“Not Tonight, Honey. I Have A Headache.”

We have all been there. Sometimes you are just not in the mood. Maybe you’ve had a particularly stressful day at work, with the children, real life problems, or are simply not feeling well. As a result, you want nothing more than to relax a bit, then go to bed and sleep ... undisturbed. The thought of making hot passionate love is so far at the back of your mind it would take a blow torch to warm you up.

Fortunately there are some excellent books out there on which I would personally put a "Blow Torch" heat rating.

But, let’s get real. If you’ve had a really, really, bad day and your significant other comes home and says, “Come here baby and give Big Daddy some lovin’,” Big Daddy better duck and run.

That’s exactly the point I’m at with my current book. Since the first of the year, my day job has been particularly hectic … closing out year end and setting up for 2006 along with attempting to keep up with my normal, daily work load. By the time I got home each evening, I was wiped out, my brain all but fried. Definitely a "Not tonight, honey. I have a headache," situation.

In short, for the past week, my poor hero and heroine have been left hanging ... in the middle of a passionate love scene … in an old fashioned claw foot bath tub no less.

What authors put their characters through is shocking.

I’ve managed to tie up the last of the year end loose ends at work. Things have returned to normal … at least as normal as it gets. This weekend, I intend to complete the love scene and allow my poor hero and heroine to achieve the relief and satisfaction they’ve been working toward for the past week. Otherwise, they’re likely to seek revenge by becoming uncooperative.

So, what about the authors who write those hot and steamy books that as readers you often escape into … books that often help create the mood for romance?

As an author, I find the love scenes the most difficult part of the book to write. Just like in real life where you have to be in a particular frame of mind and mood to do it … I need to be in the mood to write it. For me, those scenes are best written in the evening or night hours. I do my best work if I set the mood … a hot bubble bath to relax me, candles burning, my special romantic mood music playing, and maybe even a glass of wine. It also doesn't hurt to read something with a bit of sizzle.

For other authors out there, how about sharing what influences impact the love scenes you write? What, if anything, make them difficult or impossible to write? What do you do to set the mood?