Question of the Month
Whew! It's hot this summer. So let's talk steam. What are some of your most sensual moments from your Harlequin Intrigue books? A desperate love scene? A tender touch? That first passionate kiss? We often talk about the suspense, but what makes the relationship sizzle in your books?
Julie Miller: For me, the sizzle in an Intrigue is all about the emotion and sensuality. With the fast pacing and extra danger of an Intrigue, there's not a lot of time to get analytical about developing feelings. When the heat is on, I let my characters react more honestly, more vulnerably--without the time or luxury of filtering their emotions or being politically correct. So what you get is an intensity of attraction and heart-deep feelings.
For the growing physical attraction, I like to find a motif that fits the characters--maybe a nickname or catch phrase, or a particular touch, recurring action or setting piece. Then, as the story goes on, I intensify each occurrence as the motif repeats itself, letting the words or touch or setting become more intimate as the relationship becomes more intimate. Brushing a lock of hair off her forehead can be a practical thing in the first occurrence--she needs to see the mug shot clearly. The second time, he brushes the hair aside gently, to check for injuries after a tense encounter with the bad guys--he's starting to care. The third time, brushing the hair aside becomes an intimate caress as they kiss or make love. In my October Intrigue, Private S.W.A.T. Takeover, my hero, Holden Kincaid, is fascinated with my heroine's freckles. At first it's a joke about how they make her look like a kid instead of a sensible grown woman. Later, they become an endearing symbol of her vulnerability as a hit man closes in on them. By the time the love scene rolls around, he takes delight in counting each and every freckle--wherever they might be!
Mallory Kane: Unlike a lot of authors I talk to, I LOVE writing the sensual moments. Okay yeah, but that's not the only reason :) Those moments are rare enough in high-tension romantic suspense like Intrigues, so I always hope to make an impact with them. I want the hero and heroine to connect on more than a physical level. I try to make that stolen kiss or desperate embrace a part of the suspense. If they believe they're about to die, or if they've just lived through a harrowing near-death experience, their emotions are going to be raw and heightened, as are their physical reactions. And that, I hope, makes a more exciting, more emotional and more sensual read.
In my September 08 Intrigue, Solving the Mysterious Stranger, my hero and heroine are battling an international terrorist with literally the fate of the nation at stake. They can't trust each other, but working together is their only chance at survival. Since each hour could be their last, the danger is high and the sexual tension is higher.
Joanna Wayne: I like it HOT! I make it sizzle by putting off the lovemaking as long as I can. I like for the hero and heroine to be so hungry for each other that they all but tear each others clothes off when the big lovemaking scene arrives. I don't close the bedroom door-not that it always takes place in a bedroom- until I'm good and ready. I know that most romance readers have very vivid imaginations and don't need me to spell out the intimacy, but I also think the reader should get to feel the heat-all the way. My June Intrigue, Loaded, sizzles practically from the opening page. But then who can ever resist a rich, hunky, brave Texas rancher?
Sylvie Kurtz: I think the sizzle comes from the expectation of what might happen between these two people--from the sexual tension--more than from anything else. It's fun to get them close, then pull them back before they kiss or make love and let that attraction simmer. The proximity of danger and physical closeness fuels that tension, and makes an Intrigue a book like no other.
Patricia Rosemoor: I'm in the process of reading my Christmas Delivery printout and realize the love scenes in this book are among my favorites. The reason? Tremendous emotion. My hero and heroine were young lovers separated when the hero was human trafficked to a third world country to be part of a soldier-for-hire operation (like Blackwater). And now he's come back to find out who was responsible and to make that person pay. The relationship between Lexie and Simon is fraught with emotion. He thinks after what he's been forced to do and what he intends to do--see that justice is done--he's no good for her. She agrees. Furthermore, for different reasons, they think he's not the right father for their daughter. And within the notion they can't be together is the love that never died. So the love scenes are more about what they want and can't have than about the actual physical relationship. Though of course I didn't skip that part, either. But in my mind, the sense of desperation is what makes these scenes sizzle.
B.J. Daniels: Sizzle? You know it all depends on the characters. Some of them have so much passion that of course it's going to carry over into the bedroom or the back of the car or the dining room table. :) But other characters... I've had some who refused to get to the really intimate stuff until they were married. You can't argue with your characters. Not that there isn't any romance. Sometimes there just isn't any sex on screen. Personally, I like a man who holds your hand. Who smiles from across the room to let you know he's thinking of you. Who knows how to do the sweet kisses as well as the hot ones. I think there are a lot of ways to show someone how you feel about them and turn up the heat without getting hot and heavy. A touch. A glance. A whisper in the dark. You want steamy? First you have to put the water on to boil. Let it simmer. Getting there is more than half the fun.
Susan Kearney: Hot, hot, hot is how I like to write my sex scenes And that was why I also wrote for Blaze as well as Intrigue. Now that I write single title, my love scenes are still hot. Dancing With Fire is about a belly dancer whose father is murdered. And from the very first page, when the hero sees her dancing through a window, the tension is tight. Why because he instantly wants her--but she wants nothing to do with a dreamer like her father. That tension keeps going right through the suspense and into the love scenes. That tension drives the book.
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