Give Me Your Worst!

I should be careful saying that. Someone might read it and think it's an invitation to be rude. No, no.

I want your worst Christmas present...ever. OR the worst Christmas presentation of a present. LOL Not sure what I mean? See my example a few paragraphs down.

Tell me in the comments what you got and why it sucked and you could get your hands on a free copy of Candied Cane. A hot little short about a woman who makes a candy machine to sell to the porn industry--only, the man who wants to buy it, wants to give it a test drive first.


If you have that short already, which some of you do because of the Christmas Party madness, I'll give you an exclusive sneak peak of my newest work-in-progress or a free copy of one of my other books from Noble Romance.

MY WORST Christmas present ever is hard to pin down. For me, I consider bad XMas presents to be something someone didn't put much thought into. Especially if it's someone real close to me. Like my father...gives me money. We're not close so I'm okay with that. The man who lives with me...gives me a gift card that says happy birthday on it. Okay...he was in a rush. At least he got me something. Right?

Most of my "bad" presents are actually okay presents that just have icky memories attached. I call it the worst presentation of a present. LOL

One year I got a sweatshirt that was two sizes too big. The guy I was dating and I decided to exchange presents at our workplace's holiday party to keep things uncomplicated. I arrived late with my best friend (a guy) and was rewarded with my present thrown on the table in front of me, damn-near hitting me in the face. Right after he "gave" the present to me, he pulled another girl onto his lap and started licking her ear while staring at me. A low blow for sure, and the whole situation was made worse by the fact that the girl he chose to make a spectacle with was my ex-boyfriend's little sister. Yikes!

There's one of my worst presentations of a present.

Maybe I'll delve a little deeper if ya'll give me some good stuff of your own!

Best,
Allure

Long Time No See

Wow! Have I really failed to post in so long?

Yeah...I'm not all that great with keeping up with this blog. Or any blog really. I'm not sure why, when I could make the time to do it...if I just remembered to. Or set a schedule.

Lately, though, I took a vacation from writing erotic to pursue another genre for a bit. I haven't given up on either. NEVER. I'm just learning to incorporate both into my schedule. I'm going to have to write for both. While, for obvious reason, I have to keep both genres separate with pen names and different blogs, I don't have to choose one over the other. I just have to do double the work. LOL I'm okay with that.

My erotic fans have given me a ton of support, and since I haven't sold in the other genre yet, I found myself missing the encouragement. In YA, I've received a lot of rejections. The topic I chose to write about for my first submission isn't entirely popular in the United States yet. My agent is still submitting, but I already have a back-up manuscript just in case this one is a no-go. While I work on editing my second YA book...I decided to write a free read for anyone who showed up to the Noble Christmas Party on Dec. the 18th, and I plan to deliver the pdf in the next day or so barring any complications.

While I was writing Candied Cane (the freebie) I realized how much I missed writing in the erotic genre. It's a different breed of book, and writing both makes me enjoy what I do even more.

So my New Year's goals are to finish the two novellas I started earlier in 2010, and bring in a new short or two as well. I'll keep you all in-the-know on my progress.

I'd love to hear if you have any resolutions of your own for 2011!

It's a little early, I know, but Happy New Year everyone.

Best,
Allure

New Release Day!

Hey all!

Handling Gwen is now on sale at http://www.nobleromance.com

Cliches get such a bad rep. But sometimes, that bad can be oh-so-good.

In Handling Gwen, a bit of blackmail takes "schoolgirl" a long way into making her teacher fantasy a reality, but will Gwen find herself in control or will Mr. Pierce find a way to turn the situation to his advantage?

For 1.99 you can come along for the hot ride.

Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your favorite cliches, or one you'd love to see written again.

All my best to you all,
Allure Van Sanz

Got Character?

On my agent's loop the other day, I asked about my newest WIP and whether the background I had for my character was a bit *too* much for Young Adult. Mainly I asked because the character chose me. Once I started plotting, her name and her background came through strong and I found myself staring at potential controversy. Hence the reason why I turned to authors I trust to ask about what would be coonsidered too much. I sparked interest, brought worry, and received a little bit of backlash.

Some worried about their young girls reading about a character who has such emotional problems that she turns to extreme measures. (Sorry I'm being vague here, but I'm protecting the concept.)

Others were very encouraging and others still came up with alternative backgrounds close to my original in case the book gets shot down because of the X factor.

Even asking the question was an eye-opening experience and for a couple of days...I let the story go. I didn't want to upset anyone or seem like I was purposefully going for shock marketing.

Only...the character wouldn't let me go.

I thought of putting this taboo X Factor into a book geared towards older audiences...maybe that new genre "New Adult" for college-aged people would work.

"But I'm not in college," said the voice in my head.

LOL I swear I think writer's are borderline schizo with all the character activity in our brain.

I once blogged about Grey, the side-kick to Vic in my novel Murder Creek, and how he corrected me when I failed to crack a joke about something Vic said to him in a scene. I was showering when I heard "You think I'd let that sh*t slide?" or something along those lines and sure enough...when I went back to edit I channeled Grey and had a humorous back and forth to put into the book.

Now, my MC Niabi is calling me a coward for considering changing her age to something more "acceptable".

I'm conflicted. The story I was originally writing (with my occasional writing partner Vas) seems to be taking a different twist. I wonder if I can keep with the original SL (Story Line) with a background XFactor this big. If I can shift it down in importance to the story but keep the impact of it hard and relevant.

It's a lot of pressure, and I pretty much just have to plow through it and see how it comes out...and I know Niabi will let me know if I start writing something she doesn't feel is legit.

So what do you all think? Does the character choose you? Have you ever written a character who you felt deep but worried about transferring to the page?

Best,
Me