I’ll admit it—I’m a die-hard romantic. I write erotic romance, but the romance is always the focal point of the story—for me, and in any good erotic romance. To me, love is the most important thing. It’s a driving force behind human existence second only to the drive to survive.
I guess being a die-hard romantic is a pretty good personality trait for a romance author. I never tire of coming up with new scenarios, new characters, discovering why they should be together, why they can’t be, and how they’ll overcome it all to fall in love and find their happily ever after. *girlish sigh*
I remember being a little girl and watching one of my favorite television shows, a Japanese anime cartoon called Kimba the White Lion. Kimba was my first star crush…never mind that he was an animated character. And a lion. In my defense, I was five years old. But I’m getting off track. My favorite episode was when he found a girlfriend named Kitty and they fell in love! I remember being a little older and reading classic stories like The Secret Garden. I always hoped Mary and Dickon would fall in love and get married and have beautiful chubby babies to play in the garden, and was sorely disappointed when those young fantasies never came true. I was over the moon when the March girls from Little Women all found love (except for poor, tragic Beth, but a little tragedy always makes a story more exciting). That final scene where Professor Bhaer comes looking for Jo and proposes to her in the rain made me cry happy tears. It still does.
This is why I write romance. To make my readers feel those same emotions. To make myself feel them while I’m writing. There are few enough places to express ourselves in this busy world, too few moments to get lost in, too few opportunities to let our emotions soar. Writing and reading romance has always allowed me to do this, and I do both shamelessly.
I also rather shamelessly write very erotic romances. If the steamier side of romance is your cup of tea, then perhaps you’ll enjoy some of my work. My upcoming releases this year include FALLEN ANGEL (written as Eden Bradley), to be released by HQN in June, and TEMPTATION’S EDGE (written as Eve Berlin) available from Berkley Heat in August. I’ll also be putting out some e-books: I’m working on a rewrite of my novella BREAKING SKYE right now, and the first book in my steampunk/cyberpunk Kyoto City Steam series, THE DREAMBOX GIRL, will also be out this year.
CONTEST! Comment here to win a prize package of two of my contemporary erotic romance e-books: WINTER SOLSTICE and TEMPT ME TWICE! A winner will be chosen at the end of the day.
You can visit my websites for more information about my books—or about me: www.EdenBradley.com or www.EveBerlin.com (because one pen name is never enough, apparently!) or my fabulous group blog, www.Smutketeers.com where I blog with fellow authors R.G. Alexander, Crystal Jordan and Karen Erickson.
Eden/Eve
Hi Eden!
The hotter the read the more I like it! That said, I agree, the romance must be the focus of the story. I find this important element is lost in many erotic romances and that frustrates me. I'll have to check out your books!
Great post, and I loved the musings of your younger self. Heat is good but romance is wonderful.
Your cover artwork on both books is fabulous, and I'm looking forward to the reads.
Yay! I'm very interested. The romances I write have to be tortured and usually have some kind of history keeping them apart. I'm twisted that way…lol.
But I had to chuckle at your first crush, because mine was Speed Racer!!! LOL!
Thanks for sharing this info about yourself. I might have fallen in love with Kimba, too.
Hi Eden/Evie!
I so agree with you about love being essential by the end of the book. And what is it about declarations of love in the rain that drive us women crazy with emotion! Love. Them.
P.S. I can see why a young girl would fall in love with a lion. 🙂
Maggie-thanks so much for having me today. 🙂
Sharla-I loved Speed Racer, too, but Kimba was my #1-lol!
Lynne-I think the moodiness of rain adds to the raw emotion of the moment. I write about rain a lot!
Eden/Eve
My brother was a big Speed Racer fan and it is strange how many men have a secret passion for the old cartoons still. My best friend since kindergarten and I used to play Kimba the White Lion together. I'd forgotten about Kitty. Can't wait for Fallen Angel.
I don't think I ever saw Kimba the white lion, but I can totally see you falling in love with a lion. 🙂 And I have to agree with you that the very best erotic romances are all about the romance and the exploration of that love through both the physical and the emotional. 🙂 And you do it so well 🙂
Maria-Fallen Angel has some weird twists that the cover doesn't even hint at-be prepared!
Kate-your books do that so well. You're one of the people I've learned from. 🙂
I love a good erotic story, but I can't enjoy the "casual sex" ones nearly as much as the ones that combine real love with really hot sex. It's like pretzels and chocolate, both good on their own, but REALLY HOTDAMN GOOD when combined.
As for crushes, I think my first crush was with the guy playing Lt. Cable in the movie version of South Pacific. I don't remember how old I was, but I thought he was so terribly romantic, holding his woman close, singing "Younger Than Springtime" with that gorgeous voice, seeing that manly adam's apple quiver as he sang… It was a sad day when I realized that the movie had been made in 1958 and the actor was probably now old enough to be my grandfather, or possibly even dead! I think it was about that time that I transferred my crush to Christian Bale in "Newsies." I figured a seven-year age difference was much more reasonable. LOL
(for anyone who might be curious, John Kerr is the name of the actor from South Pacific, and apparently he is still alive and well, married with many children: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerr_%28actor%29) 🙂
Great post! Makes me think back on my first TV crush. Little Joe. (Yes, from Bonanza. I'm dating myself. LOL.) Love your books, Eden/Eve! They are so full of emotion and smokin' hot sex. What's not to love!
Eve, I'm a freshman writer who totally gets you. I believe one of the main reasons we are put here on this earth "is to love and be loved in return." Quote from one of my favorite songs, Nature Boy, by Nat King Cole.
I love all types of romances, if the power of the relationship is key to the story. Then I don't mind a sexier story and I know you write really great romances with lots of steam!
Laura-I love your description of your first screen crush. 🙂
Dee J-OMG-Little Joe was cute!
Kristal-love the quote-perfect!
Charlene-There really is nothing more powerful than love. 🙂
Hey Eden Eve
Fantastic post. I have read a handful of your books! Loved them. I especially like how u are careful to show the bonds btwn the characters! Lovely! Can't wait to read more!
Xo
Christine
Thanks to Random.org Sharla Lovelace is the winner of the prize package! Congratulations Sharla!
And the winner is…
Wendy S Marcus!
Wendy, just email me: eden_bradley@yahoo.com with 'Maggie Marr's blog winner' in the subject line and I'll send your book prize out to you ASAP!
Maggie-thanks so much for having me.
Eden/Eve 🙂