The Steam Room

I thought it fitting to end this weeklong tribute to love with some poetic talk.  Poetry isn’t easy to write, at least the kind that uses more than cheap rhymes and absurd situations.  Like poetry, love isn’t easy either.  But then, if it was easy, we wouldn’t want it so much, would we?

Please welcome Erin M. Leaf, Larion Wills, Frances Pauli,and Natalie R-G as they talk about the poetry of love.

Erin M. Leaf

I write romance because I'm continually looking to fall in love, again and again. That initial zing, the danger, the trembling vulnerability and anticipation? Amazing. Then, after all that ends, you get to snuggle up with the person with whom you feel most at home. I wrote a poem a few years ago that pretty much sums it all up:

Promises

We’re broken open, our imperfect sky

flecked with stars, meteors, wings,

impalpable from here, as though a wry

god entangled all those fragile strings

and stepped away. Abandoned angels walk,

toss off their halos. Some do not survive

the alteration of their world, though shock

can be less startling than the joy. Some drive

around, the Milky Way impossible

to find within the cities. Maybe that

is why we kiss, make invisible

promises. We’re driven to combat

catastrophe. The loss of what we’ve known.

We choose to love because it feels like home.

www.erinmleaf.com

Erin M. Leaf’s complete bibliography

Larriane AKA Larion Wills

Say I love you with a red rose.

When you think of the language of flowers so you think of the Victorian era and florigraphy? Or do you think back further to the ancient Greeks or perhaps a Turkish harem? Flowers, and using them to express feelings, have been around for a long, long time. Queen Victoria made leaning those meanings all the fad in dear old England and all the proper young ladies studied to not only learn more than one way to say I love you, but to express degrees and conditions as well.  Would you rather say it in some other way other than a red rose? A red chrysanthemum means the same. Or something other than just I love you? A secret love, perhaps? Try a yellow acacia.  For a pure love, a red carnation. To express a woman’s love rather than a man’s, a pink carnation. True Love, forget-me-nots.  To express the bonds of love, honeysuckle. Lilacs for the first emotions of love or primroses for young love. Just think what a lovely bouquet could be put together trying to say it all at once. Wait, let’s stick in some rosemary for remembrance and juniper for protection. To end, I’ve just got to mention one last one, especially if it’s for a wedding bouquet; we have to add an ancient Greek tradition of hawthorn as a symbol of conjugal union.    

http://www.larriane.com                      ;

http://larionmusing.blogspot.com/          ;

http://www.facebook.com/people/Larriane-Wills/1535007230

It’s Still Tomorrow buy link

Frances Pauli

Love is different things to different people and different between different people. I think "in love" is what we immediately think of, but loving someone is deeper and longer lasting than that initial crazed, dizziness of "falling."

That's the textbook answer. So how come we're all so addicted to the falling?:-) Any romance reader can tell you, it's the dizziness that draws us in and leaves us breathless—at least on the page. That falling is a powerful thing, and in fiction, we can sustain it and

relive it over and over again.

I write romance for the same reason that I read it. I'm addicted to falling in love. In real life, that happens rarely and is often transmutated into being in love, which is a different animal entirely. So by writing and reading romance, I can feed that addiction, that passion for the spark and sparkle of love and attraction.

http://francespauli.com

Frances Pauli's complete bibliography

Natalie R-G, romance novel aficionado

I just love love stories. They are full of the possibilitiesand risks and passion that I think everyone dreams of having in their ownlives.

From Michele: I hope you enjoyed The Steam Room's celebration of love in honor of Valentine's Day.  I think some of my favorite posts happened this week.  What do you think? Leave a comment below.

For some of us, reading romance provides an escape from our daily stressors.  For others, it lets us enjoy romantic encounters and relationships that will never be our reality.  We love our Significant Others, but real relationships are seldom all about the romance.  Between work and family demands, we often have little energy left for even small romantic gestures. Romance is a habit. Once we fall out of that habit, it’s difficult to pick up again. Even so, that doesn’t mean the love dies. Romance novels fill a need we don’t often have time to fill for ourselves.

Please welcome Daisy Harris, Rachel Clark, and Brandy asthey talk about the lighter side of love.

Daisy Harris

I write romance because in real life, the guy who seems like he doesn't like you probably doesn't. The guy who appears to be a jerk really is a jerk.  In real life, bad boys actually are bad news. Reality is a sad and desolate place. In romance, anything is possible!  Gruff and mean heroes blossom into loving husbands. Evil vampires melt for the right eyelash-batting human. Romance bends the rules of psychology, love, and even physics. 

Love is nothing if not a fantasy, and romance is imagination brought to life.

www.thedaisyharris.com/

Daisy Harris's complete bibliography

Rachel Clark

I was lying in bed the other night doing what I usually do—dreaming up plots and characters for my stories. Mentally I was checking off all the necessary personality traits (IMHO of course) for my lead character. Brave…check. Strong sense of right and wrong…check. Protective and willing to put the needs of others first…check.

Still unable to sleep, my mind wandered to the similarities between my character and my husband. Yes…brave, strong sense of responsibility, protective and willing to put the needs of his family first. Hmmm maybe this character is my husband. Maybe, I've subconsciously written my man into the character in my story.

I lay there pondering the revelation. My husband has always joked that he plays the lead roll in all of my stories—maybe he's right. I rolled over to snuggle into my deeply asleep, real life dream-man and what happened?

He farted.

Yup, but not a small, sneaky escape of gas. Nope, I couldn't be that lucky. This was the biggest, loudest, smelliest fart I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Trying not to inhale, I ran for cover, straight back to my computer and my story. Hmmm…fantasy man.

When I could breathe again, I started to laugh as another revelation hit me…Maybe, that is why I write romance. All the good stuff…none of the rough edges.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, romantic, pleasant-smelling Valentine’s Day

http://rachelclark.webs.com/ ;

Rachel Clark's complete bibliography

Brandy, romance novel aficionado

I like reading romance for the HEA's.  I am married but my hubby doesn't have a romantic bone in his body, LOL.

I love all the different situations that the characters get into and end up getting out of.  No matter what they go through they always find love, they overcome so much.  It gets you thinking that you don't have it so bad after all.

I like traveling to all the different places and reading about the customs of the characters.  No matter what when it comes to romance you can always find something that you like. 

It is a way to live out your fantasies, to do things you would never do in real life and sometimes give you ideas on things to do.

Readers, funny love stories?  Leave comments below.  At the end of the week, I'll choose one lucky commenter to win their choice of one of my novels, including my upcoming mainstream contemporary romance, Crimes of the Heart.

Tune in tomorrow for The Poetry of Love Sunday, February 13: Erin M. Leaf, LarionWills, Frances Pauli, Natalie R-G

Like a river, love changes in response to time and climate.  It might freeze or change course or rush over rocky rapids, but it never goes away.  I think the key to any successful relationship is to make sure you change together, that your rivers run parallel, and that they frequently cross and twine. Rivers, like love, are a force of nature.  Never tamed, frequently wrestled, and always sought.

Please welcome Melissa Bradley, Laura Tolomei, and KR Bailey as they talk about love’s magical journeys.

Melissa Bradley

I write romance because I love the magical journey of two people coming together and falling in love. Love is the greatest gift we humans can give and receive. It is boundless, intimate, protective, vulnerable, steadfast, passionate, funny, sad...a powerful kaleidoscope that colors our lives in brilliant hues. Nothing captures love in all its forms better than romance. The romance genre is like love, a kaleidoscope of literature from contemporary tohistorical, from sci fi to paranormal, from inspirational to mystery and many others in between. There is nothing I find more exciting than beginning a new romance story.

http://myspace.com/melbwrites

http://melissasimaginarium.blogspot.com

Melissa Bradley's complete bibliography

Laura Tolomei

Loveburns all rationality to passionate cinders

I like to study people and their relationships, trying to look at them from a different angle, which is the reason my books hardly ever talk about love, not in any traditional sense anyway rather through the sensual explosion that obliterates rationality until my characters can do nothing except surrender to it.  Like Drake, in To Seduce a Soul Mate, who is battled because he doesn’t think Martin is a suitable choice as a lover for reason of gender alone, yet cannot erase the sensation the man unleashes withhis mere presence. Or Sean Davis, in Tasting Leon’s Mark, who is cornered by Leon Sterling into making choices he would rather have not, but is unable to resist him because the erotic tempest he lives every daynext to his intriguing and out-of-any-category lover is priceless and unique, not to mention addictive. Again, it’s Ylianor Meyer, in the Virtus Saga, whofollows two men—one of which clearly states he hates her—out of the sheer insanity of the senses that speak against her better judgment.

Yes, all of them should’ve listened to their rational instinct if they wanted to maintain a grip on reality and on themselves, not be battered or cornered into extreme situations, but would their lives have beenhalf as thrilling, exciting, intoxicating, arousing, sex-filled if they had? Would they have felt as alive as they did? No, there’s no easy answer, and certainly not a collective one either, for everyone knows or has to find out his or her limits and whether to cross over them for the sake of pleasure. I guess in the end, it’s a compromise between the two sides, the rational and the irrational one, with individual balances depending on how much one is willing to sacrifice in order to get what he or she truly wants. Me…I’m all forextremes and excesses, and so are my characters who live heart racing, heated, passionate borderline relationships with their lovers.

www.lallagatta.com/

Laura Tolomei's complete bibliography

K. R. Bailey

What is Love? So many things come to mind. A warm fuzzy feeling when the person you love comes into the room. A feeling that life is good no matter how many problems you have. When you have a special someone, there is a feeling of goodness that surrounds you. Frustration that the love of your life just doesn’t seem to understand you, and there is no way you can begin to understand him. But you accept that because on the days everything seems to feel just right, it makes everything worth it.

I love writing about romance. It’s what most everyone in the world is looking for. Many will deny it, but when it bumps into them unexpectedly, they seem to latch on and not let go. When I create new characters, it’s fun to see who they become and how they respond when love finally comes into their life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

http://KRBailey.com

http://www.bookstrand.com/kr-bailey

Readers, tell us about your magical journeys. Leave a comment below. At the end of the week, I'll choose one lucky commenter to win their choice of one of my novels, including my upcoming mainstream contemporary romance, Crimes of the Heart.

Check back tomorrow for The Lighter Side of Love Saturday, February 12: DaisyHarris, Rachel Clark, Brandy

Life-changing moments are sometimes big events and sometimes nothing we notice at the time.  They can be a serious medical event or the same old thing that happens every day.  Whether it creeps up on you or smacks you upside the head, everybody experiences things that make them sit up and take notice of life.  We take stock and re-evaluate. We figure out what life we want and grab hold of it. Some people take up knitting or a sport. Romantics turn to reading and writing romance novels.

Please welcome Missy Martine and Jillian Chantal as theytalk about how writing romance helps them combat stress.

 Missy Martine

I write romance because reading romance novels helped me through one of the worst times of my life. Up until 2002, I was a workaholic happily devoting twelve to fourteen hours a day to my new business.  I’d retired from nursing and opened my own medical billing service.  The business was flourishing and so was I.  Everything seemed perfect and then tragedy struck.  My entire life came to ascreeching halt when I suffered a series of small strokes.  Overnight I went from a secure, on top-of-the-world businesswoman to someone who couldn’t communicate and needed help to dress herself.  My life was a nightmare of doctors, physical therapy and no romance.

Up until then I’d not been much of a reader.  There was never time in my busy schedule.  After the strokes I had nothing but time, and reading became an escape for me.  I read my first ménage romance about six months into my recovery and it completely changed my life and gave me hope thatI might have a second chance at love.  It put romance back into my heart, and from there, back into my marriage.  One book led to another and before I knew it, I’d read over two hundred books in one year. When I started writing, it seemed only natural that I’d want to write something that might affect another person the same way.  Today it gives me great pleasure to think that my books might bring a little romance into some lonely person’s life.

www.missymartine.com

Missy Martine's complete bibliography

Jillian Chantal

There are two reasons I write romance. The first one is thatI have a high stress day job. It’s sometimes a real downer and I find that the quest to make a “happily ever after” for my characters operates as a way to pull myself off the ceiling when I have a bad day in the trenches. It takes away the stress and relaxes me. The second reason, and the best part of writing romance, is that I can make the male characters say whatever I want. I work in a male dominated field and I live with a spouse and two sons. It’s a fun thing to be able to write a male character that I can mold. Not that I want a Stepford husband and kids but, man, sometimes, my dialogue is better than what they come out with.  Seriously, I love the romance genre and the Happily Ever After aspect, and the best byproduct of writing romance? Being a part of the community of writers in this genre- they are all awesome and so supportive! 

http://jillianchantal.wordpress.com/

Solo Honeymoon link

So, Readers, what kind of stresses does reading romance help you to overcome? Leave a comment below. At the end of the week, I'll choose one lucky commenter to win their choice of one of my novels, including my upcoming mainstream contemporary romance, Crimes of the Heart.

Check back tomorrow for Magical Journeys Friday, February 11: Melissa Bradley, LauraTolomei, KR Bailey

Entire novels have been written and entire careers have been dedicated to trying to define love. Romance novelists redefine it with every book they write. The definition changes with time and experience. It stays fresh and new and sometimes elusive. That’s probably why we keep writing it.  True romantics never give up! (And I had a really, really hard time not titling this 'Hump Day'.)

Please welcome ZA Maxfield, Karenna Colcroft, Tina Donahue,Lynne Roberts, and Jenni C-H as they talk about love.

ZA Maxfield

Love is not a noun, something that you get, give, long for, dream about, hoard, or lose. Love is a verb, which means we must constantly, consciously be in the act of doing it if we want it in our lives. I write romance because everyone deserves a happy ending.

http://zamaxfield.com

http://abstractrx.livejournal.com/

ZA Maxfield’s complete bibliography

Karenna Colcroft

Love is something indefinable and indescribable. It’s probably one of the most overused words in the English language; “I love your shoes!” “I love thatshow!” and so on. But love is a connection between two people, a bond you can feel. Love is what keeps couples and families together. It’s coming home at the end of a crappy day and having arms around you and reassurance that everything’s okay and tomorrow will be better. It’s sharing the joy when everything goes right. It’s having a life with someone else, and being part of their life.

Love is what makes us human.

http://karennacolcroft.com

Karenna Colcroft’s complete bibliography

Tina Donahue

Love is better than chocolate! Well, almost. But it’s certainly as good, leaving you with that warm, fuzzy, contented feeling, just like having a big, strong body snuggling close under the sheets, above the sheets, in the pool, in the tub, on the kitchen table or anywhere you’d like…ahhhhhhhh.

I write romance because it takes me away from the grind of my EDJ (Evil DayJob). The guys I create and the heroines who love them reflect what I’d like my life to really be like. No more trips to the grocery store, getting the car’s oil changed, going to the dentist, doing taxes. Oh no. When I write romance, I’m loved – thoroughly and well – by a hot hunk who keeps things exciting and has eyes for no one but me. Ah, bliss.

www.tinadonahue.com

Tina Donahue's complete bibliography

Lynne Roberts

Love is a word that is bigger than the sum of its parts.Four letters, four ordinary letters to contain so many diverse meanings. When Isay I love my children, I mean something different than when I say I love myboyfriend, my mom, or best friend. Each love is as unique as the person I love.One thing they have in common, at some point or another, these people are moreimportant than I am. I want his or her joy, happiness more than mine. Well, that’snot exactly true. Loving someone brings with it a happiness otherwise denied. Love, to me, is an endless mystery and the ultimate gift.

http://LynneRoberts.net

Jenni C-H, romance novel aficionado

Reading a romance novel makes you feel love and want to beloved!

Well, Readers?  What do you think?  Leave a comment below. At the end of the week, I'll choose one lucky commenter to win their choice of one of my novels, including my upcoming mainstream contemporary romance, Crimes of the Heart.

Check back tomorrow for Rediscover Life Thursday, February 10: Missy Martine, Jillian Chantal

In eighth grade, my friend Jenniferintroduced me to the Sweet Dreams series of YA romance novels. I fell in lovewith happy endings. From that day forward, I devoured all sorts of romancenovels. I think most people who read romance novels, no matter what heat level,love the happily-ever-after.  I likeknowing that no matter what chaos surrounds my own life, I can pick up a romancenovel and be assured that everything’s going to be all right.

Please welcome Stephanie Cage, Julia Rachel Barrett, D. ReneeBagby, Jami Davenport, and Susan L. as they talk about happily endings.

Stephanie Cage

I write romance because I choose to believe that happy endings are possible.  I love readingstories about ordinary people finding extraordinary love and joy, andalthough there are so many wonderful stories out there, I believe the world canalways use one more.  Who's to say that it might not be just the storythat touches someone's heart in the most personal and special way and makesthem feel that, no matter how unlikely it is, that story was written for them,and them alone?

www.stephaniecage.co.uk. 

Desperate Bid

Julia Rachel Barrett

Love is a precious gift. It is the one true thing of value given to us; the one thing we share with our fellow human beings throughout time and space – the search for love, the desire for love and belonging.  Love does not always lead us down an easy path, but the capacity to give and receive love is the one thing that survives us, survives even death.

I write romance because reading romance makes people happy.  Writing romance makes me happy.  There is something marvelous, magical, and incredibly satisfying about telling a story that brings characterstogether against all odds, characters who must overcome challenges and hardship to achieve their happily ever after. 

juliarachelbarrett.net

Julia’s complete bibliography

D. Renee Bagby

I write romance because of the HEA (happily ever after). No other genre guarantees a happy ending except romance. I put my characters through the wringer, but my readers know that they will be happy when the story ends.

Building New Realms of Passion...http://dreneebagby.com

D. Renee Bagby’s complete bibliography

Jami Davenport

Love is what makes life worth it.  I write romance because I’m a huge believer in happy endings. There’s enough sadness in this world without reading about it in fiction. Romance novelsare all about fantasy and my fantasies end well. What’s the point of a fantasy if it doesn’t end well?

http://www.jamidavenport.com

Jami Davenport’s complete bibliography

Susan L, romance novel aficionado

Romance is about caring for someone special, showing kindness, and just so much more. The world needs more of this. I have been reading books of romance and love since I was a teen and I am now 64 years old. I find comfort and warm feelings from a good romance book and excitement when they don't realize love is right in front of them, or they try to pretend they have no feelings for each other. I just adore wonderful and happy relationships. Do I get carried away in a book? Heck no. Just because I keep yelling, “He loves you dummy!" or else "Can't you see you are a matched couple?" while reading a book means nothing. Ha ha, I can never get enough romance books to keep me happy!

Readers, what makes you happy? Leave your response here! At the end of the week, I'll choose one lucky commenter to win their choice of one of my novels, including my upcoming mainstream contemporary romance, Crimes of the Heart.

Check back tomorrow for Love is…Wednesday, February 9: ZA Maxfield, KarennaColcroft, Tina Donahue, Lynne Roberts, Jenni C-H

Cynics refer to Valentine’s Day as a Hallmark Holiday, something created to market cards, candy and flowers.  Romantics don’t care where it came from or why it’s become such an important holiday, we’re just happy there’s a universal day set aside to celebrate and honor romance. Those of us in the romance industry—whether we’re writers or readers—find a way to stretch this sentiment so that it touches our everyday lives.

Please welcome Jenika Snow, Berengaria Brown, Tonya Ramagos,and CR Moss as they talk about the romantic side of love.

Jenika Snow

Love is heart stopping. Love is undying. Love is when your pulse speeds up when your eyes lock with him across the room. Love is when your fingers brush together as you reach for the same thing. Love is when he caresses your cheek and longing covers his features. Love is when you kiss him for the first time and electricity slams into you. Love is when he drops down on one knee and tells you how there is no other woman in the world for him but you. Love is walking down the aisle and feeling tears slip down your cheek and seeing he has the exact same emotion. Love is holding him as your bodies move as one, as you surrender your heart and soul to each other.

Love is all those things and more, but most of all, love is being able to hold your partners hand as the years go by, looking into their eyes, and telling them that there is no one else in the world for you but them.

www.jenikasnow.com/

A Complete List of Jenika’s books on Kindle and in paperback

Berengaria Brown

Berengaria Brown writes romance about ordinary women, flawed women, women with baggage or hang-ups. All of them find the perfect partner/partners because Berengaria believes there is a Mr. or Ms. Right out there for everyone. We can’t change our past, but we can move confidently into the future.

http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/

http://berengariabrown.webs.com/

Berengaria’s latest: Vivienne’sVacation

Tonya Ramagos

Love is different things to different people. To me, love is a smile from that special someone at the end of a hard day. It's time spent talking, sharing dreams and goals or simply listening to whatever is on the mind. It's a tender touch, a sweet kiss, a sensual embrace. But most of all, love is growing together, experiencing together, and standing beside one another no matter what obstacles are thrown in the way.

 http://www.tonyaramagos.com

Tonya’s latest: Taken by Surprise

CR Moss

Love is having a best friend as a SO. Someone you can live with, laugh with, love with and get through the rough patches of life with. Someone who's not afraid to see you grow and spread your wings, who'll support you in anything and everything. Someone who lets you be you—who wouldn't change you for the world regardless of your flaws and strengths and loves you all the more for them. Love is having someone like that and returning the favor by being 'that someone' for them.

www.crmoss.net

CR Moss’s complete bibliography

So, what do YOU think makes for a good romance? Leave your comments below. At the end of the week, I'll choose one lucky commenter to win their choice of one of my novels, including my upcoming mainstream contemporary romance, Crimes of the Heart.

Check back tomorrow for Happy Endings Tuesday, February 8: Stephanie Cage, JuliaRachel Barrett, D. Renee Bagby, Jami Davenport, Susan L