SHAKESPEARE’S INSPIRING LOVE SCENES

By Lise Horton

Like a Costco of love scenes, Shakespeare has something for everyone. While there is no sex on the page, there is plenty of innuendo. Some rowdy, some sly, some witty, love scenes of every flavor abound from passionate, lusty, or dark, to outrageously funny, poignant, or earnest.

Shakespeare’s lovers are virginal youths, gods and goddesses, attractive opposites, and murderous spouses. The wonder of Shakespeare’s characters in love, coupled with his brilliant language – that can be bawdy, or transcendent – is something you will be struck by again and again. You’ll never fail to find gems within his work that will inspire your own creation of both evocative love scenes and rich characters.

Revisit the most famous, and oft-quoted, of his plays – “Romeo and Juliet” – and you’ll be wallowing in romance, desire, and rapturous words of love. He captures with eloquence the youthful energy and passion of the pair. Witness the speeches of Romeo and his Juliet where their impatience and lust are so evident. Romeo’s famous Act II, Scene II speech “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks, It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.”, conveys his emotions and hormones running amuck. And Juliet, as she awaits the return of Nurse, her agitation blatantly clear, bemoans, “O, she is lame! . . . Had she affections and warm youthful blood, She would be as swift in motion as a ball;”. Later, the all-encompassing power of her love is laid out for the reader in Act II, Scene II with its stunning conclusion:

“…Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow’d night,

Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night,

And pay no worship to the garish sun.

O, I have bought the mansion of a love,

But not possess’d it; and though I am sold,

Not yet enjoy’d. …”

On the opposite end of the love scene spectrum, you have the witty adult banter replete with sexual innuendo, foreplay if you will, between Kate and Petruchio, in “The Taming of the Shrew”. This famous meeting is a terrific example of Shakespeare’s bawdy bent (Act II, Scene I):

             Kate: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
             Petruchio: My remedy is then to pluck it out.
             Kate: Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.
             Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp
                      does wear his sting? In his tail!
             Kate: In his tongue.
             Petruchio: Whose tongue?
             Kate: Yours, if you talk of tales; and so farewell.
            Petruchio: What, with my tongue in your tail?
                     Nay, come again, Good Kate, 
                     I am a gentleman.
            Kate: That I’ll try.


For the author crafting love scenes, reading the plays of Shakespeare provides a bountiful wealth of inspiration.

In addition to his plays, there is also the breathtaking beauty of his poems and sonnets – rife with intense romantic emotions. Perhaps the most famous, Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) presents a lover’s litany to his lady of all her beloved characteristics. But my personal favorite never fails to choke me up. In a few short lines it expresses the all-encompassing power of love:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries

And look upon myself and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

To paraphrase Portia, I rest my case.

P.S. Of course, among the canon of dramatic literature, lovers and love scenes abound. For other tastes, you might try:

“Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” – a great exploration of post-coital emotions by John Patrick Shanley

“Talk To Me Like The Rain and Let Me Listen” – a lyrical outpouring between 2 lovers exposing their deepest longings, by the master, Tennessee Williams.

“Frankie and Johnny In The Claire du Lune” - Terence McNally’s quiet exploration of two strangers, hesitant, ordinary, who succumb to loneliness and longing. This is an exquisite, passionate play, as lilting as the song title it references.

“Fool For Love” – Again, this Sam Shepard play is sizzling with erotic tension and action between the two incestuous sibling lovers.

“Desire Under the Elms” – Like some other plays of Eugene O’Neill, “Anna Christie” and “A Moon For the Misbegotten”, “Desire”, with its theme of forbidden lust and love, is a deep and dark exploration of the human heart.


One of the most tortured pair of lovers in all of dramatic literature is Tennessee Williams’ very own Maggie the Cat and her husband Brick. The dynamics of familial pressures on a couple, Brick’s tormented secrets, and Maggie’s unrequited lust for her handsome husband are brilliantly explored. And perhaps the universal desperation of lovers can be summed up in Maggie’s classic speech:

“You know, if I thought you would never, never, never make love to me again – I would go downstairs to the kitchen and pick out the longest and sharpest knife I could find and stick it straight into my heart, I swear that I would! But the one thing I don’t have is the charm of the defeated, my hat is still in the ring and I am determined to win! What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof? I wish I knew . . . Just staying on it, I guess, as long as she can . . . Later tonight I’m going to tell you I love you an’ maybe by that time you’ll be drunk enough to believe me….”♥



Lise Horton is the new RWANYC Chapter President. She is currently writing in her two favorite genres, and keeping abreast of the fascinating changes in the world of publishing. Find out more about the industry on her blog, The Publishing Game, http://publishinggame.blogspot.com/.  You can also visit her at http://www.lisehorton.com/.



WRITING TIP: How to Write a Love Scene

From Del Carmen


With Valentine's Day around the corner, what better way to celebrate the day, the month!, the romance of it all, then by making love, physically and mentally.

Here is my writing tip on How to Write A Love Scene.

The secret.....always incorporate the five senses – touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing – to paint a full picture. Using all the senses heightens the sexual tension and makes for a better seduction and surrender!

Del Carmen’s “Ride A Cowboy” was published in the WOMEN IN LUST anthology (Cleis Press, November 2011). It was reprinted by Penthouse in their February 2012 issue. Visit Del Carmen at http://www.mydelcarmen.com/.

DEFINITIONS OF ROMANCE

by Del Carmen

You want to write a romance, but do you know what kind? And, yes, Virginia, there are lots of different kinds of romance.  Here are some of the basics.


FORMAT

There are two recognized formats – series or single-title romances.

• Category romances are novels that are distributed in a sequential numbered series every month. Think Harlequin. They are the King in series/category romance. For example, Harlequin Presents, Desire, Blaze, etc.

• Single-title romances are just what their name implies – they are released as single books.


SUBGENRES

Now for the fun part--your genre. The main plot of course is boy-gets-girl and they live happily ever after, but setting, plot elements and even tone also helps to define and differentiate genres. And, nowadays, you can even mix and match.

• Contemporary Romance. Set in the “now,” in present time. Includes everything after WWII / 1945. (Note: Some publishers consider anything after 1900 a contemporary. Always research publishers before submitting.)

• Historical Romance. Just want it says, historical; novels set before WWII. These can be medieval, Regencies, Regency Historicals (yes, they are different), Westerns, Pioneer, Indian, Victorian, etc.

• Paranormal Romance. Everything from time travel to vampires to dragons to fairies to angels.

• Young Adult Romance. These are novels geared toward young adult readers, usually 14+. Think TWILIGHT, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.


NICHES

Within all these subgenres are more subgenres, a few which have become their own category. Below are a few of the more prominent examples:

• Inspirational Romance. Religious or spiritual beliefs play a big part in these novels and in the romantic relationship. Christian and Amish novels are included in this category.

• Regency Romances. Are romances written specifically during the Regency period of the British Empire. These have specific mannerisms, language, style. Think Jane Austen. Think Signet Regency Romances.

• Regency Historical Romances. These are also set during the Regency period, but they take liberties with the mannerism and language of the Regency period, and are wider in scope.

• Medical Romances. These were the original romances where the hero was always a doctor and the heroine a nurse or secretary. They are still popular.

• Romantic Suspense. These romances have lots of mystery and thriller elements in the plot.

• Novels with Strong Romantic Elements. These are novels that have a romance in them, but the romance does not headline the story. Nor is the HEA a guarantee. For example, BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.

• Erotic Romances. Are romances that leave the door wide open and allow the reader to “watch” what goes on between the sheets, in the backseat, in the pool….well, you get the idea. These are both naughty and nice.


QUICKIES

And, if you are scared to write a 80,000-word manuscript, you can always start small. Consider writing a short story in any of the genres above, or maybe try your hand at a confession. Writing these can help hone your craft and keep you motivated. Good luck and Happy Writing.♥



Del Carmen is the sexy alter ego of Maria Ferrer, who is looking forward to exposing more of herself. Visit her at www.mydelcarmen.com.

Reading Lolita

by F. Solomon

  
  
It might be surprising that I am just reading Lolita for the first time, to others and to myself. I have spent so much of my life frequenting bookstores that I know authors and books that I have not read simply because they caught my periphery. I knew who Anais Nin was even before I started reading her because she was close to Nabokov. I purchased Lolita years ago; it was on my ambitious pile of to-read books--a tiny Tower of Pisa in my place--that I have not get around to reading. Inspired by my friend, my used copy purchased for practically nothing was carefully removed from the pile.

Talking with him about the The Pregnant Widow which he had loaned me, he mentioned that he could not finish Lolita. I had to know why so I have been reading the book for a few months. Not because it is a bad book, but because editing occupies most of my reading time. I am an Acquiring Editor of erotica for Ravenous Romance.

The Pregnant Widow marked the return of me as a reader, and Lolita has cemented my return to reading for pleasure. Once when I was in college, I was told that you could tell New Yorkers because they are the only people who read so avidly on the train. I cannot deny it. It is not very often that I read at home, but I have always love to read on the train going to and coming from school or work. Sometimes a book might be so good that I do have to read bits at home, but for the most part nothing like squeezing between two strangers on the train and reading a novel so good you miss your stop!, which happened to me with a Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’ novel, Forever in Your Embrace. This was right after 9/11 so it was hard not to think about what was going on but that book was able to keep me so rapt...there is nothing like reading a novel that engrosses.

Nothing like reading for pleasure or editing good erotica, except writing yourself. I have been doing so much reading I have wanted to...but in ways have abandoned writing. This post is one of the few things that I have written unless you count my tweets and how many words are in tweets?! I did some free writing and that felt like a luxury, like I should have been reading something instead! Writing for me is like breathing or bleeding though--necessary for life. I do not berate myself anymore about writing or not writing. It is too much a part of me, it will be….

It was completely pleasurable today on the train out of the cold and squeezed next to just one stranger reading Lolita, which I have been careful not to talk about because I am not done with it. Will need another post called Finishing Lolita when I am done....




photograph by F. Solomon

 

RESOLUTIONS, GOALS, TO-DO LISTS

By Maria Ferrer

It's a New Year.  A time for joy, for peace, for goodwill, for resolutions.

But resolutions are easily broken. Heck, it's a tradition to break them, and yes, Virginia, the sooner you break them the more points you get.  Hence, I don't like the word or the idea of "resolutions." I prefer goals or, my all-time favorite, to-do lists. I get orgasmic if I can cross something off a list. Ooh.

So I've compiled my to-do list for 2012. The "trick" to a good to-do list is to be specific, to be realistic and to keep it short. For example:

1. Get up one hour early on weekdays to write or revise manuscript.

2. Have new pages for Critique partner every other week.

3. Attend monthly RWA Chapter meetings to network and energize.

4. Submit short story / enter contest every quarter.


Short, sweet and to the point -- and better yet, these items are achievable and affirming to the Writer within. And, isn't that the whole point of New Year's Resolutions?

What's on Your to-do list for 2012?



Maria Ferrer writes erotica and contemporary romance. She's published in one and hopeful on the other. Visit her at http://www.mydelcarmen.com/ and www.4horsewomen.blogspot.com.  (This article also published by the RWANYC at http://www.rwanycblogginginthebigapple.blogspot.com/.)
  

HOLIDAY CHEER!

From our corral to yours, Happy Everything!

Ride the Wave of Success

by F. Solomon


One of the coolest things about this blog is that you do have four writers here, and a writer is a person who writes, which is a definition that has been given to me at moments when I doubt that I am a writer (even though I am in the midst of working on NaNoWriMo and that means that I have been writing!).

The three other horsewomen have been writing as well; and it is with a great deal of pleasure that one of us has made it into the creme de la creme!  It is always with great anticipation and with supreme satisfaction that Rachel Kramer Bussel's erotic anthologies fall into my hands. Women in Lust, her newest anthology from Cleis Press, has been awaited with greater anticipation and even more pleasure because a horsewomen is in it!

The story “Ride A Cowboy” is one of the sexy stories in the Women in Lust anthology, and boy is it ever. Remember being a child and looking for all the good bits? Well when you read a story by Del Carmen you do not even have to skim a bit, she just delivers the goods!

From the explicit intention given in the first sentence, you are ready for the ride that Rita and Nate are about to go on. Instant chemistry, the tension, the electricity. And the first draft of it, which the infinitely feminine and ladylike Del Carmen asked the rest of us to read -- was practically perfection. Even though it was her first time writing erotica, she definitely did not stay a novice for long! The precision with which she went about it -- writing erotica like mad--and getting it done on time and sent out for possible publication in a RKB anthology was rewarded. “Ride a Cowboy” was bought and is now published.

I have had the pleasure of having another talented friend get into a few RKB anthologies and...the joy that fills all of us to see a Horsewoman get in is triple!

Ride, Horsewomen, ride indeed. We are happy to ride along with our very talented Del Carmen, whom you will keep seeing more of.

To learn more about the Women in Lust anthology or Del Carmen, please visit the following sites: http://womeninlust.wordpress.com// and http://www.mydelcarmen.com/.