Bake, Love, Write - a dessert cookbook compliation from 105 authors by Kaye Spencer

What do most authors have in common, no matter what genre they write? They love desserts. Sweets sustain them through pending deadlines and take the sting out of crushing rejection letters and nasty reviews. They also often celebrate their successes—selling a book, winning a writing award, making a bestseller list, or receiving a fabulous review—with decadent indulgences. And when authors chat with each other, they often talk about their writing and their lives. Recipes. Writing. Relationships. In this cookbook 105 authors not only share their favorite recipes for fabulous cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and more, they also share the best advice they’ve ever received on love and writing.

This is a delightful dessert recipe book, and the advice from the authors is as varied as the recipes. Since the cookbook doesn't include pictures of the recipes, you can find most of the recipe images here: Bake, Love, Write on Pinterest.

And to further whet your appetite, here is a 30 second book video. Purchase information is listed at the end of the video.

Enjoy!

Until next time,

Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
www.kayespencer.com
Twitter - @kayespencer

To Inspire Relationships

There are many reasons that I write: a love of stories, an affinity for adventure, and then there's the excitement of love. The most important reason I write now though is to inspire relationships.

I believe in love so much that I know even when we get our hearts broken it is sometimes the best thing that can happen to us. There is a mistaken belief that there can't be anything better out there than what we have now.

So, not true.

I'm not talking to those in healthy, mutually satisfying, relationships. You know how to makes things work—but romance novels aren't built on perfect relationships. Thank goodness, because imagine how boring those books would be. Instead think of those great romances novels we read that start out with a bad relationship in a hero/heroine's past.

You root for the heroine to overcome her insecurities, or perhaps you just want to throw the book when the hero seems more willing to let the heroine go than risk his heart. Oh, but what a thing of joy it is when they work together as a team to defeat their enemies and achieve their happily ever after.

That's why I love writing. Relationships are never easy. Some are worth saving and some aren't. Knowing when to hold on and when to let go is perhaps the hardest lesson any of us will learn in our lives. That's what romances teach us.

We deserve a great hero/heroine in our lives.

It's satisfying to put out a story where the heroine is broken hearted but overcomes her pain to catch her hero. Love can be worth the struggle when it's with the right person. I have to say, I'm so glad I never married my first boyfriend. He wasn't my "one."

That story from my heart has yet to be written. *sly grin*

Happy reading,

Mary Corrales

Twitter.com/Mary Corrales

Romance Author Lifestyle blog

Mary Corrales is a multi-published erotic romance author who writes in multiple genres including paranormal, contemporary suspense, fantasy, and futuristic. She loves to chat with readers on twitter and share tips. Follow her blog for her exciting guests and inspiring tips on writing.

Recapturing The Romance In Your Characters...After Kids

The building sexual heat between your main characters is filled with tension – both physical and mental. On the page, they're smoking hot! Off the page, the reader is steaming with mental images.

It's more than sex you've written. Love is introduced. Tender words are spoken both aloud and internally. In the climbing crescendo of passion, they make love and crash down in sated bliss.

Enter the children.

Now what?

It can be difficult to find ways to rebuild fictional romance after kids are introduced. Learn how to put romance back at the top of the priority list.

Sometimes one or both of your characters have children. Those of us with kids know that having kids will turn our lives upside down. We can't fully grasp that concept until said kids actually arrive.

Here's a few ideas on how to find romance and sex for main characters with children, before it becomes scarce.

Make The Relationship A Priority

Unlike the real world where many people mistakenly prioritize like this: kids, career, and then each other. We writers can create it right. Make the H/H realize their relationship is a top priority – which will not only benefit your story, but their fictional kids too.

If both main characters have careers, they need to make time for each other; just as they did for their professions. Little things like cooking a candlelit dinner for their partner will set the scene for a romantic night.

Never Take Each Other for Granted

Sounds like advice from a marriage counselor. And the psychology works for writing too. All couples fall into a rut and forget to appreciate each other. Think of the tension available just in that premise alone!

To bring it back around to romance, have one thank the other when he or she does something nice and grow their relationship stronger. I'll leave it up to your imagination of exactly how the thanking is carried out.

It's not just hitting the laundry basket that makes one hold appreciation for the other. (Although for me, personally, this is a big one around my house) The importance of sex is critical. It's both emotionally connective AND physically rewarding.

When one partner appreciates the efforts (*waggles eyebrows*) of the other…the written scene can be beautiful.

Nurturing the characters' romantic relationship with their partner(s) and making time for intimacy will create physically and emotionally fulfilled scenes that are credible.

What are ways you create romance and intimacy in characters with children? Could it also be a comedy in the making??