Tease me, Please me ... The Art of Excerpts.

They're enticing, tempting, mouth-watering...they make you long for another taste, no, crave more deliciousness. So you try another one, and it's even better, and suddenly you've gotta have more, you can't live until you devour another, then another... and finally, nothing will satisfy ... you have to consume the whole thing. No, I'm not talking about chocolates, drugs, or men. I'm talking about excerpts.

I love excerpts. They're like foreplay. They tease and arouse. They tantalize and pleasure you. And just like during foreplay, at some point you commit to the act. You go from "hmm, this feels good," to "hot damn, I'm going for it!"

So what makes a good excerpt? Short or long? When the characters first meet, or later on in their relationship? Dialogue or action, character development or hot sex? Speaking of sex ... For us erotic romance writers, how much should we show in an excerpt? Should it be a tease, or should we show actual, um, completion of the act?

Writers, how do you approach excerpts? Readers, what do you like to see in an excerpt? What takes you from "this sounds kinda cool" to "I gotta get this, now!"?

Personally, I don't like lengthy excerpts. I'm usually scanning them so if they're too long I tune out. But I need more than a few paragraphs to get a feel for the writer's voice. I admit I'm drawn to the "adult" excerpts. (I'm not ashamed!) And I like to see how the characters interact, so I like to read dialogue in excerpts. But that's just my opinion. Anyone else?