Keeper of the Flame

Good morning, my Lovelies! It's Thursday and though it is a bit chilly here, the sun is shining and it is absolutely beautiful out there! And even though I've been off my game over the past couple of weeks, I feel better this morning and am in a much better mood. (Lucky you!) I hope all is well where you are and that you have been having an amazing week!

It has come to my attention recently that I have some friends and acquaintances, people that know me fairly well, who might normally read books in the genre that I write, who are a little...apprehensive about giving my books a try. Why? It seems that they can't or have trouble separating the "me" they know from the persona that I take on when I write.  

I guess the fact that I write so openly and so descriptively about sex is just weird for them on some level. In one way I can see that, but in another, I can't. Talking so openly about sex is nothing new for me and those that have been friends with me for a long time know this - especially once you get a few drinks in me. Maybe it's that it is written down? I mean, it is absolutely true that writing things down gives you an entirely different perspective.

I think that part of what they aren't realizing is that even though I write all these descriptive scenes, it doesn't mean that I've experienced all these things. (Would I want to? Hell yeah!) But, no. I just, quite simply, have a really overactive, highly sensual, and overtly sexual imagination.

I'm just a storyteller.

Yes, I love it. Yes, I have fun with it. Yes, I have and will continue to pull from my own experiences. But I also pull from so much more! My friends are wonderful about relaying some of their experiences, their thoughts and desires. And y'all, I don't just write the stories, I read others' stories, too!

And I don't just read in the genre I write! I keep my imagination running by branching out and reading books about subjects I wouldn't have the first clue how to write. (Like vampires and werewolves? Fairytale erotica? I love it! But I have no idea how to write it!)

I've told you before that the characters in my books talk to me. And I know that some of you don't get that. (Maybe because y'all are sane and don't have voices in your heads.) But when I'm writing, I'm telling their story. It's like I'm carrying on a conversation with them and they're giving me every dirty little detail! All I'm doing is writing it down and making it pretty with a bunch of flowery words.

So, please, if you haven't given one of my books a try because you're afraid you'll be imaging me in all these scenarios, or because you can't get past the fact that it's me telling the story, do yourself a favor and try to read anyway. I promise you that once you're into the story, you'll be visualizing my characters and their surroundings - not me.

I'm simply painting pictures with my words. 

Until next time, and as always,

Much love and affection, from me to you!

Shelly (a/k/a Dawn Love)

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