It's about time for an update since it's been forever since posting last. When you come to a blog written by an erotic romance writer, you expect to find some hot, juicy stories. In time you will, but for now my life is still in transition. Later, after the holding pattern I'm in comes to an end life will be normal again. But for now, please bear with me. In less than three months I hope to be divorced. Till then, it's like I said. I'm in a holding pattern like a jet over LaGuardia Airport.


My alter-ego (I don't know what else to call her) is writing when she can, but sometimes has a hard time sticking with it. Her priority is to finish a contemporary romance she's working on. If you have a pen name, do you sometimes feel like  you have a split personality when you speak from either party? Don't you hate when that happens? That's what it feels like now, because I'm writing this as the "real" writer, but under Jade Rose's name. Confusing to those who don't use pen names, I'm sure, but after all, I'm a writer and I'm used to being in other people's heads, even if they are made up people.But, give me a few minutes and I can get into yours.

I'll get busy as soon as I can to finish my Christmas story and get it out to publishers. When that time comes you can come here and read a heated romance, I promise! Till then, or till whenever . . . Jade

Scotland, Chapter 19, Short Story, Oh My!

I'm so excited to be nearing the end of Chapter 19 in my Work in Progress. It's flowing like I want it to, and I'm thrilled about that. I'm at a turning point in the story, and I'm waiting for my characters to tell me what they want to do. Okay, this might sound foolish to someone seeing or hearing that if they aren't writers. But, yes, often times our characters write their stories. Many times there will be a part that I write, but my characters tell me, through the words and the way the story moves, that they want to do it this way or that way. It sounds weird, I know.

I've done a little research for this book, like Scotland! And, I've researched different wines to go with certain desserts. I love researching, but it's easy to get distracted, which happens a lot. You know with the internet, one thing leads to another. It's been fun, and I learned some interesting things about Scotland, and then that went off on other things like tartans, cities, environment, and the people. My hero is from Scotland, so I have to learn enough to make my story real. More research is needed for the government and I'm getting to the point where I have to stop and do it.

Research is important for writers. We are always told to write what we know. My thought is if I don't know it I have to research it until I can write it like I know it. You Tube and Google Earth make it so easy. I can watch video's, and I can use Google Earth to see a lot of the terrain. If you're a writer, I know you use these tools. People who aren't writers use these as research, but probably don't even realize that's what they're doing. When I started writing, I didn't have the internet at my fingertips, and I used the library all the time, and it was so time consuming, but I did it.

I'll keep you posted on how this story is moving along. I can't wait to get it finished!

I wrote a short, short story to post on my website, but the thing is, I'm not sure I want that story to end where it ended. There might be more to add to that story. So, right now, that is my dilemma. I so want to add it so you can get a sample of what I write. Keep in mind that I write erotic romance, so it is adult rated due to sexual content. I'll make sure you are the first to know when I post it, or continue it.

Till the next time, I'll be thinking about you all!

OMG! The other night I thought I lost some of the pages in my manuscript in Word. Shortly after freaking out and then screaming I realized it was all backed up on a flash drive and everything was good. It was my own fault because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I think I accidently dragged the mouse over part of what I couldn't see above the screen view, and when I hit delete on the one word I wanted deleted, the whole section went with it! I was so scared. Be more careful, I told myself.

It’s not the first time I’ve lost some of my writing. Oh, no… Once I lost a whole first chapter. That wasn’t backed up, in fact, it was before flash drives, thumb drives, or online storage was invented! When I rewrote it, it actually turned out better than the first attempt. Whew, that was lucky. Before that I lost a total completed manuscript. It was printed out in hard copy, but I had to retype it all back in my computer. Can you imagine how long that took? The only good thing about that was it was easy to edit and revise as I went along. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! It was a horrible thing to go through.

A writer losing words is like losing a limb. Editing and revising is so difficult for us because we have to get rid of words. Our words put together to create more words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. I never want to lose words again, but I probably will. The only thing to do is make sure to back up everything I write, and I would issue that warning to you also. Back up, back up, save, save….