May We Suggest...

With a heavy heart, I'm writing to announce that I've finally turned off the "Suggestions" menu in my TiVo.

For some reason TiVo thinks I'm interested in every syndicated episode of Becker ever made. He also thinks I like The Fabulous Life Of..., George Lopez and Magnum P.I. Now, while I could probably accept any of those shows on a really slow Sunday (and only when Flavor of Love or a derivative is not in rotation) TiVo and I had our last spat over its insistence on recording Simon & Simon.

Now that Suggestions and I are on hiatus, though, I have to wonder about something. What part of my viewing habits is so unsavory that it would come up with that sampling especially for me?

Romance Clinic, or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love My Heroines

I rarely submit stories for anthologies or specific themes because my writing tends to go off on its own course. The moment I know something "specialized" is required, I can bet the farm the story will go far afield of its original intent. I'm experiencing this now -- writing a story on command, with a specific word count, genre and audience focus.

Outlines and synopses be damned...I can't get this thing done. I don't feel particularly blocked. In fact, I have a whole lot to say. It's just that the deeper I dig, the more I realize I'm not finding the romance in this story.

And there lies the problem: I'm not a romance writer.

It's not a romance if...
- the story can stand alone without romantic elements

That's what I've been told. That's what I've read.

Kind, well-meaning authors have tried to tell me this in the past. All that did was put my nose out of joint. And since my mom always says, "You don't believe shit stinks until you smell it," I had to do a lot of reading and writing to finally come to the same conclusion all on my own.

After a writer-friend said, "Romance seems to be secondary in your stories. In fact, your heroine always seems to do everything in her power to not be with the hero, it's crazy!" I finally had one of those Oprah's light bulb moments.

My heroines are commitment-phobic. They are often "coerced" into romance. If I wrote historicals, I'm sure I'd probably be fond of those un-PC forced seductions. Egads!

"Sassy is fine," I'm often told. "But your heroine is going into "unlikable" territory, and the reader won't be able to relate. Why must she be so ornery?"

Since I spent most of my year partying at Must.Find.A.Publisher-alooza 2007, similar questions have been asked of me as I shopped my wares. After much gnashing of teeth on my end, I sat down and reevaluated my goals.

I believe publishing is a cooperative business between authors, publishers and readers. Therefore, I set out to cooperate.

For a brief time, I went into what I like to call Romance Clinic. I picked the brains of the sexier writers I know and got critiques -- good and bad. I wrote a lot, edited a lot and revised a lot. I wrote some good stories during this period. I wrote stories that need to be rehabbed. I wrote stories that will never see the light of day. Most importantly, I wrote and wrote and wrote some more.

Out of all that writing came another light bulb moment: I gotta be me.

I'd be doing a disservice to myself and readers if I suddenly morphed into someone else. And whether publishers realize it or not, me sending them watered down versions of my original vision would be a disservice to them.

So all I can do now is work on the stuff every romance/erotica writer should care about. For me, these include tighter writing, better grammar/punctuation, better plots and hotter love scenes.

Horsin' Around

A confession:

In November 2006, I wrote my first fantasy story. The story published under Shay Leonard, one of my pseudonyms and contained enough subversive elements and not enough sex to get it published elsewhere. Sin, the first installment in my Horsemen of Apocalypse Island series sold fairly well for a story with little promotion and more mythology than epic passion.

The story sat in my folder until the evening I admitted to my friend Taige Crenshaw that I was a dabbler in the genre. I'm truly a fan of her work, so when she asked me to send a copy of the manuscript, I couldn't get it into her Yahoo IM fast enough. She quickly read the story and gave me her honest opinion, "I loved it. But it could be sexier. It could be so much more bad ass. It could be epic. I think this story could be explored farther."

I threw down the gauntlet, "It's like that, huh? You want to explore my story? Go on, then. Explore."

Two days later she sent me her exploration of Sin. She added examples of elements that would strengthen the story. She called me and admitted that she'd fallen hard for Sin. Her ideas added beauty and dimension to a story I already loved. Our discussions about the characters and mythology were so enthusiastic that we finally discussed a collaboration -- something I'd never before considered. Then we discussed publishing the fruits of our combined labors.

So we shopped our beloved horsies. We looked for a suitable home to showcase their virilty, mythology and their way with the ladies. We were happy to find a home with total e bound.

Taige and I invite you into the mythology of the Horsemen of Apocalypse Island.

To visit the Horsemen, visit:

http://www.layneblacque.com/books/horsemen/sin.htm

http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/books/horsemen/index.html

New Contracts/New Publishers

Ascending Venus, a fantasy romance featuring a sassy bronzed Venus and a besotted Mercury as her consort, sold to New Concepts Publishing. More about Ascending Venus..

Pros and Cons, a contemporary romance about a cat burglar and the hot guy she robs sold to New Concepts Publishing. More about Pros and Cons…

Whipped, a contemporary about a career-minded woman with a fetish for pain sold to total-e-bound. More about Whipped…

Sin, a fantasy romance co-written with Taige Crenshaw sold to total-e-bound. More about Sin…

Ode to Auntie Ro

Tonight I saw my Aunt Ro. When I told her I just had a story released, she immediately reached for her wallet. "You still writing articles and nasty stories? That one about that lady in jail upset me something terrible."

"That's all right, Auntie. This is an electronic book," I explained. "You'll need a computer to read it. And some of the language is racy."

"Oh, okay. I'll buy two. But I ain't gonna promise you I'll read it. You like to kill people too much...and why don't the people have happy endings?"

I laughed. "This is different kind of story. My heroine ends up happy enough, I suppose."

"Uhm," she grunted, looking at the cover. "She showing her backside."

"She's been a bad girl," I joked.

Auntie smiled brightly. "Breaking Becky," she whispered, allowing the words to roll off her tongue. "Well if she's bad, then I'll take four."

Breaking Becky's Been Giggled!

And apparently, my romantic stylings made Mrs. Giggles laugh hard.

Yesterday Was the Best Day Ever!

You'll think I'm here to gush about the recent release of Breaking Becky (available now from Liquid Silver Books!). Or maybe I'll talk about my upcoming titles. Nah. That's next week.

Yesterday was the best day ever because my Angry TV Boyfriend took home the gold. Rock of Hell's Kitchen beat out the competition and won his own restaurant! I'm ecstatic -- and not just because this is the first correct reality show prediction I've made. Even though that makes me feel kinda warm and fuzzy. Nope. I'm happy because I knew the angriest chef would win.

I've worked for -- and with -- chefs. One of my dearest friends and her ex-husband are chefs. And while they're great people, they have a drive and energy that's undeniable. Rock may have lost his shit over lobster bisques and garbage duty, but I'm sure he'll hold it together in his kitchen.

And yes, I'll say it now: I definitely smell what Rock is cooking.

As for Gordon Ramsey... Woof! HK and Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares have won me over. If the good-cooking, profanity-spewing hottie keeps it up, I might finally be able to move on from my first TV Chef Boyfriend: Rocco DiSpirito.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

And I like to return the favor whenever possible.

Jinger With A "J" by L.T. Rashard - Available Now from Loose Id

Martin Constantine: sexy, rich, single. He has everything in the world, except the love of the one woman he wants the most. Jinger once promised him that she'd do anything that he'd want her to do. He's going to make her for fill that promise in every way possible, and he's playing for keeps.

Jinger Miller: recently suffered a nasty divorce. The fact that the sexiest man on the Gulf Coast wants her ought to be enough to make any woman tap into her inner Scarlet O'Hara. Oh, but not Jinger. She'll submit to Martin sexually, no matter what he asks her to do, she'll do it…in bed. She's just not willing to trust him with the one thing he wants most: her heart.

New Release: Breaking Becky

Breaking Becky - Available today from Liquid Silver Books

Becky Dommer is a stunning young woman willing to sleep her way into one of the world's oldest professions: trophy wife. But the rich doctor she charms into her bed is too devoted to his reputation—and wife of twenty-seven years—to ever consider helping her live out her dream.

Frustration leads her back into the arms of Jake Sawyer, the man she dumped to woo Dr. Unavailable. But when Jake, a normally easygoing and cool type, decides to take matters—and a very stubborn Becky—into his own hands, the once money-hungry vixen learns to submit to love. She learns to submit to everything...

Bad Bios

Just hopped over to Liquid Silver and saw that I finally hit the authors' section. I clicked on my bio and cringed. I've never been able to write a proper romance bio and probably never will. The bio on the LSB site looks like something I'd put on a resume if I was looking to become a reporter for Black Love & Entertainment Digest.

No, I ain't linking it. If you want to laugh at me, you'll have to find it yourself.

Teaser: Killer Instinct

In a town where the chosen can fly to dizzying heights, committing career suicide can be murder.

Hollywood starlet Mya Lare is scheduled to go on trial for the murder of her agent, Arlene Evans. Her motive: the well-connected agent had Mya blacklisted while pretending to work to further her career. The hot-headed actress vehemently proclaims her innocence, but the evidence says otherwise. An angry voicemail message and a bloodstained hammer could be enough to send her away for life.

Defense attorney Luke Paulson realizes defending his uncooperative client will be no easy feat. After he gets her out on bail, she insinuates herself into his life by using every means at her disposal. By the time Mya's trial begins, Luke has two problems.

He has to find a way to get the defiant actress to play nice for the jurors. And find the evidence that will keep the woman he loves out of a prison.

Coming Soon....

I Know What YOU Want

You want me to respond to your blog. You want free promotion for Jinger With A "J" -- the ultra sensual novel premiering at Loose Id on August 14th, 2007.

But I won't fall for the bait.

Finally, A Release!

I just realized that my last release happened in December 2006. That's a long time in e-Land. I have a history of this, I suppose, mostly due to my extended hiatus last year. But with Breaking Becky's* release on the horizon, I'm looking to step things up. I'll be blogging about new contracts -- and new series -- soon.

*Breaking Becky - Available Monday 8/13/2007 at Liquid Silver Books.

Ugly Chest Blog Is Back

I scoured the web for cute stuff, nice stuff, free stuff and neat stuff. But nothing tickled my fancy. Ugly Chest Blog rules.

Excuse My Dust

Visitors this week may notice sudden template changes and broken links as I update and throw things away. I'm not fond of Beta Blogger's Page Elements system and would rather deal with code. I'm looking at all the options left for working with the Classic Blogger interface.

Liquid Assets: Wetter, Better

I wanted to wait until I had a cover to show off before talking about the changes in Liquid Assets (re-releases at Loose Id on September 25, 2007). But I can't! I'm excited.

Liquid Assets v1.5 includes the following:

- additional material
- superior editing
- pinker prose
- more depth
- "aha!" moments
- and more liquid lovin'

When I packed my bags and left my first publishing home on a dark January night, I was overcome by emotion. Frankly, I had no idea where I or my stories would end up. For a brief time, I wondered if I'd been correct the previous year--that I should stick to nonfiction and articles and get the hell out of this crazy storytelling business. But the more I tried to suppress the voices of the characters who spoke to me, the unhappier I became.

Then something miraculous happened: writers, friends and readers began whispering in my ear. I'm pretty shy, so realizing that so many people cared about my predicament really touched me. I was awed. I was tickled. So I listened to them. I listened to my heart. I put sassy Cassie on my back and went shopping for her new digs. Turns out, the first stop I made was the right one. With my fetish for "Ls," Loose Id seemed a perfect fit. And I was delighted when they thought so too.

My Loose Id editor's first name begins with an L. We hit it off straightaway. She's a loving taskmaster whose every suggestion and change enhanced the beauty of my story. She understands the characters--something very helpful to me. Not once did she ask me to sympathize, homogenize or de-ball anyone. In fact, when she did request changes, she asked for more depth.

I once told her that editing depresses me. I liken the process to handing over your child to someone only to have them tell you she's homely. But being paired with an editor who sees the beauty in my child -- despite my kid's scabby knees, temper tantrums and flights of delusion -- has humbled me. She gets me. She understands the stories I write.

One weekend after some intense correspondence, I bawled my eyes out with happiness. Yeah, I cry. So what? I cry a lot! I cry because I bleed for my characters. I cry because my creations come alive when they bleed. And while I'm aware that my brand of storytelling isn't for everyone, (I giggled one night when I read a post from a reader who says she doesn't "do tough love") I know that I can't stop writing about these often troubled, tough-talking people. The few times I tried...well, it was a disaster.

So no going gently into that good night for me. If I go, it'll be kicking and screaming as loudly as any of my heroines. And when cornered, they kick pretty hard.

Dude! A tornado?!

That was the subject line of an email I received from my friend Anita yesterday. Yep, a tornado barreled through NYC, messing up mass transit something terrible.

Despite living here, I was the last to know. I slept through the whole thing.

We Couldn't Make It Work

On Sunday August 5, WordPress and I began a little affair. It was good at first, and I saw bright things in our future. But within a day of my first post, he became uncooperative, refusing to display my links and categories.

I don't blame him. I'm starting to realize I may need a new host. Nothing against them, but my sites have undergone so much drama this year. They've been hacked. They're constantly changing the cPanel interface (it's pretty, but it doesn't always work properly) and I'm always afraid of what I may see when I login. So I've tucked my tail between my legs and begged Blogger to take me back. He swears that as long as I allow him to host my blog, we'll be OK.