Lucky in Love!

Welcome to the Lucky in Love Blog Hop! Over three hundred authors have signed up to participate, so you know what that means – fabulous grand prizes and over three hundred individual prizes to enter for! Click on the graphic to link to the rest of the Hop authors.

Lucky in Love:

What does that mean to you? Do you think it happens in real life? What do you look for in a romance plot to feel satisfied that the characters are lucky in love when they finally arrive at their happy ending?

I do believe in being lucky in love in real life – I think it has happened to me. Of course, it’s never all just luck – I’d like a little credit for choosing well when we first got started! But experience in my first marriage (yes, hubs and I were both married and divorced before we met) taught me that just because two persons are compatible at one point in time doesn’t necessarily mean they will continue to grow in directions that bring them together.

So that’s where the luck comes in, at least a little. There’s work involved, too. Hubs and I have been married over thirty years. I never dreamed when our relationship began that we’d develop a career of co-writing erotic stories and seeing them published :). Where did that come from? Was it luck? Was it staying open to each other, finding new and interesting things to do together, keeping focused on learning and growing, keeping our sex life vibrant and active?

Especially that last one, actually! Anyone over fifty (yes, that’s us, and most of the rest of the baby boomer generation, by now!) knows it’s easy for sexual desire, arousal and activity to slow down in mid-life, what with changing hormones and (in our case) a house full of teenagers. You have to work at it to make sure the inertia doesn’t stop your sex life altogether. One of the options we chose was watching soft porn videos (typically created by women, for women) as part of our foreplay. Not only did that work, very nicely – it prompted us to start thinking about what kinds of plots and situations we’d like to see, what sorts of scenes turned us on the most.

It wasn’t long before we started writing them down – for ourselves, in the beginning, but then we started thinking: if we like these plots and scenes, perhaps we’re not the only ones. We started submitting them, and are thrilled (and yes, probably lucky) to now have twenty-nine erotic romance novels and novellas published, and two more under contract for release later this spring.

So yes, this St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I’m feeling very lucky in love, and happy to be sharing the wealth!

Here’s a peek at one of our baby boomer heroines who also turned out to be very lucky. We created a fictional Center for Sexuality and Sex Practices, based very loosely on some of the resources we turned to in our forties. We’ve turned several characters loose in the setting to see what they’d come up with. Here’s the Blurb and an Excerpt for Ripening Passion:

BLURB

Claire Johnson’s dedication to sex—the cornerstone of her career—led her to found the Center for Sexuality and Sex Practices. Now in her fifties, she knows the Center must keep pace with the rapidly growing Baby Boomer market, so she agrees to go back on camera for a series on sex and aging. But work with her nemesis?

Former English Professor Max Wilson has championed the cause of the Center ever since his deceased wife sought the Center’s help to rekindle the nearly extinguished sexual flames of their relationship. He loves working on camera and welcomes the challenge to perform with the svelte but feisty temptress.

Sparks fly immediately on and off camera. Can either Claire or Max transform those sparks into a fire of sexual desire for their viewers? And if they succeed, what will happen when the movie’s over?

EXCERPT

“Don’t stare, but take a peek at the young couple at about two-o’clock braced against the tree making out. They do seem to enjoy kissing.”

Max looked, then nibbled Claire’s ear. “Who’s staring? You do have radar for lovers.”

“Cripes, she’s riding his knee. Oh my, a girl after my own heart. Max, she’s hanging onto his shoulder for dear life, but she’s not surrendering her perch on his thigh for anything.

“He’s looking around. Oops, I think he caught me watching. Ah.” Claire sighed. “She stopped, now they’re kissing wildly again.” Claire squeezed his fingers on her breast. “That girl had a damn good ride. Oh, to be young lovers again.”

“Being old lovers isn’t bad.” Max dipped his fingers under the fabric covering her breast.

“If that couple were to look across the way at us, they’d never guess I’m sitting here with my man caressing my nipple. And,” she turned and kissed his cheek, “that I’m wet as hell.”

“You could probably hump my knee and they wouldn’t even notice because they don’t expect it. That’s one advantage with age. People don’t expect us to be horny, or do outrageous things.”

“So true. And there’s something quite gratifying about defying their limited expectations. Perhaps we should go over and share our wisdom with the youngsters.”

Max shook his head. “I doubt they’d listen.

Lucky in Love Giveaway

To enter for a free download of Ripening Passion plus a $10 ARE gift certificate, subscribe to my newsletter (upper left-hand sidebar) and leave a comment below: What do you think about being sexy over fifty?