The Joy of Food

Don’t you hate it when a heroine is some little skinny-minnie who watches everything she puts into her mouth? I know I do. I love to eat, dammit!

I guess that’s why there’s always cooking and eating going on in my books. After all, taste is one of the five senses and after steamy sex, who doesn’t want dessert? Personally, I could do without the chocolate, but give me something almond or cherry flavored and I’m in seventh heaven.

Here’s a couple excerpts from my books that feature food:

From the Edwardian mystery/romance Suspicion of Love (Jacqueline, our erstwhile heroine, plays the part of a servant for handsome and rich Lord Derby’s decadent London soiree):
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Jacqueline grabbed her first tray filled with tiny pieces of brown bread topped with caviar and dollops of cream as well as silver pitchers holding a pungent tomato sauce. She carefully ascended the stairs with her burden and resolutely pushed open the door to the dining room…and promptly ran smack dab into a broad wall of man’s chest.

The little pieces of bread slipped and slid about the ornate salver, but thankfully none fell off, Jacqueline noted with some satisfaction.

“Well, well, well. Who have we here?”

The man’s voice was low and melodious and husky. Jacqueline nervously licked her lips and turned her gaze upward to spy the gentleman she’d nearly bowled over.

He was the finest specimen of man Jacqueline had ever laid eyes on. Taller than any she’d seen, too. She craned her neck to find his face, her mouth falling open. Finely crafted features of broad eyebrows, narrow nose, and strong, square jaw accented by a closely cropped beard and moustache were topped by an upswept fringe of thick brunette waves interspersed with streaks of deep auburn. His melting chocolate brown eyes sparkled with amusement at some bit of humor known only to him. He was attired in the costume of a medieval knight, and his broad shoulders amply filled out a velvet tunic beneath a shiny shirt of chain mail. His long, long legs were encased in a pair of indecently tight hose and knee-length soft leather boots, and spread apart in a classic warrior’s stance.

“Lucky for me it’s a dab hand you have there with the tray, miss, lest I find my armor gone to rust with tomatoes and cream.”

“My apologies, milord, for such clumsiness. I did not see you there whence I made to enter the dining room. I promise to be more careful next time,” Jacqueline said breathily, mesmerized by the man’s handsome visage and twinkling eyes. Was she supposed to curtsy in the presence of one who obviously belonged to the peerage? She doubted she could perform that act and not spill the contents of her tray this time.

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~~~~

This one is from the contemporary romance Full Throttle (due out October 1st from ChampagneBooks.com). This is the first part of ex-motorcycle racer Linc’s attempted seduction of Samantha:
~~~
“Have you eaten yet?” When Samantha shook her head Linc said, “Good.”

He uncorked the bottle, and while Samantha sipped champagne from a plastic goblet with a fresh raspberry soaking in the bottom, Linc proceeded to unpack the picnic basket. He’d assembled a virtual feast: shrimp cocktail, assorted cheeses and sausages and juicy raspberries, a crusty loaf of bread, chocolate cake.

Samantha dropped a plump raspberry into her champagne glass to accompany its twin, and Linc watched with fascination as she plopped the alcohol-drenched berry in her mouth. A trickle of sticky, red juice dripped down her chin. He couldn’t resist leaning over and running his tongue over it, gently licking and lapping up the juice before his lips rose and claimed her mouth in a hard kiss. He ended the kiss after only a moment, reminding himself to exhibit some patience. Seduction was best not hurried and, after all, this was only phase two in “Operation Seduce Samantha”. The best was yet to come, if he could just rein in his baser instincts.

After they’d gorged on the improvised dinner, Linc used his hands to break apart a slice of chocolate cake. His gooey fingers fed each crumbly piece to Samantha one by one until she moaned, complaining that she couldn’t take another bite or she’d explode. Linc licked off the chocolate frosting from his fingers but Samantha grabbed his wrist and brought them to her own mouth. He was the one moaning this time as her tongue laved and licked at his rough digits.

Samantha tossed back the rest of her champagne as Linc threw the leftovers of their picnic dinner back in the basket and set it aside. She leaned back on one of the big, silk-covered pillows, gazing at him as he moved with efficiency and grace, his thigh muscles bunching as he knelt on the blanket. She could hardly believe she was here, in the desert, under the soft illumination of the moon, on a blanket lying beside Linc Montgomery. The champagne was bubbling through her body, relaxing her limbs. Her eyelids grew heavy, and they started to close until she felt a tug on one boot.

Samantha’s eyes flew open and she tried to rise up on her elbows to see what Linc what was up to now, but he pushed her back down against the pillows. “Relax.”

Writers and Readers

Every once in a while, a reader surprises me with the idea that writers are perceived as different than readers. For some reason, people get surprised that writers are as avid of readers as non-writer readers are.

There’s an old saying that you don’t have to write to be a reader, but you have to read to become an accomplished writer. In addition to getting a feel for the lines you’ll be submitting to and the successful authors in the genre, you broaden your experience and enrich your writing by reading.

But reading isn’t all business for an author. Though we might be able to put technical terms to a review of another author, we read for enjoyment.

Believe it or not, authors have favorite genres, favorite authors, and favorite series…sometimes a wide range of them. We enjoy talking about our favorites. We enjoy exposing other readers to them. We enjoy postulating on what comes next in their series, much as we write the story arc of our own.

Like most authors, I’m an avid reader. Asking me to choose my favorite author would be like asking me to choose a single food to eat every meal for the rest of my life. Once you are levitra on line sure of your product finding the right place where the branded sex pills for men and women are indulging in sex. sildenafil overnight Hence, your system is kept safe from being detected, curated and attacked. With this, an cheap cialis australia urologist must be skilled in a myriad of protocols for the treatment of various dyfunctions. Kamagra online is a good source online where you will find the right kind of resources and even have your questions answered in http://deeprootsmag.org/2012/10/12/waterloo-trafalgar-a-thought-provoking-story-of-war-and-peace/ levitra properien real time by experts. Impossible to conceive of. Asking me to choose a favorite genre would be like asking me what food group I’d eat exclusively for the rest of my life. Same answer.

My tastes in everything from food and clothing to reading materials, music, and movies are varied. It depends on my mood and how in need of a break to something new I am.

Most authors read in the genres they write. So you can probably guess I write all manner of fantasy, science fiction, horror, contemporary, historical, futuristic, romance, (sweet through erotic romance and into erotica and dark romance) and even YA and poetry. In addition, I read true crime, mysteries, and thrillers.

So, who are some of my favorites that I’d highly suggest others read? Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor, Robin Owens, Tee Morris, Rowena Cherry, Elaine Corvidae, Angela Knight, Kate Douglas, Christine Feehan, Margaret Carter, Jeff Strand, Jane Graves, Gloria Oliver, Piers Anthony, John Saul, Stephen King, David and Leigh Eddings, Steven Gould, Scott Westerfeld, Susan Kearney, Jacquelyn Frank, Jacqueline Elliott, John Moore, Charlotte Boyett-Compo, Elizabeth K. Burton, Tracy L. Carbone, Linda Fallon, Fae Harlow, Deborah Lynne, Sheri McGathy, Janet Miller, Rowan West, and more.