For quite a while (and certainly post GFC), much of Western society has  been returning to simpler values – recycling, up-cycling, sustainability, making  do. Along with that there’s a perception that life is simpler, and therefore  better, in the country. Peppercorn rents to attract young families, ample land
to grow vegetables and caring communities have a real allure.

Having said that, our big cities have never offered such an amazing  variety in, well, everything. Exotic cuisines, countless festivals and non-stop  entertainment are there for the taking and not only for the well-to-do. 

It’s natural for many people to be drawn to both and that creates a
tension between these worlds that’s interesting to explore in  fiction.

In Outback Bride, my latest release with Destiny Romance, my heroine Lara has experienced both worlds. On  returning to Jindaburra, her childhood home in the outback she’s forced to  confront her past and ultimately to decide between the glittering city career  she’s created and returning to the land she turned her back on a decade  ago.

Here’s part of a scene when our hero Jake is driving Lara and her  niece, Jessie, to an outback fundraiser – a shingleback race: 

“’Well, look at that.’ The  car slid to a halt in a cloud of dust, then Jake thrust it into reverse. A fat,  iridescent shingleback sat sunning itself on the side of the road amidst a patch  of bright yellow paddy melons. Jake pulled the car to the side of the road and  unbuckled his seatbelt.

     ‘Could be Son of Stumpy,’ he  said.
     Jessie giggled. Lara rolled  her eyes and opened the car door, and was hit by a blast of hot air. She walked
around the back of the car and stood looking down at the lizard. Jake dropped to  his haunches and stretched out a hand. The lizard reared up and bared its teeth,  the bright blue tongue flicking out at them. 

     ‘Hey, little fella.’ Jake  picked it up firmly behind the front legs. ‘Got to have our own entrant for the
race. No time to train him, of course. Let’s just hope he has  form.’

     Lara folded her arms,  prepared to play along. ‘What makes you so sure Stumpy is a he?’

     Jake held the lizard high and looked underneath. ‘Yep. Definitely a  he.’

     ‘Cute.’

     Another lizard crawled out  of the scrub at the side of the road, its small legs plodding in determination
towards its mate.

     ‘And here’s Mrs. Stumpy,  right on cue. Here, hold him.’ He thrust the lizard into Lara’s hand.

     The warm, scaly skin glistened like shale in her hand and the hooded, primeval-looking eyes regarded
her warily. She stared back, lost in a sudden moment of déjà vu. A shimmer of heat and the unreal silence of the desolate road made time drop away until she was just young Lara from Jindaburra holding a  shingleback.

     Except she wasn’t Lara from Jindaburra anymore. ‘Hurry up with that box, will you?’ she called to Jake. She
didn’t want to think about that young girl and her dreams. She didn’t want to remember the innocent delight of the day she’d walked into the bush with Jake. That was long gone and life had moved on. She looked away from the lizard and its mesmerizing eyes.

     Jake brought back an old shoebox with several holes punched in the lid that he’d obviously had ready. He
raised the lid and Lara placed the lizard inside. Then he reached down and scooped up the second lizard.

     ‘Can’t leave Mrs Stumpy behind. They mate for life, you know.’ He slid a glance up at Lara, his expression unreadable.

     And suddenly, with a wave of regret, Lara had a bittersweet glimpse of how things might have been. How it
should have been between them. But it was all wrong now. 

     She shared a child that belonged to neither of them with a man she didn’t completely trust. 

     And Jindaburra was a heritage she no longer wanted."

You can find Louise at:
Website:   www.louisereynolds.com.au
Blog:   http://louwrites.wordpress.com/
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/LouiseHReynolds
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LouiseReynoldsauthorpage?ref=hl
 
Outback Bride can be purchased here:
Amazon:  
http://www.amazon.com/Outback-Bride-Destiny-Romance-ebook/dp/B00DW1MICW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1376375072&sr=1-1&keywords=Outback+Bride

Kobo Books: 
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Outback-Bride/book-rS9bXcBPWEWpbsEwJL2K7Q/page1.html?s=PlcefpM5fUCoLVlXduNYHw&r=8

Apple: 
https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/outback-bride/id673009558?mt=11

Destiny Romance: 
http://www.destinyromance.com/products/9781743482643/outback-bride-destiny-romance

Our amazing, not to mention prolific, erotic romance author, Tasmin Baker has recently released three new stories.

Eternal Hearts:
Historical Vampire MMF menage

For five hundred years, vampires Nathaniel and Michael have loved each other. But without their third mate, they feel empty and incomplete.

Lady Margaret Tonnington is a recent widow who has finally got some control over her life. The last thing she wants or expects is two male vampires, who both claim to need her. She is shocked by the strength of their passion for each other and wants to be a part of that love.

But Michael and Nathaniel want to bind her to them forever. Margaret is hesitant to change her life and fights to stay human.  A compromise will be almost impossible, however it is essential for her vampire mate’s lives that she does. 

Links:
http://www.evernightpublishing.com/eternal-hearts-by-tamsin-baker/

http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Hearts-Third-Bite-ebook/dp/B00D7EHN7E/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373664561&sr=1-4&keywords=tamsin+baker

Bonded Hearts: 
Historical Vampire MMM menage

Eric and Malcolm are over nine hundred years old. They love one another but they are tired. If they do not find their third mate soon, they will both go insane and commit suicide.

At a friend’s ball, the two vampires meet Jackson Essex. A gorgeous young lord who smells like pure heaven to them both. They want him and crave the mating that will bind them forever.

Jackson has always known he had unnatural feelings and cannot believe it when he meets two male vampires that inspire passion in him. The sex is incredible, but Malcolm and Eric want him to stay with them. They want a relationship with him, but Jackson doesn’t want to be a sodomite.

Two vampires on the verge of insanity and their human mate in denial about who he is. Disaster seems to be the only course for the ill fated trio.

Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Hearts-Third-Bite-ebook/dp/B00D7EHN7E/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373664561&sr=1-4&keywords=tamsin+baker

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/bonded-hearts-by-tamsin-baker/

Healed Hearts:
Historical Vampire MMMF ménage

Lucas and Thomas believed themselves unusually blessed to have found their third mate within only three hundred years of being a vampire. Unfortunately, once they turned Piers, that empty, lonely feeling is still there, within all of them.

Ten years of strained relations lead them to a ball where an old friend helps them track down a woman they have all dreamt of.

Maryanne has been thrown out of London in punishment for allowing her fiancée into her bed. She is travelling to meet her new horrid husband-to-be, when she is accosted by three male vampires, all claiming to want to love her.

What is a shamed lady meant to do? Her duty? To marry the horrible old lord, or risk loving three men who are the answer to her prayers?

 Links:
http://www.evernightpublishing.com/healed-hearts-by-tamsin-baker/

http://www.amazon.com/Healed-Hearts-Third-Bite-ebook/dp/B00DVZYV4C/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373664827&sr=1-5&keywords=tamsin+baker

 ‘Word painting’ is a term I’ve borrowed from the title of a book by  Rebecca
  McClanahan.  It’s such a rich,  evocative term – and one I wish I’d thought of myself and the book is a great  resource for all writers with regards to making the most of using  description.

 They say a picture paints a thousand words but as good writers, we  aspire to use fewer words to paint a picture.  Everyone who puts pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard writes  description.  It can’t be avoided.  Whether fiction or non-fiction, a story or a boring financial report, it all involves describing something.

 Why do we need to go to the extra trouble and effort when our scintillating dialogue and riveting plot may well be enough to carry our  story?

It’s because we don’t just want to tell our readers a story.  We want them to live it.  Sure, simply telling them things will do the job, but showing them in a way that engages emotions and senses will make their time with your story more fulfilling (and hopefully leave them wanting more of the same.)

 Description is the hardest working element of our stories. It not only tells us how something looks, it can show so much about the  place or time, the characters and their emotions.  Description isn’t something that is solely visual, it can also convey mood, tone, memory – all aspects which add richness and depth to the  story.

Ok, so we’re going to embellish our work with unique and compelling description, but where do  we put it?

Description isn’t merely decoration.  It can’t be hung on every sentence,  that’s like overloading a Xmas tree until all you see is the fancy stuff.  Like everything else in your story, every word needs to count, to serve the story. It should blend seamlessly into your story, not be a signpost saying ‘this is so you understand this particular aspect of the character, setting, plot’ aka the dreaded ‘info dump’.  Don’t waste description where it’s not needed. Don’t say it was a blue vase if the color is irrelevant.

Use detail where it’s significant, where it serves a purpose :             
‘It was a strong and handsome face with eyes that surprised her with their intense colour. Blue.  Not baby blue, or
dark blue, but the colour of her lapis lazuli  crystals.’
This isn’t just a description of the hero’s eyes, it gives us an insight into the heroine’s personality – that she thinks in terms of crystals we  could assume that she’s ‘new age’. The reader can form perceptions of how she may think and act.   As well as giving a concrete detail about the hero, it gives an  indication about the heroine as well.

Similarly the items on a credit card statement or  shopping list can build a picture of someone’s character – or the mere fact that  they have a ‘to do’ list.

Effective description doesn’t have to be complex or long.  It should play beneath the storyline like subliminal music.  
 
How?
Be precise and relevant in your details. If describing something that is ‘white’, what (from the POV of the person observing the white) would they see?  Alabaster? Milk? Bloodless?  Cloud? What about them, their situation, would colour (no pun intended) their perception of white?

Be aware of the sound of your words and the impact that  can carry. For example, short, long, abrupt, heavy, sad, light, sharp etc.  One word of the right tone can often  say more than a sentence.  
 
Think of description like expensive jewellery. Understand its quality,  appreciate its value and know how to use it to its best effect.
 
Andra Ashe’s recently released, erotic romance, ‘The Biker and the
Ballerina’, is available from Jupiter Gardens, follow the link below. 
http://jupitergardenspress.com/shop/the-biker-and-the-ballerina/


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