by Joanne Rock
My new Blaze turned out to be a little more timely than I could have predicted. It started out like so many of my Blazes do– sexy and fun, with a scintillating meet between the hero and heroine. All was rocking along just fine until my subplot came along.
Then things took a turn for the darker, with the heroine’s backstory a little more harrowing than some of my characters’ pasts. There was a date rape that counted as her introduction to sex—a fact that accounted for Jessica’s need to get in touch with her sensuality. After years of associating sex with fear, my heroine forced herself to learn everything she could about sensuality in an attempt to conquer her fears. I really admired that about her.
But then her journey got even more difficult when an identity thief wreaked havoc with her name and her credit score. Suddenly I had a villain in the past and present, two different people who’d hurt my heroine. Coincidence? Not hardly. Not when I realized the villains were a husband and wife team from a breakaway polygamist sect.
It seemed like a wild idea at the time. I wondered what my editor would think, but not long enough to slow me down. I was already getting drawn into the world of my villainess who was supporting her husband and sister-wives with identity theft—crime she’d been taught by her husband.
It wasn’t my first introduction to polygamy. I lived in southern Utah in the mid-nineties and a friend who was a native of the region pointed out the families living under the radar with multiple wives and numerous children. The wives shopped at our local grocery store sometimes and I began to wonder what it would be like to compete for your husband’s affections.
Of course, spinning my heroine’s backstory and her tangle with a polygamist clan occurred before the April raid of a Texas compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The removal of 416 girls from the facility underscored some issues in my book’s subplot. Polygamy presents enough problems for consenting adults. But when underage girls are pressured into sexual relationships for the sake of arranged marriages—that’s a whole other problem. And while I’m glad to have written a book with a timely focus, I’ve gotta say that after walking in my heroine’s shoes for two hundred pages, I wish these were problems that no teenage girl had to deal with. Big Love entertains me too, but there’s no romanticizing some of the issues inherent in the polygamist community.
On the upside of the story, I had fun researching what sorts of things a self-proclaimed sensuality guru might incorporate into her workshops on getting in touch with your sexuality. Who wouldn’t love researching belly dancing? Or couples massage? I learned that a lot of what makes a massage erotic vs. therapeutic has to do with breathing and degrees of touch pressure. There are ways to infuse massage with a more blatant sensuality if the goal is erotic connection, and that was fun stuff to think about. UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL forced me to think about sensuality in terms of a workshop—teaching it to others and developing heightened senses in oneself.
And since I got to touch on a wide variety of sensual tools, I had to at least write one scene that incorporated masks. I’ve written a characters-in-disguise stories in the past and even a whole online read called “Manhunting Masquerade,” so the mask concept is an old favorite that I’ve blogged about before. This time around I gave it a different spin that I hope you’ll enjoy—a surprise behind the mask.
Finally, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL features a hero who is former military. I’ve been asked to write military heroes in the past and have sometimes shied away since this is an arena my critique partner, Catherine Mann handles so expertly. But I can’t deny that her sexy military men have inspired me over the years and I decided to bring a little of that he-man edge to Rocco Easton, a SEAL turned repo-man after an injury sidelines him. Rocco channels his he-man impulses into nighttime repossessions and vindicating businesses that’ve been robbed by people who refuse to pay their bills. He proved a worthy heroine for my heroine who’d been through so much.
And that’s my tale for this time… a dose of this and a dose of that helped me weave UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL into a story with lots of layers underneath the steam heat. I hope you’ll check it out and in the mean time, stay and chat for a chance to win a signed copy of the book. I’ll be giving out two copies to random readers who share their favorite trick for feeling more sensual. Would you take a belly dancing class to feel sexy? Learn the art of massage? Or, like me, are you just hoping for an invitation to a masked ball…
-
Good morning!
I’m the ultimate non-girly person. No make up, hair in ponytail, jeans or shorts, flip flops, tshirts or tank tops. However 
the secret to my feeling sexy is my underwear. The colors, different fabrics and textures, styles… Yup, it can radically change the way I feel.
And of course, dancing. Dancing salsa with someone who knows how? Oh me oh my! 
Have a good weekend, everyone.
by azteclady
on April 26th, 2008 at 9:18 am
-
I know that I have learned Belly Dancing for exercise… and it was fun!
However, I would love to attend a ball masqué… well I read about them, it is a nice alternative!
by Nathalie
on April 26th, 2008 at 9:40 am
-
Losing a few pounds makes me feel better and look better and if you feel better…..LOL.
Doing a sexy cha cha or latin dance always makes me feel sexy.
by Pat L.
on April 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am
-
I like to feel sensual thru touch. I love to shower with a gel and then use a body lotion all in the same scent as the perfume I put on later. Then I will put on some sexy lingerie that feels good against my skin and looks ’sexy’ (even though I may be the only one who sees it, it makes me feel kind of naughty). I will then try to pick an outfit that not only helps me look feminine, but that the fabric feels soft and moves against my skin; it just makes me feel so good inside and out…a real boast to my morale and my general feeling of being happy and ‘female’.
by Shari C
on April 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am
-
Hi Joanne!
What an amazing coincidence that a piece of your story is in the headlines. I don’t know about the belly dancing but a mask ball sounds like a lot of fun.
by Maureen
on April 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
-
At my age - a masked ball will have to do……
by Karen B
on April 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
-
I guess I will have to go wiht a masked ball. I am kind of getting up there in age. If I could loose some weight I am sure it would make me feel a little sexier maybe. I am just not a sexy person.
by Virginia H.
on April 26th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
-
Wow, I have always wanted to go to a masquerade ball… I would need a makeover to go from plain jane to really girly!!! 
by Colleen
on April 26th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
-
Hi Joanne,
Wow - that’s so interesting that the timing of your book coincided with those real world events. Just reading this blog made me really feel for your heroine. To feel more sexy - belly dance sounds like a great idea, but since I’ve only done it for workouts, it’s more “painful” than sexy for me. Haha. I know there are workouts that are centered around stripping, or pole dancing. A lot of people think it’s trashy, but from a solely exercise standpoint - pole dancing has to be great - being able to hold yourself up with only your arms or legs?
Like many of the ladies here, I’m not a girly girl. In fact, people laugh when I tell them my daily regimen (or lack thereof) because they think I’m joking. Impossible! No girl would do so little! To feel sexy, I dress up a little, and break out what little makeup I have. I’ll probably wear my hair down too, and go out for a night on the town.
by limecello
on April 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
-
A masquerade sounds perfect, but I don’t think that will be realistic. I do like to give massages, mostly I just help relieve the tension in their shoulders and neck. I wish I knew the appropriate way to massage. I wouldn’t mind learning how to belly dance either. I heard that belly dancing is a great workout, too, so I could learn how to dance sensually and exercise all at once.
by Jane
on April 26th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
-
I don’t think I’d go the belly dancing route, but a masked ball sounds interesting.
by Estella
on April 26th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
-
I looove getting and giving a massage. There is nothing better then that intimate than the tender touch of another.
by Susan
on April 26th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
-
I happen think feeling sensual in one part state of mind, two parts feeling assured in one’s self, and three parts emotion/feeling. That said, massages would work for me, especially if my partner liked what I was doing. (Though I never took classes for it.) Belly dancing is not something I could do..too many people watching, even if its just in the teaching of it. A masked ball I could do. There is just something about being annonomous that would bring out the daring in me. Not to mention the being held close by a partner part. Of course I agree with others that with a beautiful dress, an artistic application of make-up and the right atmosphere I could still feel sensual without hiding a thing about me.
by April
on April 26th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
-
A masked ball sounds very interesting.
by Joyce
on April 26th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
-
I agree on massages and also on a shower refreshing your body and a lovely scent added afterwards. Paint the nails and put on a pretty silky nightie or throw and sit around listening to soft music.
by RobynL
on April 26th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
-
Soft, silky underwear makes me feel sensual.
by Linda F
on April 26th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
-
Learning to give a massage can help you get in touch with your sensuality–I think doing that well also forces you to try to tune into what the other person is feeling, which is part of building a physical and emotional connection with your partner. And if it’s done well, receiving a massage is truly a sensual pleasure!
by fedora
on April 27th, 2008 at 2:27 am
-
massage calasess has always been on my list and belly dancing. or a tango class is very senual. lvoe the cover. loved getting lucky !!
by kim h
on April 27th, 2008 at 3:56 am
-
I like to slow dance nice & close and I think it’s senusal if your man does too.
Now if I could only find that man, lol.
by Dina
on April 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
-
What helps me feel sensual is pampering myself. I take a hot bath and use products that smell like heaven (and shave my legs of course because that always helps lol) . I also have really long hair that I always wear in a ponytail so I usually dry it and wear it down. Then I put on my favorite neglige and light some candles. He takes it from there
by Nicole Price
on April 27th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
-
April, thanks for bringing up the mental part of sensuality, which plays a very big role! Reading can inspire sensuality as much as anything physical. And so can a day full of accomplishment or a triumphant moment… those events bring a sense of confidence that inspire boldness, well-being, and sometimes– sensuality that oozes right through the pores! Thanks to everyone for chatting with me this weekend.
*** The thread prize winner is Nicole Price! Nicole, just email me at joanne@joannerock.com with a snail mail address and I’ll send off your prize ASAP.***
-
wtg nicole p
by kim h
on April 28th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
-
Yay, Nicole! Such a nice way to start the week, no?
by azteclady
on April 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
-
Congrats, Nicole.
by Jane
on April 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
-
Woohoo! Thanks for the giveaway!! Actually it is a great start to my week. I’m now flu-free and now I have a great book to read
by Nicole Price
on April 28th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
