According to Tom Petty the waiting would be the hardest part, and I admit that waiting is a darned hard part of being an author. However, not the hardest part for me. That would be starting a new book off with the right amount of bang. For those who know I write erotic romance, I will note here I do not mean that kind of bang. You dirty minds, you! *bng*

The opening pages of a book are so crucial. Many readers and pretty much all editors rely on those first pages to make their buying decision. And so my internal editor goes just a little crazy—okay, a whole lot crazy—when it comes to starting each new story. The witch spends days writing and rewriting the same scene and is still not happy with it. She won’t let me move on, write the rest of the book, and then return to the beginning.

Oh, no, I must get it right the first (more like the hundred and first) time.

And so here I sit, a week into this new book, which is due in two months, and I still am struggling with that opening scene. I just can’t seem to get it right. The hardest part truly is that I don’t not like the opening or feel it isn’t the right scene to start with. I just don’t like it enough and I can’t figure out how to fix it. Then I fear if I ignore the witch and move on to the next scenes, I will realize the opening was not right after all, but requires major changes that will adversely affect the whole book.

*sigh* What is an author to do? Particularly an author taking part in 70 Days Of Sweat and getting no farther than 2,000 words for rewriting those same 2K everyday… All you writer folks out there, do you go through this? Is there a method to the madness that gets that first scene bangworthy? Or do you just not sweat it? Write the story and let your CPs or editor/agent decide if the opening isn’t working, or if it only appears that way in your own mind?

Reviews are such an interesting thing. Something I could ponder for hours, days, weeks. Heck, even years. It isn’t even so much what drives a reviewer to say something, because obviously reviews are all about opinions and generally how a reviewer’s own life experiences shape the way they will respond to a book. No, my current quandary is about the rating system associated with reviews. Not all review sites have rating systems, and I have to admit I think I might just be happy about that if only for the state of my sanity.

Anyway, enough ado, on with the reason for this post…

My late October Kensington Aphrodisia release, Body Moves, is making the review circuit and I am beyond thrilled to say: “so far, so good.” All of the reviewers have greatly enjoyed it and wrote reviews to reflect this. What is baffling me is how they decide what rating to then tie to those words. For example, my most recent review for Body Moves says it is a Must Read, along with a bunch of other really wonderful stuff (thank you so much, btw!!), but then it only gives a 4 out of a 5 rating. Yet if I check to see what a 5 stands for it, it says that goes to books that are must reads. Um, but didn’t they just say that?

So looking at my historical ratings for various books, I see a trend in that those erotic romances that are more focused on scorching sex and not as much on the character- and love-story development are getting the 5-star ratings. While those books that focus on the character- and love-story development, as much as the steamy scenes, get some 5s but just as many 4s. So what gives?

Is the problem here the genre? In order to get the full rating with erotic romance, do I need to consistently place more emphasis on sex than any other component? And is that what the everyday reader wants to see, as well? I have to say personally I do like it really hot, but I like it even better when there is strong character and plot development to go along with that heat.

Hi everyone! You may or may not know, but Wednesdays are extra special, in that Denise posts in the morning and I post in the evening. Well, I enjoyed Denise’s post so much today and I know just how busy everyone is with celebrating Independence Day (or just good ol’ Wednesday if you don’t celebrate the 4th), that I won’t bog you down with the post I had written for today.

Nope, instead, I am going to wish everyone an awesome Wednesday and giveaway a free book just for the heckuva it! Congrats to Stacy S!! You win a book of your choice from my backlist. Why? Well, because I picked a winner from those who commented on Denise’s post and since you mentioned one of my long-time favs, Julie Garwood–you win!

Check out my backlist here to make your pick: http://www.jodilynncopeland.com/backlist.html

And if the hot stuff doesn’t work for you, I will be happy to send you an e-copy of What Lies Between Them, just as soon as I have one available in the format of your choice.

~ Jodi