Joy Ride

by Desiree Holt

There are so many different definitions of erotic romance that sometimes I wonder if we’re all reading and writing the same thing. But I can tell the difference between erotic romance and erotica-the first is a love story and the second is purely an erotic experience, between people who may never see each other again and are together purely for the thrill. I’m a Happy Ever After kinda girl so for me the romance is paramount. The people involved must feel emotionally for the other or others and must, at the end of the story have at least a Happy For Now.

So what’s the difference between, say, sensual, spicy and erotic?

I think it all boils down to the explicitness of the sex scenes. One of the first things I learned when writing sex scenes of any kind was to focus on the five senses–taste, touch, smell, hear, see. The more explicit the scene, the more intense the reaction of the senses. And each scene can be expanded on that basis, so if the author does it right the reader becomes physically and emotionally involved with each character.

My late husband, my hero, my best friend, was the one who first encouraged me to dip my toe in the waters. A publisher I was with at the time was opening a line of erotic shorts and I was waffling about whether I had the skills or the ability­–or courage–­to explore this new genre.

So I outlined a plot, did my little character sketches, and sat down to write. And what a wonder! The scenes actually flowed.  And even better, were believable. What a miracle!

Then I began to research the subject, reading authors who had and were making a name for themselves in the field. I learned from them how to weave scenes together so the sex was meaningful rather than blatant. And I learned that I loved writing scenes at the maximum heat level, because to me, that was the maximum expression of feelings. For example, in BDSM relationships there is a level fo trust necessary that I don’t think is there in other situations. Maybe that’s why I write so much BDSM–because I can show how deep the trust is and how the relationship is about so much more than sex. I think one of the greatest compliments I get from my readers is from those who tell me their husbands love when they read one of my books! LOL!

Joy Ride, from Decadent Publishing, isn’t about BDSM, but it’s a lot about trust.

Last year I went to Johnny Depp’s Viper Room to see a performance by an excellent rock band, Run Devil Run. The moment I stepped into the room the music enfolded me like an erotic cloak, ramping up each of my senses and making every pulse in my body throb. The person who drew my attention, however, was the bass player. Can you say sex on a stick? He was sooo into his music, and so “hawt” on stage you could feel the energy and electricity sizzling from him.  I knew I had to write a story where the hero was based on him.

And so Joy Ride was born.

For Emma, the good girl poster child, it’s about learning the intricacies of sex that she’d never experimented with. For bad boy bass player Marc it was about showing her so many ways to share their feelings for each other as the sex between them becomes hotter and hotter. I hope you’ll come along for this erotic ride.

And to celebrate, Decadent Publishing will give away a copy of Joy Ride to one lucky person drawn from those who comment today.

Available at: Decadent Publishing, Amazon, Sony, All Romance eBooks.

Blurb:

Emma, the good girl poster child, is running from a life she suddenly sees as grey and suffocating. A life where she’s successfully buried all her hopes and secret dreams. Until the night she wanders into Aftershock and is immediately drawn to Marc, the hot bass player with the band. Marc doesn’t much care for the groupies who hang around the band. He wants a woman he can create a life with that’s a counterpoint to the craziness of the rock music business. When he sees Emma for the first time something inside him cracks wide open. Just one sizzling glance between them and he’s sure he’s found the woman he wants. But as the relationship grows, there’s a huge stumbling block: Emma won’t tell him her name.  The sex is fabulous but he wants more. So does Emma but her fear of everything falling apart builds a barrier she can’t seem to cross. Marc is taking her on the joy ride of her life, but will her own insecurities destroy everything?

Excerpt:

Clutching the cold beer bottle in her hand, she wedged her way between gyrating bodies, hypnotized by the music until she reached the front of the crowd…and stopped at the edge of the stage, mesmerized. The bass guitarist stood with one foot balanced on the monitor in front of him, his body leaning into the sound. His head was thrown back, dark hair flying around his face as he pounded out the rhythm of the song they were playing. He was wild, uninhibited, totally immersed in his music. He moved with an incredible grace to the accented beat, hips thrusting as his clever fingers plucked the strings and slid on the neck of the guitar.

For one incredible moment, Emma had the feeling he was playing only for her and she realized she really had been struck by “Lightnin’.” Permanently electrified by it.

A surge of heat raced through her, and it wasn’t the kind that emanated from the tightly packed sweaty bodies. Instead, an electric excitement gripped her, sending a charge of unfamiliar sexual thrill to every nerve. Her breasts tingled and between her thighs, she felt a throbbing as deep as the sound of the bass. At first she stood stiffly, clutching her drink. People jostled and shoved her as they kept time to the beat. She took two quick swallows of the beer, grimacing at the bitter taste. But as the alcohol eased her tension, she found herself catching the rhythm of the music and trying to mimic the movements of the bass player, totally caught up in the seductive lure of the song. For one crazy moment, she was gripped by an uncontrollable urge to jump up on the stage, and bump and grind with him. Her! Emma, the good girl!

Clumsily juggling the beer bottle, she slipped the thin strap of her purse over her head so it lay crosswise between her breasts. Her focus still on the bass player, she swayed to the beat, hips moving, rocking. When the song ended, the bass guitarist threw back his head on a final note and then looked out into the crowd, peering beyond the glare of the stage lights.

His eyes seemed to find hers as if pulled by a magnet, and a fist slammed through her.

Ohmigod!

Buy it at www.deacdentpublishing.com

And soon at all online bookstores

Find me at:

www.desireeholttellsall.com

www.desireeholt.com

Twitter: @desireeholt

Facebook: www.facebook.com/desireeholt

Take a ride with Desiree Holt!

Buy Joy Ride HERE

by Desiree Holt

There are so many different definitions of erotic romance that sometimes I wonder if we’re all reading and writing the same thing. But I can tell the difference between erotic romance and erotica-the first is a love story and the second is purely an erotic experience, between people who may never see each other again and are together purely for the thrill. I’m a Happy Ever After kinda girl so for me the romance is paramount. The people involved must feel emotionally for the other or others and must, at the end of the story have at least a Happy For Now.

So what’s the difference between, say, sensual, spicy and erotic?

I think it all boils down to the explicitness of the sex scenes. One of the first things I learned when writing sex scenes of any kind was to focus on the five senses–taste, touch, smell, hear, see. The more explicit the scene, the more intense the reaction of the senses. And each scene can be expanded on that basis, so if the author does it right the reader becomes physically and emotionally involved with each character.

My late husband, my hero, my best friend, was the one who first encouraged me to dip my toe in the waters. A publisher I was with at the time was opening a line of erotic shorts and I was waffling about whether I had the skills or the ability­–or courage–­to explore this new genre.

So I outlined a plot, did my little character sketches, and sat down to write. And what a wonder! The scenes actually flowed.  And even better, were believable. What a miracle!

Then I began to research the subject, reading authors who had and were making a name for themselves in the field. I learned from them how to weave scenes together so the sex was meaningful rather than blatant. And I learned that I loved writing scenes at the maximum heat level, because to me, that was the maximum expression of feelings. For example, in BDSM relationships there is a level fo trust necessary that I don’t think is there in other situations. Maybe that’s why I write so much BDSM–because I can show how deep the trust is and how the relationship is about so much more than sex. I think one of the greatest compliments I get from my readers is from those who tell me their husbands love when they read one of my books! LOL!

Joy Ride, from Decadent Publishing, isn’t about BDSM but it’s a lot about trust.

Last year I went to Johnny Depp’s Viper Room to see a performance by an excellent rock band, Run Devil Run. The moment I stepped into the room the music enfolded me like an erotic cloak, ramping up each of my senses and making every pulse in my body throb. The person who drew my attention, however, was the bass player. Can you say sex on a stick? He was sooo into his music, and so “hawt” on stage you could feel the energy and electricity sizzling from him.  I knew I had to write a story where the hero was based on him.

Check out this shot of him.

And so Joy Ride was born.

For Emma, the good girl poster child, it’s about learning the intricacies of sex that she’d never experimented with. For bad boy bass player Marc it was about showing her so many ways to share their feelings for each other as the sex between them becomes hotter and hotter. I hope you’ll come along for this erotic ride.

And to celebrate, Decadent Publishing will give away a copy of Joy Ride to one lucky person drawn from those who comment today.

Available at: Decadent Publishing, Amazon, Sony, All Romance eBooks.

Blurb:

Emma, the good girl poster child, is running from a life she suddenly sees as grey and suffocating. A life where she’s successfully buried all her hopes and secret dreams. Until the night she wanders into Aftershock and is immediately drawn to Marc, the hot bass player with the band. Marc doesn’t much care for the groupies who hang around the band. He wants a woman he can create a life with that’s a counterpoint to the craziness of the rock music business. When he sees Emma for the first time something inside him cracks wide open. Just one sizzling glance between them and he’s sure he’s found the woman he wants. But as the relationship grows, there’s a huge stumbling block: Emma won’t tell him her name.  The sex is fabulous but he wants more. So does Emma but her fear of everything falling apart builds a barrier she can’t seem to cross. Marc is taking her on the joy ride of her life, but will her own insecurities destroy everything?

Excerpt:

Clutching the cold beer bottle in her hand, she wedged her way between gyrating bodies, hypnotized by the music until she reached the front of the crowd…and stopped at the edge of the stage, mesmerized. The bass guitarist stood with one foot balanced on the monitor in front of him, his body leaning into the sound. His head was thrown back, dark hair flying around his face as he pounded out the rhythm of the song they were playing. He was wild, uninhibited, totally immersed in his music. He moved with an incredible grace to the accented beat, hips thrusting as his clever fingers plucked the strings and slid on the neck of the guitar.

For one incredible moment, Emma had the feeling he was playing only for her and she realized she really had been struck by “Lightnin’.” Permanently electrified by it.

A surge of heat raced through her, and it wasn’t the kind that emanated from the tightly packed sweaty bodies. Instead, an electric excitement gripped her, sending a charge of unfamiliar sexual thrill to every nerve. Her breasts tingled and between her thighs, she felt a throbbing as deep as the sound of the bass. At first she stood stiffly, clutching her drink. People jostled and shoved her as they kept time to the beat. She took two quick swallows of the beer, grimacing at the bitter taste. But as the alcohol eased her tension, she found herself catching the rhythm of the music and trying to mimic the movements of the bass player, totally caught up in the seductive lure of the song. For one crazy moment, she was gripped by an uncontrollable urge to jump up on the stage, and bump and grind with him. Her! Emma, the good girl!

Clumsily juggling the beer bottle, she slipped the thin strap of her purse over her head so it lay crosswise between her breasts. Her focus still on the bass player, she swayed to the beat, hips moving, rocking. When the song ended, the bass guitarist threw back his head on a final note and then looked out into the crowd, peering beyond the glare of the stage lights.

His eyes seemed to find hers as if pulled by a magnet, and a fist slammed through her.

Ohmigod!

Find me at:

www.desireeholttellsall.com

www.desireeholt.com

Twitter: @desireeholt

Facebook: www.facebook.com/desireeholt 

Take a Joy Ride with Desiree Holt!

Who ever though that in the Fifties when deejay Allen Fried coined the term “Rock and Roll” the music—a blend of blues, country, jazz and gospel—would have such a major impact on our culture. But there’s no question about the fact that it has. We have a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aging but still highly popular rockers like Steven Tyler writing best selling books and judging on American Idol. Grunge icons like Kurt Cobain still casting their shadow over the industry. And let’s not even talk about The Grateful Dead. 

Do you remember the music you listened to in high school? College? On dates? Driving to and from work? I’ll bet a lot of it was and is rock in some form. And Ohmigod, who doesn’t think a guitar player is sexy, his body in fluid motion on stage as he coaxes and pulls the notes of a tune from his guitar.

In one of my many other lives I was in the music business, both as an agent and a manager, and my clients were primarily rock bands. I can still remember the excitement of walking into a club where one of my bands was playing, feeling the electric excitement in the air, watching the crowd go wild as the music filled the air. It’s a rush that isn’t equaled by anything else. Trust me.

Jackie Joyride 2011

Fast forward to the present. Last year I was lucky enough to be party of the Decadent Publishing crowd that went to Johnny Depp’s Viper Room to see a performance by Run Devil Run (a totally fabulous band, by the way). The moment I walked into the club, it all came back to me–the excitement, the rush, the headiness of the environment. But what really caught my eye was the bass player, Jackie Joyride. OMG! Can you say sex on a stick? Of course, I think bass players are the sexy foundation of any band. That heavy thump of the bass just gets you right where you live. I knew I had to write a story where the hero was based on him.

Joy Ride (notice the play on words!) was a labor of love to write. It’s all about who people really are and how they find themselves, with the world of rock music as the stage on which it happens. “Emma was the good girl poster child until she meet sexy bass player Marc–and he took her on the joy ride of her life.”

 

Out today at Decadent Publishing (and soon at all online bookstores) here’s a taste for you.

To celebrate the release, I’m selling t-shirt,, mugs, water bottles, whatever in my Café Press store with the specially designed logo for the band in the book, Lightnin’. Leave a comment and you might be one of two lucky people to win a mug or a t-shirt.

Meet Desiree Holt!

Hi! Let me introduce myself. I’m Desiree Holt and I write erotic romances in almost every subgenre. I currently have 100 titles in release. You can check them out on my web site www.desireeholttellsall.com. You can also find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/desireeholt and Twitter @desireeholt. I live in the Texas Hill Country surrounding by horses, cattle and totally sexy cowboys!

So. A glimpse into who I am.

How did you start your writing career?   I wanted to write for a very long time. I was an avid reader growing up and had so many stories rolling around in my head pushing to get out. So finally, one day, I just sat down and started to write. One hundred and sixty seven rejections later I was beginning to wonder if this was meant for me. Then I sold my first story and was off to the races. And it’s been nonstop since then. I’ve been blessed with a lot of people who helped me along the way and I appreciate every single one of them. 

When in the day/night do you write? How long per day?   I write during the day and I’m actually a very disciplined writer. A NYT best selling author who happens to be a good friend of mine always says you have to approach writing as you would any other job and work to a schedule. I’m never short of plot ideas so it’s just a matter of selecting the one to work on. I spend two hours every morning answering emails and doing promo, then I write for six hours. This also includes doing edits that come in. At night I read and watch television but I always have a notebook with me so I can jot down thoughts about the day’s work. Then the next morning I use those notes as a guide for the day. 

Where do you research for your books?   Actually a lot of places. Much of it comes from the Internet, a wonderful place to find out about anything. Plus I have acquired a lot of human resources: a sheriff, a former Army counterintelligence officer, former Delta Force soldier, gun instructor, cutting horse ranch owner, restaurant owner, you name it. And if there’s a place similar to what I write about and it’s accessible I go there and take a zillion pictures so I have visuals to refer to. I also found that there are people I can phone who are more than willing to answer my questions. And sometimes that happens by accident. When I was in LA for the Romantic Times convention I went to The Viper Room with decadent, fell in love with the band and the bass player inspired a story. In fact the rock club in the book is similar to The Viper Room. 

Plotter or Pantser? Why?   Maybe a little bit of both. I always start off with the outline of a plot, but my books are  very character-driven and my characters talk to me while I’m writing, so very often my plots take an unexpected twist and turn. 

How do you develop your plots and your characters? Do you use any set formula?   No set formula. Sometimes I start with a character just begging for a story, so I do a basic outline of that person and see what my brain tells me to do with him or her. Sometimes I have a setting that says, Oh, please write about me and I let my brain do its thing and come up with a plot. And one book that I wrote I only had one line to begin with but it was a very definitive line. I had to figure out a plot to go with it. Another time I read a Letter to the Editor in the local paper about an incident that set my very strange brain to playing the What If game. So I guess I don’t really have a formula, just a lot of ideas that I corral and then try to put some kind of outline together. And then, sometimes I’ll write a book that by the end just begs to be the start of a series. I think of my brain as a mixing machine filled with ideas about people and things. It spins around and I grab whatever comes out! 

What do you do to unwind and relax?   Sometimes I hang out with my daughter (she’s the only one of my kids who lives close to me) or with friends. But I really love to read and drink wine. My reward at night for making my word count each day is to read at night. Oh, and during football season I’m glued to the television all weekend. I am the world’s most obsessed football nut. 

Tell us about your next release.  I’d like to tell you about my first release coming out with Decadent. It’s called Joy Ride, and was inspired by the very sexy bass player with Run Devil Run, as well as the environment of The Viper Room. It’s the story of Marc, a bass player in a rock band who wants a very grounded life to go with the volatility of the music business, and Emma, who’s spent her whole life never coloring outside the lines until, as she’s approaching her thirtieth birthday, a friend shows her there’s more out there and suddenly she wants it. When she ends up one night at a rock club, the first she’s ever been to, there is an instant physical and emotional connection between her and the bass player. For Marc she represents everything he’s ever looked for in a woman, in a relationship. For Emma he’s a forbidden thrill and the intensity of the relationship frightens her. Want to find out if they manage to work it out? LOL! Look for Joy Ride. I think you’ll fall in love with Marc and Emma and their story.