Kissing Experts!!!!!

(For the Kissing Scene Competition line-up go here. If you're looking for Bouncer Round 4 info go here.)

**FYI: Each of your scenes will be read and judged by TWO kissing Experts. Either of them can give you the winning award. Even if you've been given an award already.** 

Huzzah! Please allow me to introduce to you our amazing Kissing Experts....

Heather Hawke

Hi, Heather! Please tell us a little about yourself:

I’m an untalented hammered dulcimer player, reluctant debate judge,

defunct hang glider pilot, possessor of far too many chickens, and I make

the best fig jam ever to sweeten the universe

And now your writing:

I write young adult fantasy hybridized with not so much science fiction,

but science.

And what makes you a kissing expert?

As an ecologist, I’ve studied the terrible consequences of the lack of

good sex, albeit in rare plants. The poor dears suffer separation from

their beloveds, as pollen can no more cover distance than, um, er, best

stop the metaphor now. I’ll just say an epic kiss needs the bees to part

the flower’s sweet petals. Oops, I digress again. You’re the ones writing

the scenes that drop honey into receptive…ah…take it away, writers!

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Kelsey Macke

Hi, Kelsey! Please tell us a little about yourself:

Hey, CLC lovelies! Since participating in the Writer's Voice last year on Cupid's team, I've dreamed of the day I'd be able to help spread the love back to others clawing their way through the trenches! 

Here are two interesting facts about me: I am a middle school special education teacher for students with various types of emotional and/or behavioral disorders by day and I am an aspiring recording artist with my hubby by night! When do I have time to write? IN MY DREAMS!

And now your writing:

I write for young people of all ages (they need only be young enough for me to call them a "wippersnapper" if their hippity-hop music is too loud) but I have a special love for contemporary YA. I love stories that are beautiful and painful and real. Three things that I hope my own manuscripts will be.  

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

Well, on my wedding day, my husband I kissed under two separate, simultaneous rainbows, which was pretty much unbelievable. We also staged a kiss under the Eiffel Tower and forced our friends to photograph us in all our smoochy glory! Oh! Remember that year on the MTV VMA's when Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams reenacted their kiss from the Notebook? If I could watch that on repeat for the rest of my days, I'd be the happiest of campers. 

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Kalen O'Donnell

Hi, Kalen! Please tell us a little about yourself:

I'm an actor, author and cover designer.  In addition to that I've been a bartender, stuntman, dancer, accountant, and ascribed to various other eclectic enterprises that make the rule 'write what you know' something of a recipe for chaos when it comes to my books.  Officially diagnosed as pathological jokester, my inability to take anything seriously is basically a medical condition, with the sole exception being my plans for world domination, because that is Very Serious Business.  I have every intention of being your Supreme Grand High Overlord by 2020.  My favorite genres are science fiction, epic fantasy and superheroes (they're totes a genre, yo), and when I grow up I want to be Neil Gaiman.  I mean Stan Lee.  Or maybe Roger Zelazny.  Or John Barrowman.  Or possibly Mike Carey.  I dunno.  Decisiveness isn't really a thing I do.  Except when I'm judging contests.  Then I'm totally decisive.  Yeah.  That.

And now your writing:

I write both adult and YA stories, always flavored with some degree of science fiction or fantasy and written with the sole ambition of being commercialized blockbuster popcorn/brain candy fluff.  Except for that one time I wrote a contemporary YA about a gay teenager coming to terms with the death of his closeted boyfriend and it was all Deep and Important and Stuff, but I was high on Nyquil the whole month I wrote it so I'm pretty sure it doesn't count.  You can find my writing being released into the wilds under my own recognizance in the coming months.  Mostly because I heard someone say self-publishing is the new frontier of publishing and that made me think of Oregon Trail, and nostalgia for computer games from my childhood is pretty much what drives all of my major life decisions.  

And what makes you a kissing expert?

What makes me a kissing expert?  Umm, I don't know, maybe cuz I DO IT PROFESSIONALLY?  As a highly trained actor, I have kissed well into the double digits for fame and fortune, for passion and for art, and even that one time for science with the totally legit and not at all sketchy medical study I did and now I can't see colors anymore maybe.

Whatever emotions these writers have imbued their characters with whilst kissing, I too have felt all of those feels whilst kissing.  There's 'omg why aren't we naked yet' kissing and 'I hate you but maybe I love you, need more data' kissing and there's 'we gotta save the world but first let's have sexy times in case one of us dies in the next scene cuz poignancy and stuff' kissing.  Not to mention 'draining your life force to maintain my youth and boyish good looks forever' kissing, which is actually a real thing, and true story James Dean faked his death only now he goes by James Franco and I'm pretty sure Mila Kunis is on it just cuz she seems like she would probably steal people's life forces with kissing too.

I have kissed men and women, young and old, friend and foe.  I have kissed famous people, I have kissed people dressed up like blue-skinned aliens, and I have kissed people who told me they were directors and could put me in their next movie and it just occurred to me yeah they were maybe lying probably.  

But basically what I'm saying is I know my kissing, yo.  Bring it.

***

Dahlia Adler

Hi, Dahlia! Please tell us a little about yourself:

Hi, I'm Dahlia! *waves* I'm an assistant editor at an academic publishing house and a copy editor for a romance e-pub, I write contemporary YA, and I blog on both my own site - the Daily Dahlia - and on YA Misfits. I'm represented by the wonderful Andrea Somberg, thanks to one of Cupid's contests! Oh, and I love French macarons. If ever you were looking to bribe me, those are the way to my heart!

And now your writing:

I write almost strictly contemporary YA, generally pretty heavy on the romance. The book I currently have on submission is a contemporary YA romance set in Hollywood, and the one I'm working on now is a little more coming-of-age-y and takes place through a series of college visits. I also have a serious thing for contemp YA biblical retellings; I've already written one on the book of Esther, and am working on one for the book of Ruth.

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

A lady never kisses and tells! But, she might tell that she's been copy editing romance for over two years, and that she used to be an editorial assistant who saw a lot of romance cross her desk. She might also mention that she's a voracious reader of both published material and manuscripts, and has read about a bajillion kisses in her day. And that she's written a whole lot of kisses in her day. And... she'll stop there ;) Because she is a lady.

***

Tristina Wright

Hi, Tristina! Please tell us a little about yourself: 

I'm an author, child wrangler, coffee junkie, bacon mistress, and collector of Book Boyfriends. I tweet far too much. I'm the luckiest critique partner on the planet. I'm seriously thankful my agent reps my special brand of crazy.

And now your writing: 

The book my agent is currently repping is a YA Romance. I have plans to write Adult Romance as well. I love human emotion, good and bad. I love to write about the dragons we carry on our shoulders and how we overcome them, or, in some cases, let them consume us.

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

I think kissing is one of the most amazing, beautiful, and truly lovely things we do as human beings. When words fail you, you can speak through a kiss. Kisses make your toes curl, your blood roar, your heart play a wicked bass line against your ribs. They leave you breathless, wanting, and aching. And with just as much power, they can break your heart. That's what I'm looking for when I read kisses - ones that make me react for all the right and wrong reasons. Ones that I bookmark and return to over and over again without reading anything else in the book. 

***

Leigh Ann Kopans

Hi, Leigh Ann! Please tell us a little about yourself: 

First! I'm so excited that I've been deemed a Kissing Expert! Wow! *Ahem*  I'm have an addiction to fiction, both reading and writing, have purple and turquoise streaks in my hair, and am a super-severe introvert. I also have four kids under the age of six and live in Columbus, Ohio, the home of the best football and the best ice cream in the country. 

And now your writing:

I write YA Science Fiction and Romance, and love it to bits and pieces! My debut, ONE, about a girl with half a superpower, will be published on June 11, 2013, so I'm knee deep in promo for that right now. My YA Romance, SOLVING FOR EX, a redux of Mansfield Park with Mathletes as main characters, is on submission to editors now, so fingers crossed! And, of course, I always have a new project or two in the wings. 

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

My six drafted manuscripts (to date) have DOZENS of kiss scenes, and I've done a lot of *ahem* prep for those. I mean, I was in high school and then in college, and then, you know, reference the whole "four kids" thing. So. Yeah. 

***

Shelley Watters

Hi, Shelley! Please tell us a little about yourself: 

I live in Arizona with my husband, two kids, two dogs, three rats, eight fish, one snail, two shrimp and a frog. When I'm not hard at work writing, I'm finding new things to make on Pinterest (and actually MAKING them), and doing the stay at home mommy thing. I love that this is my job and I get paid for it. (Wait...) Oh well. I still love that it's my job. 

And now your writing: 

I have a children's picture book, SARA'S RIBBON published by MeeGenius (January 2013), but my true love is writing romance for young adults and adults. So far, I've written a YA paranormal romance (no vampires here), WAIT FOR ME set in Egypt, a YA dark, romantic retelling of Sleeping Beauty AWAKEN, a super steamy Adult romantic suspense (featuring a whole bunch of super hot firefighters) BURN ME. I'm currently working on a YA thriller with paranormal elements, a historical adult romance and a contemporary romance novella (which seems to be trying to work itself into a full length novel). 

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

I didn't really think I was until my critique partners dubbed me as the "Queen of Steam". Apparently I write pretty hot love scenes. :) They might have dubbed me this after reading scenes from BURN ME. Just sayin'. I wear my tarnished halo proudly.

***

Brenda Drake

Hi, Brenda! Please tell us a little about yourself:

I grew up an Airforce brat and the youngest of three kids, so basically, I was an all around brat. My Irish grandmother gave me the love of storytelling. The woman was insane, but as funny as a leprechaun. I steal collect pens, hoard coffee cups, and amass old books. I eat entirely too many Goldfish crackers, and I'm addicted to coffee. I'm married with kids who are now ghosts, once in awhile there is a sighting of them, but rarely.

And now your writing:

I write middle grade and young adult novels. My young adult debut, LIBRARY JUMPERS, releases February 2014 from Month9Books with the sequels in 2015 & 2016. I'm a panster, sort of, I do map out my plots, but I prefer the characters' action to lead me through the story.

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

I've been married more than once? Um, I was THAT girl in high school. You know, the one that had a boyfriend at every school. At. The. Same. Time. I'm great at juggling . . . er . . . kissing. Nowadays, I only kiss one guy, and he's my prince charming.

***

Nazarea Andrews

Hi, Nazarea! Please tell us a little about yourself:

Oh, man. I'm a wife and mother of three girls. I have an unhealthy addiction to coffee and books. Also--I'm firmly convinced chocolate can cure the problems of the world.

And now your writing:

I write dark romances. The more angst and conflict the better. And making out, of course. In March, I'm releasing my dystopian romance, Edge of the Falls.

And what makes you a kissing expert? 

Uh, experience? ;) No. Not really. Aside from lots of romance books, movies and working for a romance imprint (Swoon Romance)? My CP dubbed me the Kissing Queen. And my husband says I'm pretty darn good at it. ;)

***

Summer Heacock

Hi, Summer! Please tell us a little about yourself:

Welp. I’m a stay-at-home-mom of two adorable kidlets, married to a computer ninja, and keeper of way more cats than is deemed socially acceptable. My current goals in life include keeping the house from exploding each day, hoping my manuscript sells, and planning a vacation to anywhere, as it’s been over nine years since I’ve left the state of Indiana.

And now your writing:

I write Women’s Fiction and have been known to put the moves on a YA story from time to time.  As long as someone laughs while reading a story of mine, I will be a happy writer.

And what makes you a kissing expert?

Well, I have two kids, so clearly I have some skills in the kissing department. Well…At least kissing was the precursor…You know what? I am just going to stop right there.

I say I am a fair judge of the smoochies because I am that reader who will totally swoon when people have a lovely lip-lock in a story. I will literally gasp and squeal and flail around like a lunatic when things get to the lovey place while I’m reading. My husband long ago gave up questioning my sanity. 

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OMG, I love it all! Can't wait to see who they choose!

Thank you for reading!