Lecturing on Romance at the Uni

A colleague invited me to speak on campus at NUIG for Shag Week. Or rather she suggested to the English Society, a student organisation, that they invite me — and they did! I thought this was rather nice. Of course they had to use the Fabio cover for the poster — rather lurid, but apparently effective as we had a pretty good crowd on a Friday night, in fact a crowd that included men as well as women.

I’ve put a copy of my talk in PDF format online. It gives a flavour of the conversation, but not surprisingly I improvised a lot from these bare bones. Themes included how “romance” has gone from meaning “adventures” in the Middle Ages to a very strict — and much maligned — marketing term in the late 20th/early 21st centuries. So I spoke a bit about how the genre developed from the success of Woodiwiss’ The Flame and The Flower and the era of Fabio covers to what it looks like today. I used Harlequin’s own submissions page to show how “formula” (the assumption everyone makes about romance) will not work and the only absolute restriction is the HEA or HFN ending requirement.

I took great pleasure in talking about the Bad Sex Literary Awards. With a little help from Donne and Shakespeare, I tried to explain how the literary impulse toward metaphor seldom worked in describing sex. Why romance writers succeed rests on their ability to use sex as a way to reveal character. I briefly went through the five senses talking about the power in the ones often overlooked.

There were oodles of questions afterward. Some folks wanted recommendations of things to read, others wanted to know more about the writing process — and yes, I was asked about where I get my inspiration! ;-) I was interviewed for the paper; it always makes me nervous as I’ve yet to be quoted accurately ever by any newspaper. Fingers crossed.

I got a nice box of chocolates and gave away a lot of promo postcards (fortunately the ones for Four Play arrived that day). Time to order some more! Afterward we went to the pub, had some pizza and beer, then played some wacky board game. A good night out! Maybe I need to do more of this kind of speaking engagement. Someone’s gotta ‘splain to the kids why romance rocks!

And hey — some good coverage of the launch of Tirgearr Publishing!

Now Available: Man City

I’m so happy to announce my new publication, Man City, with a new press here in Ireland, Tirgearr Publishing. I have to say I adore this cover. Is that one smug lookin’ gal or what? She has every reason to be smirking, too. Here’s the blurb:

Footie brought two best friends together; no matter that one was Shai’s ex and the other her current boyfriend. When she flirts with Stuart on the bus ride home, Shai begins to formulate an idea to make match night more rewarding for all three of them.

Of course by footie here I mean real football, not that American kind. I really don’t know how people watch that: there seems to be an awful lot of nothing happening, ten seconds of action and then lots and lots of commercials. I guess you have to grow up with it. When I lived in Texas for a time, I realised that in some parts of the country it is truly a religion.

Not that I’m a huge fan: the story was inspired by a friend in Manchester and the title seemed too perfect to pass up. Once I had that in place, it was only natural to find ways to work in useful details that suited the setting. Of course you’ll note that the cover doesn’t have Man City’s sky blue and white, but Arsenal’s red and white. Surely a coincidence! [Go Gunners!]

Here’s a little teaser from the full on sexy story; while WordPress.com requires a PG-13 rating, this book is as scorching as it gets with frank, sexual language throughout (which made it tricky to find an excerpt!):

They were going to have an interesting night; the first time all three of them were together again. It was a good thing.

Shai hadn’t meant to come between a couple of old friends. Stuart and Joe had known each other longer than she had known either one. Men were always so sentimental about their pasts. She delighted in the way they were like crazy teens though, especially when a match was involved.

They could all watch the match tonight together— nothing awkward about it at all. Probably.

Her phone chimed again. On the long ride home? Got something to read?

Shai smiled and looked over the shoulder of the guy in front of her again. Aww, yeah. He readjusted himself while his gaze remained on the book, but she found it easy to see the shape pressing against his trousers. A familiar warmth crept up the back of her neck. Maybe it was the growing arousal making her type back.

The guy in front of me must be reading something good…

Stuart would have no trouble jumping to the right conclusion about what ‘something good’ meant. She chuckled to herself as she sent the text on its way, but jumped when the phone unexpectedly rang in her hand. “What?”

“Does he have a hard-on?” Stuart’s soft voice purred in her ear.

Shai giggled again. “Yes, he does,” she said as quietly as possible.

“Can you see the title? Of the book I mean.”

“No.”

“And how is all this affecting you?”

“I can’t really talk about that just now,” Shai evaded, her eyes quickly darting to the people around her to see if see if they were listening. She feared her vague replies to Stuart would be like a neon sign betraying her arousal.

“But you can listen,” Stuart insisted.

“Listen to what?”

“Oh, just a few questions,” Stuart said, his voice taking on that innocent tone she knew better than to trust.

“Like what?”

“Is his hair black? Brown? Blonde? Oh, god—not ginger is it?”

She smothered a laugh. “Brown.”

“Hands large?”

“No, fairly small.”

“Well, can’t be much of one, can it.”

Shai couldn’t smother the laugh that time. The woman across the aisle stared at this outburst.

Sorry, Shai mouthed, lowering her voice again.

“It’s hard to tell,” she said diplomatically. “Not enough to go on yet.”

“Are you looking then? Go on then. Give it a good eyeball, girl.”

By the sudden flush she felt, her cheeks had to have been bright red. “I am.”

There was no denying it. He was making her wet—as usual. Shai found it impossible not to think about Stuart’s not-at-all-small hands roughly squeezing her tits as he liked to do, or plunging his thick fingers into… I am such an easy mark!

“I can hear you breathing,” Stuart said with mock sternness. “Am I making you wet?”

“Yes.” The word came out like a breath.

“What a naughty girl you are.”

I hope you enjoy my novelette Man City. Check out all the new and forthcoming titles from Tirgearr. They’ll be having their official launch the end of the month, but I get to be one of the early ones out of the gate! :-)

The book is up at Smashwords and at Kindle. Want to win something? Suggest what my next focus sports story should feature — darts? Croquet? Curling?! — and the best answer wins a $10 Amazon gift certificate. You have until Friday the 17th to enter.

Come See Me Talk at NUIG!

I have been invited by one of my colleagues to speak during Shag Week at the National University of Ireland Galway. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it’s a week devoted to promoting good sexual health and guidance for students. While “sexual awareness” weeks on American campuses seem to be all about DANGER! Shag Week celebrations are usually more focused on cheeky fun. Hence, the invitation to me. Here’s the event description:

The PenIs mightier than the Sword

Friday February 17, 2012

1900-2200

AC201 Concourse – NUI Galway

As part of NUI Galway Student Unions SHAG Week, the English Society Entices you to..

An Evening with Erotic Fiction Writer C. Margery Kempe

Yes, I will be talking about how out of date that image is (O_o) and how most of their assumptions about romance writing are probably wrong as well, and how much smug sneering goes on about romance because it’s primarily read by [gasp!] women. I suggest you follow along on Twitter and take a drink every time someone uses words like “formulaic” and “fantasy” with bonus points for “middle-aged women” though I expect we’d all be passing out before the talk is over.

Let’s hope for a little education which ought to lead to greater respect for all kinds of genre writing. Or else somebody’s going to get a spanking, I can tell you! ;-)