A discussion with Black Rose

As an editor with the Black Rose line, I have the opportunity to peer into the lives of some very sensual creatures. Shifters, Vampires, Demons (Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it), and other paranormal creatures who by their very nature are sexy and inviting. Our readers expect sexual tension and interaction between characters, but there are some things to keep in mind as you weave your tales for the Black Rose Line.

Sex Should Happen Only Between Main Characters

Your supporting characters should support your hero and heroine. If they are running amok, having sex with each other, and overshadowing your main characters your sex scenes are going to lose their impact. Alluding to or having characters discuss their sex lives is fine, but please don’t include descriptive scenes of sex between supporting players.

If you have a hero or heroine who is highly sexual, please limit their sexual activity to their partner (or proposed partner) in the story. While we are all adults and know that sex outside of relationships occur in society, we like to see sexual activity limited to the hero and heroine. If you feel your characters are better suited to an open relationship you may want to check out our Scarlet line and see if your story is a better fit for their guidelines.  

Build Tension Slowly

Paranormal characters often ooze sexuality. Building up the sexual tension between your characters can create the perfect mood for your hero, heroine, and readers. Seeing their desire woven through the story as it grows can lead to the perfect set up for their first encounter. 

On the Page or Behind Closed Doors

Where and how your characters have sex is up to you as the writer. Paranormal readers seem to prefer descriptive scenes on the page to those behind the scenes, but you should write in a style that is comfortable to you and fits your storyline.

Moves the Story Along

Your sex scenes should add to the story and move it forward. It should be a natural progression of your hero and heroine’s relationship and not forced or gratuitous. Don’t add a sex scene simply because you think you should have one, create a scenario that naturally moves in that direction.  Sex should be just one part of the story. If you find your story has a large percentage of sex or sex is a large focus of the story’s development you may be a budding Scarlet writer. 

Too Much Description

While our Black Rose characters have a lot of sex, there are certain words and verbiage that is limited to the Scarlet line. While we want description, we also need it to be a bit milder than what is found in erotic stories. You editor will most likely point out those words that are off limits, but one way to judge their usage is to imagine saying them to your best friend. If you find yourself turning five shades of red, you may want to choose a different word.  

Lill Farrell

Black Rose Editor

The Wild Rose Press

Happy and Romantic Hauntings

Hello All!

I want to add my Happy Halloween Hauntings to Callie's. This time of year, is as Callie pointed out, a favorite for those of us who dwell in the dark side of the garden.

Of course we are lucky enough to dwell with the darker creatures all year long! But there is nothing like this time of year to bring out the sexy vamps, weres, shifters and other creatures of the night. Wouldn't it be great to trick or treat (or as my children said when they were young "spooooky night") and bring home a truly luscious and hunky treat like those found in the Black Rose line?

Growing up in Southern California we had many spooky haunts but one of the favorites as a teenager was one certain fire road leading up to the mountains. It was of course created for firefighters to have easy and direct access in case of fires but over time it took on a life of its own.

There were several stories as to different spooky occurances, missing persons, ghostly sightings, sinister cults, etc., that supposedly happened along this dark and lonely streatch of road. The one that was told and retold the most was of the ghostly woodsman and his crew who haunted the top portion. We would dare ourselves to drive the road slowly, always intent on making it to the top but scaring ourselves silly long before reaching our goal. I've never been sure if the things we saw were the results of over active imaginations or if there truly was truth to some of the tales.

This year I hope to have the opportunity to experience a true ghost hunt (in the style of Ghost Hunters).

I hope that you will join us in the darker side of the garden during our Halloween celebrations. We welcome one and all.

Holy haunted house!!! I woke this morning and realized we are midway through October! How does that happen? October is my favorite month and, of course, being a Black Rose editor Halloween is, by far, my favorite holiday:)

Note:(The above picture is an actual house which is part of an old insane asylum that we used to haunt when I was a teenager. It has been deserted for many years and holds a gruesome history that has been replayed on Ghost Hunter episodes and historical discussions through time. I remember sitting in the middle of the night staring into the wooded area surrounding this compound shaking with adrenolin coursing through my veins. Ah... the bravery of youth! A Philadelphia radio station has been known to hold a Halloween Haunted house event at this location in the past. I believe more currently that most of these buildings may have been demolished. But I am sure that miserable and mistreated souls still haunt these sad grounds.)

In case you don't know me, I am Callie Lynn Wolfe, Senior Editor of TWRP's Black Rose Line. And, of course, this is our most active time of year, as you can well imagine. We are busy interacting with all our friends from the darker side of the garden.

An oasis of silvery moonlight shining down upon alabaster statuary in an Old
English Rose garden filled with you guessed it--Black Roses. In our midst are the to die for vamps, the hot weres, the fiesty demons and, of course, we are always looking for the elusive gargoyles as well other creatures our authors can scare up from their very vivid imaginations. Our heros and heroines are predators but they do have a soft side. You just have to know to pull it out of them:)

We will be dropping in and out to guide you through ebony paths and silvery forests for the rest of the month. The Black Rose staff is Lill Farrell, Joel Walker, Eilidh Mackenzie, Corinne MacGregor and Amanda Barnett all of which will share their scariest moments with you. I will be stopping in periodically with my special haunted memories as well.




I wish you all a very ghoulish and frightening Halloween and a most Blessed Samhain. Now I must prepare for the annual masquarade and dance of the dead celebrations. Please do join us. We would love to have you--literally!

Dark blessings,

Callie~

Nightmare: A Story of Unrequited Love

NIGHTMARE: A Story of Unrequited Love

How many times have you found yourself wondering just what exactly are succubae and incubi? And what the heck do they do, anyway? Well, if you’re like me, quite often, that’s for sure.

So, dear Readers, with a bit of time on my hands (ha!) over here on the Dark Side of the Garden, I’ve taken it upon myself to do some research into the matter. It appears different theories exist regarding the creation of these infamous, highly-sexed creatures of the, uh, bedroom. Yet, according to the esteemed Sanctum #11: Inquisition, which I’m sure you are all familiar with, “the leading theory was that a warlock or warlocks were trying to create more of their kind the old-fashioned way: by breeding them.” The incubi and the succubae of medieval European folklore visited men and women during the dead of the night to engage in sex, ultimately to produce doers of great evil or powerful warlocks. It was believed that “the most famous child of such a union” was Merlin the Magician. Wow!

Now here’s the unrequited love story part. No HEA here…
A few years before he painted The Nightmare (1791), Johan Heinrich Fussli had fallen passionately in love with a woman named Anna Landholdt in Zürich, the niece of his friend, Johann Kaspar Lavater. Fuseli wrote of his fantasies to Lavater:

Last night I had her in bed with me—tossed my bedclothes hugger-mugger—wound my hot and tight-clasped hands about her—fused her body and soul together with my own—poured into her my spirit, breath and strength. Anyone who touches her now commits adultery and incest! She is mine, and I am hers. And have her I will….

Fussli's marriage proposal didn’t meet with Dad’s approval and lovely Anna married a family friend soon after. It’s said that The Nightmare, (see art below) then, can be seen as a personal portrayal of the erotic aspects of love lost.

Well, if Johan is portraying himself crouching on the beautiful Anna’s midsection, no wonder Daddy didn’t approve!

Joelle Walker
Editor, The Black Rose Line

It's October! With that comes...

Indian Summer, Octoberfest, firey autumn colors but most important Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Samhain!

WELCOME TO PARANORMAL MONTH AT THE WILD ROSE PRESS:)

I am Callie Lynn Wolfe, Senior Editor of the Black Rose Imprint here at TWRP. I have been with TWRP from almost the beginning. I have been fortunate enough to watch this company grow and thrive under the tender cultivating efforts of RJ and Rhonda. I have also watched the Black Rose line grow and it still is. I absolutely love the darker side of the garden and my mission is to see it thrive.

That said, I wanted to tell you a bit about the line, our new blog and what we've got up our sleeves this year to celebrate Paranormal Month.

As you all know, we ran the Got Wolf? contest last year. This year we are celebrating the winners as well as the release of the two Anthologies. I am excited about both books and the collection of stories they hold. We will start October off at the Black Rose blog with the various authors of Got Wolf, so please don't miss any of that. Then we will slide into discussions about the many different aspects of Halloween/Samhain legend, history, tradition and all the creatures that make up the term Paranormal. The darker side, that is

For the next week or so the Black Rose editors will drop in and talk to you about themselves and the upcoming events.

For more information on submission requirements for Black Rose, please visit our guidelines page.

Below is a brief description of what we look for in our stories:

The Black Rose Line at The Wild Rose Press is actively open for spicy to very hot story submissions.

The darker side of the garden seeks steamy, Alpha male or female weres, to die for vamps, or any other delicious mystical creature you have locked up in your wildest imaginations. These stories should include vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, and mystical creatures of all types. The stories are darker, but must have a strong romance theme as the central story thread. We are open to a wide range of stories, and because these creatures tend to be sensual in nature, Black Rose accepts manuscripts that fit the Sensual, Spicy, and Hot ratings parameters, but sex should not be used as the main story thread.

Black Rose is open for submissions as we speak, so if you have a dark tale to tell we're your line.

I want to mention some other great perks this month for Paranormal month. All paranormal books will be on sale all month! So please do hop over and check them out. We have a wonderful selection to choose from.

One other thing I'd like to say. Keep an eye on the The Black Rose Blog daily because you never know when someone will be offering a prize or giving away free stuff and books. This is our month, and we're up to no good or should I say lot's of ghoulish fun:) Don't miss a trick or treat.

We look forward to haunting you all month long. Welcome to the darker side. Step on in and feel the chill. No worries though. I'm sure one of our HOT heroes or heroines will be along shortly to warm you up.

Callie Lynn
callielynnwrp@aol.com

Got Wolf? more specific details...

We've revised the information regarding the contest requirements because they seemed unclear. I hope this is helpful. Also, please find specific submissions information below including the subs email address.

I am looking forward to an influx of entrants in the next three weeks. Hope to see a submission from you:)

****

The Wild Rose Press Presents…
Got Wolf? Black Rose Writing Contest
If you've got a hot hero/heroine who also happens to turn furry at least once a month, then Black Rose is looking for your story.

Six lucky winners will be published in our 2009 Black Rose Anthology.

Details: 4 short stories (15,000-25,000 words) and 2 novellas (25,000-45,000 words) will be chosen.

We are looking for werewolf stories with tight, well-written storylines and plots. If the hero is female, make sure the male is equally impressive. All stories must have at least one HOT consummated love scene and, of course, the traditional romance requirements still stand.

How to Enter

• Create a single document including your short synopsis (1-5 pages) followed by the complete story, saved as an RFT file.
• Use standard manuscript format: 1” margins, 12 point Times New Roman or Courier, header with name, title and page number
• On the first page, include your name, email address, title, word count, and the words “Got Wolf? Black Rose Writing Contest.”
• Email your entry to queryus@thewildrosepress.com with the words “Got Wolf?” in the subject line.

Entry Deadline
August 30, 2008

Awards
6 winners (4 for the short story category and 2 for the novella category) will be published our 2009 Black Rose Anthology. Winners will also receive a special Black Rose Contest T-shirt, and one winner will be selected from the six to receive an author’s survival gift basket full of goodies.
Judges
Ami Russell, Callie Lynn Wolfe, Amanda Barnett, Joan Archer, and Rene Stephens.

Winners will be announced on October 31, 2008