At the end of this month, 3 years ago...

...I decided to write a book. The prior month I'd quit my 'high-powered' job to spend more time with my kids and 'relax'. I was going to take photography classes, I was going to learn how to sew, I was going to become more involved at the school, perhaps take up tennis and maybe *gasp* I might do some cooking.Yeah, that one probably wasn't going to happen. 6 weeks later I was stir crazy LOL. I had this romanticized idea of what it might be like to stay home, I dreamt about all the things I thought I was missing, and I fantasized about all the wonderful things I could do if I just had some time to myself. It might have taken a lot longer than 6 weeks for others, but it's hard to go from having 1,000,000 things to do to only having say... 50,000. I have 4 kids. It's not like I don't have enough to occupy my time, but I just needed something else, something cerebral. I'd always read, even snatches of 10 minutes here and there and it had been mostly romance.

I convinced myself I could write one of those. Sure, why not? I must have read hundreds of books. How hard could it be? It took me about 3 months to write Love's Fugitive. Now you're probably wondering...huh, I've never heard of that book. Well, there's a very good reason for that :). It. Will. Never. See. The. Light. Of. Day. At least in it's current form. You see, it's one of those I call 'it served it's purpose' manuscripts. Yeah, it served it purpose in proving to me I could actually write a full length book, because I did it. It's surprising the number of people that begin on this path and never actually finish a book. It was also a HUGE learning experience. Romance isn't easy to write, especially not straight contemporary. There aren't exaggerated plot devices you can use to amp up the tension, the interest, there's not much room for a bunch of secondary characters to add flavor. It just the hero and heroine and you better make them relatable, you better make him sexy and you better get the conflict right or the story is going to be a big yawn. It also helped me find my 'voice' because before you actually go through the torture effort of writing a book, especially that first one, your own voice is really hard to quantify. And voice is everything for an author, if you ask me.

Of course, at the time, when I finished the book, I thought it was the best thing ever. And it was for me at that point. I thought surely a publisher would snap it right up LOL. Um, no, that's not exactly how this works. The following year was a huge learning curve, particularly when it came to understanding how the publishing industry works and the business of publishing and exactly how freaking long it can sometimes take to get a response, any response.

It's weird to look back because I have learned so much. I've come a long way since that first manuscript. I've accomplished a lot of milestones, achieved a lot of goals. Of course, I've only just began on this journey and I'm nowhere near done. Not by a long shot!!

RomantiCon 2011! One Week & Counting..

It's hard to believe it's only a week until RomantiCon. I went to this conference last year for the first time and it ROCKED. I had such a great time, met so many fantastic authors and got the opportunity to do my very first book signing. It was so very cool. This time next week I'll be on a plane on the way to Ohio. Hopefully, I'll be kicking back, relaxing and reading a good book, anticipating the great time I'm going to have. Hopefully, I WON'T be completely frazzled about having left everything to the last minute and have had to rush around like a crazy woman to get everything ready just making my flight. Whew.

It's weird. I'm such an organized person. Usually. But when it comes to these conferences, even though I know about them months in advance, it still comes down to that final week to get ready. The good news is...I've got a lot of stuff done. The bad news is there are still things not done LOL. And of course, I'm trying to get a book finished. At least the entire thing drafted. Well, it's drafted, but it's my version of 'draft', which probably translates to anyone else's hot mess. Sometimes I wonder how these books end up being the finished product they become.

Oh, and I know you're going to be jealous, but look who's going to be there? Just some cavemen. And if you' re in the Akron area on October 2nd? Come to the book signing! Cavemen will be there and I hear they're performing. Should be a really great time. And I'd LOVE to see you!! The details are below:

Sunday October 2nd - Noon - 4:00 pm
Ramada Plaza - Akron, OH
20 West Mill Street

Akron, OH 44308 US

Oh, and the caveman in the back row on the right? He's on the cover of my book, PERFECTLY UNEXPECTED. My mission? Get a photo with him. Wish me luck!

I'm Giving Away A Book!!

I'm giving away a copy of Perfectly Unexpected my print book over on Goodreads!! If the link below doesn't work, simply go here. I'll even sign it! This contains three novellas - Picture This, Pay Up and Play Me. Once I receive my additional copies I'll give some more away. Stay tuned :)!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Perfectly Unexpected

by Kaily Hart

Giveaway ends September 27, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I've Got...Trading Cards!!

I'm headed to the Ellora's Cave RomantiCon convention and book signing at the end of this month. I'm really excited. Last year it was so much fun and I met so many great people. I've been thinking of swag and promo for awhile and just couldn't ignore Romance Trading Cards. I have other stuff too, although these were really fun to have made :). I have a card for each of Picture This, Pay Up and Play Me. What's on them you ask? Well, the heroes of course. What else? It is all about 'him' anyway, right? So I have a card for Sam, Rio and Gabe. Sigh... In regards to what to put on them I decided to include a brief description, a short sentence or two on what their 'problem is' and a line of dialogue from them from the book. THAT was fun to go back and find a quote. I tried to make it PG, but for Gabe I just couldn't resist. His quote is decidedly R-rated. But that's fine. That's Gabe. He wouldn't have it any other way.

What do you think? After RomantiCon I thought I'd post a call for people who might want cards, but can't get to events like the book signing in Ohio so that I could send some out. I'd sign them, of course. You know, if you're interested :). Stay tuned!

Daisy Harris - Why I Write

I have the fabulously witty and hugely talented, Daisy Harris here with me today. When Daisy and I talked about her blogging she asked what I thought she should talk about, what my readers might be interested in. It wasn't difficult because I asked the question I always REALLY want to ask other writers; what drives you to write what you do? The answers are usually just so diverse and straight up fascinating. So, I think I'll just pull up a chair and hand it over to Daisy. Daisy?

*********************

Hi Kaily! Thanks for having me on the blog today. You posed an interesting question in your email of why I write what I write. It got me thinking…

Well, first off—I write mainly because I’m incapable of doing anything else. I have no organizational skills to speak of and I despise responsibility.  My main skills are learning, and making sh*t up. And when I write, I get to do both!

I also like to write about science. Most of my stories fall under the category of “paranormal,” but they generally walk the line between sci-fi and paranormal. My favorite thing about science is its lack of emotion. There’s this cool detachment in research—even when the topic being studied is incredibly emotional, and even when the study itself is morally questionable. I adore the sheen of cool that a scientific outlook provides.

That cold detachment provides a jumping off point for the emotions of the story. I have a hard time writing feelings in a vacuum. Emo werewolves and drama-laden heroines freak me out. I need distance and action and plot devices.  I need a smooth, hard wall of “fact” as a launching point for the feelings under the surface.

For example, in my new release STUDENSTEIN, my hero Royce is a Love-Bot controlled remotely by his builders. At the start of the book, he’s engaging in a BDSM scene with a “client,” but his actions are mechanical. He’s literally following a script in his mind, and checking my heroine Shani out at the same time. I love the concept that something as intimate as sex can be broken down into a clinical array of motions and actions.

When Shani takes Royce away from his network, he’s in many ways lost. Without directions scrolling through his mind, he isn’t sure how to think or feel. It’s no co-incidence that Royce and Shani spend time in the woods together. I love to get my cut-and-dried love-bots out into nature. In this case—a campground. The buzzing lights of the bathrooms contrast with the rustling of trees, the RV they’re driving is a lone piece of machinery fighting to function with only a water and electrical hook-up. It’s a science-meets-eden wonderland!

My machines always end up in the woods, or at sea, or in the forest. For me, there’s nothing hotter than breaking down the clinical and letting the emotions sing through.

Wanna read more? Check out Studenstein, on sale TODAY at Ellora’s Cave!

Blurb

A man built for sex… A woman who wants more…

Freedom fighter Shani Brown is determined to drag the ungrateful Royce back to her team in Seattle. Despite his denial of mistreatment, she wants to give him a chance at a better life. Due to her horrific past as an unlicensed love-bot, Shani never plans to have sex again. But Royce’s makers punish him remotely with crippling pain. His only escape is to orgasm. Never one to turn her back on a job, Shani soon finds herself servicing him—and soon after, caring for him.

Love-bot Royce Harden wasn’t looking to be rescued, especially not from the San Francisco BDSM club where he was having a perfectly good time. But rescued he was—by a hellcat bent on delivering him to her people. As Royce starts to trust Shani, he begins to dream of freedom. But freedom comes with a price. Royce must face his vanity, his makers, and even the loss of his sexual upgrades if he’s going to be the man Shani deserves.

About Daisy

Birkenstock-wearing glamour girl and mother of two by immaculate conception, Daisy Harris still isn’t sure if she writes erotica. Her paranormal romances start out innocently enough. However, her characters behave like complete sluts. Much to Miss Harris’s dismay, the sex tends to get completely out of hand.

If you like science-y subplots, fantastical creatures, and red-hot chemistry, you’ll love Daisy Harris. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and at www.thedaisyharris.com.

*********************

Daisy, it was so awesome to have you here today and I just love the premise of your story. Good luck with it!

WIP it Wednesday

Okay, it's Thursday already, so sue me LOL. I'm been engrossed in my WIP this week trying to finalize the high level plot for my new book. It's a more complicated story, with more 'danger' elements and I've enjoyed being in my hero's head for most of the week. Seth has been a hard nut to crack, but I think I did it and I thought I'd share just a taste of him. Enjoy!

     Seth let out a rough breath. He didn’t have the temperament for this type of mission. He wasn’t the hand holding type, didn’t have a diplomatic bone in his body, and didn’t give a shit about anyone’s ‘feelings’. And that was on a good day.

Wanna talk condoms?

I do and am over with Tina Donahue today. This is a key thing for me when writing romance and I do agonize over doing it right. I want to ensure the right balance of realism while maintaining the fantasy and keeping the reader grounded in the story. It's one of my 'things'. I'd love to hear your comments on it! Stop by here!

Mens Underwear

I think about weird things sometimes. I do. Perhaps that's a characteristic of being a writer. Perhaps it's even a pre-requisite. Just like I'm not sure where some of my ideas come from, I also don't know where these thoughts originate. Usually I keep them to myself. It's probably better that way--trust me--but today I've been thinking on something that I'm interested in hearing other's thoughts on. You see, I was at a birthday party over the weekend where a woman was talking about her husband and the fact that he just changed from wearing boxers to briefs. Firstly, I didn't think guys just woke up one morning and did that but the mind boggled because it really got me thinking about underwear--men's underwear. Of course, I think about men's underwear a lot, all in the name of research, you know :). Today the hero and heroine in my current WIP are about to 'do it' for the first time and I have to decide how the hero 'packages' himself. It's got a lot to do with who he is and his background, but I wonder how readers perceive these things.

So...as a reader do YOU have a preference around men's underwear in books? Boxers, briefs, colors? Nothing at all? Anything that turns you off when you're reading about men's underwear?

And while you're pondering that, I thought I'd show you the inspiration picture I've been using for my current WIP. Meet Seth. He's tough and intense. He hasn't known a lot of kindness or softness in his life and he's been trying to ignore who he really is for most of it. Not very successfully, I might add. I've enjoyed writing him so far! Oh, and what do you know? He goes for black briefs!