When I worked as a writer and producer for a television station's website, I was great friends with the managing editor. We kept a file of crazy news stories that we called our “re-enactment files,” which we’d break out on slow or sad news days when we needed a good laugh. Nothing soothes the spirit better than bad office theatre. But this story crossed the wire about Boy George being arrested for keeping some guy as a sort of sex slave, and we were torn. On the one hand, it was disturbing to think about Boy George keeping someone cuffed to the bed, but in the end, we added it to the file.
It opened a whole new topic of conversation for us, though, because the craziness was partly discovered because of a hidden camera. We both agreed that while there days when being single sounded fun, ultimately we’d always have to look over our shoulders for the hidden camera in the bookshelf. But for some folks, the thrill of discovery can be quite titillating. Take, for example, sex in an elevator.
Quickies are not a new thing, nor is voyeurism, but there have been a string of steamy romances with couples getting a rise out of their lifts.
Anything He Wants by Sara Fawkes
I was pleasantly surprised by the scintillating story of temp worker Lucy Delacourt’s evolution at Hamilton Industries. Much like the movie Indecent Proposal, Lucy finds herself in an uncompromising, yet very sexy, position with the mystery businessman who rides the elevator with her every morning. She’s always aware of him, but takes precautions lest he notice her staring. One morning, though, the cobra snares her, crowding her against the door when the rest of the elevator clears out.
I didn’t really begin reading romances until after I’d been out of college for a few years. With my literature degree in writing and editing, I’d read my share of novels, but there’s a point during the curriculum where reading changes from pleasure to pressure. And then I discovered novellas.
It’s a good thing there are so many subgenres of romance, because the industry certainly tailors to the notion of having something for everyone. Like many of us, I read voraciously and am in constant search of new authors. I’ve read myself out of my local library, and have to walk a fine line with my soul mate on how many books I buy each month (digitally and in print) so it won’t “put us in the poor house.” And because I read so much, I find that I really like a different storyline each time. A series is a real emotional investment that I don’t always have time to give. Short series appeal to me, and I much prefer series tie-ins that make allusion to previous characters rather than focusing so heavily on involving them, again, in another book. A great example of this tangent-style series is 
When I was a kid, my mother and I had the regular habit of going to Sunday matinees after church. Then when I was in college, I worked at a video store during summer and holiday breaks, as did my husband. Between the three of us, we can quote thousands of movie lines. My favorites are comedies from the '80s and '90s.
Before I became a romance and children’s book novelist, I had a long and interesting career in the arts, public relations, and as a journalist. For five of them, I was a volunteer Senior Docent at the North Carolina Museum of Art. One of my favorite galleries was the African gallery, steeped in rich history and tradition. But I was also an art patron, and at a fundraiser for the African gallery about ten years ago, I won a Pende mask. It hangs in my dining room, and serves as a reminder to me that when you don a mask, you can be anything—or anyone—you want to be.
Cherry Adair
It’s strange to think there may be an upside to having an abusive stalker, but if you’re a heroine in a romance novel, you can count on it as fact. And two of the best bright-side-of-stalking stories are by two of my favorite authors: Linda Howard, and Susan Andersen.
Did you ever see Quentin Tarantino’s action movie, From Dusk to Dawn? It was Tarantino’s next movie after Pulp Fiction, and still being fairly new to Tarantino, we rented it with no knowledge of the story. Halfway through, while minding my own business, vampires shot out of their rendezvous strip joint.
My best friend’s married to a military intelligence officer in the Army, and one thing the Major told me years ago when he was still ferrying war criminals to the Hague Tribunals as a pilot, was that anytime the Special Forces soldiers climbed aboard, everyone else puckered up.
As many a bibliophile can understand, it’s a big decision to begin incorporating digital books into your library. On the one hand, a book is a book, is a book. But on the other, it’s an acknowledgement that the literary industry is, indeed, evolving and in order to adapt, you’ve got to keep up.
Dieting is never easy. It has the tendency to make you a little bitchy, gives you a wicked headache, and leaves you hungry and willing to cruise through the Dairy Queen just to smell the waffle cones baking because who knows—maybe you could get some contact calories to help you make it through the day.
Harlequin has a whole executive line of stories about the powerful, wealthy, influential chief executive officer and his mistress/secretary/secret baby. They’re tried and true motif’s that are always scandalous and shocking, and fun to read. And then there’s the mainstream media:
Sabrina Jeffries
The very first romance I ever read was 
