Sharon Page :: Blog

A few weeks ago I took six copies of my anthology, WILD NIGHTS, to my local public library. My husband had discovered online that authors could donate their books to the library.

I have to admit I felt strange explaining to the librarian that I was the author and wanted to donate the books.

Why strange?

I expected her to ask me to prove it.

I mean, after all, I’m just saying I’m the author. I could be anyone. I could even be an author trying to impersonate a better known author. The possibilities are endless.

Though later I thought, Why would she ask me to prove who I was? I was donating the books. I had six copies of one book. If I’d bought six copies to donate just so I could impersonate an author, why would the library care? And the librarian was certainly appreciative about my donation.

Last night, my hubby checked on my books in my home town’s library system and I was stunned to discover that my library has all four of my books, including the one I donated.
What completely knocked me off my feet?

The online system showed requests for those books. That means that there are people on waiting lists to read my books. Thirty people are on the list for BLOOD ROSE. And thirty for WILD NIGHTS. Each book, actually had a list of 20 – 30 people.

Now of course I had to put it into perspective. So I checked Nora Roberts. 522 people are waiting for High Noon. 50 are waiting for Amanda Quick’s latest. But I was still stunned, and touched, and thrilled, and amazed at my 30!

I adore my local library. I loved taking my kids there for story times and I met other new moms there who are very good friends. I love having the resource so close to hand for non-fiction books. And I love the serendipity of browsing shelves and finding a book I never would have gone searching for. This is how, years ago, I found “The Unruly Queen” by Fiona Fraser. She writes a terrific biography of the Regent’s wife, Princess Caroline. My heart certainly went out to Caroline after reading it. I was fascinated by the fact that if Caroline took an English lover the man would be arrested for treason. Obviously, I realized after. Since any child of hers would be a future king or queen. Caroline was very clever, however. Her lover was reputedly Pergami, an Italian.

What are most intriguing biographies you’ve read lately? Or have you made a surprising find at your local library?

First, I have some thrilling news to announce. Last week, I had two sales to publishers! I will be writing a sequel to BLOOD ROSE, and wrapping up my erotic vampire series by asking the question: Can the most dangerous vampires be redeemed by love?
And I sold on auction to Bantam/Dell in a two book deal for regency historical romance. These will be mass market, which is also really exciting for me.

Last night I saw myself on Canadian National t.v.—back in March, I taped a game show called “Test the Nation—Watch Your Language”. I had a brief sound bite interview. The host asked me, “What makes a romance erotic?” Well, we were talking about language, so I pointed out that the language is frank, we don’t use euphemisms, and the stories are hot. It’s a family network and the show had an airtime of 8:00 p.m. Also, I knew the network wanted schoolchildren to watch the show. So in my answer, I had to walk a fine line. Capturing the “erotic” in erotic romance is far more complicated than blunt language, and here’s why:

I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, and our local chapter met yesterday for a wonderful workshop given by USA Today Bestseller Nancy Warren (Kensington Brava and Harlequin). She gave two excellent talks on sexual tension and on using screenwriting tips for dialogue. Nancy also quoted the scriptwriter of the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice who, when reading the book, was amazed by the blazing sexuality on every page. I watched the series on DVD again this weekend, and was impressed with how the writer portrayed that—in the “unspoken dialogue”, as my husband termed it. The facial expressions revealed what the characters did not even quite understand themselves—they “fancied the pants off each other” as Nancy Warren put it. So if a story without explicit sex can be blazingly sexual, there’s obviously a lot more to it!

If the unspoken dialogue is so powerful, what can lovers actually say to each other that is more powerful than that? In my current WIP, my heroine, after years of feeling like a coward in her marriage to an abusive older husband, is widowed and meets the hero, with whom she is angry enough to be blunt. And honest. As my hero puts it—he’s never met a woman who wielded honesty with such brutality. And that’s the power of sexual banter to me—it’s those moments when desire strips away sense, and vulnerability becomes less important than joining and pleasure, and honesty is what comes out of our mouths.

Just for fun, I’ve picked out some of my favorite bits of fun sexual banter from my stories:
From BLOOD ROSE:

From SIN:

The opening line of BLACK SILK (Coming April 2008):

Would other Crumpets like to share some of their favorite banter? Or if you have a favorite snippet from a beloved book, please share!