Welcome to Writing Inspiration Fridays!  Today I'm proud to have David Bridger as my guest. He's here to share some of what inspires him to write romance. Thanks for being here David!

My grandmother's name was Mary. I called her Nan. She was a twinkly-eyed rogue, and for many people that's all they ever saw of her. But she was deeper than that. A lot deeper.

Nan came from an Irish Catholic family who moved from Cork to northwest England before her birth in 1914, and when she married into my grandfather's English Protestant family she left her church behind. Or so it seemed, to most people I guess, and certainly to me when I was a boy.

But she never did leave it behind. She simply took it underground and expressed it occasionally in the form of mild superstitions. I remember her doing that, and I joined in the fun with her.

There was never any unpleasant edge between us. I honed my youthful wit on her, and she gave me back as good as she got. We used to laugh a lot, often to the point of near incontinence. But I also remember that some others weren't so gentle about her religion, and I'm sure that's why she kept her beliefs close to her heart for most of her life.

After Grandad died, she returned to her church. I was still only a young man when she died, and although I was away at sea for most of her final years in retirement, I know she remained independent and active and very happy.

Nan inspired me to write.

She was a wonderful storyteller. She held me spellbound, effortlessly, with tales of big family childhood days involving all the siblings and cousins I knew as grown-ups, and of Saturdays and school holidays helping in the dockland café her family ran; of long hard hours when she entered "service" as a maid straight from school; and of how she'd worked her way up to the position of cook by the time she was twenty-five.

She used to grin and wink when she reached the bit where she got the job of Head Cook in a big hospital just as the Second World War started, which always suggested to me that there'd been a degree of blagging involved.

Because she was a blagger, and proud of it. She'd definitely kissed the Blarney Stone, which no doubt helped her move on from the hospital to a better job in a posh school after the war, and then helped her move up the ladder again a few years later to the position of Catering Manager in a big maritime manufacturing company on the banks of the River Mersey.

That was where she was when I came along. She stayed with that company for the rest of her working life, overseeing a scarily busy commercial kitchen that served hundreds of employees in the working men's cavernous café, a smarter café for the office workers, the managers' quiet restaurant, and the directors' luxurious dining room.

When I say she was a blagger, I don't mean she couldn't do her job. I remember how not only her personal office but also that whole huge kitchen and all the restaurants were filled with her personality. She shaped the place, and there was no blagging involved in that.

What I mean is that in her early life, she never let anything prevent her from shooting for her dreams. She would assure the appropriate someone that a task was well within her capabilities, and then she'd make sure it was. Somehow. Always. She was like a swan, all smiling capability on the surface while she paddled like hell under the water. That was a big part of her storytelling skill, too.

Thank you, Nan. I still hear your stories in your lovely voice, all these years later, and I still smile. You've never left me. I love you.

Bio:

David Bridger and his wife settled with their three daughters and two monstrous hounds in England's West Country after twenty years of ocean-based fun, during which he worked at various times as a lifeguard, a sailor, an intelligence gatherer and an investigator. He writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

Blurb:

Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.

 Visit David at his website for more information on him and his books.

CONTEST: David has graciously offered one free download of his book to one lucky commenter!  Comment before Sunday, Aug. 1st at 11:59pm to be entered to win. *Get an extra chance to win by subscribing to The Saucy Scribe by email and/or by GoogleFriending me - both found on the sidebar*

Related Posts:

• Writing Inspiration Friday – Angelika Devlyn
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Kelsey Hanson
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Debora Dennis
• Because I appreciate you

"Love they neighbor - and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devasting, it will be that much easier." ~ Mae West

Today's Word: Debonair

(adj) having a carefree manner; courteous, gracious, charming

Maybe I'm dating myself here, but when I hear the word debonair, the first face that pops into my head is Cary Grant.

So, a little backstory might be order here. When I was little my Dad worked nights. My mom would iron (what's that? I don't think I own one of those weird devices...) and I would keep her company while we watched a movie on TV.

I grew up with the Cary Grant.

His charm, his wit, his just all around gentleman screen persona won me over quickly and so, to this day if you say debonair - I'm gonna respond, Cary Grant. (Although Johnny Depp is a close second, something about that man...um...yeah... )

I don't necessarily think of debonair as drop-dead gorgeous either. It's more of a aura, an attitude and sense of strength and confidence. It's the easy smile, the warm looks, the ability to mingle with both sexes, but exude a certain grace and charm with women that is not lecherous or conniving. A debonair man to me doesn't give off the "I gotta get into your pants" attitude, it's more a "I'm interested in all of you" vibe that makes him stand out from the crowd.

This week while you use the word, think about who you give that title to today. Who would instantly pop into your head and why?

Now to the fun stuff, tomorrow I'm headed to the annual Romance Writers Conference - this year being held in Orlando at the beautiful Disney Swan and Dolphin Hotel! I will be blogging, twittering and posting to my facebook fan page randomly the whole time I'm there (Tuesday - Sunday)

One of the best things about conference would be all the FREE books! Many of them signed by the authors. And what does that mean to you, my faithful blog reader? It means over the next few weeks or months (you never know how many books I'll be coming home with!) I'll be giving away some of those books as commenting prizes. Rules to win books are the same as the weekly Writing Inspiration Friday prizes - which means you only have to comment to get your name in the bowl-o-contestants! (and if you follow the Saucy Scribe by email and/or GoogleFriend - both located on the sidebar - you get extra chances for each comment!)

Writing Inspiration Friday Winner!

Michael

(Please use my contact form on the website to confirm your email address and what format you'd prefer for the free download and I'll forward it to Angelika!)

Happy Monday!

Related Posts:

• Countdown to National begins…
• New Word Monday – Cajole
• New Word Monday – Balk

Welcome to Writing Inspiration Friday here at the Saucy Scribe Blog! Today I'm pleased to have Angelika Devlyn in the house to talk about what inspired her to take up the pen and write erotic romance!

For as long as I can remember I’ve always been a voracious reader, passionate about everything from fantasy to horror to crime. And then I discovered two things I’d never even looked at before - e-Books and erotica. Well, what can I say? Just like that all important first line in a book, I was hooked. I devoured books as though they were going out of fashion. Clearly, e-Books are a relatively new thing here in England and slow to catch on, but out of fashion they are not.

What surprised me most about these erotic stories was my own attitude towards them. After I’d shaken off the ‘dirty old-man mag’ mentality (because in my town all the paperbacks are on the top shelf) I began to realise that there was much more to these sensual stories than at first it would seem. They had a plot! They could be just as suspenseful as a mainstream adventure, but the sex was better. It wasn’t just added in there as a contender for the worst sex in a book award, these authors had taken the time to use sex to move the plot forward and create a story which more-often-than-not pushed the boundaries in a tantalising and erotic way.

The realisation of what a good erotic story contained represented a crossroads in my life, and I made a pact with myself to get my arse moving and just do what I’ve been thinking about for years - write.

The rest, as they say, is history, but with the tenacity of a hungry tiger, a “take-no-prisoners” attitude, some very supportive friends and many hours and words later, I finally sent my manuscript off and had my story accepted.

Since I’ve not had many reactions to it yet I cannot say what readers will feel about my maiden novel. Nor can I share with you any reviews at this stage. The road to future publications may be a rocky one full of obstacles, unexpected interruptions and hidden black ice. It might even be a fun sleigh ride, like those Calvin and Hobbes go on - only less dangerous - who knows? What I can say, however, is that whatever the future holds, I am determined to keep going; to crack on and break through the ice casing barriers of my mind and just do it! 

I want to learn, improve and move on to bigger and better things. I can’t promise myself that will definitely happen or see into the future like the Birds of Doom that have escaped Raven’s Passage in my book, but I do know that to write a story you have to write! Anyone can dream, write lists (which I do a lot) and make goals, but to achieve them is not easy. To stay focused, take action regularly and above all never give up is hard work. You too can smash down that wall of ice which separates you from achieving your goals. And without a pick-axe in sight. All you need is a steely determination and the willingness to see it right through to those last all important words- THE END.

Black Ice: The Dark Kingdom Chronicles is my debut book and the first in the series of the erotic adventures of Ronnie Weaver - a girl transported to another world where the Pandora witches are after her blood. Ronnie will leave behind her safe and comfortable life for one of high adventure, steamy sex and exotic mysticism.

To find out more please visit my website: http://www.Angelika.Devlyn.com

Thank you for having me here, Debora!

My question to your readers is - If I could snap my fingers and grant you an adventure of a lifetime, what would you ask for?

I will be hanging around to check for comments today. So please do drop me a line. I love to chat.

Angel

Thanks Angel for being here today!

CONTEST! Angel has graciously offered a free download of her first erotic novel to one lucky commenter!  Winner will be drawn from comments made before Sunday July 25th at 11:59pm and the winner will be posted on the blog Monday morning - so don't forget to come back and check!

*Email subscribers and GoogleFriends - both found on my sidebar - get extra chances to win each week when they comment*.

 

Related Posts:

• Writing Inspiration Friday – Kelsey Hanson
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Debora Dennis
• Because I appreciate you

Next week at this time I'll be in Orlando at the beautiful Swan and Dolphin Hotel in sunny (and hot!) Orlando for the Romance Writers of America annual national conference.

Seven us from Dunes & Dreams RWA are headed down there, some of us sharing rooms and flights!

We've all volunteered to help out in different ways, afterall, a conference that draws approximately 3000 romance writers -from the best selling Nora Roberts to the unpublished writer who only recently put that pen to paper - needs plenty of volunteers to run as smoothly as it does!

I've got appointments with agents, I've got lists upon lists of what I need to remember to bring, I'm ready to pitch, network, drink and put some of the online names with faces!

But with less than a week to go, this is when my neurotic tendancies start to emerge. From makeup to clothes to packing the right shoes - to OMG where is my camera charger and my mini-mouse for my netbook? Of course, the hubby keeps me on track and organized, but do I take the time to remember that? NO!  I'd much rather panic that I can't find the email with my online airline confirmation!

This morning I set up my phone for twitter, so I can tweet from the conference with ease - so if you don't want to miss my crazy twitter updates from Orlando...don't forget to follow me!

This morning I also set up my phone to post pics to my facebook - so again, I can post and update on conference on the fly! So, if you don't want to miss the photos coming straight from RWA National 2010 in Orlando - hit that facebook button on my sidebar and "fan" me or "like" me, whatever it is these days!

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"To get the chicks one must coax the hen." ~ Unknown

Todays word: Cajole

To coax gently and persistently

The weekend started out in the usual way for the DD household, which means, like most families - errands and shopping (which are really the same thing most of the time!) After the rounds of dropping kids at work and parties the husband and I found ourselves alone in the store - wow, that doesn't happen often.

Alone in the store with no one to toss unwanted items into the cart, no one to beg for stuff I don't want to buy - or so I thought.

Hubby and I found ourselves in front of the sunglass display.

Like every other redblooded woman, I love to see my guy in sunglasses, but he's a creature of habit and has resisted parting ways with his favorite pair of shades for a while now. Yes, ladies - the sunglasses are broken and have been glued! So while I was cajoling him into getting a new, improved pair of sexy shades - he turned the table on me and coaxed me into doing the same.

My problem is not that I've grown attached my sunglasses, my problem is more than I have at least a dozen pairs - somewhere. I can never find them. I leave them places, forget where I put them, toss them in the backseat of the car to be stolen by one of the kids...I think you get the idea.

This is what I picked out. Not sure if I like them yet...

WRITING INSPIRATION FRIDAY'S WINNER!

 

Winner of the Pocket-notepad - Krysten!

 

Please use the contact form on my website to email me your address.

 

Have a great monday, don't forget to use the word of the week!

Related Posts:

• New Word Monday – Balk

 Welcome to Writing Inspiration Friday! Today's guest blogger is Kelsey Hanson from polishedportrayal.blogspot.com

 
As a teenager, I was often told to treasure these moments, as they would be the best that I would ever have.  I listened to this advice in FEAR, because if that was the case, then what could there possibly be to live for?  And if these years felt like CRAP, then should I expect the rest of my life to be even CRAPPIER?
 
I know I was not the only person to receive this little tip, so I'm certain that some people must actually feel this way to some degree, which I can't even imagine.  Living in the past is something I've never felt compelled to do, and have always been pushing forward towards a better and brighter tomorrow.  Which a lot of the time, is simply not the case.  My life past high school isn't crappier, but it hasn't been a delightful climb into the heights of delirious happiness either.  It's been an emotional rollercoaster, filled with highs and lows, but I can honestly say that the lowest of the low, for me, was the teenage years.
 
These were the years that I began to write.  I wrote sad, depressing poems about life and death, in a confused attempt to understand myself and the purpose of my life.  It was helpful I suppose, and I found that over the years, as my spirit lightened, and my despair faded, I wrote less and less.
 
Until now.  Having my husband deploy for his military tour in Afghanistan was one of the most difficult experiences of my life, mainly for having to watch my two children struggle with his absence and the adjustment to our lives.  Feeling uncertain of how to handle this, I resorted back to writing.  But this time?  Ten years later?  I didn't feel the need to understand myself as much as I had in earlier years.  I know who I am, what I value, which direction I want my life to go and how I plan to get there.  Writing sad, depressing poetry?  Well, that would serve no purpose other than to push me further into a deep, dark hole of despair and desperation.
 
What made me feel better?  What inspired me to move on?  What actually helped me pull through this challenging time, was writing a positive and humorous reflection of the moments in our life.  Not a convoluted version that inaccurately describes our days as being happy-go-lucky moments, but a portrayal of how even the most brutal of brutal experiences can be something to laugh about.  And in writing this, I found that the opportunity to share my thoughts and feelings about these moments inspired other people too.  Which was all kinds of inspiring for me to continue blogging my heart out and sharing our story.
 
Some days, I find myself holding my head in my hands, frustrated with the chaos of managing to find enthusiasm for my son's dinosaur expression, while cleaning up the floors from the mess of my daughter's potty training attempts.  The same place I had just cleaned up my yorkie's pee, after he jumped up from my lap, made eye contact with me and deliberately lifted his leg, all because I was unwilling to throw his ball for the 90th time.  But these moments?  They can be inspiring all the same, because as horrific as a day can get, the worst ones are often made of the best material for writing.

www.polishedproductions.etsy.com
www.polishedportrayal.blogspot.com

CONTEST:

One commenter will win this cute notepad with magnetic closure. Fits in your purse or in your pocket and is great for writing down inspiration when it strikes!

Want to increase your chances of winning a Writing Inspiration Friday give-away? Subscribe to my blog by email (subscribe box on the sidebar) and/or GoogleFriend the Saucy Scribe for an extra chance each week!

Winner are announced on the Monday blog - so check back!

(Winners chosen at random from comments made by Sunday 11:59 est.)

Related Posts:

• Writing Inspiration Friday – Angelika Devlyn
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Debora Dennis
• Because I appreciate you

"The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films."

~ Paul Newman

Oranges have always been one of my favorite fruits. I love the crisp, clean scent of anything orange based from my cleaners, to my body scrubs to my choice of food flavorings - orange is my first love.

When I lived in San Diego I could spend hours driving north and loved nothing more than finding myself in the midst of orange groves - so aromatic, so romantic (yes, something about those orange groves is romantic to me.)

So this morning while flipping through the pages of my "Bobby Flay's Bold American Food" cookbook, and I happened upon this recipe for Orange Vinaigrette - you can imagine my delight! And being the good blog host that I am, I'm going to share it with all of you!

Enjoy!

Orange Vinaigrette

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, 2tbs chopped red onion, 2 tbs fresh lime juice, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp ancho chile powder, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a saucepan over high heat, reduce the orange juice until it forms a syrup. Let the syrup cool slightly (to skip this step, substitute 3 tbs of undiluted frozen orange juice.)

2. In a blender, combine the orange syrup, onion, lime juice, mustard, chile powder, and wine vinegar. Blend for 30 seconds. With the blender running, slowly add  the olive oil until the dressing emulsifies. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

May be prepared 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room termperature before serving.

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• Squash-Fest

"In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn't danced on television." ~ Erma Bombeck

Balk or Baulk

(1) To stop short or refuse to go on.

(2) To refuse obstinately or abruptly

How often do you balk at things, specifically new foods or a change of plans? This weekend my daughter and I went on a trip into Manhattan with her Girl Scout troop. The weather when we left that morning didn't look promising, so being the prepared Girl Scout myself - I carried jackets and an umbrella along for the ride. (But, did I put them in a nice, convenient bag? No, would I really be that organized?)

We took the train into Penn Station and five minutes off the train and I knew I was in for a long day of lugging these things over my arm. We emerged from Penn and our group of 14 decided it was in our best interests to take cabs to the Circle Line Pier. Good choice, I was thrilled and would never balk.

Three hours later, our group got off the boat and now needed to walk about 10 city blocks to the restaurant we'd chosen to take the girls for dinner. A limo driver tried to convince us that our party of 14 would fit in his limo - it was old, had only two seats in the back and he suggested the 7 girls sit on the floor between the adults. Um. No thanks! While the girls thought it would be a fun adventure - I guess at 11 safety isn't a major concern? All seven adults balked at that plan!

We walked.

After having to find a bathroom along the way, and stopping briefly at the Hell's Kitchen Farmer's Market (which was really fun and had the most amazing pickles!) we finally found ourselves at our destination.

Dinner was great, the girls had a blast and we ended our day at the Rippley's Believe-it-not Museum (where I finally broke down and bought a totebag to haul my umbrella and jackets!) Back at Penn Station around 8pm, the Hagen-Daz ice cream called out to all of us and we loaded up with cones and cups before racing to catch the train home. No one balked at that decision!

It was a great weekend!

Your challenge this week is to think about the word and try to use it! I'd love to hear what made you balk today or if you didn't balk at something new.

Winners of Writing Inspiration Friday!

Free Download of The Kandy Shoppe ~ Carly Carson

Acid-free ice-cream themed scrapbook stickers ~ Stephanie

Please use the "contact me" link at the top. For downloads, I need your email and format you'd like. For stickers, I need a mailing address.

Have a great Monday!

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• New Word Monday – Cajole

Today, I'm going to kick the idea off and tell you a little about what inspired my first novella, The Kandy Shoppe. If you stick around to the end of the post, and comment, you could win one of two prizes. Winners will be chosen at 11:59pm est Sunday evening and announced Monday morning, so you have all weekend to comment!

I'll be honest, I never thought about writing a novella. All my plots and books up to that point were novel size. I had just finished a book that was pretty emotional for me and during the period of "letting it sit and stew" I flipped through my notebook of ideas.

Nothing was strking enough of a cord to make me want to dive in and write that story - you know that feeling of "OMG I have to write this before I bust open!" - Nope not happening.

Being between books is NOT the most inspirational time for me, it's when I doubt my ideas, it's when I wonder if I'll ever have another idea good enough for a whole entire book.

In the middle of a funk I found myself in the local grocery store - in front of the ice-cream freezer making the earth-shattering decision of what flavor ice cream I would drown my sorrows in - when inspiration struck.

At that moment all I could see was a little old-fashioned ice cream palor, a broken freezer and one hot-damn sexy freezer repair man!

And even though I was NOT an erotic writer - this was an erotic story begging to ooze from my fingers - and it was a short story. (Honestly, that fact alone surprised the heck of me - I'd never considered trying my hand at a novella until that day.)

After a little bit of convincing from my critique group and few trial runs flexing my erotic muscles (on paper!) the story took on a life of it's own.

Not only did it sell quick - it was the debut book for a brand new ePublisher, Blade Publishing.

I can now honestly say that I never know where the inspiration for my storylines might come from or what direction they might take.

Do all ideas that are born in crazy places like the frozen food section of the local grocery story often turn into stories? No, they don't. But I do keep my eyes, ears and heart open at all times, with a pad at the ready - in case that inspiring moment does come along!

I hope my story inspires you to go out today and write something different than your "normal" story - explore a new idea, a new direction or simply take a different path!

Thanks for reading! Since this is the debut of Writing Inspiration Friday's, I'll be giving away two prizes today. Chosen randomly by an uninterested party (my daughter!) one commenter will win a free download of The Kandy Shoppe (pdf or mobi, which can be read on kindle if you prefer) and the other will win a pkg. of acid-free scrapbook stickers in, of course, an ice-cream shop theme!

(Want to increase you chances of winning every Friday? Subscribe to my blog by email - put your email in the box to the right and submit - and your comments on every Friday post automatically count twice! "Friend" my blog with Google Connect - also on the sidebar - and you add another chance every Friday you comment!) 

Related Posts:

• Writing Inspiration Friday – Angelika Devlyn
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Kelsey Hanson
• Because I appreciate you

"Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful." ~ Buddha

It's because of the loyalty of my readers that I post here on the blog as often as I do. I appreciate the comments left both on the blog and the comments I receive in my email - they mean a lot to me!

So just to let you all know that I not only listen, I hear you and I deliver! Which means, a few new things on the blog!

(1) For your commenting pleasure, I have found another spam fighter and have removed the dreaded math from the comment box! (I know, I hated it too!)

(2) DeboraDennis.com has been modified for your iPhone/iTouch viewing/commenting enjoyment - I even have my own little app button (really, how cool is that? It matches my twitter icon, if you follow me on twitter, you'll recognize me!) *From your phone or touch, go to safari, type in deboradennis.com - the blog is officially the home page so you get your Saucy Scribe quicker. Hit the bookmark feature and choose - save to main screen - and you'll see my icon with your other apps! (I'm really excited about this, can you tell?)

and

(3) Get ready for "Writing Inspiration Friday's!" Starting within the next few weeks Friday's will be taken over by a guest blogger every week. Get ready for blogs about what inspires authors to write or what inspired their latest release. And what guest post would be complete without prizes? Yup - my guests will be bringing goodies to give away too.

Watch the sidebar on the right for my guest spot line-up.

Related Posts:

• Writing Inspiration Friday – Angelika Devlyn
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Kelsey Hanson
• Writing Inspiration Friday – Debora Dennis