Fired Up!!!

Oh yeah. *grins*
That's me.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo. And I feel goooooooooooood. I've had this four-book series floating around in my head for the past couple of weeks or so. Now is the TIME! I feel it. So I girded (is that a word?) my literary loins and signed right up. There is no backing down. I have committed. And I should be committed. *grins*
November, however, is a pretty good month for me to try and bang out over 50,000 words. That's only slightly over half what I would like the finished product to be, but it sounds absolutely wonderful. This is just the kick in the ass I was looking for.
I am in immersion mode. Researching my characters. Getting a feel for my lovelies. Making nice, so to speak. :)~~
I've also come to realize I'm not Superwoman. Isn't that tragic?
Here I was multi-tasking to beat the band. Making sacrifice upon sacrifice. Grinning and bearing it.
Pft.
You heard me.
Pffffffffffftttttttttttttttt.
My body's all tense, and I'm betting it's because of the whole "super mode" issue. So my goal, also, this November is to take what I need for myself.
God. Isn't that the hardest? Especially for a Mom. I need to dial down the uber efficiency and realize that I have three children who are more than capable of doing dishes or sweeping a floor. And they do. Don't get me wrong. I simply feel like I have to pick up the slack. So. Obviously I should simply say... SCREW YOU, SLACK!!! You evil malignant guilt trip ass! You've fucked with me for the last time.
HA!
*doing a victory dance*
Updates to come.
Grins*

OLDEST CHICKEN'S 15TH BIRTHDAY!!!

Well, it's not her birth TIME. lmao
Because that would be 11:00 pm this evening. After a looooooooooooooooooooong day of labor. Ya hear me?
OC is my first chicken. I wasn't expecting an 8lb 12oz wonder. Nosiree. Not me in my naive motherhood fantasies. OC was the biggest child in the nursery. Sure, there were a set of twins. But then again...there were other single babies. But they simply paled in comparison to OC.
We arrived at the hospital extremely early in the morning. I remember the nurse testing the fluid to make sure my water broke. And that I just didn't wet myself.
Now, keep in mind, I'm an amateur. But I was damn sure I didn't wet myself. *eye roll*
Seriously.
Being first, I had first choice option for birthing room. Go me!!! And I picked the largest corner room with pretty decor. I wanted OC to arrive in style. She did.
After three stadiol shots. Two epidurals. And several hours of watching my graph lines spike and their brilliant father exclaim..."Here comes another one!"
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
She was such a good baby. On schedule. Easy to potty train. Smart as hell. A memory that amazed many a teacher. Girl has it going on. *nodding*
Happy Birthday, Baby!!!
Love you!
Mama*
(btw, OC has had a major hair cut since this picture was taken in August. I'll try and post a newer version later)

OLA Convention

I've been asked to speak at the Annual OLA (Oklahoma Library Association) Convention in April 2009!!! I am SO excited! *dancing*
(Note: My numerous exclamation points. heh)

I attended in 2007 and enjoyed the author panels immensely. And now I'm going to be ON one? HOLY COW!!! *dancing some more*
Plans will firm up in about a month. Then I'll know who I'll be joining and all that good stuff. But for now?
I'm dancing.
Grins*

Inside an author's head

What goes on up there, anyway?
Does Nora dream of Roarke? Is her husband jealous? Is Lora Leigh engineering the next hot hero? Is Stephen King wondering what darling to murder in his latest novel? Is Mary Janice Davidson shoe shopping so she knows EXACTLY which pair Betsy will drool over in her next installment? Is Jill Monroe pondering her next popular Author Talk, sucking down a Sonic soda, or pondering her next sexy book? Is Tori feeling good today? Or is she as disgusted as I am with the cold weather? Is Rene going to do NaNoWriMo again? Will she WIN again? Is Lyvvie throwing together an uber awesome Bento? Or is she about to kill a couple of guys who are helping with the new kitchen?
As for me...
Will MC remember to get all her homework she missed Friday because she was sick? Will there be three hours of homework awaiting me when I arrive home? Will it get above 37 today??? Why can't I get "If I drown, will you drop the charges?" out of my head? (Blame this on a weird ass dream I had right before I woke up. It's humorous, if a bit macabre.) Should I bring my notebooks in and type up my notes for my next four-book series? Will my review for One Enchanted Evening be in the next Romantic Times issue? Should I be working on SWTWC or WATS right now instead of rambling on about the nonsense between my ears?
Yeah.
Probably.
Grins*

*sigh*

I have to go home in thirteen minutes to six teenage girl children.
Oldest Chicken's birthday isn't until Tuesday, but she is having friends over tonight. I assured her that they would be dropped off at their collective homes at noon tomorrow.
Help.
Me.
You know...instead of trying to ignore (and failing miserably) several teenage girls...I should be out kicking up my heels. *grins*
Shaking that ass. Imbibing a few cocktails (or more than a few). But I find myself going out less and less.
And let me say, it wasn't a whole lot of times to begin with.
pft
I think I need to go out in November. Snag an evening and shake it by its collar. Bend it to my will. See what happens. Become reacquainted with Captain Morgan. hehehe
But for now...
*sigh*
Grins*

Librarian Female Archetype and the Boy Catalog

Some lovely somebody found my blog through searching the words "Librarian Female Archetype." Now. I'm curious as to what the "librarian archetype" would be?
Tight ass bun on the back of woman's head? High ruffled collar buttoned up to throat? Pencil skirt with sensible black loafers?
*shuddering*
Screw. That.
I'm a Librarian Female. *grins* And never a bun has touched the back of my head. I don't like things on my throat. And I've never worn a damn pencil skirt in my life.
I am, in fact, wearing my black bondage sandals. LOL
The answer to your unasked question is...NO. I'm not into that lifestyle. But that's what my black shiny strappy shoes remind me of. (Guess we all know what I think about a majority of the time.) And during the warmer months I go sleeveless where one of my tattoos shows. ALL of the customers love it. I've received compliments from kids up to the elderly.
Librarian archetype?
heh
Bite me.

Now for the boy catalog. It seems to me with all the hormonal teenage girls running around in my home that I should have SOME say as to who they will eventually procreate with. I'm just saying. :)~~
There's a certain boy who I think would make great son-in-law material. *whistling*
He's smart. Noticed I did something with my hair. And likes Middle Chicken. He's obviously three for three.
I suppose I'll bide my time on this one. MC seems to become highly perturbed when I don't refer to this boy by name but simply..."my future son-in-law."
lmao
Grins*

MIDDLE CHICKEN'S 14TH BIRTHDAY!!!

Someday, I will look back on this blog's archives and wonder how in the hell I didn't lose my mind in October.

But I digress.

Middle Chicken's birthday is Monday. She will be fourteen. *sigh* Yeah. Fourteen. Sheesh.

They're on Fall Break right now. I took off half a day yesterday to have MC's hair done. Also got some highlights for myself. *grins* I'm shameless like that.

Anyway...MC decides she wants blond hair (she's strawberry blond) with black tips and pink bangs.

And let it be so.

Yeah. Seriously. And it rocks. :)~~

So let's take a walk down memory lane with MC.

First, she could not have been completely more opposite as a baby (and now...for those keeping track) than OC. OC is a morning person. MC can sleep until three in the afternoon on weekends. OC will wear whatever and whenever. MC accessorizes.

I'm not exaggerating.

MC is a creative force with all sorts of ideas and thoughts racing through her head at the speed of light, I'm quite sure. She's a mixture of so many opposites that it's hard to pin her down.

She can be inconsiderate but then go out of her way to do something nice for someone. She can be snarky *whistling* but then cry over a commercial. (She assures me the ceiling leaks. *eye roll*)

She's smart as hell but struggles with her academics occasionally.

MC is brilliant and off-kilter.

That's why I love her so.

Happy Birthday, baby.

Mom*

Page 113

I warned her. She can't say I didn't.
OC decided to do a book report on "One Enchanted Evening." *smile*
And it's comparatively mild to other books I've written. I gave the thumbs up.

OC will be in therapy for years to come, my friends.
She comes home Thursday waving the book around and saying "Page 113! I had to quit reading. I think I'm scarred for life."
I, of course, am rolling.
I explain that it's a romance. These things happen. She asks if they will happen again. Yes, I reply. At least once more. I grin. Possibly twice.
OC appears to consider fainting but sucks it up.
Not only does the infamous Page 113 circulate amongst my children, apparently it also circulates to the girls' friends at school.
"She ached for him"? OC demanded. She shudders. "Eww."
I reply, they are adults. They ache. Get over it.
MC chimes in and wonders how I know these things.
An eerie silence falls over the entire living room.
"I don't want to know!" They scream in unison.
heh
Grins*

Tickle me

When I laugh, I am defenseless. Utterly wrapped up in whatever deliciousness tickled me in the first place. Tears stream. Noses snort. It's a helluva good time.
That's how I spent my weekend.

My girls have wicked senses of humor. And even though I am extremely unfond of their father, the man did have a great sense of humor. The girls are doubly blessed.

I let the girls watch "Knocked Up". Yep, I did. And there are a couple of extremely funny scenes in there. Plus, it has a fantasic ending. In summation...it redeemed itself. But I digress.
In one of the scenes the characters catch pink eye from each other. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.
This rapidly spins out of control when MC tells OC that she's going to give her pink eye. Then she looks over at me and says the same. I inform her that I better NEVER end up the pink eye and that even if OC did it, I would blame MC.
She is aghast.
She's spouts off...you wouldn't know WHO did it.
Then I tell them that I'd get a DNA sample. But by this time I'm laughing so hard that I can barely breathe, much less retort.
Let's just say that it took me half an hour to regain any sort of composure. The chickens can attest to that.

Oh.
Also wrote a buttload on my next four book series.
Grins*

The Write Stuff

Okay. It has a high cheese factor, but I am feeling GOOD!!!

And I've come to realize that I MUST multi-task/write. I can't simply work on one book and be well with it. Just doesn't happen.
When I wrote Earth Goddess, I always had WATS in the wings. Which, by the way, is over HALFWAY finished! Can I get a "Woo Woo"?
heh

Then when I finished Earth Goddess and picked WATS back up, I realized I needed something else to work on. So out came SWTWC. Which I am DIGGING!
And since I have strong masochistic tendencies, I've also started notes on my next four book series.
*grins*
Yeah.

And I haven't hit a block or a wall or anything. I'm trucking along writing my stuff which I'm enjoying the hell out of. It's fantastic.
Literary bliss.
*shaking my ass to and fro*
Yeah.
It's THAT good.
lmao
Grins*

Holy shit. Twenty years.

My high school reunion people have their own MySpace. And today they blogged about our twentieth reunion and tentative date.

TWENTY YEAR REUNION

Yeah. That deserves caps. Isn't that crazy? I mean, I KNOW twenty years has passed. Or at least my body does. Hell, I have a child in high school and two in middle school. So it's not like I pulled a Rip VanWinkle these past two decades.

But twenty years.
Wow.

It's hard to wrap my mind around. Extremely surreal.
Once upon a time, I thought I'd never graduate. Then I did. I thought I'd never get married. Then I did. I thought I'd never have children. Then I did. And knocking on forty?
*laughing*
I have it together a hell of a lot better than I did two decades ago.

Shawnee's Twentieth High School Reunion???
Bring it on.
Grins*

Oldest Chicken thinks I'm crazy

BC had three friends over last night after school to partake of cake and act like crazy women. SIX teenage girls at my house yesterday.
The cats were smart. They got the hell out of Dodge.
Me? I wrote 3000 words on SWTWC. Woo!
That worked out to around six or seven pages. Then I had a short scene that I needed to write.

I decided to ask OC to give it a gander and see what she thought. Keep in mind...NO ONE reads my mss before they're done. Not because I'm some control freak who can't let anyone see unfinished work. Nope. No one wants to read them. So I simply work on them until they're done. Edit. Edit some more. Submit. That simple.
But I just had the URGE for someone else to read what I wrote. OC agreed.
There were a couple of iffy parts. LMAO
I forget that there were references to sex in one part of a dialogue.
So OC finishes, and I ask her...what did you think of B, the hero? I personally think he's a bit of an ass. And told her that I didn't think he would be like that.
OC looks at me and says...well, that's a bit freaky. Don't you KNOW what he's like?
*shrug*
Not really. Parts of him, of course. Others? Nope. A mystery to you and me both.
So it bothered me. I'm nothing, if not a dweller.
And on the way to work this morning (yeah, I had to work on Saturday. Doesn't that just blow?), I realized that he's a bit like one of my favorite movie characters.
Ah. Gotcha.
And suddenly I see the light at the end of the tunnel and note the direction said character will take.
*grins*
Makes me happy.
For now.
Grins*

BABY CHICKEN'S 13TH BIRTHDAY!!!

Yes. *grins*

It's true.

The baby chicken was born at 8:11, thirteen years ago today, at the hospital in Moreno Valley, California.

Let's see.

I remember being in labor for hmmmmmm...two days. Yeah. That was nine kinds of fun. And the little chicken's water didn't break. Which, in itself, seems rather odd to me. Here Oldest Chicken's and Middle Chicken's water both broke at 5 am on a Thurs. I kid you not.

So I was expecting something similar.

Ha.

And I say HA again.

So I lay there having these nice contractions. Okay, I was all bunched up and not happy at all with life. Anyway...the doc didn't want to give me any meds because we didn't know if my water was ever going to break.

It didn't.

So when the doc (an old Army doc, actually) came on call for the morning, he came in and took care of the breaking water business. I immediately went into "I'm having this baby right now!!!" mode. They give me a pain shot *snort*, and I remember looking at the clock on the other wall. He broke my water at around five til eight. At 8:11 am, Baby Chicken entered the world.

The pain medicine had NOT kicked in. That's all I'm saying. Because I remember BC popping out, and I looked up at the clock where the hands were blurring. The pain med was finally in effect.

Thank the patron saint of childbirthing (whoever that may be) that BC was the smallest of the three.

She was a cute little booger, no doubt.

Now she's this beautiful long-haired redhead. Time flies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

Love you!

Mom*

It's all cosmetic

You're the stylist. You realize that, right?

You decide what the character wears. From the shade of his/her skin to hair to make-up to clothing to body style and shape.

EVERYTHING!

No pressure, right?

*grins*

This can be a tricky proposition. Do you make your hero/heroine physically foils for each other? Do you match them? How about the builds? Him slight? Her curvy?

You have a million options!!!

One caveat, in my opinion. Do NOT make caricature characters. The ditzy blond with big boobs and no IQ. The jock with more muscles than sense.

Just ewww.

Each character is unique such as each person is unique. Strive to be different yet true to your character's voice. Physical appearance is often extremely telling in the story. And that can be a lot of fun.

Okay my lovelies...my example for the day: Ewan McGregor

Study the two pictures at the top of my blog.

The one on the left is hot. I gotta go with that. The one of the right is certainly not. I think he was attractive in the Star Wars flicks but watched Deception, hope that's the right name, the other night, and he looked like a pre-Spiderman Peter Parker. ugh

Same guy.

Different hair and threads.

Amazing, huh?

I was going to post Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and then Leo in Kate and Leopold. But I was afraid I'd be too distracted to post.

lmao

Grins*

Secondary Characters

I like secondary characters. They're a nice cushion to the story for me. The only problem with a secondary character lies in ego. When he/she gets altogether too big for his/her literary britches, there must be a "Come to Jesus meeting."

Most secondary characters realize their importance in your story. They are content to listen to hero/heroine bitching-whining-moaning-sexual exploits. It's fun. Kinda like therapy. They do their thankless job and then mosey on back to whatever it is they do besides occupy a story.
But not ALL of them.
Every once in awhile, you have a secondary character that stands up and gives his/her version of the "I Have a Dream Speech."
*ahem*
"When you took on the responsibility to write a book, you were signing a promissary note to all characters herein. This note was a promise to all characters that we would be given certain unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of our own story arc. I have a dream that all characters are created equal. And I live in hope for the day that you finally find me Mr./Mrs. Right with a modicum of headaches."
Now.
If this character waits until my other story is almost finished or, I WISH, completely finished, then said character and I will sit down together and discuss business. If this character interrupts every scene I attempt to write by showboating and upstaging my main character(s), then there are issues.
What to do. What to do.
*whistling*
This can be tricky territory for a beginning writer. Or a writer with a series.
A beginning writer will spazz smooth out most times because...My God! Not only do you have one story to write, you now possibly have two. Simmer, JohnBoy. A beginning writer writes one story at a time. Start multi-tasking when everything else is smooth.
Series writers have a delicate operation to perform. Put secondary character(s) in the flow of the story without disrupting the main storyline. Tricky, my friends, tricky.
If you feel like you've veered off the main path and are now skipping down another trail holding hands with a secondary character while they bend your ear...GO BACK!!! Cease and desist. Shake free and RUN back to the main road.
You're the author. You don't get to meander.
Once again...LISTEN. It is honestly the best advice I can give any writer.
If Mr. SnappyPants continually butts into your writing flow and whines about his own story, set him straight. If he's really an annoying ass, jot down basics but do NOT push your main story aside.
Characters are pushy.
Sometimes ya gotta break out the whip and the chair.
Of course, with some of my books, they kinda like it.
Grins*

I'm not a jackass. The author wrote me that way.

Uh.
Huh.

I know we've all read characters that we would love to bitch slap. Myself included. They're infuriating. Arrogant. Conceited. Sorry pieces of work.
But can they change?
That's a bit of a loaded question now, isn't it?

I don't redeem a Too Stupid To Live character. *grins* Because I don't put any in my books. If you want fluff, go pick up a kitty from the pound. And if you want a vapid idiot with a blank look 0n her face, watch a Macy's ad with Jessica Simpson. (That was for you, Tori. *grins*)
Eye candy is great. Eye candy with an IQ less than his shoe size with a personality that's completely below his belt is just fucked up.
READ THIS: CHARACTERS WITH THESE TYPES OF PROBLEMS ARE A WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND ENERGY. PERIOD.
Moving on.

However, if you have a "wounded" hero, or an emotionally stunted hero (and I'm so not going there right now)...then you have possibilities. If you can engage a reader deep enough into this character's psyche and thought process, you've won. If you can wring a laugh or tear from a reader with this character, you've won. But if you only scratch the surface of this villainistic (is that a word?) character, then you've done the character and the reader a disservice.
Readers are voyeuristic.
I don't need to know that Mr. Emotionally Stunted man wears blue boxer briefs. But I do want to know what has made him into the person he is today. What happened to him? Sit him down on the mental couch in your therapist office cranium and let him speak. Will he open up to you?
This is big.
If you can open up this character and listen while he tells you of past tragedies and scars that he has, you've found a winner. If the arrogant prick simply looks at you and suggests making better use of your office table, move on.
It takes all kinds. Remember that.

If you place the sorriest piece of shit character in your book, you've lost. Keep in mind I'm talking about Romance here. I believe that these asshat characters are alive and well and living the high life in other genres.
The main story of any romance is love. Simply love. If I want to take an ice pick to a character's fictional heart, there's a problem. If every time I see the character, my blood pressure rises and not in a good way, there's a problem.

Look at the character. If he/she adds something to the story, keep him/her. If, however, you're wondering what in the hell possessed you...get rid of the character! My GOD! You're the AUTHOR. Don't ever forget it.
Next up:
I know you're the author. Now write me my own damn story.
Secondary characters with ego issues.
Grins*

Progress and possibilities

First things first. I edited Earth Goddess this weekend. *grins* YAY!
I also wrote 6000 or thereabouts on WATS. That's puts me a little over half way. Love that.

But I have other things on my mind today. Mostly characters.
What makes a good character? How do characters fit together? What happens when you have an obnoxious ass of a character and then you must redeem him/her? What happens when a secondary character fairly screams for a book of his/her own?

Let's start with this basic fundamental idea: A good character is a REAL character. Not someone who is completely good or bad. Not some stupid caricature of what you think a character should be. The character must be as real to you as your own friends. Because, in fact, he or she certainly is or will soon be extremely important to you.
You two must talk one-on-one. You must cut through the bullshit with a blowtorch and find what makes that character tick. You and your character may hate the process. Too damn bad. Do it anyway. Be the therapist. Listen to what the characters says. Even the unspoken.
How do you picture the character? Freeze that image in your mind. What do you notice? What stands out to you? Take that. All of it. And remember it.

Throw two characters in a scene together and let the good times roll. Or the furniture fly. Either way. It's been said by many that if your hero is a fireman, let your heroine be an arsonist or varying variations on that. I say pft. And you can quote me.
That may make for some interesting conversations. And probably some dynamic external conflict, but let's face it. Is that all ya got?
Characters come in every flavor under the sun. You can have the Alpha. Which, holy shit, the Alpha Hero is HAWT. *fanning self* But he can also come off as an asshole. The Alpha Heroine is bold. That can translate into "bitch" fairly easy. Then you have the Betta Hero. He's the "get along-go along" type guy. Laid back and all that.
And I've read that there is a Gamma Hero which nicely combines the two.
Eh.
This ties into my whole black/white theory. PEOPLE are complex!!! Alpha men do not drag their collective knuckles on the ground and gnaw on a turkey leg. Okay. Some might. But you know what I mean.
A man and a woman thrown together in any given situation will have his/her own opinions, actions, and feelings. The fun part is watching it unfold.
Two Alphas would be like watching Maddy Hayes and David Addison (God, I loved Moonlighting. Remember the spin-off from Taming of the Shrew?) right before they (finally) got horizontal. She slapped him. He slapped her. Then they got to rolling around on the ground. And it was hot. Because there was so much verbal foreplay and tension built up between the two of them.
Throw your two main characters into a lovely locked room in your head. I know you have a couple empty rooms open. All writers do. Then watch from the two-way mirror. What happens? Does she scuff her toe while he paces? Or do they work together to figure out what's going on? WATCH THEM. Take it all in. And then use that. If they don't fit, then let them go. Or sequester them in a different place until you can find his/her better half. Don't force a coupling simply because you think they would be "perfect."
That's exactly my point.
Perfect doesn't exist.
Not here. And it shouldn't exist there, either.
Next blog: Asshole Characters. Kill them or redeem them?
Grins*

It started again.

Yes. It.
The creativity which flows from my poor tired cranium.

Let me explain something about my lovely self. The first thing, the VERY first thing, I have for my book is the title. Then I fill in the details.
*blinking*
Is that laughter I hear out there???
Told you I was backwards. lmao

So I'm at work pondering the nature of the cosmos and what grenadine really is when it hits me.
Four new titles. In a series.
*considering doing harmful things to myself with the nearest paper clip*
I swore when I finished the Elemental Guardian series that I would never NEVER do that again.
What?
More laughter?
You sadistic buttheads.

It's messed up. Seriously. That's all I'm saying. But here I am editing Earth Goddess (Book 4), and I LOVE that book. My editor loves that book. Can you see the sunshine and hear the birds sing? I'm not KIDDING!!!
*sigh*

I'm likening this to childbirth.
After I had the Oldest Chicken (all 8 lbs and 12 ozs of her)...I looked up at her dad and said, "We're only having one."
Yeah. Two more daughters later...
Because you forget!

Sure it hurt like hell. You don't think you're ever going to be done. There are no drugs good enough for this, I swear. But in fact...Baby Chicken's water didn't break. And I was in labor. So about 11 minutes after the doc broke my water (after two days, I shit you not)...out came BC. And no. The answer to your question would be...the fucking stadiol had NOT kicked in yet. But she was only 6 lbs 5 ozs.

Wow. Went off on a Mama tangent there, didn't I?

So to sum up:
I have another idea for a four book series.
I obviously have issues about childbirth and lack of good drugs.
I cannot freaking BELIEVE that I did this to myself.

Carry on.
Grins*

Crossing genres and pissing readers off

Sometimes these two items walk hand in hand. The cause-and-effect can leave a nasty little taste in the readers' mouths.

When a reader picks up a romance...they want happily-ever-after.
When a reader picks up a thriller...they want a nice game of cat-and-mouse.
When a reader picks up a horror...they want nightmares.

A reader will know what they want when they pick up the book. Books that cross genres are subject to being tossed at the wall and generally defamed and defiled on Amazon.com discussions--IF the reader does not receive what he/she expected when he/she picked the book up.
There is much of a fuss about J.R. Ward's books. Some, okay many, say that she's gone the way of dark, urban thriller type. Some readers don't care for the graphic sex (and sometimes a little bdsm) that goes with the story. And I will readily admit that her HEA's are a bit iffy.
SPOILERS!!!
RUN...DO NOT WALK...SCROLL DOWN UNTIL AFTER THE CAPS...YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
I'm picking on J.R. for one reason. I read her books. In fact, my dearest one gave me the entire set for Christmas. heh
Okay. I'm simply saying that a ghost/vampire relationship can be a bit iffy. I can understand Rhage's story because Mary can't have kids. It was sort of a trade-off for the Scribe Virgin.
No problem.
I loved Butch and Marissa's story. Even with the homosexual overtones from V. *shrug* No big deal. Then we have Phury and his multitude of Chosen Ones at his house. Lord love the man. Or pity him. Too bad he gave up the red smoke, huh?
Now.
To Rhev. And the Princess. And all the sick, twisted shit she makes him do to get off. The scenes are graphic. But I know it's not about love/sex. It's about control. They fight for it. And it can be pretty fucking ugly.
Sometimes I wonder if J.R. has let the romance go a bit in order to go darker with the BDB's stories. I've hung so far because I have time invested in the Brothers. They are as real to me as my own characters. I haven't quite reached that point where I will call it quits and look for someone else to appease my Paranormal Romance wants.
Not. Quite. Yet.
BACK TO THE GENERIC STUFF...
Stephen King writes horror. Though I wager some would be surprised at the romance in his books. Yeah, I said it. ROMANCE in a Stephen King book. But that's extra. I read his books to savor the magnificence of his storytelling. I don't look for a HEA. In fact...get this...he LOVES to kill off at least ONE major character. He does it all the time. But I take that with a grain of salt because I know I'm not reading his book for warm fuzzies.
So I offer up a bit of a warning here. Be careful if you try to cross genres. It's kind of like Ghostbusters (Yeah. I'm pulling an eighties movie out of my mind vault. So when you find yourself humming the theme to "Ghostbusters" and craving marshamallows later...don't blame me.). If you cross the stream...you don't know what you're going to get.
Please...for the love of GOD...do NOT tell me it's a romance if it's not. Don't lead your readers to your book with promises that you can't or won't keep. There's truth in advertising. Believe me.
Your readers will thank you for it.
Grins*
ADDENDUM: I don't want to come off like I'm saying that crossing genres is bad necessarily. But it's when you deviate from your original genre and spiral toward another...you can keep your balance, or you can forsake what brought readers to you in the first place. It's a consideration.

Quack *ahem* Quack