Elle Hill

I imagine you, like me, read. Maybe a lot. Possibly as an escape from that noisy, sometimes chaotic real world thingy. Perhaps because you crave some witty repartee and smoldering glances. Or hey, maybe you’re just bored. Whatever your reasons, and contrary to the national trend , you tend to treasure your forays into literary landscapes. But what happens when you arrive there and don’t particularly enjoy the scenery? Luckily, this doesn’t happen often to me. Books are a lot like romantic dates: I may not adore my date or find every second with them  inspiring, but at the end of the night, I can usually find some redeemable qualities to focus on. Maybe not enough for a second go, but at least I finished this date without dumping my drink on my date’s head, right? But just because it’s mostly tolerable, does that mean I should have to tolerate it? Increasingly, my answer is “no.” See, I have very recently discovered an amazing, magical method for dealing with a less-tha...

As I’ve written before , I really, really don’t enjoy writing sex scenes. I have zero issues with Instead of ripping my expensive bodice, perhaps we could consider some Netflix and cuddling? other writers who do; in fact, I have been known to feel the slightest nibble of envy toward those brave authors who so effortlessly leaven their romance with the sexies. With each romance novel I’ve written, the amount of sex slumps ever-so-slowly downward, till my last novel, The Tithe , only includes one brief glimpse, and it’s not even between the main protagonists. And then. And then, the other day, I stumbled across a website that listed a top-ten list of sexless romance books. Sexless. Romance. Books. I knew not all romances had sex in them, but… but was sexless romance a thing ? Maybe I’m not the only one who prefers the sweet to the salty. Upon reflection, sure, I can imagine some folks who might prefer a little less saucy in their literary fare. Conservative read...

For many of us, the holidays are joyful events, filled with friendly board games, embarrassing It's not just the pressure of genius that hinders my writing of holiday cards. Beneath Bast, my holiday helper, lies  a completed card awaiting a label. Sigh. reminiscences, overdrawn bank accounts, and far too much cranberry sauce. And holiday cards – we can never forget the holiday cards. My fiancée is Jewish, I’m Agnostic, and our friends and family range from Wiccan to Atheist to Pentecostal. We’re an eclectic group, the people for whom folks popularized the bland, safe “happy holidays.” As a result, my fiancée and I purchased a variety of holiday cards: some celebrating Solstice, some the new year, some Hanukkah, and some just gratuitously representing adorable furry friends. One of my favorites features a picture of a certain, gentle giant of an aquatic mammal wishing “Happy holidays for all of humanatee!” I love sending out holiday cards. I write a different ...

The Highlander’s Reluctant Bride ,  Book 2 in The Highlander’s Bride series by Cathy MacRae Genre : Historical Romance set in the Highlands of Scotland, 1377 Heat Scale : Sensual Cover blurb : Determined to keep the Macrory clan’s holdings out of the clutches of the Lord of the Isles and marauding pirates, King Robert II sends his man, Lord Ranald Scott, to hold Scaurness Castle. There, Laird Macrory lays dying, awaiting word from his son who is missing on the battlefields of France. If the son is not found before the old laird dies, Ranald will take over as laird—and marry Laird Macrory’s headstrong daughter. Lady Caitriona sees no reason she cannot rule the clan in her brother’s stead, and is bitterly disappointed with the king’s decision to send a man to oversee the castle and people. Not only is Ranald Scott only distantly related to the Macrory clan, but he was her childhood nemesis. She has little trust or like for him. Her disappointment turns to panic...

In my third book of the “Hunted Series,” Hunted Dreams , my dreaming main character suddenly finds herself at a laden dinner table. She grabs a fork and digs in.  With each bite, she experiences an explosion of feeling, each one different than the one before: terror, disgust, and rage, to name a few. This scene was one of the hardest ones I’ve ever written. I forced myself to describe in intense detail every sensation of each emotion: the taste and color of each feeling, the bodily sensations, the resulting thoughts and intentions. Doing so, I discovered something rather profound: describing feelings is tough ! The illustration for the below-mentioned study, found here .  You can imagine my delight when I stumbled across this study . It uses self-reports to determine where people physically experience feelings. Looking at the picture, I’m flabbergasted by how our bodies literally feel more or less, depending on our current emotional state. For example, I find ...

So, you may have noticed my posts have been a bit sparse lately. Perhaps Elle is on tour , Yes, I am shamelessly bribing your love and forgiveness with  a pic of an adorable, five-month-old puppy. you’re undoubtedly thinking, hyping up her latest book . But alas, my friends, alas; such is not the case. After a summer of schlepping multiple times to Arizona, California, and Colorado, I’ve been content to snuggle into a calmer autumn. Since then, I’ve immersed myself in home things: some sick furkids, a wedding (for me, not for the cats), a new puppy, and other domestic thingies. All in all, I’m pulling inside my turtle shell and pulling the door closed behind me. I miss waxing poetic about every social topic known to humanity. I do. And I’ll return soon. But since my posts right now would probably consist of the best ways to get the cat pee smell out of dog beds or whines about the cost of wedding DJs, it’s probably best that my rants come a bit less frequently right now...

The Widow's Walk by Carole Ann Moleti Genre : Paranormal Romance Heat level : Sexy, Heat Level 3-4 (available in ebook and print) http://www.amazon.com/Widows-Walk-Carole-Ann-Moleti-ebook/dp/B00PHYCLHY   Synopsis : Mike and Liz Keeny are newlyweds, new parents, and the proprietors of the Barrett Inn, an 1875 Victorian on Cape Cod, which just happens to be haunted. By their own ghosts. The Inn had become an annex of Purgatory, putting Mike, Liz, and their infant son in danger. Selling the historic seaside bed and breakfast was the only answer, one that Liz and her own tortured specter refused to consider. Were they doomed to follow the same path that led to disaster in their previous lives? Was getting out, getting away, enough? Excerpt : “Look, for now, we’ll just stay where we are–together. If Liz and Mike are united, then Jared and Elisabeth aren’t going to be able to get in between us.” He brushed the tears off her cheeks. She stared at him inte...