#intheshower/#intheshower: BRING ON THE NIGHT and SHINE teaser

Click on the SHINE cover to pre-order SIGNED copies from Constellation Books

Click on the BOTN cover to order a SIGNED copy from Constellation Books

Whew, and I thought the first "essay" was thrilling. Below, all my #TEAMkilt friends and all the #intheshower fans will be just so delighted! Jeri Smith-Ready was so wonderful during the YA Sisterhood's Summer Crushin' Tournament, and she provided SHINE teaser after SHINE teaser. They were wonderful and you can find them all here. But, yes there is a "but," the BEST, most EXCITING, most FANTABULOUS SHINE teaser involved, you guess it, #intheshower! Now, since this is just a teaser and the final book is not out until May (I absolutely can't wait for it by the way), I have very little knowledge of what all is going on in the book at the time of this scene. However, it involves a shower, so there is no need to say more. After the first #intheshower "essay" I promised to provide an examination of both #intheshower scenes. That would be SHINE and BRING ON THE NIGHT #intheshower scenes. The same disclaimers apply.

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  There may be spoilers! I've tried to keep them to a minimum and have even excluded names. If you don't like little details being revealed DO NOT KEEP READING!
  





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  BRING ON THE NIGHT is an Adult novel and does contain sexual content and detailed descriptions. I refer to the sexual content in this post, so if you do not like this DO NOT KEEP READING!
  





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  The SHINE scene referred to in this post is an unedited teaser version of the scene provided by Jeri Smith-Ready. This also means there are no page numbers yet. You will have to read the book to find the scene, but that will be an extremely pleasant experience. The final book will be available in May, so you should order it. I'm just sayin'. You may view the scene here on Jeri's blog if you haven't read it. The scene from BRING ON THE NIGHT takes place on pages 155 - 158.

So, here we go #intheshower fans:

TO THE SHOWERS!

First, I must thank Jeri from the bottom of my ever-shower-lovin'-heart. I will never think of a shower in the same way again. Bless you darlin'!

How do I begin to compare these two scenes. I love them both. They both make me want to run home and hop in the shower (with my own husband of course). I was thinking every book should have a #intheshower scene, but then I thought harder and NO! Only Jeri could write the perfect #intheshower scene. And with both of these scenes, she has shown how truly fabulous a writer she is. YA and Adult scenes call for very different approaches. You have to consider your audience very carefully and write accordingly. Jeri excels at this.

As I've said before, the #intheshower scene in BOTN is HOT. It's steamy literally and figuratively. It's truly an Adult scene. The sexual content is high, it is SHOWN, not told, and it is explicit. For all you writer types out there, you know what I mean by "shown not told." I'm talking vivid visuals while reading. No need to fill in the gaps. With the SHINE shower scene, it's more subtle but just as steamy. There are no explicit details, so the reader can fill in the blanks with her (yes I'm being sexist) own imagination. I have arguments for both types of scenes, and I truly LOVE each one. The SHINE characters are not quite as forward as the BOTN characters are in their scene, but they are just as excited for each other, and this a major difference in reading YA versus reading Adult. I enjoy visual sexual content as much as the next girl (hey, a girl needs to live a little) but I have such a love for the YA characters that are just finding themselves and each other. It's a sweet type of interaction that brings back the feeling of teenage innocence, and then not really losing that innocence, but of changing it into something more, something to share with the other person. (Was that too sappy for this essay?)

Both scenes are spawned by a separation of sorts. In SHINE it's a previous, self-enforced separation, and in BOTN it's an impending separation caused by outside events. These separations lead the male characters to pursue the female characters and in both cases the guy takes control. And in bizarre twist, there is NO clothing in the SHINE scene and there IS clothing in the BOTN scene. Crazy, I know!

For me, the most notable difference in the shower scenes is this: there is no removable shower head in the SHINE scene! For those of you who know me, you know I am very fond of the removable shower head in the BOTN shower scene. So much so that I have one as my twitter avi. (hides face with hand) I know, I'm so screwed up! But even without the removable shower head, the SHINE scene is fabulous, and sexy, and sweet all at the same time.

I am SUPER DUPER ECSTATICALLY EXCITED about SHINE and reading this scene in context. Along with all the other steamy, melty, romantic scenes that I am sure will accompany it. I am also TOTALLY FANTASTICALLY INCREDIBLY PUMPED about LUST FOR LIFE book 4 in the WVMP series, which is set to be released next October. I need more! Much, much more, and I know Jeri will exceed my expectations! So, as each of these releases approaches, I promise to bring more enticing and exciting features right here at Living Fictitiously. I hope you all enjoyed my little essay. Stay tuned in the coming months... I just might tackle some more scene comparisons.

~Britney

#intheriver/#intheshower: A Special Feature

This is a special, yes very special, feature for all of our Jeri Smith-Ready, SHADE and WVMP fans out there. As you might already be aware, we are currently co-hosting a WVMP Read Along, and some of the hosts, including myself (Britney), have stumbled upon a FANGtastic (hehe, corny I know) scene in the 3rd book, BRING ON THE NIGHT. We refer to this scene as #intheshower. Now, if you've read the 2nd book in the SHADE series, SHIFT, then you know there is a little scene we like to refer to as #intheriver. Jeri, being the fantastic person that she is, put forth a little challenge. I don't think she actually expected anyone to rise to this challenge, but I couldn't pass it up. So, below you will find my 500 word essay comparing and contrasting the SHIFT, #intheriver scene, and the BRING ON THE NIGHT, #intheshower scene. But first, some disclaimers:

• If you have not read either of these series, I strongly suggest you do. If you haven't, I have done my best to exclude spoilers; however, some things may be given away. I will not be naming names. If you've read, you know who the players are, if not, the names do not matter and might ruin some surprises for you. So, if you don't like knowing little details before you read, DO NOT KEEP READING PAST THIS POINT.
  


• WVMP is an Adult book. There is strong sexual content, and if you do not like this then I do not suggest you DO NOT KEEP READING PAST THIS POINT. There is not actual sexual content in my post below, however, I so refer to sexual acts contained in the scene.
  


• The scenes referred to in this "essay" are contained in Chapter 28 of SHIFT and on pages 155-158 of BRING ON THE NIGHT.
  


• If neither of the above bother you, please feel free to keep reading. If you haven't read one or both of the books, who knows, maybe my little essay will inspire you to do so.
  


• A final note: I probably can't keep this under 500 words. :)

Without further delay, I bring you:

#intheshower or #intheriver: IT'S ALL IN THE WATER

Water, it can be used for so many things, and we cannot live without it. Maybe that is why I feel that the SHIFT river scene and the BRING ON THE NIGHT shower scene are so interconnected. Both scenes obviously take place in the water and are prompted by the need or want to bathe. To clean, one might say. I think this is ironic since both scenes are actually a little dirty, sexually speaking. While both scenes take place in the water, the water temperature correlates to the experience level. In the river, the water is cold and the characters are somewhat awkward, or at least not completely comfortable since this is their first time being naked together. The shower scene is, well, its HOT. In all manners of speaking. The water is hot, the action is hot, the reader will be hot. The characters in the shower scene are completely comfortable with each other, and it shows. In this case, hot water is equivalent to experience, cold water appears to be equivalent to inexperience.

While the temperature of the water in each scene correlates to experience, that level of experience is also exemplified in the events, language, and actions. Keep in mind that SHIFT is a YA novel, therefore the content is toned down and directly relates to the characters' experience. In the river scene we are told what happens vaguely, but in a way that alludes to the actions taking place. Things progress slowly and develop into PG-13 touching, without actually being shown what is happening. If you have a good imagination, like me, you can fill in the blanks on your own. In the BOTN shower scene on the other hand, there is MUCH showing. This in an adult novel and therefore the characters, their actions, and the descriptions of those actions can be much more developed. And oh boy are they. No need for a good imagination for this scene, well, except to adapt those excellent descriptions to mental videos. Definitely an NC-17 rating, which is a GREAT thing if you ask me. But one thing these scenes share is that Jeri does a great job making them realistic without being gross and overly dirty. It's sexy but classy, and there is real love bringing the characters together in these sexually charged scenes.

In both instances, there is an impending separation coming and some duress preceding/coinciding with the characters' actions. I will not be expanding on this since it would contain spoilers. Just to be safe. So go pick up the books ASAP to get the full shebang! There will also be another "essay" comparing/contrasting the #intheshower scenes of BOTN and SHINE, the final book in the SHADE trilogy, out next May! (give me a little time to recover from this, ahem, exciting, ahem, comparison)

And as a final farewell, some of my fav quotes for the above scenes:

SHIFT

Character 1: "... where can I touch you?" Character 2: "Anywhere." Character 1: "And where can I kiss you?" Character 2: "Everywhere."

BOTN

Character 1: "That was not the last time."

~Britney