Adriana Kraft

When it's time to heat things up...

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My Writing Process ~ Blog Tour

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Welcome to the My Writing Process Blog Tour – a Monday feature where authors talk about their process and tag three more authors to share next Monday. Fellow Red Hot Authors Café author Lynda Bailey tagged me last week – you’ll want to be sure to check her post at this LINK. Thanks, Lynda! At the end of today’s post, I’ll tag three authors who’ll be joining the tour next Monday.

Q. What am I working on?

Sometimes I think my husband and I have too many irons in the fire. It seems we always have two or three new WIPs in various stages, plus some finished novels to edit and submit or publish, not to mention marketing everything that’s already out there.

Right now? Three unfinished manuscripts: First, an erotic romantic suspense (is there such a genre? We can think of no other descriptor for this book) entitled Next Man In – ménage, intrigue, a murderous villain on a personal vendetta against our hero, and a spunky pair of rodeo barrel riders for heroines. We love these characters – we just need to fill in some more details on the suspense plot.

Ripening PassionSecond: Book Four in our Passion series at Whiskey Creek, set in our (fictitious) New York based Institute that studies sexuality and creates educational sex videos. We’re having fun exploring what happens to romance with characters who have sex on camera for a living. Readers seem to like it, too.

Third: A time-travel series under contract with Extasy Books. The opener, set in Wales during the Roman occupation of the British Isles, is already finished, but we’re finding ever new complexities with these characters and their descendents as we bring them forward to the present day.

What that means for our process is that at any given time, a couple things have to sit on a back burner while we play with whatever’s hot. This week, it’s our rodeo riders.

Q. How does my work differ from others of its genre? The easy answer: most of our erotic romance features ménage – but very few authors are writing ménage for one man and two women. We also feature main characters across the age spectrum, including some in their fifties and even sixties. We’re out to prove Miley Cyrus wrong – great sex hardly stops at forty!

Q. Why do I write what I do? We started writing erotic romance because we hoped it would sell, but there’s a bigger reason. We’re baby boomers. It didn’t take us long to figure out that a lot of people our age have given up on sex. Clearly that hasn’t happened for us :), but we’re passionate about writing scenes that partners might like to read together to add a little heat or fantasy to their sex lives. So we write what we love to read (well, and fantasize, and watch, when we have time). Both of us especially love the possibilities that open up when we feature two women together. Readers might expect that an f/f/m ménage means two women focused on a man (and we know lots of men fantasize about this). But in our stories, we never put two women in the same bed without featuring their attraction for each other. Our stories are never about pleasure and fulfillment for just one person – we always strive for balance across our characters, no matter how many of them we throw in the bed at the same time.

Q. How does your writing process work? We’re a writing team. When a new story idea strikes us (and that can happen anywhere, anytime) we start noodling with it and taking copious notes, including on a napkin, if that’s all we have. A broad plot arc comes first, but then we spend long hours meeting our characters: who are they, where have they come from, what drives them, what tragedies and pain do they struggle with, what are they afraid of and why – background that might never show up on the page, but the stuff of their “real” lives. Then we start writing on page one. Every few pages we read what’s been written out loud and talk through what’s coming next. Once we write “the end,” it’s on to the seemingly endless edits. We take turns going completely through it until we think it shines.

Q. Who will we meet next week?

I co-founded the author group Midnight Seductions in 2007, and these authors have become my friends and support on the journey. I’m thrilled to showcase three of them in the Writing Process Blog Tour – watch for their posts on March 10:

EM Lynley

Beth Wylde

Qwillia Rain

Stay Sexy ~ What do you Reach For?

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Not what you’re thinking, probably – today I’m talking about the healthy eating part of staying sexy, with some tips on satisfying substitutes you can reach for when you bump up against a craving for something you know isn’t good for you.

Caveat: I am not a dietician. I’m sharing what works for hubs and myself, things we’ve learned by trial and error and a little advice from our friends.

We all know one of the biggest threats to healthy eating is the list of favorite foods we should hardly ever eat – the things we need to cut way back on if we want to keep our bodies fit and energized and – of course – sexy. Do you struggle with cravings for some of those things? We do – so here are some alternatives we’ve come up with:

I love chips and dips – especially taco chips. But I want to avoid the empty calories of simple carbs whenever possible. I’ve just discovered Trader Joe’s Quinoa and Black Bean infused Tortilla Chips. Compared to most ordinary corn taco chips, there’s less fat, double the fiber, and fabulous southwest flavor. Very hearty and satisfying, goes with my favorite hummus perfectly.

Speaking of hummus: Did you know it makes a tasty sandwich spread? Use it in place of mayonnaise, to add even more healthy legumes to your diet. Far less fat, more fiber and protein, too.

Another great chips substitution – popcorn! Nutritionally, it’s lower fat, higher fiber (twice as much per serving), and fewer calories than potato chips. At our house we air-pop it, then add a tiny taste of butter: 1 teaspoon for the entire batch, or 1.8 grams of fat per serving, and just a touch of salt. Hot out of the microwave, it’s very satisfying.

Ice cream? Not even on my radar, since I can’t eat dairy products – but my husband, as a cardiac patient, has become very fond of Greek yogurt, from the dairy case or frozen. Higher in protein, lower in fat, and (if you pay attention to the nutrition label and select carefully) lower in overall sugar. His favorite? Chobani Dark Cherry Greek Yogurt: Half the sugar of the equivalent amount of ice cream, zero fat, and three times as much protein.

Here’s a LINK to more “reach for this” tips I shared last March. What is your worst unhealthy food craving, and what healthy substitutions have you come up with? We’d love to hear from you!

Have fun, and Stay Sexy!

Stay Sexy ~ Do Something Different

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Want to stay vibrant, healthy, exciting and sexy across the life cycle?

Here’s what it takes:

Think differently.

Do something different.

Keep on doing it.

Not new, not earth shaking, not something I haven’t said in my own way, but I ran across it yesterday in a place I wouldn’t have looked for it.

I follow (and hardly ever miss reading) Bob Mayer’s blog – initially because I heard him speak with Jennifer Crusie and I read the books they wrote together, then because he was a pioneer in indie publishing, and because I started reading and love his solo fiction. Here’s a shout-out to Duty, Honor, Country and The Jefferson Allegiance. Great reads.

He’s a West Point graduate with a Special Forces career, and he draws on that experience to write his fiction and run his life. Truly. He’s been a traditionally published best-selling author, but he saw the wave of change coming and established an indie publishing house for his back list, his new releases, and a few additional brave authors. Lots of traditional authors got swamped by the wave – he’s still riding it, and thriving.

So when he says something, I pay attention.

The opening line to his blog yesterday was “If I’m not where I want to be, then I must change.” Exactly. How do we do that? We all have the same basic material to work with – think differently, do something different, keep on doing it. Not new. What was new (to me) was the meta-analysis: in order to make a change, it helps if we know which of these three steps is most difficult for us. Then we can focus our energy on figuring out why that step is our barrier, and doing something about that.

For me, #3 is the bugaboo: sustaining the change. My something different is my twelve minute morning workout. That means I have to do the same “different” thing every morning, and some mornings I just don’t feel like it.

I’ve learned I need a huge laundry list of reasons that can get me up off the couch and moving, a combination of sticks and carrots. Some mornings, frankly, it’s vanity. I really like looking trim and fit. Sometimes it’s my osteopenia – the fear of ending up someday in a nursing home with a broken hip. Often it’s the specter of Alzheimer’s – my gene pool is just loaded with good reasons to sustain the change. Right now I’m rehabbing  an injured knee, and if nothing else gets me going, the knowledge that I’ll have less knee pain later in the day works just fine. Sometimes, even, it’s knowing that I’ll be writing this Stay Sexy blog post every week: accountability. And on a really good morning, it’s just knowing how very good I feel all day when I’ve started my day with the core routine.

I’ll close with his closing words. I highly recommend reading his entire post.

“Sustained action equals change.  Sustained action is training.  Sustained action brings about new, healthy and productive habits.”

Have fun, and Stay Sexy.

Stay Sexy ~ What’s YOUR word?

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This morning I’ve been re-reading blogs on a list I keep for inspiration for this weekly column on staying vibrant, healthy, exciting and sexy across the life style. I needed that, because with the holidays and a horrific case of bronchitis hubs came down with Christmas day, my usually faithful routine flew out the window. I wasn’t finding the motivation inside myself to conquer it, so I turned to my virtual support network.

Here’s the article I re-read, by Molly Alexander Darden:

How One Word Drove Me to Cross the Bridge From Old Age to Youthful Vitality

And here’s my favorite quote:

“I committed to do whatever it took to feel vital again.”

What she stumbled upon was the one activity that could entice her to put in the necessary hard work – the sport she used to do that gave her the feeling she remembered and wanted back. For her, it was water skiing.

Did I mention she’s at least seventy? It’s clear she has resources – once she identified what activity would inspire her to shed those pounds and get in shape, she was able to hire a specialized coach to see her through the process. But that’s not what I took from her blog, and it’s not what you need, either.

What she focused on was the remembered feeling of excitement, achievement, and vitality. Those feelings are stored in our very bones and muscles, and those memory traces can propel us towards our goal.

So here’s another quote – and my New Years wish for you, as you enter 2014:

“I love being able to tell people what I’m doing now, instead of what I used to do.”

And yes, I did my workout between reading the article and writing this column. Go, me!

Have fun, and Stay Sexy!

Stay Sexy ~ Make Time for Wonder

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Imagine this: After years of intense scientific training, you are part of a carefully selected team sent on earth’s first mission to the moon, to map it, photograph it, and observe as much about it as you can. On your fourth orbit, as you are photographing and describing a large crater, your orbiter begins a scheduled roll, and suddenly this is the view outside your window:

Source: Wikimedia

Forty Five years ago on Christmas Eve day, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders accidentally became the first humans to witness earthrise as their lunar orbiter slowly turned towards the moon’s horizon. Abandoning the protocol of “scheduled” photographs, they scrambled to find color film in time to record the sight that so moved them, and the rest is history.

This year, NASA has given us the gift of re-experiencing this moment in a stunning seven minute video available at this LINK.

How to Stay Sexy? Take time out from the pressure and hectic schedule of the holiday season, and let yourself taste this moment of wonder. You’ll be glad you did.

I’ll leave you with a favorite Einstein quotation:

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.”

Have fun, and Stay Sexy!

Stay Sexy ~ Have More Sex!

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Okay, you know this column is all about staying healthy, vibrant, exciting and sexy across the life cycle.

Did you know that having sex more often might make you look younger?

Just a caveat – staying sexy isn’t so much about looking younger as it is about feeling younger, staying active, taking care of our bodies and enjoying what our bodies can do, whatever they look like.

But here’s a tidbit of research that was featured this past week in Yahoo Shine, in an article called “10 Surprising Ways to Look Younger.”

Alongside traditional (and not so surprising)  research-based advice to lower your blood pressure, get more sleep, and avoid smoking, item #5 reads as follows:

“5. Have More Sex
In one study, a panel of judges perceived people who had regular sex (four times a week, on average) to look 7 to 12 years younger than their actual age, according to Superyoung: The Proven Way to Stay Young Forever. Researchers say that sex spurs the release of human growth hormone, which may help timeproof your skin by promoting elasticity.”

And the great thing about this? You don’t have to have a partner to accomplish it – solo sex counts just as much as sex with someone. Every orgasm improves blood flow, balances hormones, and boosts collagen, all contributing to that healthy (satisfied?) glow we’d love to shine with.

Looks like a win-win to us!

What do you think? Leave us a comment – better yet, subscribe to our monthly newsletter (upper l.h. sidebar) and leave a comment to be entered for this month’s prize, a $10 gift certificate to Amazon or ARE.

 

Have fun, and Stay Sexy!