Who was your celebrity crush when you were 15?

There are a couple of reasons why I choose the age of 15. One is the fact that 15 is in that interesting transitional period between childhood and adulthood. Most people have passed puberty, but not by much, so are still confused and overpowered by their new desires and attractions. Many people still cling, at least on some level, to childhood beliefs like knights in shining armor, magical princesses, and wishes coming true. There's nothing like a celebrity crush when you're 15. That rock star, athlete, or TV actor can make a mighty big impact.

Novelspot readers are, like me, fans of the new world of publishing options. For this reason I thought you might perhaps enjoy my sharing excerpts from a recent post on my blog. It will help you to know that I have in fact anthropomorphized my blog, and he is known as--very sensibly--"Blog." In the exchange that follows, you'll see what happens when he interviews my nook ereading device, who is known as--very sensibly--"Cranny."

Blog: Cranny, welcome to the blog.

Cranny: Thanks, Blog.

Blog: So, how is Diana liking you so far?

Last year I had the great experience of being "discovered" by a good-sized independent publisher that had the means and desire to put a book that I authored in bookstores. Lots and lots of bookstores, including all the big box stores, many independent bookshops, and even Target. Bookstores all over the world. Sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it?

Well, it was indeed a dream come true, but probably not exactly in the way you're thinking. And the things I learned from the experience were definitely not the things I expected to learn. Many of those things were lessons I wish I had been tipped off to by someone who had trod the road before I did.

Which is why I'd like to share them with you. My experiences are by no means universal, nor would every writer react to them the same way I did. But for what it's worth, here's what I would tell you if you and I were talking over coffees at your local Barnes & Noble.

Every so often a person just needs to reinvent herself. Maybe not so often as Madonna, but you know what I mean. Human beings are complex and colorful creatures, and if you try to pigeonhole us, well, we refuse to remain pigeons forever.

This, I guess, is my situation.

Last year was a whirlwind in my world. I published five books. Four of them were related to vampires in one way or another and heck, the fifth one had a vampire story in it too. I love vampires as much as ever, but five is a lot of titles for one year. Meanwhile, I’ve also tried to stay true to my original branding of “erotica with soul,” particularly on my blog and this column. I also continue to like reading and writing spicy romance, but again, this pigeon has been feeling peckish.

So, so far in 2010, apart from doing a bit of promo for How to Catch and Keep a Vampire, I’ve been enjoying getting back into some old hobbies, reading, watching TV and movies, and hanging out with family and friends. Wow, kind of like regular people who don’t have a publishing/writing business apart from their full-time job! It has been very fun and refreshing, but I can never go without writing for long.

Then I had this sudden idea.

It goes without saying that one of the absolutely key elements of erotic feeling is desire. In fact, I can hear you saying "duh" as you read that. But hang on...I do have a point to make that you may not have considered about romance, sex, and falling in love.

There's a price one pays for that pleasurable pining. While in the erotic context we consider desire a pleasing emotion, more often than not it's actually unpleasant. It's actually often one of the most painful, distressing feelings we humans experience.

Desire is pleasurable when you feel like you have a shot at attaining its object. It's also nice when you have actually attained said object but not possessed it long enough that you take it (i.e., him or her) for granted. But if you begin to feel the odds are against you, desire remains erotic but is also agonizing. And if you become convinced that yours is a lost cause, that pain can be excruciating.

You know how drug dealers often give out free samples of their wares, then charge you once you’re hooked? Well, that’s one way to look at my READ FREE Project stories. I’m so devious...I let you try out my fiction in the hope that you’ll want more. Is that so wrong? I don’t think so, especially considering you could busy yourself for quite awhile reading the seven stories, novellas, and entire novel that I offer for free. It’s better than a Las Vegas buffet, especially at what they charge in Sin City nowadays.

A lot of you are already aware of READ FREE, and a lot know all about my work, but for those who don’t, here’s a little guide to help you select your first taste of crack, er, Diana Laurence romance fiction. I’ll describe you as a reader, then the free book I recommend, then a book you might consider as your first purchase. Just a little service I offer because I care! :-)

SWEET ROMANTIC

You: Like some sensuality, but most of all like your romance sweet. You enjoy love stories in a magical context: knights and maidens, fairies, wizards, all that supernatural stuff.

The topic of the appeal of bad boys has been beaten to death (including by yours truly). From Rhett Butler to House, M.D., it seems bad boys finish first and are the ladies' choice when it comes to sex appeal.

Well, as true as this phenomenon is, Ashley Wilkes and Dr. Wilson have their fans too. So I thought it was time to trumpet the virtues of the virtuous guy for a change.

Readers of my Erotica with Soul blog well know of my House obsession, and I'd be the first to vouch for the sexiness of the curmudgeonly, nasty, and self-absorbed doctor. However, lately I've found myself giving a lot more fantasy time to his nice-guy sidekick, Dr. James Wilson (played by Robert Sean Leonard). This week's episode of the Fox show was Wilson-centric for a change, and gave viewers a good, long look into the life of the kindly oncologist.

Employing biting wit of his own (Wilson's no wuss), the good doctor plays House's conscience as well as a foil to his nastiness. His personal warmth and nurturance is demonstrated both in his selfless dealings with his friend and his dedication to his patients. You can't watch Wilson in action without wishing every doctor who ever treated you could be just like him.

I’m really pleased by the popularity of the new show, “Glee.” Someone figured out that musicals aren’t just suitable TV viewing for high schoolers, and that you could fuse the appeal of “So You Think You Can Dance” and “American Idol,” add a script, and make a hit show. Bout time.

Because a some of us grew up smitten with Broadway stars, equating romantic allure with Robert Goulet crooning “If Ever I Would Leave You” and Yul Brynner doing a bare-chested polka to “Shall We Dance?” We had crushes on the guys in our school that got cast as The Student Prince or Oklahoma’s Curly. We fantasized about doing a romantic duet of “Tonight” with our own handsome Tony, like in “West Side Story.”

Broadway musicals made a huge impact on my personal romantic sensibilities, and even eventually shaped my erotic “vocabulary.” As I grew older, I integrated elements from other musical genres as well: sexy performances by rock stars such as Rick Springfield, and scenes from classic music videos like “Thriller.” What emerged was my conviction that singing and dancing can be perhaps the most potent expressions of sexuality we humans possess.

And also, sorry for that teaser title! Point is, I’m apologizing in advance for shamelessly plugging my book in this month’s column. There’s something in it for you, though: you’ll learn how to enter my contest to win $100 Amazon certificate and/or autographed books. And if you like vampires as much as I do--enough to want to date one--you’ll definitely benefit from reading on.

How to Catch and Keep a Vampire is my first title to be in wide release; it’s already in the majority of bookstores across North America and arriving worldwide in the next three weeks. Translation: my publisher thinks people will like it! LOL The first few reviews:

"Might Jane Austen and her zombies be getting some company--and/or friendly competition?... Diana Laurence evidently knows whereof she speaks" --Publishers Weekly

"If you love yourself some Cullen, you NEED this book" --Sugarscape (Sugar magazine)

"A brilliant take on the vampire mythos…a book that would make Anne Rice blink" --Jazma

"Devoured in three hours…grab this book, it’s adorable!" --Bella’s Novella

Unless you’re a fellow fan of “So You Think You Can Dance,” you probably haven’t heard of Evan Kasprzak. Bear with me though, this month’s column may still have some relevance for you! Evan is just the latest example in my own life of non-traditionally attractive guys who make cute seem sexy.

Evan was a standout this season not only because of his talent, but because he was the one male dancer who didn’t seem to have sexy in his repertoire. While the other guys could pout, and gyrate, and strut, and glare perfectly convincingly, Evan couldn’t quite pull it off.

As he said in an interview with the New York Post, “I’m very comfortable being the kind of goofy guy, that’s my hometown, so to speak. So I’m nervous to pull a Latin Ballroom, or something like that where I have to try and be sexy...shaking my hips and getting a little sexy are definitely out of my comfort zone.”

Funny thing, though...Evan survived week after week due to his huge fan base. Women in droves adore the guy.

I was reminded of this recently when I watched a newly-released short film called “After Hours” in which Evan plays a goofy janitor dreaming of attracting an unattainable young woman. His dancing wins the day, of course. The interesting part was reading the comments; so many females attested to the swoonworthiness of the cute Mr. Kasprzak.

This past week I read two viewpoints on the issue of whether the popularity of vampires has topped out, or if there is still some life left in them. So to speak. If we had a crystal ball we could tell if indeed, the release of another “Twilight” movie is a mistake, HBO should not have renewed “True Blood” and Charlaine Harris should stop writing her books. Could it be that all the artists and marketers banking on this phenomenon (my publisher included) are in trouble?

Hey, I just have to tell you about this tattoo. Yes, I said "tattoo." No, I'm not going to be writing this month about "LA Ink" and the erotic connotations of skin art. I simply have to crow about something very cool that happened to me this week: I found out that I had a fan so enamored of my book Bloodchained that she wanted to get a tattoo of the iconic "carylian" symbol featured on its cover. A tattoo!

This is not the sort of reward I expected to see when I set out to be an author. I think most would-be writers hope for more ordinary things like contracts (as if a contract is ever ordinary!). Well, this year I got my first advance check from a publisher, something I assure you I treasured so much I considering framing it rather than cashing it (but nah, I cashed it). First an advance check, now a tattoo. Man, I'm really amazed at the rewards that come to a person in the writing business.

So I just wanted this month to digress from my usual topics and tell you about the sorts of rewards that authors find really amazing.

I don't normally use this forum to blather about what's happening in my career; what's oh-so-exciting to me is probably boring as dry toast to you. However, this time I'm making an exception, because Novelspot, and this very column/blog, played a key role in making something pretty unusual happen in a writer's life.

I'll give you the back story as succinctly as possible: Girl grows up loving to write. Girl spends a couple decades writing articles, stories, books, selling occasionally, getting plenty of rejection slips. Girl finds publishers for her work but they tend to go out of business without warning. Girl decides she is sick of the frustration, will publish her own work from now on, swears off submissions forever.

Fast forward about three years. Here I am, happily humming along publishing my books with a reasonable amount of success. Then one day (April 13, 2009 to be exact) I get an email that starts out, "I came across your writing as I was searching the Web looking for potential writers to author a book idea. I found your piece 'Bite Me Please: The Erotic Lure of the Vampire' and really liked it."

Last month, you remember, I invited people to share with me the guys they classified as Unforgettable Heroes of film, books and TV. I put the word out on my Erotica with Soul blog, Facebook and Twitter too, and I received some great nominees.

Sure, taste is a very individual thing, particularly if you're talking about taste in men. Nevertheless, I expect there are common traits among the guys that get into your blood and fascinate you for years. So let's take a look at these guys and see if we can glean any common themes.

Unforgettable...that's what they are... I'm speaking of those certain protagonists of books, movies and television that get into your system and never quite get out again.

In the process of being a romance author and erotica blogger, I hear a lot from fans about both their favorite men among my characters and in general. It's amazing which of these fellows just keep turning up again and again. I have my theories as to the elements that make for unforgettable heroes, but I'm hoping in the next few weeks to hear from readers and perhaps draw some new conclusions. In the meantime, I'd like to share with you three of my own classic examples and what I see as their appeal.