A Room With A View....

Happy Monday! I wanted to start by congratulating my fellow HEA bloggers. There have been some awesome room blogs over the past few weeks. Brava ladies!

So, the room I chose to chat about today is one we take with us everywhere. This room can be a place of comfort and peace or it can be a place where we relive our worst nightmares, repeatedly. As an individual, I find my space is very private. As a woman, there are times I find it to be a swirling pit of emotions where copious amounts of chocolate are needed to lull it into submission. However, in all honesty, there are times when even I think the room needs a strong bolt and a warning sign telling passersby to steer clear. ~grin~

This got me thinking about my characters. Do they sometimes wish for a no trespassing sign to keep me from bursting into their lives and rummaging around upstairs looking for fear and conflict to grace the pages of my book? Do they cringe when I pull out their deep, dark secrets and present them for others reading pleasure? Do I leave that tempestuous room a barren and desolate place? Or perhaps, I change it for the better? You know knock down a few walls; let in the light, brighten the place up, as it were? Or maybe I stayed up too late while writing this and am over thinking this whole thing?

I don’t think so. Nope, I don’t think so.

These characters trust us to be gentle. They trust us not to pillage their minds then run with our ill-gotten gains. They trust us to always make things right.
Or as right as we can.

I have to wonder though, does my intrusion ultimately help the damsel in distress, fearful for her life and/or dignity, locked in the pirate’s cabin waiting for the dread sea stalker to arrive. Could I be doing lasting damage to the hero by locking him up, holding him against his will only to torture him with the threat of harm befalling his woman?

Ugh!

As a writer, I try my best to fix what’s broken. To leave my characters with their happy ever after and then some, but as their creator it sometimes bothers me to rifle through their secrets, their pain, their private rooms looking for a story.

Am I the only one who feels like this?

Here’s a snippet of what I found in Mari’s head when she wasn’t looking…

Had she’d known this man would be dangerous to her well-being, she might have waited for the next alpha to cross her path. To love him would be easy, though the broken heart could kill her.
Marina took one last look at the man who had changed her world before leaving the haven they’d created inside the gazebo. She would regret this decision for years to come. Unfortunately, she had no choice. Half-breeds never had a choice. They were not welcomed by full-bloods, nor were they allowed in any pride. He’d accepted her as a full-blood only because she’d hidden her scent.
She was several miles down the road, clothes on, in the car they’d brought from the casino, when she heard the pained cry of a cat. Agony, too great to be hers alone, tore at her chest. Tears ran down her face as she wished the cry was for her.

~Note - she did eventually forgive me for the intrusion...

Have a great week everyone!

What Almost Killed My Happily Ever After?

HEA afficiandos, please welcome Serena Shay, our guest blogger. She’s a new author and *today* is the very magical day of her first release, THE CHALLENGE, a shapeshifter erotic romance from Liquid Silver Books.

What Almost Killed My Happily Ever After?

By Serena Shay

Happy Monday, Everyone!!!

My thanks to all of the wonderful authors here at the Happily Ever After blog for having me here on the release day for my very first story, The Challenge. ~Happy Snoopy Dance~

So what to talk about? I've been wracking my newbie brain for a good topic to discuss today that is related to Romance and the Happy Ever After. I could go with sex, love, the character background that allows for a HEA ending to all stories...What? Yeah, I made that one up as I was falling asleep last night, amazing how fantastic it sounds at that moment just before the sleep rolls in, doesn't it.

Then I thought, hey how does my hero compare to Prince Charming? Erhm, well he doesn't. At least not in a little girls fantasy kinda way. Nope, Bastian is a full-blooded jaguar shifter. A pride leader. A takes what he wants, when he wants kinda guy. He's the has his (heroine) cake and eats it too type of hero, but when he loses said cake, another intensely intimate bodily function goes right along with her! It's okay, Bastian, it happens to a lot of men...

Yep, I gave my hero a case of erectile dysfunction. Thunk, what? Huh??? I can hear it all now, the question that ran through my newbie brain day after day of working on this story...how the heck can I give the hero of my erotic romance, ED?

This development in the story left me with many a wordless day and quite a few losing battles with Bastian himself, always ending with me sniping at him "You're killing my happy ever after!" and him calmly replying, "That's what happened, write it!"

After much cajoling and hours at the storyboard, we did finally settle on an acceptable medium ground. A way to keep the ED for awhile, make it work for the story and be resolved for a HEA. Only by then he had another nasty surprise to throw my way. He was determined to make me work for my Happy Ever After!

So that brings me to my questions for you out there, What was the biggest obstacle to the Happy Ever After you've ever written and/or is there anything that could truly stop the HEA from happening?

Thanks again for having me here today! I'd like to leave you with the blurb to The Challenge, and a small snippet to introduce you to Bastian. Have a great week!

The Challenge, Releasing today at Liquid Silver Books...

Blurb:

Marina Jamison is a mystery. As a half-breed shapeshifter, she lives on the fringe of were-jaguar society. Though her love for pride leader Bastian LaRue is forbidden, she finds herself tied to him by a bond stronger than their individual wills, a psychic link born from their one-night stand. When her secret is revealed, she is scorned and excluded. Neither Bastian nor the pride can accept a half-breed queen.


Snippet:

“We’re here.” His hand reached out, palm up, ready to assist her from the car. He left her breathless with his considerate gesture. How many men these days opened car doors? A symphony of nature met her as she rose from the car. Water lapping onto the shore and a fresh pine bouquet filled her with a wild yearning. She could run here, be free here. Maybe she could be more, here.
They moved along the dock towards a giant gazebo outlined with twinkle lights. Silky netting hung suggestively around a raised pedestal in the center of the room, a bed hidden within its depths. They were alone, and the incredible man at her back demanded her full attention.
“Shh, pretty kitty.” Bastian wound himself around her, calming the shakes racking her body. When had those started? “There’s probably a minimum of a hundred things I could call you.” His tongue dragged lightly over the whorls of her ear. “But do you know what I would like?”
She tingled as pictures raced through her head. Her body sprawled over the hood of the car, the warm metal teasing her breasts as he pounded into her from behind.
“Wha—what?”
“Your name, darlin’, what do I call you when I demand your release?”
~~~~~~

Where else can you find Serena Shay hanging out?
http://serenashay.com ~
She contributes regularly to SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS blog.
Her blog is MY MIND WANDERS.
http://myspace.com/authorserenashay ~