Guest Post – The Benefits of Reading a Steamy Romance Novel

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Amanda Jayde

Romance novels are sometimes blamed for creating false expectations of romance. However, they are more than just the sexy covers in your grocery store checkout aisle–they are a great way to be entertained, turned on, and learn something new about yourself or your significant other. A quality piece of erotica turns us on, fuels our sexual fantasies, and keeps us in a constant yearn for more romance. While you may rely on a romantic tale for your reading pleasure and relaxation, erotica can also serve as a good learning tool, inspiration, and can be a foray into a new, more intense sex life. Yes, reading erotic literature can enhance your love life, both sexually and romantically. Don’t think so? Here are just a few benefits of moving your desires from the pages to the bedroom.

Read Romance, Reconnect With Your Sexual Self

benniesromanceReading an erotic story can help put you back in touch with your sexuality. By diving into a novel with romantic and sensual themes, you develop your own emotional and mental passions, which can aid in improving your relationship with your mate and/or your sex life in general. Unlike adult films, erotica forces the reader to use his or her imagination to envision the romantic and sexual situations on their own, which is a plus for women as they are more often stimulated mentally. Try reading a chapter or two before bed to unwind and partake in some self pleasure that’ll leave you relaxed and feeling refreshed. Or relax after a stressful day by reading your favorite passages with your mate, and watch where it leads.

Enhance Your Own Romance

Romance novels often introduce us to new ideas and sexual situations that we most likely would not have been exposed to on our own. Erotica can improve your sex life by presenting new ways to engage with your partner sexually. Switch up your boring sex routines by integrating foreign activities like role playing, fantasy, dirty talk, and some unique sex toys from Adam & Eve. Because you must keep things fresh and interesting in the boudoir, it’s imperative to come up with new ways to broaden your sexual know-how. Start off simple by doing something easy like trying out a unique position or doing it in a new environment, then move onto more provocative sexual adventures like the bondage and kink you just read about in 50 Shades of Grey. Explore romance and you’ll discover the endless number of ways you can better your sexual relationship with your partner.

No matter what it is you’re reading, a good book draws you in, creates a relationship between you and the characters, and can even change how you approach things in your daily life. When you delve into the characters’ love lives you may find that there are certain important facets of your own relationship that you are unhappy with, or parts of your sex life that are unfulfilled. While you can’t compare your love life to that of the fictitious characters from your favorite novels, you can still use them as a way to reflect on your own love situations, which could lead to many positive changes when it comes to the sexual and romantic aspects in your life.

 

**This post was written by Andrea Jackson, a freelance writer and aspiring journalist who in her free time enjoys movies, TV, and a good book.**

 

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New Year, New Me!

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Amanda Jayde

Well here we are at the flipside of 2014.  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I have decided that 2014 will be about changes.  It’s a milestone year for me in that I am going to enter into a new age bracket so I thought long and hard about what I want out of life.

So, new year, new me.  Yes I’ve made the same old resolutions I make every year, eat better, lose weight, tell those that I love that I love them whenever I get the chance, but this year I’ve vowed to be more selfish.  LOL I am the type of person who usually will bend over backwards for those around me, and sometimes that means that I’m usually looking at my own ass and feeling like one too.  No more I say.

This year is the year of ME.  I am going to write more because that’s what I enjoy doing and I don’t do enough of it.  I might exercise more but I am going to do it in a way that I enjoy I might even take a vacation or 3 (or I just might save for that dream trip to London).   I may even blog more.  Who knows?

2014 is an open book full of blank pages that I intend to fill.  This is my year.

Until Next Time

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Playing Catchup Before The New Year

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Amanda Jayde

Hey all!

Hope everyone’s holiday season is going well, as for me well … I am a bit of a last minute buyer which means I’m stressed.  Add that to the fact that I am in charge of my company’s Christmas party and it just doubles.  But wait, what’s that?  You managed to actually finish a story?

Why yes I did LOL.

It’s a short story that will be part of an anthology to come out early in 2014.  There are 5 authors total and the cool thing is we all write different genres so there’s bound to be something for everyone out there to enjoy and maybe you’ll find a new author to read.  All the stories revolve around a mausoleum located in Brompton Cemetary in London. I will post more about the book as soon as I know more, what I can say is that ALL proceeds of the sale of the book will be going to a charity that is restoring the cemetaries in New Orleans and as a bonus, all the authors in the book will be at the Romantic Times Convention in New Orleans.  Oh!  Want one more tease?  My short’s title is SPELLBOUND and it will begin a whole new series for me – this one’s about Witches.

Never fear though, now that I’m done with the short (which I had a deadline for) I can go back to book 3 of the Dark Wolf Series of which I am about 75% done.  I wrote the short in about 2 1/2 weeks so if I can continue that pace I’ll have book 3 done by early next year 🙂 (If not sooner).  So maybe you’ll have a witch story AND a wolf story from me in 2014!

Well that’s all for now, may you all have a very HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!

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Guest Post – Chasing the Genre

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Amanda Jayde
cameorayeChasing the Genre
This is a post in two parts… because I’m strange like that.
I’m a Western Fiction girl… have been for a LONG time. Still, the industry says that Westerns are dying as a genre. It’s enough to give a girl fits! So what does a writer do? Should I pack it up and throw my hands in the air? Should I pack away my spurs and six-guns? Not quite.
Steampunk… a growing, changing, evolving genre is on the rise. What is Steampunk? Well, it’s safe to say that Steampunk is different things to different people. Just pop into any Steampunk forum, group online and you’ll see what I mean. But Steampunk has many facets to it… and that’s why I brought it up.
A sub-genre that some refer to as Weird Westpunk or Dustpunk takes much of what we know as a Western and give it that fantasy element that seems to be so inherent in Steampunk. Think of the TV show “Wild Wild West” and you’ll see what I mean.
So… is the Western dying? Maybe in its current incarnation. But a new version is on the rise. Much like the old gunfighter with cap and ball pistols must see the advantages to the new cartridge pistol. Advance or be left behind.
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Besides writing in the Western genre, I’ve also been a fan of the Victorian Era, or in American terms the Civil War and Antebellum Eras. Those eras have been out of favor for a bit in publishing… Medieval, Regency, all trump the tight corsets and odd shapes that those bones corsets give a woman’s figure. So why bother writing in that era? I didn’t really. I was, ‘chasing the genre’ trying to figure out what was popular and write ‘that.’
It sounds like a good idea, but then you’re always just a step or two behind at the best… and that’s if you have a ton of time to write, no distractions, and lots of support from family and friends.

ShanghaiSteam-270px-100dpi-C8
Steampunk, again, is largely a part of the Victorian Era… Exploration, Steam Technology, God Save the Queen and all of her lovely pith helmeted soldiers! If I hadn’t wasted my time

trying to chase what was currently the hot topic on the market… imagine where I might be today!

If I had been writing in those genres of my heart… believing in my muses and inspiration instead of the imagined carrot dangling before me. I might be in a completely different place.
Still, I am grateful for where I am and constantly moving forward. The path ahead is one of my own making. And like the Victorian Explorers that found their way through jungle and desert with little more than their wits and a determined mindset…. here I go!
Ray Dean is an author with two short stories published in the anthology books “Shanghai Steam” and “Steamfunk!” She can be found at her website here or on Amazon here.
If you would like to be featured as a guest poster please drop me an email, I’d love to feature you.
Until Next Time,
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Fun with graphics

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Amanda Jayde

Ever since I saw the finale of this season’s True Blood, when Eric was sitting out sunning naked and reading a book, I wondered what he was reading. Then one of my besties, Rose, sent me a screen grab of it and I thought, well I don’t know what he was reading, but I know what I’m going to be making him read …. So with a little help from photoshop I had a little fun with it.

Enjoy!

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Popping in …

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Amanda Jayde

Okay so I am a self-admitted terrible blogger – I mean TERRIBLE, AWFUL … seriously B.A.D.  Which is why there is always a lot of time between posts, I always think no one wants to hear the mundane ramblings of my life (or maybe you do?).

Anyhooters, I’m STILL working on book 3, it seems to not want to get written, part of it is me I think, just lazy, the EDJ is mentally exhausting, whatevs … but after talking to a great friend last night, I vented, she encouraged and I think I may be back on track.

I did not go to the Romantic Times Convention this year, mostly cause well … I didn’t want to.  I had been to Kansas City (actually that was my 1st convention) as an unpubbed author and I didn’t want to do it again.  So instead I saved up my moola and did something I hadn’t done in YEARS ……

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A book review ….

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Amanda Jayde

That’s right I’m about to review a book – is this why I’m so sloooooow with writing well YES … okay no, the book was really a quick read so I have no excuse LOL.

Soooo what was this book, was it Romance?  No, but there was a love story.
Was it Erotic?  Nope, but there was sex in it.
Was it historical?  Uh-uh, but it was about the past ….

Am I driving you nuts yet?

 

 

 

The book was …..  RITA MORENO, A MEMOIR
Rita Moreno Book

 

Yup a non-fiction, celebrity book.
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Could it be???

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Amanda Jayde

Yes it’s MEEEEE

Okay I know I have been a totally crap blogger, but I’ve been really busy and well I didn’t have much to say but now I do so hold on to your hats …..

Actually I’ll probably just split everything up so I can blog for a few days …

Let’s see what will I cover, well life in general and some updates on how the book is coming along, I will have a book review (I read AND write) and a book recommendation with hopefully a tease with the author of said book.

But first …. How sad am I that I am not in Kansas City this week, it’s RT week and I’ve only missed one other convention since I’ve started going in 2003 (it was my 10 yr anniversary!!!) The only thing that makes it better is most of my close circle of friends also did not go so we can sulk together LOL.

All is okay though as we’re making plans to go next year, it’s in New Orleans!  We’re going to register early just to make sure we get in LOL.

Speaking of NOLA I’ll be heading there next month for a few days of research with some fellow writers (and I’m sure we’ll sneak in some fun as well).

Well that’s it for now, I hope everyone at RT is having a blast!

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New Years Eve

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Amanda Jayde

The time of year where you take stock of what you’ve done, and if you’re like me, what didn’t quite get done and you hope for more in the coming year.

I did get a new book out (woohoo me!) but I didn’t finish the contemporary, in fact I’m so stuck in it that I think I just may toss it and use another.  Ahhh frustration, the evil sister to procrastination and writer’s block LOL.

What I am looking forward to writing wise in the next year is to finish and publish book 3 in the Dark Wolf Series and to finish that other contemporary and find it a home :).  If I can get that done, I may put Beneath the Blood Moon in print!

Personally, in 2013 I’d like to go off on an adventure, maybe get my passport who knows?  Other than that, I can’t complain.  I’m happy, healthy and content in who I am and what I have.  I have a fantastic family and some of the best friends a person can ask for.  And I have my readers 🙂  So thank you all for a wonderful 2012.

My wish for you is a happy, healthy, love-filled 2013!  May all your wishes come true.

I leave you with my favorite rendition of Auld Lang Syne – I’ll be toasting you tonight!  Be safe!

Until Next Year!
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Another Day … another movie … one daaaay moooooore

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Amanda Jayde

Get the reference? 

It’s Les Miserables!!

Les Mis (as it’s affectionally known) is in the top three of my personal favorite musicals (The other two being Wicked and Rent), I’ve seen it eight times on stage (both Broadway and touring company) and I know people who have been in it (which adds to the reasons of why I’ve seen it so many times).  One of the times I saw it was when Ricky Martin starred as Marius – just before he hit it HUGE in the US and my best friend and I waited at the stage door for him to come out, he was so nice and we got autographs and squealed like schoolgirls – after all, he WAS in Menudo … LOL.

 But I digress, this is about the movie Les Miserables, starring Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Anne Hathaway (Becoming Jane) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe

 

 

 

 

 

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