Sex Sells - Five Tips For Writing Erotica - And One Big No-No

Sex sells.  And it seems like hundreds of new writers of erotica are popping up every day, especially now that self-publishing has taken off.  Ebook readers are faced with thousands of choices in erotic fiction.  Unfortunately, many of them in my opinion are pure crap.

People may buy your 10,000 word book for just under a buck based solely on the title or the cover.  But if there's nothing inside but a mish-mash of poorly written sex scenes, they probably won't buy a second book from you.  There are too many genuinely good writers out there competing for that same dollar.

Recently I skimmed through a "how to write sex" book by a male author.  The guy started out bragging about how he just got started, he knows nothing about writing, never read much himself - but he's already making enough writing erotic books to buy all the booze he can drink.  He refused to divulge the pen name he uses so it was impossible to check out his story.  But judging from the quality of his self-published Ebook, I believe the part where he says he knows nothing about writing.

Here are five tips for writing erotica that I've picked up along the way from some very good writers - and one no-no I learned from the booze-swilling braggart:

1.  Come up with a good story.  Most readers of erotic romance are women.  And most women want the romance part as much as they want the erotic part.  

2.  Remember show and tell.  Bring all the senses into your writing.  Let them hear the harsh smack of the Dom's paddle echoing off the stone walls of the dungeon, shiver at the chill of the whipped cream that the hunky pastry chef smears on her nipples, catch the scent of the leather blindfold.

3.  Use real words, not tacky cliches.   Unless you're writing a story set in Victorian times, try to refrain from having the hero's throbbing manhood brazenly invade the heroine's nether regions.

4. Create characters we can like.  I want to imagine myself as the heroine, not hate her for being a whiny, spoiled brat or a slut with no redeeming social value.  Same goes for the hero.  No one wants to be romanced by a man with all the depth of a stick figure.

5. Go ahead and break the rules - AFTER you learn them   Good writers of erotic fiction know the basics.  They grab the reader's attention right off the bat and tell a compelling tale.  The sex is woven into the fabric of the story.  We all know famous authors who break rules, switching POV ( that's point of view), popping in and out of their characters' heads from one paragraph to the next.  But they can get away with it because they've learned how to make it work.  If you start out ignoring basic rules, don't be surprised if your readers become confused or annoyed.

And the One No-No I learned from the booze-swilling braggart:

Don't Treat Your Readers Like They're Stupid.  You may think people will buy anything if it has enough raunchy sex in it, but trust me - things like grammar, spelling, punctuation and the ability to put words together and form a cohesive thought really are important.  If you've never been an avid reader, you probably don't have any business trying to be a writer.

Don't miss these recent posts:
Renee Rose's Four Tips That Guarantee You'll Make Money Writing Erotica
Deduct Your Dildo - Tax Tips for Erotic Authors  
Why Write Erotica - Here are 10,000 Reasons
Sex Sells - A Sneak Peek At the Last Taboo

         

Erotic Romance,Time Travel, Science Fiction, Medical Play And Plenty of Spanking - Captured and Examined Is Like Your Favorite Dessert

It's here!  My newest story Captured and Examined is like your favorite dessert - chock full of all the sinful, naughty things you love to indulge in.  There's a feisty redheaded time-traveling lass, a sexy Alpha male who knows how to deliver a firm spanking, and a backdrop that ranges from the rugged coast of Ireland to Paris to an almost-unknown but very real tropical island off the coast of Madagascar.

When her father tries to force her to marry fat, old, drunken Owen Leary to preserve the family lands, Tess O’Rourke runs away from home. She gets lost on the heath in the midst of a ferocious storm and loses consciousness, only to awaken in a cave, naked and shivering, staring into the eyes of a handsome stranger. To her dismay, the man questions her in an unfamiliar language and then spanks her bare bottom when she tries to run away.

After computers all over Europe are hit with a crippling attack, Connall Quinn, an ex-Navy SEAL now working for NATO’s cyber-terrorism squad, is dispatched to the Irish coastline in search of the problem’s source. It is there that he discovers a naked Irish lass hiding in a cave near an ancient stone outcropping.  After she attacks him and attempts to flee, he brings the defiant girl back to his headquarters with a well-spanked bottom. 

Once there, his medical team conducts a thorough examination, leaving his captive deeply humiliated and even more determined to escape.  Quinn has no intention of letting her go until he gets the truth, but Tess speaks only Gaelic and seems to know nothing of modern day life.  Hard as it is for him to believe, over time Quinn becomes convinced that she has somehow been transported from the past.

With each passing day his feelings for the feisty redhead grow stronger, and when he discovers that his superiors plan to lock her up indefinitely and study her like a lab rat, Quinn risks everything to rescue her. But can he keep her safe long enough to unravel the mystery that brought her into his life?

Publisher’s Note: Captured and Examined is an adventure and erotic romance novel that includes spanking, sexual scenes, medical play, anal play, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book

And now for a sneak peek you won't find anywhere else:

Tess’s screams and shouts echoed through the entire house.  He barely made out the voice of the nurse trying to calm her over the racket.  Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a slap.  Throwing open the door, Quinn found the nurse holding her cheek, which bore the bright red imprint of a hand. 

“This one is a vixen, she is,” the nurse huffed.  “I cain’t handle her meself.  Ye’ll need to get one of yer men in here.  I donna get combat pay.”

Nurse O’Brien stalked out.  Quinn saw the glint of satisfaction in Tess’s eyes as the door slammed behind her.

“Look, you need to cooperate,” he said.  “No one is going to harm you.  We just want the doctor to check you over, make sure you’re not hurt.”

The two men who accompanied the medical team on the helicopter rushed in.  “The nurse says she’s dangerous.  Step away.  We’re going to have to tase her,” one of them announced.

Quinn put his body between Tess and the two men.  “You’ll have to go through me to do it,” he replied, his voice hard.  “She’s just trying to protect herself,” he went on.  “She’s been lost, possibly injured, and now she’s surrounded by strangers who don’t speak her language.  The woman is terrified.  I can get her to settle down.  Just give me a few minutes alone with her.”

“Yeah, well according to your men downstairs, she may also be a terrorist - and a damned good actress,” one of them replied.  “You’ve got five minutes.  If she won’t settle down, tell her we’ll tase her and then put her in restraints until we decide what to do with her.”  The interrogation team headed back downstairs.

Quinn grabbed Tess by the shoulders.  “You’re running out of chances.  You have to cooperate.  I can’t make these guys play nice much longer.”

She shook her head stubbornly, refusing to look at him. 

“I know one way to get through to you,” he muttered.  He dragged her to the examination table and bent her over it, face down.  Tess fought like a wildcat, but she was no match for his strength.  He held her down across the table and yanked on the jeans she was wearing.  They were already unzipped.  One swift tug was all it took.  The button popped open and they slid down to her knees.

Her bottom was soft and white, all traces of his earlier punishment faded away.  Realizing what he was about to do, Tess shrieked at the top of her lungs.  His first harsh whack stunned her into silence.

“You will…SMACK…get undressed and get up on that table.”  Quinn’s hand whacked her again.  “The doctor is going to examine you…and you’re going to let him.”  

Quinn went on, punctuating his words with the flat of his palm against her quivering bottom.  This time he didn’t hold back, covering her entire backside with stinging slaps.  He spanked her in earnest, desperate to make her understand how serious the situation was.  Apparently she realized there was no escaping his punishment, because she went limp and started wailing.

“Be quiet now and do as you’re told.  If you think this was bad, you’d really hate being tased,” he growled.  “Now I’m going to stand here by the table while the doctor examines you - and you’re not going to give him any trouble, or I swear next time I’ll take my belt to you.”

A door on the side wall opened and the doctor came in.  He took in the scene, Quinn looking frustrated and angry, the young woman lying tearfully across his lap, face down with her pants around her knees, her naked bottom glowing bright red.  He spoke as casually as if it was a situation he saw every day.

     Buy on Amazon            Barnes and Noble         All Romance EBooks

                          

  

Sex Sells - Why Write Erotica ? Here Are 10,000 Reasons

Want to make $10,000 a month as a writer?  The Huffington Post  ran an article about a woman who is doing just that self-publishing her erotic novels.

Romance/erotica is the best-selling genre in the book business.  Sales totaled a whopping $1.4 billion in 2013, nearly double that of #2 on the list, the crime/mystery books.  The numbers for 2014 aren't out yet, but there's no reason to believe that trend is going to change any time in the near future.

Like many other writers making big bucks in this genre, the woman quoted in the article above uses a few simple tricks to generate that kind of money, one of which I'll examine below.  (The rest of her secrets, along with those of other best-selling erotic romance writers will be detailed in later posts.)  She declined to give her pen name in the interview, which always makes me question just how real her numbers are.  But statistics show that most published authors make less than that in a full year.  So even if she exaggerated and doubled or quadrupled her actual income, she's still doing better than 90% of us.

One trick she uses is to keep her books around 10,000 words.  Personally, I'd find it hard to call something smaller than the instruction flyer that comes with a piece of Ikea furniture a book, but apparently the formula works for her.

Another author who says she's pulling down around the same amount is Kathryn LeVeque.  Her books fall into the historical and medieval sub-genre of romance, rather than erotica.  In an interview a few days ago by the New York Times, she says she's recently put her books on Kindle Unlimited, dropped her prices to .99 on many of them, and is selling more than ever.  In the article, she admits that not everyone can go that route.  Like a big-box discount store, she's making up for the low prices with big numbers of sales. But she's able to do that because she has years and years of finished work behind her.

“I am able to drop prices and, by sheer volume of sales, increase my income,” she said. “Most authors can’t do that because most of them don’t have 50 novels for sale."

Le Veque's romances are sweeping sagas, running to hundreds and hundreds of pages.  She confesses that she feels pressured to keep up the output, sometimes writing 12,000 words a day.  Just thinking about that has me reaching for the nearest piece of chocolate!

But don't panic.  You don't have to choose between cutting out minor details like plot or character development and being chained to your computer.  According to the latest statistics from Amazon, there is a sweet spot most of us can use as a guideline. That's 20,000-40,000 words.  Books of that length appeal to our need for instant gratification. They can be read (and written) relatively quickly and priced to sell for around the cost of a Starbucks latte.

Join me Jan.14 for Five Tips on Writing Erotica And One NO NO

Read My Top Ten Reasons To Write Erotica

    

Sex Sells - A Sneak Peek At The Last Taboo

We’ve written about hot Doms in their dungeons, double penetration by well-endowed aliens, menages with twin cowboys, rectal exams by stern doctors, dressing up as little girls and getting our bare bottoms spanked - in short, doing kinky sexual things to every conceivable bodily part with a variety of partners and playthings. But there's one topic that up till now has been off-limits in most blogs about erotic romance.

                              Money.  There.  I've said it and I feel so much better.

This year I'm kicking off a new weekly series about the business we're all in - the business of writing erotic romance novels.  If you don't consider the hours you spend hunched over a keyboard as running your own business, it's time to rethink what you're doing.

You may say you write for fun, or for self-gratification, or because you just "have to put all those stories in your head on paper."  Okay.  Then send me your royalties and advance checks and I'll believe you.  Otherwise admit that the money you make is important.  Even if it's only a pittance, it's YOUR pittance. That first check for a new book is a cause for celebration, whether it buys you a Porche or a pizza.

But as someone who has owned and operated five small businesses before I began writing full time, I'm going to tell you one simple secret  - it's not just how much you make, it's how much you keep.

Of course, if you don't make much right now, that may not sound like a shocking revelation.  We're all financial virgins when we start out.  But I got very good at figuring out how to keep as much as possible of what I earned when I married a successful salesman and we started our first business together.  We had an accountant who took care of us.  At least that's what I thought.  When he presented me with a tax bill bigger than my total income the year before I got married, well...that's when Uncle Sam popped my fiscal cherry!

Every Wednesday we'll explore a new topic.  Together with guest bloggers I'll share ideas that will drive your sales higher, hot new trends in the market, which social media platforms REALLY work - and how to keep more of those Benjamins in your pocket.  He may not look very hot in that picture, but he sure can bring you a lot of satisfaction!  

Here are some upcoming posts:

Longer Isn’t Always Better  - Get your mind out of the gutter!  It's about book length 

Have You Hit the Dirty Thirty Yet? - Is there a "secret formula" for success? 

It’s All About That Base - How to build a team of super fans

            

Self-Gratification – Is it time to consider indie publishing?

Never Kill A Puppy - Writing rules and when to break them

       

How Much Money Do Romance Writers REALLY Make -Oooh, this one gets me hot!

I hope you'll join me January 7th for the kickoff. 

         

A Secret Spanko Revealed - Rayanna Jamison on Patty Devlin, I Love Lucy and The Bishop's First Bride

Today I'm welcoming Rayanna Jamison to share a bit about herself, why she wants to dress up as Lucy Ricardo, and her hot new spanking romance The Bishop's First Bride.

Kallista: Before we get into the book, please answer this terribly insightful question I ask all my guests to give me a glimpse into the woman behind the words. If you were wearing a Halloween costume, what would it be?

Rayanna: I would love to go as Lucy from I love Lucy. She’s a redhead, and I love the classic 50’s style. I feel like it would be secretly be paying homage to my spanko tendencies.

Kallista: Secret spanko tendencies, huh?  Now you know why I consider it a terribly insightful question.  Look what a naughty thing I got you to reveal! Be careful.  The next one is a trick question.  If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Rayanna: That’s an easy one. Patty Devlin.

Kallista: Okay, you didn't say me, but Patty is a great answer. She's a dear friend and she's been a mentor to so many of us. Now please tell us a bit about your new book:

Rosa Collins was only sixteen when she received a vision telling her of her future husband. Knowing that her husband would be Lucas, the Bishop's son, and future Bishop of Green Valley, both thrilled and terrified her. They were a match made in heaven, she knew, perfect for each other.

But becoming the Bishop's Wife is harder than Rosa anticipated. She struggles to transform herself into the perfect Bishop's Wife that her husband needs.

Lucas misses the real Rosa. Somewhere between getting married, and becoming the future Bishop's wife, his beloved wife has lost part of herself. Lucas knows that a good, old fashioned spanking is exactly what Rosa needs to help her find balance in her unrealistic expectations of what the perfect wife should be.

But, try as he might, that balance doesn't come easily for Rosa, and it certainly didn't help that her high school nemesis kept popping up and making trouble.

Will Lucas help her realize that all he wants is for his wife to be happy? Can Rosa pull herself together enough to become the Bishop's First Wife?

Here's a little snippet:

He crossed to the bed and sat, calling her over to stand before him.

“Are you ready?”

Rosa nodded shyly, and he saw no sense in drawing it out. He positioned her over one knee, so that her top half was on the bed, and her legs were not. With one swift flick of his wrist, her panties were around her knees and her cute little bottom was right where he wanted it.

He rubbed her white flesh, thinking that it wouldn’t be white for long as he intended to make this a well and thorough spanking.

“Why did you ask me to spank you, Rosa?” he asked, and she looked back at him surprised. He guessed she wasn’t expecting to be having a conversation in this position, but Lucas knew it would be the first of many they would have like this. In his opinion, it was one of the best ways to have a conversation.

“I’m waiting,” He told her with a sharp slap to her right bottom cheek.

“Ow, Ow, Okay, Um…Because I felt like I should be punished for spending a lot of money without asking you-even though it wasn’t a rule!” He spanked again just as she got to the end of her explanation, and she shrieked the last part.

He brought his hand down hard twice in rapid succession, and smiled in satisfaction as he watched a pink handprint color her creamy skin.

“And, why did you think you should be punished for something that wasn’t a rule?” He rubbed the skin where the handprint rose up, marveling at how warm it already was after just a few swats. It would be getting much, much warmer before they finished.

“Because I was inconsiderate, and I caused you embarrassment, and I hate disappointing you.”  Rosa mumbled into the bedcovers.

“That’s’ right. That’s why we are going to be making it a rule. So that this does not happen in the future. If it does, there will be clear consequences.” He began to spank again, raining down blows across her fleshy bottom crease. He kept an even tempo, with no regular pattern until he heard her begin to weep softly. He knew it was more from emotion than pain at this point, but it meant she was getting the release she needed.

He paused, and began to speak, occasionally punctuating his words with a sharp swat across the top of her thighs, causing her to gasp in pain.

she was getting the release she needed.

He paused, and began to speak, occasionally punctuating his words with a sharp swat across the top of her thighs, causing her to gasp in pain.

Buy it on Amazon       Buy at Blushing Books         Buy at Barnes and Noble

Want to know more about Rayanna?

          Follow Rayanna on Facebook          Rayanna's Blog 

Aargh! Patricia Green Says Stay Away From Pirated Books Or You May Catch A Nasty Virus

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Patricia Green, bestselling author of the hottest, most exciting erotic romances you'll ever read.  She's here to explain why the great bargains on those pirated book sites may give your computer a CTD (That's cyber-transmitted disease - my own acronym for a computer virus you can catch reading unprotected sex stories!)  

But first, let's hear a little about her newest release - Rescued By The Spy

A spy working for the Solarian Federation...Michael O'Malley is undercover in a sting operation against Jerold Laricon, a man with Machiavellian social restructuring schemes and a desire for world domination.

Kidnapped and kept as a sex slave...Could there be a worse time for Nina Stanley, O’Malley’s old flame, to show up in Ligeia as a kidnap victim? Sure, he wants to save her, but his job is to crush Laricon's slave trade and vicious rise to power.

The young and beautiful "spare"...Muddying the waters is Michael’s need to fit in and partake of the succulent fruits on Laricon’s human slave tree--including Alyssa, a willing sex slave he's forced to take as his own. Now he has two women counting on him, and the fate of a world.

Nina's goal is to get out...No matter what it takes. Nina is appalled by what she experiences in Ligeia at the hands of the evil Laricon, but what if the price of her freedom is Michael's life? Can she live with herself if that happens?

Can an undercover spy save the women he loves without blowing his cover? SF Erotic Romance

Kallista: Tell us about those pirated book sites that sound like such a great deal.

Patricia: Never buy a book from a resource other than the main online distributors. If the site is a pass-through site (taking you to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks, the original publisher's site, or another big distributor), then it's okay. But if the site is giving away the book for free off their servers, or they're charging a ridiculously low price that's different from Amazon and will be downloaded from non-Amazon servers, you've landed on a pirate site. 

These pirates are thieves. They buy or somehow obtain a PDF copy of a writer's book and then re-sell it or give it away for free. This might sound like a real deal to the average reader, but when you consider the amazing viruses attached to these pirated books, it isn't so appealing. Plus, the books are stolen. There is no pretty word to attach to it. It's theft. If you partake of these offerings, you are just as much a thief as the pirate.

Please don't obtain books illegally. All writers copyright their work, and that does not give anyone else the right to copy the book without written permission. You are taking money right out of an author's pocket. How would you feel if someone walked up to you and reached into your purse to take out a dollar bill. Sure, you might have other dollar bills, but that thief would tell other thieves, and soon all your dollar bills would be going out faster than coming in. That's what happens to authors when they're pirated.

Kallista:  I never knew those pirated books might carry viruses!  Sounds like Karma at work to me.  Here's a safe, legal snippet for everyone from your latest release -

Suddenly, the open door to the outer chamber was filled with Jerold Laricon, himself. The women quickly scuffed back their chairs, opened their bodices to expose their breasts, and prostrated themselves on the floor. Nina viewed this with a gimlet eye, and instead, stood up and faced him. He took in the scene before him with a benevolent expression, walking softly to Nina.

“You have not been trained yet, I know,” he said. “So I will take a moment to instruct you myself.” 

He looked her over then reached for the front of her robe. “These catches,” he said, pulling them apart, “are meant to open quickly so that you may bare yourself and show the proper subservience to free males—all free males.” He gazed hotly at her full breasts. “Any free 

male you encounter will expect you to reverence him so.” 

His hands slid over her breasts and cupped them. “However, you are my property. Is that clear?”

She nodded, her flesh squirming. “Yes, sir.”

He smiled, his yellow, crooked teeth showing. “And once those pretty tits are bared, you are to get down on your knees and lower your eyes. You will not seek the eyes of any free man, nor look at him unless you are spoken to. Is that also clear?”

Nina’s teeth ground together as she considered the debasing ritual. “Yes, sir.”

“I can see in your eyes that you consider it humiliating for women to respond to men this way.” His hands continued caressing her breasts, her nipples rising against his palms despite her loathing. “But women have risen above their station over the last millennia, and here in Ligeia, we are doing our best to correct that sociological error. I assure you the women are much happier, knowing their place. And, eventually, you will enjoy humbling yourself before me.” 

He took her chin in hand and forced her to look up at him. “Now, get down on your knees, press your pretty nipples to the floor, and kiss my boots.”

Nina swore at him in her mind, growled softly to show her displeasure, but obeyed. The hard, cold marble of the floor against her nipples brought a chilly determination to her heart. She stayed down after kissing his black hide boots, afraid her expression would betray more fury than he would allow.

“Well done,” he proclaimed. “Ladies.” 

He turned and left, as the women—except for Nina—exclaimed, “Hail Ligeia!” in his wake.

Appetite lost, Nina closed her robe, got back into her chair, and somehow made it through the meal in silence. The man hadn’t even bothered to remember her name.

Buy links:

     Amazon.com

     Amazon.co.UK

Bestselling author, Patricia Green, is a full-time fiction writer specializing in erotic romance. She provides the reader with love stories that emphasize fun characters with quirky personalities. Patricia is the author of more than 20 published novels and novellas as well as an ever-growing collection of short stories.

In her personal life, Patricia is married and the mother of twins. When she’s not being the angel of domestic harmony and a semi-crazed creator of fictional friends, she loves to read, crochet, knit and watch hockey and baseball.

You can reach Patricia Green in the following ways:

Email: pig (at) patriciagreenbooks (dot) com

Website/Blog: http://www.patriciagreenbooks.com/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Patricia.Green.Romance

Twitter: @PatriciaIGreen

Google+: http://plus.google.com/+PatriciaGreen

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Patricia-Green/e/B002RCB0IK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Abbie Adams - Age Play With A Little Twist

Today I'm chatting with a "little" who looks sweet but has a VERY naughty side, as anyone who has read her Little books knows. I had the pleasure of meeting Abbie Adams a few months ago and I can tell you first-hand that she probably deserves every spanking she gets!

Kallista:  Tell me, Abbie, what do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Abbie: Eat Oreos and read in a bubble bath.

Kallista:  If you were five what would you be reading?

Abbie: Junie B. Jones! I love that series. Wait - can normal five year olds read those? Ok, hang on...I’m thinking it would have to be a Dr. Seuss.  Are you my Mother, Red Fish Blue Fish. Oh but I really like If you give a Moose a Muffin. Dang, can I pick more than one?  (twirls her hair and fidgets on the seat)  Are we done yet?
  
Kallista:  Junie B. is still one of my favorites too.  And no, we're not done.  You have to tell us about your new "little" book for big girls first.

Abbie: (Sighs dramatically)  Oh, all right.  Emily and I wrote it together.  It's called A Little Twist.

     Six months of training. Six months to find a placement. Three years with a Daddy. Fifty thousand dollars. Some girls begged to get into the program, but not Sara or Caity. They took the "alternative program for non-violent offenders" when the State of New York's Women's Facility was full. They became little girls in Trace's program.

     Sara was placed with a daddy named Mark when Livvy, another little girl in the program, had gotten sick because of Sara's jealousy. Now, after two long months in the program, Sara has to get used to a whole new set of rules and the man who will enforce them: her Daddy will dominate her and take care of her in a special way no one ever has before. The witness protection program can't compare to her "protector".

     Caity has been the unwanted child all her life. Her father hates her and her mother ran away years before. The only family she really has is her sister, who isn't in the program, yet. But Caity didn't choose her new Daddy... Will he be able to prove his love, or will he prove he is just like her real father?

     Did Sara and Caity make the right choice, coming to the program instead of the State Penitentiary? Can they get along when Sara has taken the man Caity wanted all along? Emily Tilton and Abbie Adams team up to bring you the much requested story of the "other girls" in this, the third book in the 'A Little Training' and 'A Little Trouble' series

Here's a peek at what's inside:

     Daddy pulled her onto his lap. "Want to tell me what's bothering you?" He cupped her chin in his hand and tipped her face to his. "Hmm? Are you upset that Sara is here?"

     She sat up straight and tried to jerk away. "No! Why would I be worried about her?" His grip on her jaw was firm, and she couldn't get away from his intense scrutiny. "I was hoping to go back to the river today, but now I'm worried you will be too busy, is all."

     "We'll see about it. Now, I want you to be a good girl. You will won't you?" He held her hand as he stood them both up and led her out the door.

     She nodded instead of speaking, unaware she was actually holding her breath. Sara sat there on the couch, stiffly facing away as if nervous.

     Caity went right by without a word to her.  She pretended to be hungry and preoccupied, but a huge rock sat in her tummy, and the soft scrambled eggs on her plate did not allure her. She had to fight herself not to look behind her again; she wanted to watch Sara, to see if she could read her, tell anything about her thoughts.  She met Livvy's eyes when she finally came in and sat across the table. Caity would've thought Livvy was unaffected by Sara's presence, if not for the way her hand shook as she drew her juice to her lips.

     "Is Daddy here?" Livvy asked Uncle Jeremy softly, when he set her plate down.

     "Yes, he's in the office. Why is everyone so quiet this morning?" He looked around the table with a curious face, one eyebrow arched higher than the other. "Is something going on I don't know about?"

     "Sara," Uncle Matt said, while reaching for more sausage links. It almost came out like a cough, and Caity wondered if he was uncomfortable with her arrival as well.

     "She's already eaten," Daddy replied as he sat down next to Caity, then clarified, "Sara has already eaten."

     "Why is she here?" Caity mumbled, then shrunk a little when Daddy gave her a look.

     "She is here because her daddy has to work and every one of you will be nice to her and behave as you would like to be treated if you were in her place. And now that you have all been warned, there will be severe consequences if you young ladies are of a mind to disobey in this regard. Do you understand me?" He eyed each of the girls around the table, one at a time, until they all agreed.

                               Buy A Little Twist on Amazon

                               Buy A Little Twist on Blushing Books