It's Thursday, I have a book release coming up, and I decided to share a little snippet to whet your reader appetite. 

This excerpt is from Stay with Me, Book 1 of the Strickland Sisters Series, and it releases on May 17, 2017. Enjoy!!

I slipped all the way out of my clothes and hopped in the shower, relishing in the hot water pouring over me as I lathered my skin with my favorite plumeria-scented body wash. About thirty minutes later, I’d pulled on my favorite old night shirt and climbed into bed, was on my way to La La Land when the sound of thumping bass jolted me out of my semi-slumber. More than a little disoriented, I rolled over, trying to figure out what was going on, what I was hearing, and why I was hearing it. Then it occurred to me.

Ryan Boyé.

I closed my eyes and sighed, grabbed my cell phone from the bedside table, and checked the time—1:00 AM. Really? Was this negro really blasting music at this time of night or morning or whatever?

Shit.

And things were going so well.

I sat up and tried to mentally will this fool to turn his music down, because I really did not feel like having to walk over there and beat on his door to get him to do something his grown ass should’ve had sense enough to do anyway.

I waited for five whole minutes. I waited as the music thumped and the picture frame on my dresser vibrated, growing angrier by the second. I could’ve called him, but bump that. Instead, I stood up, released a frustrated groan, and threw a robe on over my night shirt. Barefoot and pissed the hell off, I left my place and stalked to his door, beating on it like I was the chief of police.

No answer.

Oh, hell no!

I kicked the door, and yelled, “Hey!”

The music stopped, and less than a minute later, the front door eased open to reveal a heavy-lidded Ryan Boyé, shirtless in a pair of red briefs, and from the looks of things, I had interrupted something or had awakened him from a very steamy dream, because ole boy was standing at attention. All of the moisture in my mouth traveled to my core. I shifted my weight on my feet and tore my eyes away from his groin, letting them amble over his muscular stomach and chest and finally settle on his eyes.

He raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”

Visit my website at www.msalexhouse.com to learn about my other books!

When you're writing about love and falling in love and making love, what do you do to get in the mood? What motivates you to push the story forward and create magical chemistry between your hero and heroine?  For me, it's music. There's nothing like a nice sensual tune to set the mood for me and my characters. The right song can be very effective in many ways.

Believe me.

What also helps is to light some candles, maybe even dim the lights (but not so much that you can't see to write). And voila! You're on your way to making your romantic scenes leap off the pages.

For today's post, I thought I'd share the tracks that I've kept on heavy rotation as I pen my novel. Enjoy!!

Groove With You by The Isley Brothers
Between the Sheets by The Isley Brothers
Sensuality Parts I and II by The Isley Brothers
Make Me Say it Again Girl by The Isley Brothers
(I know, I know...a lot of Isley Brothers, lol)

What's on your list? Let me know in the comments below!!

via GIPHY

So... I wrote my first love scene and let's just say it was a very interesting experience. Finding the words to describe what I wanted to describe without sounding utterly trashy was quite challenging and I found myself wondering exactly where the boundary line resides that separates genre romance from erotica. Like, how nasty is too nasty? How explicit is too explicit? I wasn't sure and I'm still not. 

Of course, I know the big thing in a romance novel is the connection. There needs to be an enotional connection, some feelings of fondness leading up to love. I get that. I got that. I wrote that. 

But the sex,,,,

via GIPHY

How do you create a sex scene that's sensual and satisfying to the reader without veering into sleazy porn territory? My thinking is it largely depends on the terminology used during those scenes. So I took to Google to find me some euphemisms and boy did I find some that helped me craft what I hope is a good, tasteful love scene! Well, maybe it's somewhere between tasteful and not so tasteful, but I like it. :-)

Here are the links to the resources I found:

500 Great Words for Writing Love Scenes

The Sexy Thesaurus: A List of Words to Use in Your Romance Novel

The Sexy Thesaurus 2: A List of Action Words to Use in Your Romance Novel

If you know of any other good sources, please share them in the comments!

Side note: I've written a total of 14,000 words so far for NaNoWriMo!!! Woo hoooooo!!!

For those of you who don't know, I am currently in the process of writing my first romance novel. I've read tons of romance novels and am somewhat a fanatic when it comes to the genre. I have a gift for writing, but I want to be sure to respect the genre that has brought me and millions of women joy and served as an escape from the dregs of everyday life. So my first order of business was to sit down and read the definition of a romance novel. 

According to the RWA website, a romance novel must have a "central love story" and "an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending," or a happily ever after (HEA). Of course, an author can throw in subplots or whatever else it takes to complete the story, but the two aforementioned elements are what make a romance novel a romance novel.

Then there are sub-genres, like: historical, paranormal, western, suspense/thriller, contemporary, erotic, christian/inspirational, and the list goes on. Some novels are hybrids of more than one sub-genre. For example: An erotic thriller.

Visiting the RWA website also answered a burning question for me: What is the difference between Contemporary Romance and Erotic Romance?

Well, according to RWA, Contemporary Romances are set in modern times and focus on the romantic relationship of the main characters unlike the sub-genres. Erotic Romance has sexually explicit scenes as a part of the very framework of the novel. In other words, without those scenes, essential parts of the story would be incomplete.

In case you were wondering, my novel is Contemporary African American Romance. 

I have already outlined my novel, chosen a title, and am in the process of finding a cover. All that's left to do is write it, I plan to do that during NaNoWriMo. I'll be bring you all along with my during this entire process, so, get ready!!