Tour Post ~ Rough Edges contributor Mary Billiter Drops by for a Chat!

Mary Billiter, better known as Pumpkin Spice, is the published author of adult romantic fiction. Her naughty fairy tale line “Scarlett Hood & The Hunter” and “Goldlie Locks & The Brothers Bear” is published by Evernight Publishing along with her Cupid Conquest romance, “The Hart Moment.” Pumpkin’s favorite time of year is fall when the leaves are turning, the weather is crisper and the nights are a whole lot longer. Write to her at:  pumpkinspicecom@yahoo.com  Follow her on Twitter: @PumpkinSpiceU2

The Teacher, Plumber & Writing Erotica

By Mary Billiter

My girlfriend is an elementary schoolteacher. Since it’s summer she’s enjoying life again – lunch out with other teachers, catching up on lost reading, and of course, sleeping in. I teach on the college level – long lunches are the norm, reading is a requisite and instructing night courses I always sleep in.

Still when summer hits, we both enjoy the fact that we no longer have to grade papers, be ruled by an academic calendar, or attend staff meetings. She invited me to join her elementary brood to raise a glass and toast the start of summer, but I had to pass.

The only thing that was filled with ice that I was raising was the ice pack that I laid on my swollen abdomen. I was sidelined from an abdominal hysterectomy that made it hurt to laugh, let alone move. Worse still, during my miserable recovery my plumbing decided to back up. There’s a thousand jokes in that last line but I’m not going there.

So as my third grade teacher friend headed toward a beautiful sunny day of iced yummy oblivion, I waited on a plumber to return to fix what he hadn’t the day before. I text my teacher friend the sad state of my affairs.

She texted back. “Is it Brent's plumbing?”

Before I could text a reply, her next message flashed across my iPhone.

“Oh my, his eyes are entrancing. They are as blue as the ocean. You can't focus on his words when you look into his eyes...Slade has a cousin in Idaho with blue eyes like that. And he does amazing plumbing work too.”

Slade is her husband, who I’ve never met, but with a name like Slade I have to at some point. But after reading her plumber review, I responded.

“My guy's Martinez, didn't notice his eyes and he hasn't called back but now I want your plumber guy. What's his number?”

However before relinquishing blue-eyes’ number, she gave fair warning:

“I told Terri to call Brent's plumbing cuz she needed a plumber. I warned her about his eyes. She was all geared up and when she opened the door, his helper was standing there instead. Boy did we giggle and giggle.”

I held the ice pack to my stomach as I laughed and laughed. Terri teaches the first-grade and isn’t much taller than her students. I imagined her opening her front door, hoping to look into blue eyes and the disappointment that followed. Terri wouldn’t mask it well. I was still laughing when the next stream of texted rolled forward.

“Still you need to lay your eyes on this man. His eyes. He’s married – but Oh my!!!! Look him up on the Internet. Maybe there's a photo of him... But that wouldn't be safe. His eyes....”

At this point, I wasn’t sure if she was still texting me or having a text conversation with herself. It hurt to laugh, but I couldn’t stop. I finally interjected.

“It’s worth the risk rather than wait for the phone that hasn’t rung.”

Her reply came quickly.

“If only it was Brent...You'd be singing a different tune. Try him next time... His plumbing skills, that is... LOL”

By this time, I was convinced she had already started happy hour. Then her final text reminded me she hadn’t begun drinking she was simply an overworked educator spending her summer working on her Master’s degree.

“I made myself laugh out loud. Oh my. I need to get my paper done. This class might kill me. I'd rather be waiting for a plumber who has boring eyes to call. I thought I had his contact number. I looked. Sorry. Look it up. Brent the babe plumbing. And request the owner. LOL. And his eyes. Straight to your heart. They will make you melt. Ahhhh. Off to lunch! Enjoy!”

My ice pack had all but melted by the time our text conversation wrapped up. I found the number and was about to call when the doorbell rang. I slowly made my way to the front door and opened it.

“So I guess I didn’t fix the leak?”

I looked into his eyes, but the sun blocked my view. “What color are your eyes?”

“They’re hazel. Blue, green and gold around the pupil,” he said.

I nodded with a smile, welcomed him back into my home and closed the door.

So…what do two teachers, a hysterectomy and a plumber have to do with writing erotica?

Setting. Sure, there’s also characters, conflict and of course - the bait. But at the core we started with setting that created the mood. And with erotica it's all about the energy of the work that brings it to life.

One of the best ways to bring something to life is through the interplay of language between the characters. To have that interaction work to your advantage, setting becomes integral.

Let's take a look at "My Midnight Cowboy" as an example.

Lucy Baker is in the airport with her bestie, Rachel waiting to check her bags, get her boarding pass and make the big jump from Orange County, California to a new job that's waiting for in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Lucy’s nervous, scared and excited. The pastry chef is leaving the life she knows for something she knows nothing about.

When an impatient, outspoken cowboy in line tries to hurry them along with an off putting remark, Lucy turns on the heels of her boots and takes the bait. She comes eye-to-eye with two cowboys. But the sparks that ignite immediately between Lucy and Ben can't be ignored. They bicker back and forth in a heated verbal repartee that is laden with sexual tension. Lucy wants nothing to do with Ben but they keep getting thrust in situations with each other that make their desire impossible to deny.

Ben and Lucy’s chemistry naturally fed into a frenzied build-up, which culminated into a release that exploded on a plane, train and back on a plane. Hey they had a lot of friction to work out.

Developing build-up for our characters is part of the payoff for our readers. It's the foreplay. And the best foreplay takes time. So don't rush the set-up. Place your readers in the scene.

Whether it's two teachers text talking about a plumber or two girls in an airport with two cowboys behind them in line – show your readers what's happening to set the scene and let them be there with you.

Develop the moment. Savor the setting. Deepen the mood. Build the tension. Throw in a little a humor. So when the plumber rings the bell your as eager to find out what he looks like as the main character.

Mary Billiter is a weekly newspaper columnist and fiction author. She also has novels published under the pen name, "Pumpkin Spice."

Read more about Mary and her work at:

www.marybilliter.com

Follow Mary on Twitter:

@MaryBilliter 

My Midnight Cowboy

Part of the Rough Edges Anthology by Pen and Kink

If chocolate is the way to a man’s heart, then pastry chef Lucy Baker has the recipe for success. But will her culinary skills melt the most-hard hearted bachelor in Wyoming?

A chance encounter on a New Year’s Eve flight leaves two strangers to discover unbound pleasure and a hunger for more sexual discovery.

Excerpt:

I sat alone in complete darkness until the tram pulled into a stop. When the doors opened, light poured into the car and suddenly Ben stood before me. I gasped. He said nothing.

The tram resumed moving toward another tunnel and darkness overtook the tram. I felt for him, but he was no longer in front of me. A brief pocket of light before the next tunnel spliced through the tram and Ben was on the bench seat beside me, his voice in my ear.

“Hey,”he said.

“Hello.”I waited for him to touch me. “I wondered where you went.”

“I promised to look after you and I plan to keep that promise.”

“People break promises.”

He reached his hands into my hair and pulled me toward him. His mouth grazed my neck and nibbled at the tender skin. “I don’t break promises and neither will you.”

“Maybe.”I dug my fingers into his thick, wavy hair. “Maybe not.” I toyed with him and his hold on me strengthened. The ferocity of his kiss ignited my senses and made my skin prickle with pleasure.

Rough Edges

An Anthology of Wild West Erotic Adventure

by Pen and Kink press

 

Work hard, play hard, love hard…

Nothing is sexier than someone who knows what they want and has the confidence go after it. This anthology is crammed full of hot romances featuring those kinds of rough-around-the-edges alpha personalities–stories about the kind of men and women who ride horses during the day and their partners at night, who speak few words but mean every one of them, and who would never break their own personal code of honor. We're talking about cowboys... and cowgirls.

This anthology contains seven romances with a Western theme that run the gamut from sweet to sizzling.

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