Time for a love scene!

You’d think that would be a romance author’s favorite part of the book, wouldn’t you?  Well, you’d be fifty shades of wrong. :tongue

I don’t know how other romance authors feel about them, but for me, love scenes are complicated, & they tend to take about twice as long to write as any other part of the book. :dislike

I think because—most times, especially the first time—it’s such a big step for the hero & heroine. There’s so much involved, both physically & emotionally.

I also tend to get very self-conscious about them.  Not the sex part.  I mean, please…this is Mistress Heidi you’re talking to. :flutter No, the self-conscious thing comes from being worried about repeating too many of the same words too often & wanting to be sure that everything happens in the proper order.  There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a hot & sweaty love scene only to realize you forgot to have your hero take off his pants.  (Hey, it happens. :moonyou )

Another thing about loves scenes is—[cough cough] excuse the choice of phrase, but… —how many balls there are to juggle.

The word repetition thing…  Mouth, kiss, lips, arms, moan, groan, etc.  There are so many that tend to get used so often; but I don’t want it to be too often.

Point-of-view…  Whose should the scene be in—the heroine’s or the hero’s?  Or should it maybe be in both?  And if so, when do you make that switch & for how long? :luvsmenot

Conflict, motivation, & introspection…  Whatever’s going on in the story, whatever the characters’ thoughts & emotions, they all have to be kept in mind, woven in, &/or addressed while still keeping things hot & steamy. :beatingheart

The five senses…  Important to remember all the way through the book, but when it comes to love scenes, it’s easy to get tunnel vision & forget about them.  Or maybe more accurately, focus on just the more heightened-during-sex ones & forget about the others.

You get the picture, right?  Love scenes are a lot of work.  Which is why they tend to go slowly for me.  I usually end up loving them & thinking, “Well, okay, that wasn’t so hard.”  But while I’m writing, it often feels like I’m slogging through quicksand. :starwars

So what do you think—will I get through this first love scene between Reid & Juliet unscathed?  Or will they still be doing the mattress mambo when the next “Manuscript Monday” rolls around? :splat:

Happy Sunday!  How’s everybody doing this week?

I AM HAPPY that the work I’ve been having done in the basement seems to be done.  Or at least the bulk of it is.  The workers really weren’t much of a bother, but it will be nice to go back to relatively quiet work days.

I AM HAPPY that Miss Precious (a.k.a. Elder Kitty) once again seems to be doing well.  We—or maybe just I :hide —had a couple of tense days this week when she just didn’t seem to be acting right.  I was watching her like a hawk, wondering if I needed to call the vet or maybe just start bracing myself for a downhill slide.  But she perked up again & is right back to normal.  Whew.

I AM HAPPY that the writing on PROJECT: RUNAWAY BRIDE is still going well.  I haven’t gotten the progress meter in the sidebar updated yet…maybe because I haven’t yet typed up any of my handwritten pages :waaa …but the writing is still going well, & that’s what counts. :tongue

And I AM HAPPY that I’ve finally gotten all my crap together to start working on my taxes.  Yeah, you heard me—start working on them.  I’m so far behind this year!  And, frankly, it annoys me that I have to take time away from BRIDE to deal with them at all when I’m finally on a roll with Juliet’s story. :starwars

So how about you?  What’s going on that you’d like to brag on or celebrate?  We’re all ears! :peekaboo

Now to announced the winner of our Free Book Friday title, Scandalizing the CEO by Katherine Garbera…

:cheers Emily S.!!!  :cheers

Congratulations, Emily! :topofthemornin Please contact me with your full name & mailing information, & I’ll get your book out to you as soon as I can!

Family Photo Fail. :dislike