K.C. Burn – Erotic Romance Author

This month has been so busy, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do a review for the DIK 2010 Reading Challenge. Somehow, I managed to squeak it in! I’m reviewing J.L. Langley’s My Fair Captain. This is the first book in her Sci-Fi/Regency series, and it’s a great intro.

In the future, there are at least two planets whose social structure and culture are based on the Regency period from Earth. One is traditional and the other, Regelence, is patriarchal to the extent that the ruling classes are genetically chosen to be male and to be interested in same sex pairings. Nate was born on Englor, the traditional one, but flees to the Intergalactic Navy when his relationship with another man is the root cause of a scandal.

Several years later, when he’s asked to investigate a theft of weapons, he ends up on Regelence, a planet with customs that are familiar and yet vastly different. He meets Prince Aiden, and finds he needs to decide if he’s willing to give up his life as a navy captain for an innocent, untried man who is so obsessed with his art he often fails to see to his own safety. The problem is that Aiden is more alluring than Nate would ever expect a virgin to be, especially since giving in to the temptation would require him to marry the prince. Aiden is equally fascinated with Nate, and they fall in love. However, the thief could spoil their happily ever after when Aiden gets in his way.

This book was so much fun. It combines the rules and tradition of a typical Regency romance with a spicy futuristic twist. Nate and Aiden are very different from each other, but they’re both compelling characters who you can’t help but cheer on, hoping they get what they want. The sex was hot and the love story was beautiful (I could probably say this for all of J.L.’s books, actually). I highly recommend this book, not the least of which because the sequel, featuring one of Aiden’s brothers, is an awesome follow-up.

After a two week hiatus (OMG… my most recent round of edits were unexpectedly taxing), I’m posting at Flirty Author Bitches about cowboys vs. zombies as romantic heroes – another romantic cage match! Stop by and drop a comment!

I’m working on a paranormal novella right now, and one of the heroes was born in the early 1900’s.  The pertinent flashbacks occur during the Great Depression, when the one guy is in his early thirties.

Anyway, I thought I try to find some slang to add some colour to the flashbacks.  Apparently I’m failing at Google 101.  I can find tons of slang related to riding the rails and the politics of the time, but my hero wasn’t riding the rails.  What I REALLY want to know… did men of that era refer to the bits & bobs & verbs associated with sex in the same delightfully coarse way I do in my writing?  I’ve been able to ferret out that gay may have been used – ambiguously & rarely – to refer to homosexual men, but I’ve found other terms that were more common.  So that’s a start, I suppose.  Over the years, I’ve managed to build up a wee lexicon of various sexually related euphemisms for several eras, such as Victorian, Regency, Edwardian, and Medieval.  But early 20^th century?  Not a clue.

So, I clambered back into some naughty books I own were written in the Victorian era.  There are references to the same terminology I use, although they’re interspersed with many other, more delicate terms (ones that may carry the stigma of purple prose today).  Maybe I’ll borrow a few of those, but if our current four letter words were good enough for the Victorians, they’ll do for my Depression era hero.  Although, as I write this post, I’m thinking I might be able to use “riding the rails” in a much naughtier way than originally intended.

Perhaps I should try to bring back priapus.  I would have thought with the advent of ED drugs and their potentially unfortunate side effects, priapus and other related terms might have become more common.  Good thing I didn’t place any bets on it!

If you were hoping for some Canadianisms, I haven’t got any.  As far as I know, Canucks call sex & the dangly bits the same things they’re called in the States.  Although my husband has occasionally written ‘junk’ as ‘junque’ for the amusement factor.  (For those of you who might not know, certain types of checks are spelled cheques back home.)

My conclusion?  The hero born in the early 1900′s will use slightly less coarse terminology.  Seems as though it will fit, even if it’s not nearly as much fun.    Whether it would have been true or not, I don’t know.  I hadn’t intended to spend that much time on research – I even set the thing in Toronto so I could reduce the amount of research I’d need to do.  Although, I’ve come across some interesting tangents, unrelated to vocabulary.  We’ll see if they make it into the novella.

Just got back on Sunday from the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Orlando.  I’m still exhausted, but I had a great time.  I got to meet a few fellow Rainbow Romance Writers at the Literacy signing – where over $55K was raised for literacy organizations – pretty spectacular!  I got to meet new and aspiring authors, connect with others I’d already met and hung out with good friends.  I also had dinner at the same table with the fabulous Angela James during the Carina Press dinner.  Yes, you read that right.  There was a good reason (I’ll be posting details shortly) I was attending that dinner!  That same reason also entitled me to go to the Harlequin party… hoo… some wild women there!  It was a HUGE blast.

I’m not a conference virgin, exactly, although my previous conferences were much smaller – in the realm of 300 participants.  This was 2100.  Lots of standing in line, although not for the restrooms.  The majority of the men’s rooms were turned into women’s by hotel management – the few men in attendance had quite a hike every time nature called!

There wasn’t enough time to do everything, whether from conflicting commitments or from the absolute, undeniable need for a nap.  And even though I’d decided I wasn’t going to kill myself trying to make it to all the workshops, I was still overwhelmed.

Writing is a solitary endeavor and although conferences are a fantastic way to connect with other writers – ease the solitude a bit – many of us have the same trait.  We’re happiest inside our own heads, which can make it difficult or stressful to socialize, especially with 2000 strangers!  I’m shy and get a little freaked out by crowds.  However, I was able to avoid cowering behind planters, for the most part.  And I’m looking forward to attending next year’s conference in New York City.

One really awesome thing?  I was (mostly) forthright about what genre I write in.  I didn’t get the stink eye from anyone.  When I was at a smaller conference last year, I not only got the stink eye, but the ‘cut direct’ I do believe it’s called, by two women at dinner one night.  Of course, that was before I had my contract with Loose Id, so I was unable to justify sticking out my tongue and giving them a raspberry.  Probably I should have anyway, but I do occasionally make attempts at decorum.  Everyone I met at RWA was, if not truly accepting, then at least they hid it extremely well.

During Nationals there are several awards ceremonies held by various chapters related to writing contests, but the biggest one is the national contest – the Golden Hearts for unpublished writers and the RITAs for published writers.  As a large organization that’s been around for thirty years, RWA has made great strides in getting romance recognition as a valid genre.  But its size and longevity also means it’s not going to be as agile as everyone might hope to changes in the publishing world, specifically the explosion of ebooks.  I mean, neither contest has a category for erotic romances and I would be unlikely to enter a GLBT book at this time anyway.  But the acceptance I found from other writers at the conference gives me hope for the future… Is it wrong for me to covet one of the RITAs for myself?

I learned a lot while I was there – definitely things about craft and what publishers might be looking for – but here’s some practical advice from a now-expert Nationals attendee:  Bring comfortable shoes & a spare suitcase for books.