Surprise!

I love surprises... mostly. I'm not fond of "scary" surprises, like someone leaping out at me from behind a corner. And don't throw me a surprise birthday party -- I don't like feeling flustered AT ALL.

But, she wrapped gifts for me and put them under the tree, my daughter kept saying, "Don't peek!"

I never peek.

Part of the fun of Christmas is that anticipation... the build up... the, "Oooh... what's in that oddly shaped package?"

I'm also one of those people who carefully opens gifts. No tearing into the wrapping for me -- I've always been that way, even as a little kid. Used to drive my siblings BATTY because they'd have all their gifts open in a matter of a few heartbeats, and I'd take an hour to do mine.

I love that build-up. The little breaths of excitement as part of the package is revealed. The rattle as I shift it in my lap. The feel of its shape under my fingertips...

I find that I feel much the same way about writing sex.

I don't want my characters to see each other and then rip their clothes off and go at it. I want that build up. The tension. The little gasps of surprise at a small touch, the shivers of desire as the buttons on a shirt are slowly opened. The need pooling deep inside after a look of desperate craving.

Sometimes that makes it hard for me to write erotic romance, especially short erotic romance where there isn't a lot of time to have that kind of tension before the characters get to the act. It's one of the reasons why I've used masturbation scenes in both of my published stories (and probably will again). It adds sex (of a sort) to the story without taking away that underlying tension that my characters feel.

I'm actually toying with writing a hot mainstream story as my next piece instead for that reason... I'm on the fence, but I do wonder if a more mainstream story would ease that need to have my characters leap into the sack right away.

It's a thought.

What about you? Do you like surprises?

In other surprises, I got a very enthusiastic review for "Blue Light Special". It said, in part:

A totally amazing shorty with a sexy, hotter than Hell cop, a woman who wants him and some really REALLY hot sex scenes….okay fine only one actual penetration sex scene but plenty of foreplay and titillation. It ROCKED!!!! Do I recommend this hot, sexy short read? You bet your ass I do :) And it makes me want EVERYTHING by this author!!!! - Seriously Reviewed

It made me chuckle all day long.