Reading Diary: Affinity by Sarah Waters

It’s one of the toughest questions you can ask a reader: “What is your favorite book”. It’s virtually impossible for constant readers to pick just one book as a favorite. And that’s fair, I think... we all find different things we love in different books. Different characters we identify with or love to visit, different plotlines that grab us, different themes that move us.

For years I couldn’t answer the question myself. One or two Christmases ago, though, I picked up a Sarah Waters novel for the first time, lured in by her themes of historical lesbian romance. The book was Affinity. I’d had another of her novels, Fingersmith, on my bookshelf for ages but never got around to reading it. Why Affinity should call to me so strongly, when I hardly even knew what it was about, I’m not sure. But I had no idea what I was getting into.

Top 10 Ghost Stories!

Today we kick off the Re-release Blog Tour for His Cemetery Doll!

Available in print and e-book, and on Kindle Unlimited!

Blog Tour Hosted by:

To Get this Tour Going, today on Foreplay and Fangs we're talking Ghost Stories.

His Cemetery Doll: Chapter Three

He'd carved Maya the autumn after Shyla came to him. He'd never understood what motivated him to do it: besides not being very fanciful, Conall had never been particularly artistic, either. The inspiration must have come thanks to the baby.

He'd discovered the poor infant alone in his graveyard, tucked a sheltering crevice of an old boulder. He remembered thinking she'd been arranged as though in a cradle. Whoever left her did it with care, placing her in a spot where she'd be protected from rain, above any wildlife...and sure to be seen by the first human who passed by. Con later used the same boulder as the base for Maya's statue. Perhaps because those small, thoughtful, careful details might be all he would ever know about Shyla's real mother.

His Cemetery Doll: Chapter Two

During the day, dappled green and gold sunlight played around the graves in Conall's cemetery. Cool, quiet woodland bordered three broad, gated sections, tree branches overreaching a tall iron fence, vines growing through and around scrolled-iron bars. He kept the tombstones clean and neat, scraped the moss from the mausoleums, and trimmed the worst of the overgrowth. He'd never clear away all the natural brush, however. It gave his cemetery a breath of quiet serenity.

His Cemetery Doll: Chapter One

Conall...

Somebody was shaking him.

Gravekeeper...fallen soldier...

There is someone in the graveyard, Conall.

Conall Mackay woke with a start. Outside, the wind gave a haunting, low moan. He could hear the rustle and creak of trees in the graveyard outside.

He'd dozed off in his chair by the small cottage hearth, and the fire had long died down to sulky, smoldering coals. His daughter Shyla, bleary-eyed and wild-looking with her short blonde hair sticking up at all angles, shook him by the shoulder, mumbling sleepily.

"There's a strange woman, Dad. Outside."

A Thursday Taste: More from "His Cemetery Doll"

Every Thursday, a group of writers gets together to post excerpts of current works in progress. This week I'm sharing a little more of my current project, His Cemetery Doll, a story of a ghostly lover in a haunted graveyard.

Please support the Thursday Tasters by visiting the link at the end of this post and visiting the other wonderful works posted this week!

Somewhere in the slow flurry of sensation, Conall realized the doll's lips were moving. Really moving, as he kissed them. Instinct overtaking him, he slid his tongue past them and searched for hers to respond. She met him, and her mouth proved warm, soft, eager, and pliant. Her fingers came up to his chest, though, and very softly, nudged him away.

He found himself a bit out of breath. Moreover, he realized he'd started to warm, himself, feeling flush with heat.

She appeared to be searching for him, even though her hand still rested on his collar. She tilted her face up to him, lifted her chin up as though straining to say something.

To his surprise...she did.

Thursday Taste: "His Cemetery Doll"

This is a group for writers who want to show short excerpts of their awesome work every Thursday.Please restrict excerpts to no more than 400 words. All genres permitted. A comment on each others work plus sharing and tweeting will encourage everyone to keep going with WIP's. Every writer needs a little help in their aim to succeed in their art so it is not much to ask. Our blog is http://thursdaytasters.blogspot.com

This week, my taste comes from a new project, a story of a haunting. I call it, His Cemetery Doll.

 

Looking for a Sexy New Read? Review of "The Phantom", by Jocelyn Leverett

This week I had the pleasure of perusing a recent new release, an erotic novella entitled The Phantom. Part ghost story, part erotic tell-all, this book took on a unique plot: the story of a woman searching for an urban legend, and finding new worlds of sexuality along the way.

Immediate draws: ghost story, haunting as it is erotic. Increasingly hotter and hotter as the story goes on and our lead Sasha, is drawn deeper and deeper into the world of indulgent sexual exploration. In terms of the sex, it escalates nicely and delivers a lot of satisfying and dare I say, fun little vignettes. I read it right before bed, and straight through without stopping. Definitely an enjoyable bedtime story.