Tabitha Levin

Contemporary Romance Author

Can You Write An Erotic Romance Without The ‘F’ Word?

By 2 Comments

I’m 5% into the first draft of my novel, and already it’s shaping up to be something exciting.  I’m having some real fun writing it and getting to know the characters.

But one thing I’ve started to wonder is, can I write a novel with explicit sex, without using the ‘f’ word?

Of course as a writer I can do anything I want to, and so for this novel I’ve decided that it just doesn’t fit and therefore won’t be included anywhere (I don’t think – I could always change my mind).

There is already much more plot and story than I thought and so it’s leaning more toward the romance side than it is the erotic side which I think is perfectly okay.  I really like a good story with my spice.

So far we’ve met the main character Ruby who is travelling with her father on business and spies her love interest who has been captured and chained inside a stable.  (He’s not exactly human you see – I told you this was a paranormal romance too didn’t I?)

Anyway, she wants to free him, but dearest Daddy won’t let her, as he’s worried for his little girl (now grown up) since there have been stories of the creatures killing people who try to befriend them.

But is that going to stop Ruby trying to save him?  Well … I haven’t written too much past this yet, but I’m sure you see where it’s going.

And once the authorities know she’s done it.  Oh boy will there be some fireworks 😉  Well .. that’s the plan anyway.

I’ve already conjured up a really bad Governor who won’t be too pleased to find one of his flock fraternizing with the creatures.  Not that Ruby will care – she’s fiercely independent and of course is going to fall head of heels for her love interest.  How could she not – even for a paranormal creature he’s super hot. (p.s. not a vampire – I’ll let you know more later).

So far I’m loving where it is going.  And yes, I’ve only written two chapters but boy oh boy I think this is going to be my best novel yet.

Will let you know more when I’m further in.

All the best,
tabs xx

Creating a Sexy Male Love Interest

By Leave a Comment

When it comes to creating a hot male love interest for my female protagonists, I usually create characters that I’m personally attracted to.  Of course, I find different qualities in different men attractive, which means that not every character is going to be the same.

Sometimes I find a man who is sweet and gentle endearing, and other times someone who is more confident and dominant is hot.  So thinking about my current main male character (who I have yet to find a good name for) I wanted to make him a little different.

It makes sense that he is going to be wild, since he is, well, not exactly human.  But he also needs enough tenderness that my heroine (who is human) falls for.  I think I’ve found a balance in my head, and the outline is all written up now, so it just comes to writing it down now (which I’ll be doing next month as part of Nanowrimo).

I’m quite excited to be writing my first romance novel (with erotic and paranormal elements) and if the story in my head is anywhere near as good as what ends up on paper (or e-reader) then I think many people will love it too (or at least I hope so).  (The other novel I was writing – the zombie one – is finished but will be under a different pen name.  It made sense to keep my genre’s separate so as not to confuse readers).

I’ve done some research into the period of 1943 (the time period in which the story will be set) and while it won’t be a true representation of that era (due to the fantasy paranormal elements) I think setting it back in time, is going to make it all the more hotter.

The idea of a strong male fantasy creature in the throes of lust of an equally strong independent young woman of this era is already allowing me to imagine some pretty hot scenes.

Bring on November so I can start writing it …

Outlining for NaNoWriMo

By Leave a Comment

For those non writers that read this blog, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.  It happens for the whole of November and participants compete to write a 50,000 word novel within the 30 days.

I’ve just started outlining the novel I’ll be writing for it now and for those that are interested in my process, I thought I’d share what I’m doing.

I generally write my novels and stories, in a three act structure.

  • The first act is setting up the scene and characters and is what I call my ‘before shot’.
  • The second act is the bulk of the story and where all the magic and fun stuff happens,
  • And the third act is there to tie everything up.

Of course there are many other processes and beats within those three acts that help build the story, plot and characterization (and hopefully stop the novel from being boring), but usually that’s where I start.

Last night I started mapping out Act 1.

My ritual is usually to go and buy a new notepad and pens.  I try and find something pretty that says something about the novel I’m writing.  I prefer to outline on paper because I can jot ideas down as a think of them.

It usually takes me about a week to come up with ideas for the whole three acts, but since I have a little more time I plan on taking it slower since November will probably be hectic.

I know who my two main characters are, the time period it is set in, but that’s all I really know right now.

The novel will be a paranormal romance (with sex of course) and I have no idea what it’ll be called yet.  My main character is a plain woman in her early twenties who hasn’t found a boyfriend/husband (and is unlikely to since most of the eligible men are off at war).  She’ll discover a creature/man (I told you it was paranormal right?) who she’ll fall in love with, but of course since he isn’t ‘human’ everyone will be trying to tear them apart.

I want to throw in the tension of having her father killed, of people trying to capture her lover, and I am even thinking of having him unable to talk (which would help even more with conflict and tension) and since it might be sexy to have them express their feelings through touch rather than words.

But of course, these are just thoughts at the moment.  I’ll know more once I finish outlining and then writing.  And who knows if the characters will let me write them the way they are in my head anyway.  Often they have a way of taking over sometimes and leading me in a completely different direction.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

Tabs xx

Tabitha Will Stick With Erotic Romance For Now

By Leave a Comment

I’ve been thinking a lot about pen names lately.  Originally I was going to put everything I write under Tabitha’s name, including the new novel that I’m writing, but I’ve had second thoughts on this.

The Desperately Delicious series is doing better than I expected and the Urban Darkness series is doing worse than I expected.  And so for that reason, I think I’ll continue to write only erotic romance (and perhaps some not so streamy romance down the track) under this name, and create a new pen name for the horror novel I’m writing.

It makes much more sense for readers since they’ll know exactly what to expect from Tabitha, and what to expect from (whatever name I come up with) for the zombie horror novel.

Now that I made the decision, I’m itching to get back to writing another erotic romance.  I want to do something a little different this time though and write something longer.  I’m not sure if I want to go full novel length (although perhaps I will) but I’ve got a great idea for a really cool sexy romance plot buzzing around in my brain which I want to get started on.

I’ll still need to finish the current novel though before I start a new one.  I’m hoping to get started on it before the end of the year.

Until then,

Tabs xx

September Sale!

By Leave a Comment

I like September.

Here in Australia it’s the first month of Spring, (which is my favorite season), and the weather is warming up to be a beautiful sunny day today.

So what better way to celebrate than with a September sale.

This month I have reduced all my ebook short stories to 0.99 cents and the collections to $2.99.  They’ll be that price for the whole of September.

Yah, Spring!

P.S. Some stores are slower to update prices than others.  Amazon and Kobo have the updated prices, but I’m still waiting on iBooks and B&N (they currently have changed about half the books but not all).  I’ll keep you posted when they do.

My books at Amazon | Kobo | B&N | iBookstore

P.S.S. Now I’m back to writing this novel …

First Draft of First Novel – 60% complete

By Leave a Comment

Writing a novel has proved to be more challenging, rewarding, and frustrating than I ever thought possible and I still haven’t finished the first draft yet.

I’m aiming to have this draft done by the end of September, or if I can manage it (although probably not) by mid September.

Of course, once the first draft is done does not mean it will be anywhere near ready for publication.  I’ve got 2nd drafts, 3rd drafts, editing, cover design, formatting and goodness knows what else.

I’m committed to making the novel the best it can be.  I’m not even sure it’ll be up for sale yet this year (although if I can get it finished before Christmas I’ll be a very happy girl).

What am I learning about the differences between short stories and novels?

Probably the biggest thing is that you need to slow things down.  In the shorts (and I’m mainly talking about the urban stories), everything happens at lightening speed.  You set up the conflict quickly and spend the rest of the story having your protagonist solve it.  But with a novel, you need to slow things down so that you can explain some backstory if it’s needed, and build your characters to make them more rounded.

Also, in a novel you often have a whole cast of characters (I have seven main characters in this novel – even though there is only one true protagonist – and one baddie that’s going to make their lives very unhappy).  In the shorts, even if there was more than one character, the story really only focused on one of them.

You also need some time to set the scene and get into the characters heads, so that you can show what they are thinking, feeling, seeing.

It’s quite new to me.

Another thing I’ve found as I’ve been writing this book is that the characters don’t always do what you want them to.  My main character is a good example – I wanted her to be this kick-ass chick who wielded a pair of knives as her weapon of choice.  As I’m writing her, she’s a lot more vulnerable and naive.  She keeps doing things that makes me want to slap her and tell her to wake up to herself.  But she’s right – she needs to be this way so that she can grow through the story and come out a different person the other side.  After all, all good novels are about transformation.

The other characters all have dark sides (which is necessary for the story), but are surprisingly complicated as well.  I didn’t realise when I started that one of my characters, who is a drug addict, is this way because of things he’s done in his past.

I also didn’t know the reason that my protag uses knives instead of guns was also because of something that happened in her past.  It’s weird how the characters tell you who they are.  Weird in a good way though.  Weird in a surprisingly delightful way.  Weird in a, who’s really in control, way.

I’m really blessed to be able to take this journey with my characters and see how the story ends (I think I know how it ends, but my protag may just surprise me again).

And I’m excited to finally get it up for sale.  Eventually.  🙂