Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Keeping it Clean - Missy Jane

I have a special guest with me today, fellow Ellora's Cave author, Missy Jane! Missy and I share an editor, so she's extra special :). Missy has a tag line which I just love - Make reading a guilty pleasure... I just adore that because for me, reading has always been a special treat I reward myself with, something to savor, something to look forward to. Missy has a great post today, one that I can totally and completely relate to so I'm going to hand it on over to Missy...

Keeping it Clean
I became an erotic romance author by accident. Four years ago, all of the writing I did was just for me. I’d get ideas in my head and have no choice but to write them out of my brain. Writing kept me sane and happy. Once I made the decision to query a publisher I did my homework and decided to start with Samhain, but knew from their backlist that I needed to add romance to my book. Okay, not just romance but S-E-X. I was wary and giggled through the entire first scene as I wrote it. I’m sure I was probably blushing too. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Once I got through the first one it became a lot easier and now I have to work not to put sex in my books. Much to the annoyance of my daughters.

My kids want to read my writing but they can’t…at least not for a few years. They’ve been asking me to please write something they can read. I’ve tried, really I have, but it’s just not working. Every time I start a nice, clean manuscript the characters decide to do things their way and either kill someone violently, start cussing up a storm or have sex. Maybe even all three, but not usually at the same time. Perhaps I need to write the ending first where everyone lives happily ever after. I should probably start with a married couple, or make sure all of my characters are under the age of ten. The book will probably only be about twelve pages long but there won’t be room for sex or violence.

If you were writing a book for your children to read what would you put in it or keep out? Leave a comment and you could win a prize pack. Plus all commenters are entered to win the Birthday Blog Tour grand prize! Please include your email address. For all the details check out my website. Good luck!

Missy, thanks so much for stopping by!! My own kids are still small but I've thought about writing YA for them when they get older. It would probably be something urban fantasyish, perhaps with a little romance thrown in. My son has already warned me that there can't be any kissing!

7 comments:

  1. Lol, kissing scenes are the least of my problems. Thanks again for allowing me to invade your blog today, Kaily!!!

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  2. I tend to genre hop, so I have contemporary, erotic, AND YA stories published. I keep the romance to a minimum for YA, and put in lots of action and snark.

    Great Blog!

    chris_arie(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  3. I think books for kids would deal with actions than emotions... and to some extent - telling than showing :) At least that's how I recall reading when I was a kid ;) Romance was always in the by-lines, but not mandatory.

    And well, I'm the only one in the family who not only reads, but forgets the world around me when curled up with a book! ;) I love your tag!!

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    judimello AT gmail DOT com

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  4. I guess it would depend on the kids. My oldest is really into graphic novels and comics, so I would go in that direction for him and give him lots of action and some gore. He's a boy and loves that stuff. My middle son copies everything my oldest does but I would throw in some superheros and he would be sold. My daughter, all I need is some pretty pictures of Tinkerbell, princesses, some kittens, maybe a mermaid and a unicorn. Words don't matter, she likes to make up her own stories :) Great giveaway

    june111(at)att(dot)net

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  5. Lol, great answers! I definitely need to do my homework before attempting YA. Thank you SO much for reading my post and leaving a comment. And now for today's winner...
    And the winner is Ju!! Congratulations!!!! I'll be emailing you shortly to get your mailing address.

    Don't forget there will be many more opportunities to win! The next one is Sunday. Details on my site: www.msmissyjane.com/contests

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  6. Wowza! I won :) Thanks so much Missy!!!! And Kaily too :)

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  7. Just on case!
    Mara
    marajbrandon@earthlink.net

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