Carmen DeSousa

Today I am visiting with Melody Ann, discussing, “The Challenge of Writing a Good Love Scene.”   This is a perfect topic, and to explain why, I’ll start by sharing my book bio with you. I post this on every blog post and Amazon, so hopefully readers will know what to expect with my books.   While I do not write "Christian" books, I do share my characters' Christian beliefs. My characters are real people who come with real flaws; no perfect people allowed. I characterize my stories as modern-day fairytales, as they are overflowing with romance, mystery, suspense, and of course, tragedy. After all, what would a fairytale be without a tragic event setting the stage? All of my novels are sensual, but not erotic, gripping but not graphic and will hopefully make you cry, laugh, love, and hope.   I love reading. I’ve been reading as long as I could hold a book and writing as long as I could hold a pen. And I read almost everything, as long as it is not too g...

The John Reeves Creed: "Kill them with kindness. Unless you have a gun."     John Reeves moves back to his childhood home and takes an easy job as a Private Investigator with an old high school friend. A grieving widow asks for help when the medical examiner unofficially labels her husband's bizarre death a suicide. John joins his brother Alan, a local police officer, to learn why the town's residents keep dying horrific deaths at a breakneck pace.   What Readers are Saying:   "Wrath will stick with you for days after you finish reading. It's a chilling and wonderfully-crafted story with living, breathing characters." — Jack Sheppard Author, The Marlowe Transmissions: Scavenger's War    “WRATH, RAGE and REVENGE John Reeves is back!” — Tom Stronach (Essex, United Kingdom)    “Like ‘Criminal Minds’ in print!”—Alexis Jones   Buy now from Amazon     To connect with Kirkus, please follow the l...

  Each week I use readers’ suggestions and write exactly five hundred words based on their feedback. And just to make this interesting, I offer up one of my novels free to the commenter whose suggestion I use. Okay…let’s write a story. (If you haven't read the first scenes, please click on the link. Otherwise, the story won't make sense. Don’t worry; there's a link, which will bring you right back.) 500 and Counting Scenes 1 and 8 Scene 9 The driver sat across the street in a new Chevy pickup, holding a pair of binoculars aimed at Gino and Sheila’s house. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. When Gino’s grandparents died twenty years ago, that should have been the end of all of this, but it seemed the secrets would never go away. Killing the first time had been difficult, but doing it again had been harder. If there had been any other way to handle the situation, it wouldn’t have been necessary. But sometimes, people j...

In my effort to never give anything away, I simply try to tell you how I classify the story and why I liked it. And since I talked Kirkus into giving us an excerpt--that you won't find anywhere but the book--I didn't want to take up too much of your time. Book Review: I know the title is The Fall of Billy Hitchings , but John Reeves stole the show. He's not perfect, but what man is. But he was a mysterious man with a past who I wanted to know more about. So, Kirkus, get busy and give us a novel about John Reeves. Now back to Billy Hitchings . The story was different, and I'm having a difficult time classifying what genre it would fall under, but that's okay; I like almost all genres. It had action, adventure, thrills, mystery, and paranormal elements, but somehow, Mr. MacGowan brought them all together to make for an interesting read. The ending came as a surprise, and I found myself wanting more---again with that John guy. Anyway, if you like In...

This is just a teaser. If you missed the first few excerpts of Entangled Dreams , you can read the first three chapters here . Don't worry; there's a link, which will bring you right back. If you've been keeping up with Entangled Dreams , you know that our female protagonist, Alexandra Nicole "Nicky", has lost both of her parents and is in a worthless relationship.   Desperate to feel anything but pain for one night, Alexandra hopped on the back of the motorcycle of a handsome stranger (Cameron), but then disappeared the next morning. Cameron let her walk out of his house without a word, but it looks as though he’s having second thoughts.   Excerpt:   Cameron parked in the furthest reaches of the parking lot, waiting to see if her boyfriend would show. His hope escalated as he witnessed Alexandra standing outside, waiting. She removed her barrette and combed her fingers through her beautiful, blonde curls. Then, those same delicate fing...

Readers asked ... so here are the answers. Have more after reading ... ask away! And, as you'll read at the bottom of the post, I do listen to readers.  J Land of theNoonday Sun   Where did the idea of this book come from? It’s a weird story actually and most people—unless you are a writer—may not get it, but here goes.   I don’t sketch out my ideas or plot out my books. A line or a prompt will come to me via a song, a line I hear someone say, or simply walking across the floor of an outdoor center in high heels.    Okay, sounds crazy but that’s exactly what happened. While shopping for a gift for my husband, wearing business attire and high heels, which were clicking along the hardwood floors in my favorite outdoor store in Charlotte, I thought to myself, “Who would believe I’m an avid hiker or whitewater kayaker ?”   That was all it took. I opened up my notes in my iPhone and started jotting down thoughts. My que...

Liz falls in love with Quinn the moment they meet in college.   He professes to love her, too.   She begins to think about the future, but his past rips them apart.   What Liz does next impacts the rest of their lives, but she feels it is the only way… she does it all for love.   Read an excerpt from All for Love Download from  Amazon ! About Ann: Ann lives in West Texas with her handsome hubby and three rescue pets.   All For Love is Ann’s first romance novel.   She is the author of the Young Adult books: The Phantom Series .   Book One is The Phantom Pilot , Book Two is The Phantom Student , and she is hard at work on Book Three, The Phantom of Crybaby Bridge .   Ann has also published short fiction in the anthologies Timeless (paranormal love stories) and Campfire Tales (spooky stories for the young at heart). You can find Ann at the websites below: Blog : Website : Facebook : Twitter...