Happy Early Mother's Day!

I know that I’m jumping onto the Mother’s Day bandwagon early, but I won’t get to post again until after Sunday and I wanted to send happy wishes to everyone who celebrates this special day in some way. Not everyone is a mother, but everyone has one, or someone like one, somewhere. Typically, Mother’s Day for me is a bit tough, having lost my mother some years ago; however, I try to think happy thoughts and enjoy the memories that come flooding back as I watch the hustle and bustle at restaurants and stores on Mother's Day.

Like many writers, I was lucky enough to have a mother who read to me when I was younger, and later we read books together sitting at our kitchen table. Also like many writers, my mother was my biggest fan. Anything I wrote, she would read. She encouraged me in all of my artistic endeavors even though she knew that a job in the arts isn't necessarily one of those professions that guarantees a living wage. She never discouraged me, though, and always wanted to read more of my writing. It is because of her I continue to put pen to page (or fingers to keyboard as it were).

In honor of mothers everywhere, especially the mothers of writers who continue to support their literary offspring with their tireless love and weary eyes outfitted in extra-strength reading glasses, I'm posting some quotes about mothers by writers that I've culled from a variety of sites around the Web. I don't know how accurate the attributions are, but it's the meaning of the words that is significant (of course, they're from writers!). I hope you enjoy them, and if you have a quote to share, please do post it as a comment.

Happy Mother's Day!

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."-Rudyard Kipling

"Motherhood: All love begins and ends there."-Robert Browning

"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." - Washington Irving

"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not." - James Joyce

"Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children." - William Makepeace Thackeray

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." - Oscar Wilde

“Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother.  A child is a child.  They get bigger, older, but grown?  What’s that suppose to mean?  In my heart it don’t mean a thing.”-Toni Morrison

“And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see — or like a sealed letter they could not plainly read.”-Alice Walker

“Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.”-Pearl S. Buck

"I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars."-E.M. Forster

“Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at de sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.”-Zora Neale Hurston

“Because I feel that in the heavens above/The angels, whispering one to another/Can find among their burning tears of love/None so devotional as that of “Mother"/Therefore, by that dear name I have long called you/You who are more than mother unto me.”-Edgar Allan Poe

Mother's Day Tribute to an Inspirational Mom

Many people and life events have provided me inspiration, but the woman to whom I eternally thankful is also the one who has most inspired me. How timely this post about my mom as we celebrate another Mother’s Day.

When I recall some of my happiest moments, most of them feature my mother. As an only child, I was quite inquisitive and precocious, but her patience knew no boundaries. No matter how many adventures I sought, the times when my questions came at her most swiftly than the wind, her ways, intelligence and wisdom held me in awe. Why does the sun stop shining at some point in the day? Why can’t I go to Lisa’s house? How soon will we get to the beach? Whether my queries were easy or difficult, she always provided an answer. Was never too busy. Always put her child’s and husband’s needs before her own. Mom multi-tasked with the best. She knew the neatest household tips for saving time and money. Told me her secret for keeping healthy and how to find time for exercise despite an otherwise hectic life. Until she was diagnosed with cancer, my mom maintained her same weight for over fifteen years, never smoked or consumed alcohol, never took any medication, ate a balanced diet and exercised regularly. Despite her healthy and diligent ways all her married life, exposure to second-hand smoke earlier in her life took its silent toll until it was too late.

When it came to my writing and reading habits, mom always encouraged me. When other children were reading novels for their age group, she fortunately introduced me to literary classics and more advanced reading material. And eventually to romance fiction, including the Gothics. Our weekly trips to the library were much anticipated. Many times we’d stop at my grandmother’s for a delightful lunch afterward, or we’d take a trip somewhere special for our dining. How we’d giggle over our ice cream cones. She’d tell me bedtime stories every night until I reached the age of ten. Mom would listen intently as I told her of the skit I’d soon perform for neighbors, friends and other family members. Not once did she laugh at my youthful exuberance or innocent ways. We’d collaborate on plots for those performances, and she’d applaud my efforts the loudest of any in the audience. The days when we spent time in the family kitchen provided enough fond memories to last ten lifetimes. Mom was so cool. She made preparing anything look easy and taught me how to cook meals for any occasion.

During her battle with terminal cancer, that is the time she most inspired me. Her pain and suffering were set aside, and she offered this advice about my embarking on a writing career—“Never surrender your dreams or give up on your goals. Life is tough but you have to do everything possible to keep living. You never know what you can accomplish until you try. If you fail, try again and try harder.” I immediately jotted down her advice on a desk notepad and have kept those words close and precious. Until her final breath, she didn’t surrender. She fought a good fight and never complained despite the fact the cancer spread to her bones. Kept reading romance novels until the rigorous combination of radiation and chemotherapy affected her eyesight. Did what she most enjoyed doing until cancer advanced and interrupted the program.

When I’ve a difficult day, I always take time, step back from the problem, and recall her cancer struggle. If she could endure such pain from her cancer, and debilitating effects from her therapy, why in the world should I mope or complain about my situation? A situation for which there was at least one solution and eventual respite?

I recently went through a tremendously rough period in my life. The roughest since her passing. But each day before I’ve closed my eyes to sleep, I’ve remembered her sage advice. And how she promised to be my Valentine if I’d be hers. That we laid my best friend, mom and mentor supreme to rest a few days later on, as you’ve probably guessed, Valentine’s Day. On this Mother’s Day in 2009, she is with me in spirit. In a short while, I’ve more plotting to do on a new romance novel project. While others are grilling and picnicking on this holiday, Mom and I will be in the den. Her unseen presence and inspiration will spur me to keep on working toward my publishing goals and living my romance-writing dreams. We’ll also take some time to celebrate the release of my latest erotica romance novel with Ellora’s Cave, TO HELLE AND BACK AGAIN.



Click here for more information and an excerpt

Click here for a steamy excerpt

Wishing you all many happy reading moments,

Shawna Moore
TO HELLE AND BACK AGAIN -- EC Exotika
TORMENTED -- Ellora's Cave
ROUGHRIDER -- EC Exotika
HELLE IN HEELS -- EC Exotika
Shawna's Myspace
Helle's Myspace

Let's Hear it for Erotic Historical Romances

Before I reach the subject of today’s blog, I want to give thanks for my beloved mother, an avid reader of romance fiction. Without her encouragement and love, I would never have become published. To me and many others, she was a shining example of a perfect heroine. Tomorrow marks the seventh anniversary of her passing. While I miss those wonderful times we spent together over the years, I know she’s with me every day, spurring me along my career journey.

Each morning before I sit down at the writing desk, I read my emails. This past Thursday it’s likely anyone walking past our house heard my celebration. At the time I was alone in the house, still in pajamas and not yet sipping my first cup of brisk morning coffee. But I didn’t need to be dressed to the nines in order to perform the Happy Dance and burst into song when I read the news from my editor at Ellora’s Cave. She’d written to let me know she wanted to contract my erotic historical romance novel. Talk about great aerobic exercise! I must remember that metabolism-boosting impromptu dance routine—and play K.C. and the Sunshine Band on the stereo as opposed to hearing their tunes only in my mind. Even though several days have passed since the news, I’m still smiling and in the best of moods.

The first three romances I wrote were historicals. Historical romances were my first reading love and will always have a special place in my reading and writing heart. The fact I can transport readers and myself to a time we can’t experience firsthand is one of the main reasons I delight in telling historical tales. In junior high school I truly enjoyed reading steamier historical romances. Kathleen Woodiwiss is the author who whetted my reading appetite for historicals. THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER remains a treasure in my literary collection.

Writing can become a very solitary pursuit, but being able to surround myself with the bawdy characters I’ve created from bygone eras passes the plotting, researching and writing time in a most pleasurable way. The historicals I’ve published are set in Jazz-Age Manhattan (SAINTS AND SINNERS) and Tombstone, Arizona, during the silver boom (TAMING THE TEMPTRESS).

Readers, fess up. What do you most enjoy about erotic historical romances? The lusty ways these characters loved and lived in days past? The richness and authenticity of dialogue? The ability to live vicariously with the hero and heroine during a bygone era? Period details of place, clothing, architecture, etc?

Feel the heat in erotic historical romances,

Shawna Moore
ROUGHRIDER – Ellora’s Cave
HELLE IN HEELS – Ellora’s Cave
Shawna’s Myspace
Helle’s Myspace