Over the past year in "Cooking Up a Storey," I've shared my secret recipes for creating unforgettable stories and mouth-watering cookies. In January, I discussed the power of sharing our experiences as artists with each other to get a necessary grounding in reality....
Writing erotic can be a very pleasurable experience. The hands-on research is the most enjoyable work you can do, it's far easier to sell your stories than it is to break into stuffy literary magazines, and if you mention what you do to sympathetic strangers, you're...
The theme of this year's "Cooking Up a Storey" is sharing delicious secrets, and this month I'd like to go straight to the source of inspiration for our writing. When I first started writing some fifteen years ago, a fountain of ideas for stories came pouring forth,...
The theme of this year's Cooking Up a Storey is sharing my secret recipes for writing and cookies, and I'm happy to pass along all that I've learned so far in my dabblings in each of these fine arts. Of course, no words of wisdom can substitute for the deep-rooted...
At first glance they look like a plate of plain sugar cookies. Granted the oval shape is unusual, and they are of a fancier design, two halves sandwiched together with red jam. But is that reason enough to bypass the brownies, which look like they're made from a mix,...
The New Year has arrived, which means it's time to change the menu here at Cooking Up a Storey. For this year's series, I've decided to go for something sinfully sweet and terribly self-indulgent—a collection of recipes for the cookies in my legendary holiday gift...
Is it possible the turn of a new year has already arrived? Throughout 2011, this erotic writing feast has taken us from the seeds of a developing story through the writing of first and final drafts, a pondering of the question of how much sex erotica needs and the...
At first blush, it sounds so simple. You've nurtured your story into a polished piece and, to be honest, you're quite proud of the result. But before you send it out to editors, why not have a beta reader or two give it a once-over, maybe catch a few typos, and...
"I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter." ~James Michener, courtesy of The Quote Garden Congratulations—you've faced down the Void and finished the first draft of a story that has plenty of hot, authentic sex in it. What do you do next? Naturally...
Conflict is the engine of story. Although in my real life I usually try to avoid social unpleasantness, as a writer, I've come to understand the basic rule of seducing an audience: create a compelling character with a passionate desire, throw one or two monumental...