Tag Archives: writing

Writing a Sex Scene

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Ugh. This is a hard one for me. I feel like sex scenes are so awkward to write. Sure, I’ve written them before, but wow, I have to really put myself in the right state of mind to pull it off.

(Okay, why does everything in that sentence sound like a double entendre?)

Anyway, I just finished reading Steve Martin’s An Object of Beauty, and I must say, he writes the best sex scenes.

They make sense, they don’t feel like they go on for too long, and they never make you feel like a voyeur as you read them. Martin uses the act of sex as an illustration of the state of a relationship. The main character, Lacey, tends to throw men away – until she doesn’t. But when Martin writes a scene between Lacey and a partner…um…between the sheets, he leaves things unsaid. He lets you imagine what’s going on, and he doesn’t go into detail.

I think that’s what makes them so appealing: the element of imagination (and the things left to the imagination!). His scenes also feel organic to the story; they just fit. I hate it when a sex scene feels like filler or detracts from the story.

And I suppose that’s the lesson – and the one I’ll remember as a writer – if it feels natural for the characters to rendezvous in that way, then go for it. Otherwise, don’t force anything, because your characters don’t want to be forced into sex any more than you do. And don’t forget the element of imagination: leave some things unsaid.

…And use the word rendezvous more often; it’s delish!

On the horizon

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There’s a long list of exciting things on the horizon. We’re buying the cottage for our country property and I’m waiting for the proof of Ruins of North Texas to arrive.

I have some cool stuff in the works to include giveaways (squeee!), cookies – yes, I said cookies – and more books to publish. And in the midst of all that, there’s regular life.

We painted the living room this weekend:

2013-03-03 14.10.37

It’s a very lovely green and brightens the space. We find ourselves commenting on our mutual love of the new green shade and now we have two other rooms to paint. But, as with everything we do, the painting went off without a hitch and without a fight, and we laughed the entire time.

Tonight was also Open House for the Minty Ninja. I had two realizations: 1) The ninja is much taller than most of her peers, and 2) I’m one of those young, hot mamas, relatively speaking. We live in a small town, but wow most of the parental units are older than I am. I’m used to being the median age for elementary kids’ parents, but in the new school, that doesn’t seem the case. Not that I’m complaining.

There’s the usual: friends coming and going, work drama and successes, family in town – we seem to be inundated with all of our soldiers lately, which is pretty great – and a music festival this weekend.

Life is great.

I think I can

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I’m trying a prompt from The One-Minute Writer today. Let’s see what I can pound out in 60 seconds (yes, I’m using a timer). Today’s prompt? Sixty seconds to tell about a time you had to repeat the “I think I can” mantra to yourself.

My first yoga class after I-don’t-know-how-many years.

It wasn’t the usual teacher – she was a substitute – and she was nice and knew what she was talking about, a really great teacher, but I caught myself looking at the clock and then thinking, “Dear Lord! It’s only been 20 minutes?!” I pushed myself through the rest of the hours and half class, and it was hard.

And I paid for it. I mean, it was great and all to be back in a yoga class, but I was so sore I wondered if this particular school was right for me.

Now I’m in class with the regular teacher who is AMAZING. I don’t have to force anything or remind myself that “I think I can” with her; I just do.

Pimped Out Pontoon Boat

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So this is a thing.

I jumped on here to clear out the spam folder that will quickly get out of control to the point of overflowing if I don’t do something about it every once in a while. I looked over at the stats and something caught my eye: the top search term for yesterday was “pimped out pontoon boat.” And because I’m me, I had to Google this.

Oh my Neptune, it’s a thing.

There are searches with the titles of “Have you tricked out your pontoon boat?” and “Pimp my Pontoon.” What the what? To each their own, but this seems a little “Thrift Shop” chic to me.

But whatever.

The more important part – although pimped out pontoon boats are kinda amazing – is the question this search term raises: How the hell did “pimped out pontoon boat” get someone to this site?

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