic tension”, in other words the central conflict that makes the HEA ending seem problematic. This means strong conflict, esp. in a full-length novel.
Conflicting Desires: Notes on the Craft of Writing Erotic Stories by Han Li Thorn, Velluminous Press, 2007. A good how-to book geared to mainstream erotica but not romance. Chapter 4 on The Erotic Promise is particularly useful and there are several appendices, including an Erotic Lexicon.
In the above chapter 4, Thorn posits that writers of erotic literature make three promises to their readers: to arouse, to entertain and to offer something deeper, whether in depth of charaterization, complexity of plot, or eliciting an intellectual or emotional depth. In erotica, the first promise must be kept, but if you can deliver on the other two promises, you work will stand out.
He also states that “erotic conflict is at the heart of erotic storyâ€. Otherwise it’s a spiced-up romance or mystery or whatever, but it doesn’t qualify as “eroticaâ€. This is often easier said than done.
If you’ll forgive a bit of blatant self-promotion, I think my novella Alliance: Cosmic Scandal is a good example of erotic conflict. Here’s the blurb:
When Myrek, heir to the Ziganese throne, becomes ambassador to the planet Mhajav, he hopes to find a cure for his son’s hereditary illness. Then he meets a lovely young geneticist and passion overwhelms his sense of duty. All he can think of is making Khira his own.
Khira is a rarity, a Mhajavi virgin of 25. A child prodigy, she skipped several grades and was underage when most of her classmates went off to sex camp before attending university. Though hopelessly in love with Myrek, she knows their love is doomed. Under Ziganese law Myrek must wed a virgin, but Mhajavi law forbids virgins from marrying.
An erotic encounter in a brothel leads to a fateful decision that defies the laws of two worlds and causes a cosmic scandal.
In this story, the couple fall in love but are unable to marry because of the respective laws of their worlds. Prince Myrek is legally required to wed a virgin, something prohibited by Kira’s world Mhajav. Their solutions to the problem are creative as well as sensual.
As the title of our class says, erotic romance calls for Passion, Heat and Ecstasy.
Have a good weekend.
Lyndi Lamont
website: http://www.lyndilamont.com/
(Disclaimer: Both writing books recommended in this blog were purchased by me personally, not provided gratis for endorsement. LL)
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