A FALLOW HEART BLOG TOUR: Guest Post with Linda Kage and Giveaway

Please welcome the lovely and talented, Linda Kage to A Tasty Read today!!  The lovely Linda is on Tour right now with Tasty Book Tours, and I am so excited to have her here today talking about "Building Sexual Tension" in your romance!!

So without further ado....Take it away Linda...

Linda Howard is one of my ultimate favorite authors and not just because she writes a dang fine story.  She also taught me everything there is to know about sex!  She used to give a very popular speech to writers about building sensual tension in a story by using Desmond Morris's 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy. 

If you're not up-to-date on those twelve steps, here they are:

1. Eye to Body

2. Eye to Eye

3. Voice to Voice

4. Hand to Hand (or arm)

5. Arm to Shoulder

6. Arm to Waist (or Back)

7. Mouth to Mouth

8. Hand to Head

9. Hand to Body

10. Mouth to Breast

11. Hand to Genitals

12. Genitals to Genitals

Okay, got it? Great. Continuing on!

So, I never do anything in the correct order, hence I probably should've checked BEFORE I finished my story whether I included all twelve steps, but since I messed that up already, I figure we might as well investigate this now.

Did Linda Kay do her job and fulfill enough sensual tension in A FALLOW HEART?

Since I don't want things to get too hot up in this blog and melt any of your cable wires hooking you to the internet, or anything, we'll only go up to step six of our query.

So onto investigating step one: Eye to Body.

Here's a little excerpt from A FALLOW HEART:

***

Emma Leigh just had to go and say, “Oh, hey. Look who we ran into as soon as we got here.”

She grabbed Jo Ellen’s arm and revolved her toward the man, practically shoving her into his lap, right between a pair of spread knees. Eyes widening, Jo Ellen gaped at those thick, masculine knees, covered by thin, fraying denim. Her eyes strayed up of their own will, taking in strong, muscled thighs and somehow landing on his crotch, where the fly of his jeans stretched over an impressive bulge nestled under a big shiny brass belt buckle.

She gulped as the man scooted upright, obviously also alarmed by Emma Leigh thrusting her so close.

“Coop’s here,” her sister announced.

Coop?

As in Cooper Gerhardt?

Cooper Thaddeus Gerhardt?

No.

Jo Ellen’s eyes widened on that denim-clad bulge, her face draining of color. If Travis Untermeyer was the number one person she didn’t want to run into, Cooper Gerhardt was the second. Didn’t even matter that he’d turned into a delicious hunk of heaven, which from what she’d seen so far, it looked as if he had.

She jerked her face up, her lips instantly parting with surprise as she came face to face with the grown-up version of Cooper Gerhardt.

Oh, Lord have mercy.

In high school, he might’ve been the cutest boy in her class. Now, he was just plain hot; Playgirl centerfold, the country boy edition. In a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, he wore blue jeans and a button-up shirt with the arms ripped off. A few ragged fringes hung down over his very tan, very muscled biceps.

Jo Ellen went a little breathless. “Oh! Uh…H-hello again, Cooper.”

Pale brown eyes inspected her before he tipped his hat politely. “Jo Ellen.”

And, wow oh wow, his voice had grown deep. The man truly played havoc on a woman’s hormones.

***

I think we cleared the first THREE steps with that one (yay! go me), so we'll move to the next step, four--Hand to hand (or arm). There next little bit of physical contact in A FALLOW HEART goes something like this:

***

“Something…something awful has happened,” she gasped out, sure of it. “What if the baby’s—"

“Hey.” Cooper’s low, concerned voice and his warm hand on her arm made her jump. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

She yanked back, dislodging his touch. “You can’t know that.”

Shock filled his face as he straightened his spine. “No,” he finally said, his voice calm and steady. “I guess I can’t know for certain. But neither can you know it’s not going to be fine. Either way, neither of us has any control over the outcome. So wouldn’t you rather believe in good results until we find out the truth?”

Her chin trembled. She felt irrepressible fear and sorrow rattle up into her jaw line, the sensation to cry stinging her eyes.

“Jesus, darling.” His voice went hoarse. He reached for her again. This time, she didn’t shove him away and from the way he forcibly gathered her into his arms and held her close, she had a feeling he wouldn’t have let her break loose anyway. “Don’t cry."

She clenched her teeth, bowed her head, and squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m not.”

“Christ.” His hand trailed up and down her arm where her skin had begun to prickle, his warm fingers chasing away the cold. “Your arms are freezing.”

And he was so warm. Soaking in his heat, she cowered closer, tucking her head just under his chin. She heaved in a gulp of air and absorbed the faint smell of leather and musk he radiated.

***

Whoops!  I totally bypassed hand-to-hand contact and went straight to hand-to-arm...which I'll slot under arm-to-shoulder since hand-to-arm isn’t really an option. 

I know, I'm slipping here, but let's see what's up next?

***

“Watch your step. I’d flip on a light, but you can’t see the sunset quite as well with it on and there’s no switch up there.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find my way.” When he took her hand to help her locate the ladder, she held his warm fingers a second longer than necessary. Then she climbed. Once she reached the top, she paused in the dark, waiting for him.

He took her hand when he rejoined her and led her to the opened loft door, where he regretfully let go. Her fingers felt chilled without his large, rough flesh wrapped around hers.

***

Okay, there's our hand-to-hand contact we missed out on before.  A little out of order (kind of like me!) but at least I have it.  And the last teaser here says:

***

Biting her bottom lip as she watched his Adam’s apple bob while he stared up at the moon, she silently slid her hand over and covered his warm fingers. He didn’t say a word but looked down at their connection before he twisted his wrist around to press their palms flush against each other. Their digits naturally intertwined, and Jo Ellen let out a shuddered breath of relief.

“I think I could listen to you talk about farming all night.”

His gaze lifted to hers. Arousal swirled up from the pit of her stomach, filling her with tight, achy pressure.

Cooper swayed close. Jo Ellen lifted her chin and let her lips part slightly.

When his mouth brushed against hers, a jolt surged through her, slamming a vibrant energy across her skin.

***

Well, it looks like we skipped arm-to-waist completely and went straight to stage six : mouth-to-mouth.

In you want my opinion, I say getting five out of six stages (a little out of order) is pretty good for me!  But what is the final verdict from the audience? 

Do you think I led up to stage six in a sensual enough manner? Do you agree with these steps at all? And do you think they really build up good sensual tension? I’ll check back regularly for your insightful comments!

Thanks so much for having me on board today and helping me decide if my story is a good intimacy builder or not!
 

 ***

What do you think ladies?  Should we ask her to keep going?  I want to know what comes after mouth-to-mouth....wink wink!

As always, it was a pleasure to have Linda with us.  She is always insightful and funny!  And I think she has intrigued all of us into reading a bit more of "A FALLOW HEART" her newest release!

Linda is offering a $20.00 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to ONE Lucky Winner Tour Wide, so if you have not already entered, please do so now and GOOD LUCK!!

 ***

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ten years ago, an oil tycoon’s daughter and a farmer’s son shared a moment neither would ever forget. When she left town in disgrace, a piece of her stayed locked deep within his soul. And like the ground he tended, his emotions lay fallow for years. Cooper Gerhardt’s deeply buried feelings for Jo Ellen Rawlings grew more fertile over time, just waiting for the day she would return to release his deepest desires.

When she strolls back into Tommy Creek, Texas for her ten-year class reunion, Cooper shows her farm boy style exactly what she missed by leaving. Starting a short-term affair is simply unavoidable. But when the week is over, can either of them let go of the responsibilities and apprehensions keeping them apart? Or will their fallow hearts learn to flourish together?

Sweet Cravings Publishing / Amazon / B&N / All Romance

Meet Linda

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, toddler daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. She works a day job in the acquisitions department of a university library and feels her life has been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part her world, and she's thrilled to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

You can find Linda on the web at:

Website - http://www.lindakage.com/

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/linda.kage

FB Fan Page - http://www.facebook.com/authorlindakage