Guest Blogger: Adriana Kraft

Writing your Sun Sign

Are you into the zodiac? There was a phase in my life when I lived and breathed it. I had my chart done then – Sun and Moon in Cancer, Taurus rising. It explained a lot of me to myself. I haven’t consulted it as much in recent years but I feel like I never left it. I identify with my sign. I recognize my strengths in it, such as my tenacity, the energy I pour into creating a welcoming nesting space, my compassion and urge to help others. I also recognize (and so does my husband!) my weaker elements, easily understood as an overdose of precisely those strengths: resisting change, preferring to stay in that warm welcoming home rather than branch out for new adventures, and taking too much care of others.

Being an Aquarian, Hubs has challenged me precisely where I dig my feet in. Well okay, claws, if we’re going to stick with the Crab who belongs to my sun sign. Free spirited and adventurous, he’s drawn me out of my shell and taken me on a roller coaster ride I’d never have dared attempt on my own. No regrets – I’m having the time of my life!

A huge part of the ride is the erotic romance we co-author under our pen name, Adriana Kraft. We’d each harbored dreams of writing fiction since at least early adolescence, but both turned to social science and human services (the caregiver side of me; he doesn’t object too much, though!) for our professional careers. I’m not sure I would have taken the plunge on my own, but I love our joint efforts creating characters, plotting stories, clarifying our voice and tantalizing readers with our special brand of eroticism.

So when Lara Zielinsky at Sapphic Planet (http://www.sapphicplanet.com ) proposed the Sapphic Signs (http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=78_115 ) series of Lesbian Erotic Romance stories to Torquere, we thought it would be fun to give our two lead characters our own sun signs and see how they handled it. The result is our newly released novella, The Lady Wants More:

BLURB: The Lady Wants More: Janet Baxter keeps her post-divorce life neatly compartmentalized: Secure job, spacious Westchester County home, successful adult children, dependable community volunteer activities. Why is she drawn – for the first time ever – to attend her twenty-year college reunion in New York City?

Always a free spirit, Brenda Cassidy is comfortably bisexual and has no plans to ever settle down. But a fling? The reappearance of svelte, reserved Janet Baxter in Brenda’s life is nothing less than a gift, worthy of every enticement Brenda can conjure up. Can Brenda seduce Janet into an endless night of the lovemaking they enjoyed too briefly as college roommates? What if the lady wants more?

EXCERPT

Brenda spun around to face Janet when they got to the far corner of the dance floor. She knew Janet would prefer to be in the corner rather than on the front edge where bar patrons could easily gawk at them. She, herself, preferred center stage but—she grinned at her partner—tonight she’d cater to Janet’s desires. She just wished she could get a better read on her former roommate’s desires. Did they include her, yet? There was no need to rush things now that they’d reconnected after all these years.

Brenda had already decided that Janet needed, once again, to break out of her shell and get on with her life. Of course she’d often been accused of making quick judgments, if not rash ones. But surely the universe hadn’t crossed their paths just so they could share a drink and swap life stories. While she wasn’t looking for a permanent relationship, whatever that was, she was always on the lookout for a relationship that might offer enough challenge and spice to keep her going for more than a night or two.

Brenda grinned at Janet. She knew for certain this tall dark haired woman with gorgeous long legs could provide ample challenge and spice for some time. She held out her hands, interlaced her fingers with Janet’s and picked up the beat to the fast paced hip hop music. At arm’s length they swayed and stepped to the music. They circled each other.

Brenda filled her lungs. Her body throbbed with the music. Her brain clicked into hypersensitive mode—once again, she’d become the huntress. “Are you ready for me?”

Janet grinned and nodded. She dropped her hands, spun around and reached for Brenda again.

Smiling, Brenda blew her partner a kiss. She was pretty sure Janet hadn’t heard her words over the band.

Here’s a link to an excerpt with a little more spice…   EXCERPT (http://adrianakraft.com/2011/06/03/coming-soon-lesbian-erotic-romance/ )

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