When it comes to erotic romance, are you a city mouse or a country mouse? That is, what turns you on more, an urban setting or the charms of nature?

It’s an interesting question, and your preferences in fiction probably hinge more upon the matter than you realize. Personally, I can see certain advantages to both types of locales. And it’s fun to consider what each has to offer, seduction-wise.

Well, readers...I post this month from my recovery room at home, where I am nursing myself back to health from a gall bladder disaster and the resultant emergency surgery. You know you're in a bad way when your surgeon tells you, "No sex till further notice" and you don't mind hearing it!

But the show must go on for Diana Laurence, and therefore it seemed a good time to post about the flip side of erotica: not being in the mood.

So I thought I would update you on the situation. Almost a year later, what's bringing people to my blog these days? Well, the answer is not shirtless, or naked...it's (wait for it)...

Erotica...and the holidays...is there any way these two themes can be tied together?

That was the question I asked myself as I sat down to write this December column. And you know what? An answer leapt immediately to mind: "Love Actually." If you've not yet seen this awesome holiday movie, rent it now. I haven't yet met anyone who has seen this film and not loved it.

So why did "Love Actually" seem the answer to my question? Well, first of all, it is just about the most cozy, festive bit of cinema since "It's a Wonderful Life." You get Christmas music, singing kids, snow, Christmas cards, holiday shopping, an office party, the family around the tree, the whole enchilada or should I say yule log.

As comfortable as I've always been about sex, as much as I have enjoyed reading and writing erotic fiction, as cool as I am with activities like going topless at parties and watching "those movies" with my husband...okay well, maybe I'm a prude.

What instigated this "prude awakening"? As I do every year at this time, I'm helping with the judging in the Eppie Awards (aka the Oscars of ebooks). Due to a clerical error, I was initially assigned four books entered in the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transvestite category, aka GLBT, or in Eppie-speak, Category K. While I waited to hear if I might be excused to judge another category, I skimmed through the books. I am sworn to secrecy as an Eppie judge, and of course I wouldn't share details anyway, but this skimming experience was, for me personally, not a pleasant one.

I expect quite a few Novelspot readers are trying to make sense of that subject line, so I'm hoping the fact that it contains the word "sexier" is enough to hook you. And you don't have to be familiar with either Les "Survivorman" Stroud or Bear "Man v. Wild" Grylls, two survivalist stars of the Discovery Channel, to weigh in on the debate.

I brought up Les in my infamous "Shirtless or Naked" post back in February, and he is a frequent subject of my personal blog Erotica with Soul. In the interest of full disclosure I will preface the discussion with an admission I adore the guy. But again, I can be objective for the sake of argument, really I can. (And yes, more people than ever are finding my blog by googling "Les Stroud naked." And I still have no naked photos of him, not even shirtless.) But I digress...the question is, which type of guy is sexier to YOU. Because out there on the Les, Bear, and Discovery Channel boards, the debate is furious and endless. Here on Novelspot, we are experts on romance and sexiness, so let us try to clear this all up, shall we?

A novel with 64 authors? Yes, the new paranormal suspense fantasy Bloodchained was written by award-winning romance writer Diana Laurence with assistance from her team of 63 reader partners. It's now available in paperback and ebook formats from Living Beyond Reality Press and online retailers. Bloodchained is the story of Grace Gilder and her brother Sebastian, who run an elegant inn in the city of Audacacia, home of the famous Temple of Love.

One of those questions we romance authors get asked is how we come up with our ideas. Those of us who write the racy stuff are often questioned as to whether we "do research." Well, I can only reply that it's all pretty much a matter of imagination, and some of us are just born with more active ones. I learned just how independent and wild my own imagination is a few weeks back, when I had an unusual dream.

There was a guy in this dream, and his name was Jeff Eisen.

My husband and I are fans of cooking competition shows. And while I would never dream of trying to get on "Top Chef" or "Next Food Network Star," if the challenge was to cook up an erotic hero rather than an exotic dish, I think I could acquit myself well. I've created a good three dozen of them in my years writing erotic romance.

So I thought I'd share a few of my recipe tips. They work just as well as fantasy fodder as they do as suggestions to aspiring authors, so if you like to think about dream sex with hot guys, read on....

My goodness, we females are complicated. At least I am, and this character in my current novel Bloodchained is. My plotting recently ground to a halt when she and I were faced with a very tough decision: submission or equality?

Bloodchained is a new takeoff on the vampire concept, and my character has fallen in love with one of the good Roicans, as I call them. As the book nears its climax, she is faced with a decision that boils down to this: Would she prefer the man's power to be over her, or should she choose to have equal power with him? Keep in mind, he is perfectly trustworthy. As for her, she's a gentle soul but very strong and smart.

Is anyone else out there enamored of Dove's Real Beauty and Pro Age campaigns? I’m a marketing babe as much as I'm an author, and I take a great interest in how sex is used by Madison Avenue. Just as I was truly about to lose my mind from seeing rail-thin cocaine chic models, girls under 14, and other disgusting displays in advertising, Dove renewed my faith in the human race with their campaigns.

How refreshing to have someone in the Old Ad Game recognize that the women who control the spending dollars in North America are real women with real bodies. How enlightened of them to recognize many of us are over 40 and happy about it, rather than weeping for our lost 20's.

Diana Laurence has now released the paperback version of her three imaginative romance trilogies, Soulful Sex: The Paranormal, Science Fiction and Fantasy Collections. Travel to magical lands, faraway planets, a room where your sensual dreams come true...meet a pirate’s ghost, a 19th century alien abductee, a mysterious matchmaking goddess...explore timeless themes of romance in fresh, colorful settings.

Not everyone likes vampires. But in the romance community, they are definitely faves. I found this idea reinforced recently while working on the Soulful Sex: Partners Project book. For those of you who haven't read about SS Partners, it's a project I started this January, teaming up with a group of readers to involve them in the process of writing my next book. Well, after the Partners chose paranormal fantasy as the genre for our book, I gave them three possible plot scenarios, one of which was a vampiric tale. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when that one was the clear winner in the Partners' vote for plot of choice.

But it did create a slight problem.