Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Guest Blogger Leah Braemel - Love In a Barn


When I sat down to write a western I just assumed there’d be sex in the fields, after all, I grew up in the country. But this was Texas. With prickly pears. And rattlesnakes. Yikes, they’re not exactly romantic. Hey, I thought, what about in the barn? Now I’ve been in my share of barns so I know there are a few drawbacks. But it has been a few years since I did any up-close-and-personal research in that regard. Luckily one of my critique partners just happens to breed Arabian BLUE horses. So I emailed Sue and asked her about some of the finer points of making love in a barn. Good thing my writing was done for the day because once I got her reply I couldn’t stop laughing. First of all, she reminded me “if they drop their pants anywhere near the hay, they'll be picking hay stems out of their cracks for hours. I promise....

After I spent a few minutes snickering about just how Sue knew this little detail, I said to myself, “All right, I can work with that. If I put them in the tack room, we might be able to lessen the hay factor.” So I asked Sue if it was feasible to have Dillon lean Nikki over the side of a saddle and, um, do it that way. Her response?

…leaning over it sideways, even the best of saddles is going to be pretty painful, and probably leave a lot of damage... Bruised boobies from the swell and cantle. Probably cuts/deep scrapes from the conches and even from the edges of the leather. Her belly would be bruised from the edge of the leather at the bottom of the jockey. It's thick, heavy leather - for a western saddle, even if it's well made and soft, it's not designed to be comfortable from that direction.

Ouch. Okay, that’s not particularly romantic. Then I got to the next part of her email...

If the saddles are on free standing racks/stands, if the sex is rough, they're likely to push it over. LOL. *ahem* OH! barn cats. if she has a barn cat, it will be rubbing between their legs. Dogs, goats, horses... everything will watch, or be staring eagerly at the door when they finally walk out.

I must admit that I ended up laughing so hard I was bent over holding my stomach. For a writer, I was imagining all sorts of scenarios, however they’re not particularly romantic, LOL. Did I end up using her information? Yup. There is a scene in the barn involving a horse that sticks its head over the stall and a cat that winds its way between them. But you’ll just have to read Texas Tangle to get the details. ;) If I do say so myself, it’s turned out to be a pretty hot scene. And I’m not just talking about that ‘damned Texas heat’ either.

Thanks to her cheating ex-husband and her thieving brother, all horse breeder Nikki Kimball has left is a bruised heart, an overdrawn bank account and an empty home. When sex-on-legs Dillon Barnett and his brooding foster-brother Brett Anderson start showing more than just neighborly attention, Nikki is intrigued…and a little gun-shy.

Dillon and Brett have a history; back in high school, the two friends fought a bitter battle over Nikki. Now, ten years later, Brett still longs to be the man in Nikki’s life, but he’s determined to stand back and let Dillon win Nikki’s heart.

Society says Nikki must choose between the two men she loves. Is Nikki strong enough to break all the rules in order to find happiness?

If you want to know more about Leah, you find follow her on Twitter, or join her Facebook fanpage. You can read excerpts of Texas Tangle, and her other erotic romances, Private Property and Personal Protection, on her website or on her blog.

11 comments:

Jennie Andrus said...

Oy my, I never thought about the barn cats. My husband grew up on a farm, but not a running one. The dangers of trying to get it on in his barn were a bit different - falling through a rotten floor board comes to mind.

Piper

Leah Braemel said...

Jenny - a rotten floor board--that's brilliant! Thanks, I may incorporate that in a future story, LOL.

Meg Benjamin said...

Welcome Leah! Geez, all the things you never think about when you write love scenes. Gives a whole new spin to Jane Russell and The Outlaw!

PG Forte said...

Hi Leah. Great post! It's amazing the lengths we'll go to get things right, huh?

I love that your friend knew all the details of what could go wrong. The animals watching was the best!!

Leah Braemel said...

Hey Meg! Thanks for inviting me.

PG - I had to chuckle too when I read her reply because obviously she was talking from first-hand knowledge, LOL. And yes, the animals watching is hilarious, especially when you see how her donkey Gandalf trails her around. Although one of her horses got ticked off with me when I was paying more attention to something else other than him and bit me (in a very sensitive fleshy spot if you catch my drift) As I was writing Texas Tangle I kept picturing a horse doing that to Nikki. Talk about a mood buster. (Or a boob buster!)

Erin Nicholas said...

Hi, Leah! Welcome! You already know that I read the first chapter and TRIED to by the book a couple weeks early-- so I'm obviously hooked! :)
Erin

Debra St. John said...

That's too funny. It's so unromantic to think about all of the real details that go into a love scene. I prefer to just pretend all of those inconveniences don't exist. I'm sure most of the time the readers are willing to go along with this suspension of reality!

Leah Braemel said...

Debra: true, the awkward position changes, muscle cramps, don't make for an erotic scene. But sometimes the unknown factors can create a reality that can also lighten things when a scene might be getting too heavy.

Erin: Hi! Carina putting out the first chapter on PDF was fantastic. It's given everyone a sneak peek. I hope it's hooked more people.

kelly said...

Too funny Leah! But good that you did your research!

Unknown said...

Texas Tangle sounds great! I love your books and can't wait to read this one. Love me some cowboys and two is always better than one! lol.

Caffey said...

Hi Leah! I so love westerns (cowboys, ranches and/or sheriff's)! And this sound so yummy! I too had my experience, um, in a barn :D, No cats but being caught is a problem if its not your own barn, LOL

I don't believe I posted this, LOL. I couldn't resist. This sounds so fab leah!