News, I Haz It!! And a Large Dose of Gratitude.

Since moving to Texas my writing has really taken a hit. It's not Texas' fault, though. I love it here. There weather is fantastic (Everyone will tell you it's hot in the summer but it's no hotter than it was back in central Illinois. Actually, there were several days last summer where it was warmer in my home state than here.) The people are so, so nice. I've made tons of new friends as have my husband and my kids. And the food is amazing. Not just the restaurants, people. Our local H.E.B (grocery store down here) has an amazing variety of wonderful foods. And they carry an large amount of Central Market organic foods, too! So, you may be asking, what's the deal? And the only answer I can give you is, life.

I love it here, but it was a bit of a transition. We had to find new doctors, especially since one of my sons broke a finger and my husband broke his hand almost as soon as we moved down here. That was fun. (Did you hear the sarcasm there? Okay, just checking.) We had to get the boys settled in their new school. We had to actually make the new friends and find the fantastic H.E.B. And, of course, let's not forget the unpacking, which-by the way-is still not completely done. For months after we moved down here, I was just trying to stay afloat with everything that had to get done. I really didn't have time to write.  But I did finish Bond Betrayed last spring (yay me!) and I'd started a whole bunch of sic-fi stories. I really, really wanted to write a sci-fi. And then Rebecca Royce moved down here near me!!!

If you don't know or haven't heard of Rebeca Royce, go to her website (Her name in the last paragraph is a link. Convenient, no?) and check her out. She is a fantastic author and has something in her back catalog for everybody. She's also a fantastic person and friend. We started getting together for coffee and, as writers will do, started talking shop. One thing lead to another and we started reading each other's W.I.P.s (work in progress). Let me tell you, that woman can write. And she held me accountable for not writing. I can't count the number of emails I've gotten from her asking me where her chapter is. Thanks in large part to her, I've started writing again. And I signed a sci-fi erotica series with Ellora's Cave!

The first book in the series, Ulterior Motives (Yep! That's the cover at the top of this blog. Isn't it gorgeous?), is releasing July 3rd and I've already turned in the second book in the series, Shared Objectives. I hope to hear good things back from my editor. This is the first time I've ever contracted a book before it was written and reviewed by the acquiring editor.

If you want to read more about Ulterior Motives, the blurb and an excerpt can be found on the Ellora's Cave Website and my website. 

I'll be posting more news as I get it :)

Beauty

We live in a society, actually in a world, that is obsessed with beauty.  We have beautiful women modeling our clothes, beautiful men telling us which perfumes to buy, and even beautiful people telling us who we should elect as our president. And the only real qualification they have to meddle in our lives is that, by some majority rule, society has deemed them as pretty. This is nothing new and it'll probably never change. It is, however, one of the reasons I love to read and write romance.

In a romance, the characters are always beautiful, but not because society deems them so.  They're beautiful because someone finds that beauty in them.  That's one of the reasons I think the genre resonates with so many women. Regardless of body type, emotional baggage, or current life situation a romance tells you that there is someone who will love you for who you are.  They'll crave your curves or they'll surrender to the sleek plains of your body.  They'll hold you in their arms late at night and tell you you're beautiful and your P.E. teacher must have been stark raving mad to mock you in front of the class.  Yep, that really did happen to yours truly.

But there's something I've been noticing more as of late that has me on edge when I pick up a romance.  It actually happened to me twice yesterday with two different books I read. Okay, yeah, I read a lot but that's an entirely different blog.  The heroines of both books were curvy, voluptuous women.  Awesome!  Curvy women are sexy as hell.  I love curvy women and I love reading about men falling in love with them.  The thing I don't love?  That moment when we're in the hero's P.O.V. and he's thinking about how much he prefers curvy women to thin ones.  It often goes something like this:  "He never understood how some men could be attracted to those rail thin women.  He didn't like the feeling of getting poked by a woman's hip bones as they had sex." Or like this: "He needed a passionate woman. One who wouldn't snap like a twig if the sex got a little rough."  To be honest, this makes me sad when I read it.

It doesn't matter what your body style is, chances are that, at some point, you've been teased about it.  Now that we're adults, can't we can't we rise above that? Can't we embrace all women equally? Yes, a hero who is attracted to curvy, voluptuous women would probably not be as attracted to a modelesque one.  Everyone has their preferences and they shouldn't feel guilty about that, but do we have to knock the thin women down to elevate curvy ones?  Do we have to make thin women feel self-conscious about their bodies in order to compliment curvy women on theirs?

Why is this such an issue with me?  This is a picture I took of myself this morning:



I am 5'7" and weigh 104lbs.  Yes, I am thin by just about any measure of the word, but I'm not a rail.  There's nothing feminine or even attractive about a rail.  Why would anyone ever compare any woman to one?  And I most certainly don't snap like a twig durning sex. Nope, not even when it's rough.

I get that I have a very specific body type and not everyone finds me attractive.  Yes, I have had men flat out (forgive the pun) tell me that they weren't interested because they like their women with a little more meat on their bones.  And you know what, it stung. But such is real life.  Whenever I'm reading a romance where the hero puts down thin women, it stings too.  Not only does it sting but, after reading it time and time again, I start to wonder if there's truth to it.  Yep, I've asked my husband if he can feel my hips while having sex.  He always answers no, but he's a smart guy.  He loves me and would never say something he knows would hurt my feelings.

Now for the disclaimer.  This is my body type.  I have always been thin and my children are thin. I'm a healthy active woman and, after my doctor told me my cholesterol is elevated, I eat a very healthy diet. But this is me. I'll never be considered a curvy or voluptuous woman.  I'm 36 and have had two children.  If it hasn't happened yet, it ain't going to happen.  And I have come to terms with my body type.  Like anyone else, there are things I love about my body and there are things I occasionally contemplate having surgery on.  I don't think I'd ever actually go through with the surgery but, you know, we all have our moments of weakness.  Mine is usually when I'm flipping through a lingerie catalog and realize they don't sell a damn thing that fits me unless it's push up and super padded.  I have a fantastic husband who adores me, however, and that does wonders for my self-confidence in those moments.

I don't want authors to stop writing stories about curvy women.  I love reading them.  I just want to be able to read them without having flashbacks of that P.E. teacher pulling me out in front of the class and saying, "Look, if you turned this girl sideways and had her stick out her tongue, she'd look like a zipper."







 

Pushing the Envelope

I have to admit, I don’t 100% understand that saying. Yes, I have a vague understanding of what it means (I’ve watched The Right Stuff). I’m just not that mathematically inclined so, to me, the saying is completely abstract. I get that it’s about pushing boundaries. And boy oh boy am I doing that lately. Only, in my world, they’re usually social or moral boundaries.

When I first stared writing for submission, I decided I’d write romance. One of my writer friends told me one of my strengths was tension and I should capitalize on that. It sounded like a good idea to me. And, with the romance industry of today, there was so much freedom to write really any subgenre you liked. I could write the story I wanted and not have to worry about formulas or trying to make my story fit into a subgenre I didn’t want to write. I did, however, that I wasn’t going to write erotic romance…yet. I think there’s a blog about it somewhere in the archives. I didn’t want to write erotic romance not because I thought it was cheap or tawdry, though, quite the opposite. If I was going to write something, it was going do the best possible job I could. I was only starting to write seriously and writing erotic romance was tricky. I wasn’t sure I had the ability to write it and write it well.

So for my first couple of books I wrote seductive romance. And I loved the books. I loved the characters. I loved the stories the characters told. While writing though, I read tons and tons of erotic romance. I read fantastic stories that got my heart racing and my kept me on edge as I turned each page. I read some that introduced me to ideas and positions that I was not aware of. And, of course, I read some that had me rolling my eyes at the characters all the way through. Each book I read critically, cataloging what I liked and what I didn’t. I made mental notes of how I thought the story could be stronger or the characters more consistent and believable. And then, when I felt I’d grown enough to do it well, I started writing my own erotic romance.

This month, my first ever erotic romance-Bond Betrayed-was released by Ellora’s Cave and I must admit, I love the book. I love the story. And yes, I love the characters. But it wasn’t easy for me to write. Chapter seven of that book was me really pushing the envelope—then. It wouldn’t be considered pushing the envelope if you stopped, though. The story I’m working on now, Molly and Thomas’ story, continues pushing. In Nikki and Isaac we have some sex toys, handcuffs, and spanking. But in Molly and Thomas we have so much more. Molly and Thomas’ story will be my first real attempt at a permanent ménage. 

I’m not writing it for shock value or to try to sensationalize the book, though. It’s written as an ménage because I honestly think that’s what Molly’s character needs. It’s also, because of his magic, what Thomas needs. We’ll see if I can continue to push the envelope and finish this story. I hope I do justice to Molly and Thomas. And I hope to continue to grow and embrace new challenges as a writer.

Guest Blogging

Today I'm guest blogging over at Lissa Matthews' site.  I'm talking about good guys are bad in all the best possible ways.  Stop by and leave a comment with your e-mail address for a chance to win a download of Bond Betrayed!

http://lissamatthews.com/blog/2012/11/12/guest-chandra-ryan/

So what now?

                                 There's always something about release weeks.  No matter how well they're scheduled, how meticulously they're planned, they always seem to be a whirlwind of chaos.  So you can imagine how crazy one is when it's competing with other things in the author's life.

Bond Betrayed was released on the 7th, which was fantastic.  But even better was that the 8th was my husband's and mine 15th anniversary.  We celebrated this weekend by watching Wreck it Ralph (in all its 3-D glory) and having a fancy...okay....fancy-ish...dinner with our two kids.  It was a super cute movie and a lovely dinner.  And it marked the end of the craziness of release week.  Which left me asking, so what now?

Of course, there's still more promo for Bond Betrayed the coming weeks and with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up I've got more than enough to keep me busy, but what fun would busy be if there wasn't some new story in the works.  And there is!

I'm currently working on the next story in the Ink world.  The first one was Izzy and Jacob's story with Ink in the Blood (which is on sale at Amazon for $0.99 if you haven't had a chance to read it yet).  Next was Izzy's sister, Nikki, in the just released Bond Betrayed.  And so, when I started the third book I decided to stick with family for it as well.  Only instead of the Rathe family, I decided to switch to the Marrows and focus on Molly and Thomas.

My fascination with Molly and Thomas started while I was writing Bond Betrayed.  No spoilers but they're both in Nikki and Isaac's story.  And it continued even after I wrote Nikki's and Isaac's happy ending.  I knew deep down in my heart that Molly and Thomas were perfect for each other.  But how would their story start?  Could Molly forgive Thomas for his deception?  And could Thomas ever see her as anything other than the damsel in distress that needs him for protection?

Well of course they could!  They'll have to.  Because Molly, as damaged as she is, is brave and strong.  Thomas is a smart cookie.  They'll get their act together.  I'm willing to bet my next book on it ;)  And, because they're both born and bred in the Community and have lived in the lighter shades of gray that differentiate the good from the bad in that world, oh what a book it's shaping up to be!

If you want to get caught up in the Ink world here are links to the first two books:

Ink in the Blood: http://www.amazon.com/Ink-In-the-Blood-ebook/dp/B004GHN58W/ref=la_B009J0KPYI_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352674114&sr=1-3

Bond Betrayed: http://www.amazon.com/Bond-Betrayed-ebook/dp/B00A4E7FYQ/ref=la_B009J0KPYI_1_2_title_0_main?ie=UTF8&qid=1352660078&sr=1-2  

It's Out!!

It's release day!!  It's release day!!  I'm so excited I finally get to share Bond Betrayed with you all.  And give away a digital copy to one of you.  All you have to do to enter the contest is leave a comment.  Make sure you put your e-mail address in the comment so I can notify you if you're the winner!  I'll be announcing the winner tomorrow evening so you have until then to enter.

In case you haven't been to the Ellora's Cave site, here's the blurb:

Isaac Marrow doesn’t care that Nikki Rathe is a seductress. She’s the only member of the Community who can help him get his sister Molly back from Nikki’s father, who holds the rest of their kind under his spell. But he doesn’t expect her to help willingly. Instead, he tricks her into giving up her blood, bonding her to him in an effort to compel her support. 

Nikki could have told Isaac that bonding himself to a seductress was a foolish move, but he never asked. Now, a powerful lust ties them together, driving them both mad. Isaac is hot, but the desire is a distraction she doesn’t need. Nikki wants to free Molly and bring down her father just as much as Isaac, if not more. The Community banished her as a child while letting her power-hungry father grow stronger. But Isaac’s betrayal of her trust can’t go unpunished. And a seductress can deliver a powerful punishment.

And here's the Excerpt:

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

An Excerpt From: BOND BETRAYED Copyright © CHANDRA RYAN, 2012 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. His hand returned to the base of her back as he guided her down a long, darkened hallway. She tried to scan rooms as they walked past, but it was difficult for her to focus on anything other than the sensation of his thumb slowly caressing her. Finally, after reaching the end of the hallway and going up a flight of stairs, they came to the room he’d been directing her toward. Following him through the door, she was a little surprised to find the bedroom elegantly decorated with antique furniture, including a gorgeously canopied four-poster bed. “You look surprised.” He pulled her closer, close enough for her to catch his subtle, earthy scent. “Don’t tell me you were expecting a dungeon.” She hadn’t been expecting a dungeon, but this didn’t strike her as a bachelor pad. It felt lived in—homey, even. “I have heard they’re quite the fashion.” She slowly began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing more of the intricate tattoo work. Running her hand along his chest, she gently removed the article of clothing and drank in the sight of his well-defined torso. He was truly beautiful. He took a step away from her and held his arms out so she could see all of the markings clearly before turning slowly in front of her. “There they are, all of them.” It was an impressive collection of the who’s who, but she was much more entranced by the ripple of muscle under the artwork. Facing her once more, he put his hands down and smiled at her. “I’ve shown you mine, I think it’s only fair you show me yours.” “Sit.” She nodded to the large bed. He chuckled softly but followed the command. Slowly, she let her blazer slip down her arms and drop to the floor. The conditioned air of the room made the hair on her arms stand on end and her skin break out in goose bumps, but it felt good after being in the sweltering heat. “Silk and pearls. Nice.” He was staring at her with a naked longing that made her want to rush. But rushing a seduction was like rushing a good brandy. Sacrilege. “I do love the feel of silk on my skin. But since we’re playing ‘show me yours and I’ll show you mine’…” She lifted the cami over her head in a fluid motion and then smiled at him as the soft material fluttered to the floor and landed in a puddle at her heels. She stood for a moment so he could admire the contrast of her black lace bra paired with the business pencil skirt and high heels of the suit. “Should I take these off?” She ran a fingertip along the strand of pearls that encircled her neck. “Or would you rather I leave them on?” She didn’t mind playing submissive over the trivial things. After all, happy men were pliant men. “On.” His voice was hoarse. She liked that. “As you wish.” She imitated his earlier turn to show off her pristine skin. Now that she was nearly naked from the waist up, she couldn’t hide it any longer. “You have no family, no alliances?” “No, and I’m not looking for any,” she confided, unbuttoning her pencil skirt. The zipper slid down easily, and that garment fell into a heap on top of cami. Standing in front of him in only her heels, matching black lace bra and panties and pearls, she wondered how he’d feel about that. Family was important. But so was sex. He shook his head softly as she took the first step towards him. “That’s good to hear.” She had to fight against the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. “Not the commitment type?” She continued walking toward him as she admired the glow of the sun reflecting off his olive skin. Kneeling on the floor in front of him, she gently kissed his chest, sending a shiver of desire through them both. His fingers ran through her hair, tugging at her curls until she was looking up at him. “Would you be here if I were?” No. Maybe he did know her better than she’d originally thought. After pushing him back until he was lying on the mattress, she kissed his navel and then stretched against him to kiss his rib cage. “You’re right. I would’ve declined your gracious invitation.” The challenge had just enough sting to get a reaction. “You would have declined, would you?” He pulled her on top of him so her mouth hovered inches above his. Straddling his ribcage, she let her heels slide off before answering. “No amount of hotness is worth the complications of a commitment.” “Hotness?” His fingers traced the path of her backbone. His firm touch sent a searing wave of desire through her. Arching her back, she moaned softly. “You think I’m hot?” Nikki heard the low growl of impatience, but it took a second for her to recognize it as her own. “You talk too much.” She covered his mouth with hers, silencing him. The kiss was filled with challenge and desire, making it both hungry and vulnerable at the same time. His arms closed around her back as she deepened the kiss, pulling her closer, until every inch of her body was pressed against his. The feel of his skin under hers was intoxicating. Pushing him away, she sat up and stared at him for a moment before lowering her mouth to his neck. Her tongue sought out and found his racing pulse. Savoring the lightly salty taste of his skin, she started working her way down to the sensitive spot where his neck met his shoulder. Biting him teasingly, she heard him moan as his hands clenched her thighs. “You taste good.” Her voice was husky, seductive—intentionally so. Here, she was in her element. “And what if I want to taste you?” God, this was just what she needed. “Feel free.” “No, I mean all of you.” There was no mistaking his meaning. Their magic lived in their blood and, although she’d never shared hers with anyone, she’d heard it was an aphrodisiac. One hardly ever offered because it could also be used to enslave another. But he couldn’t enslave her—couldn’t evoke the blood bond because he didn’t know her name. There was no way to bind another without their name. Also, a person could only place one blood bond in a lifetime. No one would waste something that precious on a one-night stand. She’d be safe. And the thought of his blood on her tongue made her quiver with need. “Will you bleed for me?” she asked, her voice heavy with desire. “Sounds fair.” Sitting up, he pulled a small knife from a night table and ran it across his wrist. When he’d cut enough to provoke several drops of blood he held it out to her. The magic in their blood prevented blood-borne diseases, so she didn’t have to worry about that. But still, she felt suddenly nervous. She had no idea what to expect. The wave of desire that hit her at just the tangy smell of his blood was enough to overcome her nerves, though. Leaning forward, she touched the blood with just the tip of her tongue. His magic was a mystery, but the power of it rushed through her. She was flying with his strength, the constant anxiety and fear that ate away at her, gone. If this was how her sister felt on heroin, she could almost understand Izzy’s addiction. “My turn?” Even with her head buzzing, she felt a small measure of her earlier concern return but she quickly brushed it away. He’d lived up to his end of the deal. And if he meant to hurt her, he’d had plenty of time not to mention opportunity already. But he hadn’t harmed her in any way. In fact, he’d given her one of the most pleasurable experiences she’d ever had. “Your turn.” She held out her wrist to him boldly. Nothing in her entire life had ever felt this good. Not even the knife slicing through her skin was enough to dull the sensation, especially when the warmth of his mouth covered the wound. She’d been wrong. Having him take her blood was even better than taking his. He sucked in a ragged breath as the warmth of his body left her. Opening her eyes, she stared at him as confusion began to chase away her desire. She’d never wanted to be closer to another person than she did with him at that moment. Why was he pulling away from her? “Nicola Lillian Rathe, I bond you to me with the power of your own blood.” It took a moment for the words to sink through the heady desire that was wrapped around her, but when they finally did, white-hot anger killed what was left of the seductive warmth throbbing through her and made her breathing hard and ragged with disbelief. “What?” “You’re mine.” He said the words triumphantly, but there was a sadness in his eyes. Refusing to see it, she leapt for the knife he’d left foolishly close to her. “Like hell I am.” Her fingers closed around the sleek handle of the blade. She wasn’t an expert on blood bonds by any standard of measure, but she did know if you killed the holder, it’d set the slave free. “You can try.” He held his arms out, giving her a clean shot at his heart. She’d never killed anyone, but if it was to free herself she was pretty sure she could. She tried to force the knife toward him, but as excruciating pain exploded in her head she dropped it again. “But the bond won’t let you hurt me.” Cursing, she brought her gaze to meet his. “Bastard!” His sigh was exaggerated. “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.” The word asshole sat on her tongue, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t say it. “That’s better.” The condescending prick was going to pay. Maybe she couldn’t hurt him directly, hell, now she couldn’t even call him names, but she’d figure out a way to make him pay.

Promo...Really....Again?

If you ask writers what they dread the most about a new release,  I'm willing to bet nine times out of ten times their answer is going to be promo.  Promotion work.  Telling the world about your newest creation.  It's not that we aren't proud of our work, we are.  But, for the most part, we're kind of quiet people.  It's one of the reasons we write.  There are few jobs that pay you to sit at home and live vicariously though others.  Actually, writing is about all that comes to mind right now.  Sure, we've got Twitter and Facebook.  And I love them!!  But I don't use them to promote as much as to keep up with what's going on in the industry and to stay in touch with friends.

But here it is, almost release time, and I'm diligently working on my promo.  'Cause I am proud of my book and I do want people to know about it.  The first thing I always do is work out a bribe...I mean reward.  This time, it's chocolate!  I get a piece whenever I finish a blog post.  Then I determine why I'm proud of the story.  This helps me when coming up with ideas for blogs.  It helps me highlight what's special or interesting about the particular story.  So...in this story we have....

1. A strong female and a Malkovichian male.  That's a start.

2. Betrayal.  That'll keep things interesting.

3. Hot sex.  Always good to have in a story.

4. Addiction.  Because if we let them, our vices will define us.

5. Heat break.  The truest test of survival skills.

6. Trust issues.  Let's face it, we all have those.

7.  Oh, and did I mention hot sex?  Well, it bears repeating ;)

So after I have this list, I start writing posts that (I hope) are relatable.  And, of course, I start e-mailing my friends with blogs to see if I can guest blog for them.

It's all pretty straight forward but it requires a lot of exposure.  Which is kind of the point.  But I'm not all that fond of exposure.  I mean, I want my book to have exposure, but I want to stay on the sidelines in the shadows.  I'm realistic enough to know that just isn't possible though.  So look for my guest blog posts in the upcoming weeks and months.  I'll post links to them on here as they come up so you can come on over, check out a new blog, and say hi!  And maybe win something, like a free download of Bond Betrayed!