Sunday, September 04, 2005

Jaci Burton's GARDEN OF EDEN

You might be scratching your head, wondering why it took me since Thursday to finish reading Jaci Burton's GARDEN OF EDEN, a novella in the Ellora's Cavemen Legendary Tails II Anthology. I can only say it wasn't because her story isn't excellent!! I give it two thumbs up!

Read an excerpt here!

It has more to do with me trying to get my e-book reader piece of you-know-what set up on my PC. Yes, I did work installing software systems for seven years, but I have been defeated by an old Gemstar ebook reader. I should just go buy another, but it's the principle of the thing.

Anyway, so I finally just said flock it and printed her story. I stuck my tongue out at that piece of soon-to-be-trash and read it in the bathtub, something I would never have done with the Gemstar anyway. So there.

Having gotten over my peevishness, I settled back in the tub and had a diet coke and a smile reading this fantastic short. While there, I began to ruminate about how hard it is to have a true, I-love-you, Happily Ever After with a 15,000 word story. Jaci did an excellent job with it. But I've been struggling myself with my latest story, THE HANGING MAN, which releases in November from Liquid Silver Books.

I was also working with 15K, and with three sex scenes, there isn't much room to allow them to have the experiences for marriage level commitment. Or at least not with this particular hero and heroine. They were both pretty battered when they happened upon each other (as you might imagine since the name of the story is so dark) and they had a lot to work out before they were in a place where they could believably give their hearts and souls.

So I found it interesting to see how Jaci did it in her story and I'll be reading other shorts, looking for the secrets to building believable true love in 15,000 words. Feel free to leave recommendations for me to check out in the comments section on this blog!!

1 comment:

Jaci Burton said...

Thanks babe! Glad you enjoyed the book!

You know, some people thinking writing short is easy. It isn't, is it? Trying to fit an actual plot PLUS copious amounts of sex into a 15K story is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Especially if you want the book to rock. Lots of authors do it and do it well. I read a lot of EC authors. The Cavemen books are excellent for showcasing how well it can be done. Angela Knight of course does a fantastic job of putting plot plus sex into a short book, as does Kate Douglas.

I've also heard that Leigh Wyndfield chick is pretty good at it too *g*

thanks again for reading Garden of Eden and mentioning it here.

I won't offer kisses cuz then you'd have to run for the antibacterial body scrub.

*snicker*

J