Talking Shop: The Importance of Queer Stories in Paranormal Romance

As of this writing, a quick perusal of Amazon categories shows us this: the Romance category in Books contains a total of 604,105 titles. Of those, 7% make up the Paranormal Romance category. 39% of Romance books are Erotica, and of those, only 2% are Paranormal.

 In order to find out roughly how many LGBTQ Romance and Erotica books feature paranormal plots and characters, we have to piece together numbers from a special filter labeled "Erotic Characters". If you add up all the titles featuring angels, demons and devils, ghosts, shapeshifters, vampires and werewolves, you come up with less than .7% of titles in LGBTQ Romance and Erotica that are paranormal.

Just for comparison, "Billionaire" erotica makes up 1.4%.

Reading Diary: 2 New Self-Pub Erotic Shorts I Tried This Week

 I keep my reader's diary to share my recent reads, new discoveries, and favorite books. I don't accept requests to review books, or reader copies, from authors. Nothing here is a solicited review.

Last week I stumbled upon the amusing story of erotic adventures with video game building blocks, and being the curious kitty that I am, I went ahead and 1-clicked this beauty:

I've gone in for this type of absurdist erotic humor before, as I've mentioned, when I tried out Taken by the T-Rex. I always hope these stories will be sexy as well as funny, since they're obviously meant to be parody. Even erotic parody, though, ought to have a solid sexual content warning and have done the footwork to deserve it. For that matter, humor still needs to be well-written, to really earn its stripes. T-Rex, alas, was not. And that was disappointing.

Tetris Blocks, on the other hand, was actually a good, fun read. It is a very short story, but it doesn't take a lot of development to get its point across.

And the best thing about it, I think, is that it's very aware of itself as a parody. As a satirist, Delaney knows what he's doing. Because let's face it, a large number of self-published books are terribly written and have no style. Delaney takes a jab at this right off the back when the very first lines of the story are, "Christie looked in the mirror and adjusted her glasses. She noted that her hair was red and her eyes were grey."  I almost closed the book right then, seeing as this blatantly bad threat to the 4th Wall and the art of showing is, in fact, such a constant problem in amateur stories I wasn't immediately sure it was done as parody. The rest of the story, however, employs satire just as smoothly, leaving me with a feeling that I was actually reading something quite smart. There's also a pleasant amount of inside joke and social commentary for those who play video games.

 I think the immediate question is, how are we to expect a character to have sex with Tetris blocks? I'm not going to get into the literal logistics but Delaney's description worked just fine for me. The sex, while somewhat absurd, is nicely done. It's fun, too; I like the main character quite a bit, and the blocks themselves are fully-fledged, speaking characters. The world is, dare I say, charming.

So if you're curious about these sexual parodies, this is a good one to start with. I really enjoyed it and it was quite colorful. I may even pick up the other shorts in Delaney's series, too. 

I also picked up another short erotic read on impulse this week: Ginny's Lesson, by Anna Bayes.  This is a short F/F BDSM, and with a cover like that I couldn't resist. 1-Click, done.

No regrets. This story, while short, was lovely, sexy, sweet, and hot. For a tale of only 20 pages it's polished and well-paced. The characters are darling, their relationship endearing. And--as should be the case with any story of this nature--it definitely hits a hot spot and sent me to bed with very sweet dreams.

It's so nice to have a read like this on hand before bed. Ginny's Lesson is, in my mind, exactly what an erotic short story should be.  An easy read with a rich story, pleasantly in-depth without being overly detailed or slowed down by extra, unnecessary fluff. It's a testament to the author; a good way to get a glimpse at Bayes' writing style and imagination before moving on to her longer works. She's on my TBR list for sure now, and I'll be keeping Ginny's Lesson it in my immediate library to go back to.

Friday Free Read: NaNoWriMo Excerpt #2

 November is, of course, National Novel Writing Month! This year I'm working on Book 3 of the Blood and Fire series: and adventure through Russia called Winter Hearts. During November, our regular Free Read posts will feature excerpts from this year's (as yet unedited) project.

Sascha rubbed at the back of her neck. Heat bloomed under her skin, creeping and uncomfortable.

She’d dreamed of the vampire. Of the bloodthirsty Archon Donovan, waiting in the rooms above. The whole scene replayed in her mind: the fire in the room’s hearth shining off Rhiannon’s glossy auburn hair and her long, lean body.

And the smooth leather of the imitation cock jutting up from between her thighs.

Talking Shop: Queer Voices in Paranormal Romance

Writers, have you ever wanted to try your hand at queer romance? It's a very passionate subject to me. I feel strongly that the Romance genre as a whole, and especially it's speculative sub-genres like paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi, could do with a good deal more queer voices and stories.

But writing queer romance comes with a hefty research cost, especially if you're not queer yourself. This is not an area in which to charge blindly forward. The LGBTQ spectrum, like any medium for relationships, is a lot more nuanced than pop culture and mainstream media tends to express.

The following are some beginning points to research and writing LGBTQ romance, based on my own research and reading experience. I don't claim this post to be a "cheat sheet" so much as an introduction, for those who either haven't written queer romance before or want a little insight to different areas of it. I can't include all the details I'd like to include about each identity that makes up the queer community. I can, however, offer up what I've learned so far in writing the genre myself.

Bleeding Heart 1st Annual Book Awards!

Click Here to Support Lotus Petals for

Best Paranormal Romance Novel

Here to Support Lotus Petals or Goblin Fires for

Best F/F Novel

You can cast another vote every day this week! Please return and show your love for lesbian romance!

And if you have another moment, I'd like to mention a few other very wonderful authors and bloggers who are up for awards:

Torie James and the New Camelot Series for 

Best Series

Wendy Schuffert for 

Best PA

and

The Book Mistress for 

Best Book Blog

Thanks for the nominations, and thanks for all the support you've given Foreplay and Fangs Erotic Romance!

Friday Free Read - Erotic Audio Excerpt of Goblin Fires

This Friday's Free Read:

Enjoy a Lavish Taste of Goblin Fires

Like what you hear?

Goblin Fires is coming to e-book shelves on Monday, August 3rd

Pre-order on Champagne Books

Pre-order on Barnes and Noble
Pre-order on Amazon

 

Sample Chapters

Chapter One

Chapter Two 

Chapter Three 

Friday Free Read: All For One (Part 4)

Today's free read concludes our naughty version of The Three Musketeers.  If you've missed any of the previous installments, you can find them here:

Athos

Porthos

Aramis 

The young creature who appeared on the steps of the Lady Di Winter’s home the next morning was a shocking sight to the servants; they had never seen the girl before, and her clothes seemed to indicate she’d be better off entering the back way, with other ladies who tended the kitchens.

She brought three men of the Musketeers—men that didn’t help the young woman’s case to be seen by the Baroness.  In the end, however, it was not a decision left to the poor servants; Milady herself descended to the foyer, to see the young girl firsthand, along with the three soldiers who accompanied her.

Friday Free Read: Her Dark Rewards

Austria, 1719

Rhiannon Donovan was a tall girl, almost of a height with her mentor, which was saying something. In life, the Viking Sölva had been a towering monster of a woman. Where Sölva was broad and muscular, though, pale as bleached bones, Rhiannon was skinny and slender. The younger vampire had humble breasts, like tender peaches, nearly imperceptible beneath the smooth, snug leather bodice she wore accentuating the lean lines of her frame. Her legs were long and strong, and Sölva was fond of telling her she looked almost boyish, until one noticed her lovely face, her full lips, and the long, thick lashes framing her yellow, leonine eyes. At the moment the left of these was bisected by the ugly thick line of a scar, remnants of a recent fight. The scar would heal in time, as all scars did for any child of the Five Demon nations, but for Rhiannon, the process was slower. It was a reminder of her inherent flaw. She was a bastard demon.

Talking Shop: Looking at Lesbian Fiction

Today is the re-release of my first and favorite novel, Lotus Petals. This vampire romance tells the story of two women--the would-be bride of an undead daimyo, and his favorite human courtesan--discovering a connection with one another over any bond they've felt before.

Lotus Petals at Champagne Books

I adore writing about women who love women. But what do you think when you hear the words lesbian erotica? For too many, it seems the answer is, "Not for me."

Friday's Free Read: Chimera

This is an abridged excerpt of a steampunk story I've had in mind for a couple of years. One day I hope to expand it into a full-length story.

Unfortunately I don't have time to add any graphics...I'll have to come back later to add them.  Enjoy the story anyway, loves!

Lazy wisps of altostratus clouds streamed by in the wake of the Chimera's broadside sails, cold nymphs tracing slender fingers along her hull in in the sunset. Some distance off the larboard side, a flock of sea-birds flew in formation, largely unconcerned by the presence of the smuggler sharing their sky. Their off-key, honking cries were a comfortable and familiar sound in the back of Devon St. John's mind, as she leaned back against the ship's railing and surveyed the crew's work along the deck and up through the rigging on the balloon. It wasn't her ruffians that had her interest, though. It was her cargo. Even as she played at lax and careless, she kept one eye open to watch 'Sebastian' across the way.

He was, to the casual observer, a very young man: practically a boy. His cheek might never have borne the barest hint of a beard. His hair was very shabbily cut, especially for the upper class; hacked and uneven around the turned-up collar of his frock coat, it was the dull color of a common brown mouse. Devon had been paid to transport him safely to the country of Albionora, across the sea.

Certain protective measures, of course, had been taken to protect the aristocrat's real identity. Devon knew it well enough, though the men who booked his passage had said nothing. Watching Sebastian now, shy and nervous on the Chimera's decks, Devon found herself eager to get under his cover and get to the real creature underneath.

Friday Free Read: A First Time For Everything

 If you've been following me a while, you may have heard me say here or there that I'd like to try my hand at writing a story about a transgender character's experience. I hesitated on this for a long time because I wanted it to be the right story: one written because the character was there, and had something to say. She finally came to me in the form of Rachel, a gal experiencing intimacy for the first time, with a new partner, after transitioning from male to female.

I can't promise that I've got everything "right" here. My intention was to stretch myself into a new perspective, a new individual's experience. I researched quite a few aspects of the story, including the process of transitioning, real-life coming out experiences of transgender individuals, transgender lesbians, and so on. I hope that what I've written is written well, and honors the character and her real-life counterparts. If I've gotten anything wrong, I apologize ahead of time. For now, I hope you enjoy.

 

 

Hands, like the slow, sensual touch of a candle's glow, sliding down my sides. Her fingers touched me, shaping me, smoothing me like sculptor's clay. My sigh sounded loud and hot in the dim light and the thick, billowing steam, as the lilting dance of Spanish guitar guided her over my body. She danced with me, her slight, slender frame pressing to me, arching with me, inviting me to move with her like mermaids gliding through the water.

I hardly realized it as I murmured her name. Tassy, Tassy, baby, as her gentle palms explored. They roamed upward, sliding over the damp white nylon of my swim halter, and a light, shivering sensation of pleasure blushed along the breasts beneath. The nipples peaked underneath, oh, I'd warned her they were sensitive...I'd warned her.

Talking Shop: Thou Shalt Not Write That

If you've been following my Twitter or Facebook the last few days, you'll know I've been working on a short story involving a transgender character.  Stories like this, involving characters of an underrepresented or historically excluded group, inherently involve a degree of controversy, if you as the author are not a member of that group. 

 

Laverne Cox as Sophia, transgender inmate in Orange is the New Black

 

Some critics claim authors should never write about ethnic, sexual, and gender experiences with which they can't personally identify. It's an understandable opinion: it's easy to misrepresent circumstances and experiences you haven't gone through, and in the case of groups which have been traditionally oppressed, stereotypes and misrepresentations are not only already pervasive in society, but potentially very damaging.

 

But should authors never write about identities or experiences they don't share?

Friday Free Read: Lead Me Not...

This week's Free Read takes place in the world of the Four Courts; the urban fantasy series begun with Goblin Fires. Lead Me Not features one of the lovely Winter Royals: Talaith, Fourth Daughter of Oberon. If you've read Goblin Fires, this short story takes place before the events of that book.

Talaith recognized the perfume the moment she stepped into one of the private alcoves backstage. Jasmine and hibiscus: a scent all at once nostalgic, bittersweet, and arousing. Even in the pounding atmosphere of Frostbite, the New York nightclub owned and operated by the Winter Court—her court, in other words—that subtle scent stole all of Talaith's attention. 

"Kymera," she mused in a tone of playful exasperation. "What a pleasant surprise."

Friday Free Read: The Bathhouse

On January 17th, my debut novel Lotus Petals turns 1! 

And we have just placed in the top ten for Book Cover Art in the 17th Preditors and Editor's Reader's Poll!

In honor of the book's anniversary and our win, this Friday's free read takes you into the halls of the Blood Lotus temple to meet Rhiannon and Aijyn, the leading ladies themselves!

***

Rhiannon closed her eyes, sinking a little deeper into the water, and then ducked her head under for just a second before coming back up. Aijyn tipped a nod toward a small wooden tray left by the rim of the pool, a tray containing soaps and oils for rinsing the hair. Rhiannon gratefully reached out for them.

"I am surprised the first thing you should want after such a long sea voyage would be a bath," Aijyn said.

"After weeks of hiding in a stinking cargo hold, picking off the deckhands, wallowing in the smell of men’s sweat and mildewing food?" Rhiannon growled bitterly, "What else could I want?"

Life Drawing ~ A Friday Free Read

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Follow us on the Goblin Fires Blog Tour! Free Books and a Gift Card Giveaway!

 

All through the month of May, follow Reagan, Ceridwen, Talaith and I as we tour through a wonderful library of book blogs!

 

We're celebrating our new release with a whole month-long tour and an awesome giveaway. You could win free e-books or a $50 gift card! Don't miss out!

 

May 1

Night Owl Reviews - Spotlight with Excerpt

http://www.NightOwlReviews.com

 

May 2

Coffee Books And Art - Spotlight with Excerpt, Guest Post, Character Bio's, Playlist & Book Soundtrack           

http://sarityahalomi.blogspot.com/

 

May 3

Bookaholics Blog - Spotlight with Excerpt, Review, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Top Ten, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

Www.bookaholicsbloggers.blogspot.com

 

May 4

Book Hostage - Spotlight with Excerpt

http://bookhostage.wordpress.com/

 

May 5

Booky Ramblings of a Neurotic Mom - Spotlight with Excerpt & Top Ten http://bookyramblingsofaneuroticmom.blogspot.co.uk/

 

May 6

Indy Book Fairy - Spotlight with Excerpt, Review, Character Bio's & Book Soundtrack http://paranormalbookfairy.blogspot.com/

 

May 7

A Cauldron of Books - Spotlight with Excerpt, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://acauldronofbooks.info

 

May 8

Patricia D. Eddy - Spotlight with Excerpt

http://www.pdeddy.com

 

May 9

Clarissa Wild's Blog - Spotlight with Excerpt, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://clarissawild.blogspot.com

 

May 10

Bound 4 Escape- Review

http://www.bound4escape.com

 

May 11

Daydream Believer Book Blog - Spotlight with Excerpt, Dream Cast, Character Bio's & Playlist  

http://daydreambelieverbooks.blogspot.com

 

May 12

Live Read and Breathe - Spotlight with Excerpt

http://livereadbreathe.blogspot.ca/

 

May 13

Angels with Attitude Book Reviews - Spotlight with Excerpt, Author Interview, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://angelswithattitudebookreviews-joelle.blogspot.com

 

May 14

The Idle Musings of a Writer's Mind - Spotlight with Excerpt, Review, Author Interview, Top Ten

http://theidlemusingsofawritersmind.blogspot.com

 

May 15

The Phantom Paragrapher - Spotlight with Excerpt

www.thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com

 

May 16

Bajgajka Loves Books And Giveaways - Spotlight with Excerpt, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://bajgajka.blogspot.com

 

May 17

The Avid Reader - Spotlight with Excerpt, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://the-avidreader.blogspot.com

 

May 18

Karen Swart - Spotlight with Excerpt, Character Interview, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://authorkarenswart.blogspot.com

 

May 19

Eclipse Reviews - Spotlight with Excerpt, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://totaleclipsereviews.blogspot.com

 

May 20

Becca Anne's Book Reviews - Review, Top Ten, Character Bio's & Book Soundtrack

http://beccaannesbookreviews.blogspot.com

 

May 21

Kim's Book Blog - Spotlight with Excerpt & Review

http://mom5taz.wordpress.com

 

May 22

Darkest Cravings - Spotlight with Excerpt, Author Interview, Dream Cast, Character Bio's, Book Soundtrack & Playlist

http://darkestcravings.blogspot.com

 

May 25

Our New Generation for Reading - Spotlight with Excerpt 

http://jessica13bridgers.blogspot.com/

 

May 28

That Bites-Book Talk Reviews - Spotlight with Excerpt & Character Bio's

http://www.michelle808205.blogspot.com/

Goblin Fires Cover Reveal!

Here it is!  April, my favorite month! I've got my birthday coming up, a trip to one of my favorite cons, and this year I have a new book coming out!

So here we are, my lovelies... at long last... the wonderful art of Victoria Miller, the cover of Goblin Fires!

 

As another special treat, here is the new book trailer!

Our release date is April 25th... stay tuned until then for special excerpts and news on upcoming giveaways!

NaNoWriMo Heats Up

NaNoWriMo Day 12:

Fae Love and Desperation

 

Talaith was surprised to see me at her door. I hadn't called ahead. I'd barely known I was going to be there myself. When she appeared in the doorway, though, one eyebrow cocked, I didn't offer any kind of explanation. I just threw myself at her.

It was a hard, desperate kiss I gave her, wrapping my arms around her luscious frame. I pushed her backwards into the entryway of her apartment and kicked the door shut behind me. She squeaked. She actually squeaked.

"Milady Knight!" she huffed when I let her up for air. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"This?" I growled, and kissed her again. "This isn't pleasure, Majesty. What I'm about to do to you, that will be a pleasure."

Today's NaNo Rumblings

 

Another excerpt from this year's NaNo Novel, Goblin Fires.

Finn and I were an oddity of sorts, at least when it came to being Knights.  There weren't actually that many of us—the Morrigan was a warrior goddess, after all, not a patron saint of hearth or home or fertility—and those of us there were did not often coincide closely in age. Finn and I might have been the only two to share our early childhoods, being siblings raised together for the first five years of his life until I was taken into the Autumn Court. We'd always shared a unique closeness, even after both taking up our roles to our respective houses. Finn was like me: he was of empathic demeanor, affected by and reflecting the nature of his company and, being a servant in the House of Spring, he'd come into a generally pleasant, playful and bright sort of character. Being an elf, he was prone to a strong sense of self-confidence; being Finn, that self-confidence could edge into a cocksure impertinence as often as not. Luckily for him, he was good at backing it up. He was also bloody gorgeous, as I've said, all lithe muscle and agile grace, and to top it off the beautiful, blazing smile of a man of chivalry and devotion. And it was all genuine, unadulterated Finn. A natural Knight, through and through and through.

It was downright disgusting. But only because he did it so very well.

Just My General Musings: Why Do I Write Lesbian Fiction?

Rhiannon and Aijyn
Lotus Petals

I've got several novel-length projects in the works currently.  I realized today that four out of the five of them are lesbian romance. 

I've been criticized in the past for writing from gay or lesbian points of view when I myself am not a man, a gay man, nor a lesbian (just to be clear, though, I am bisexual). I've never felt ashamed of writing from these alternate-to-my-own points of view.  People who (in my opinion) don't know what they're talking about seem to believe authors should "write what they know".  I was recently privileged to hear an urban fantasy author whom I admire respond to such advice with a very strong opinion of his own.  He said, "That is bullshit."

Even though I've never felt ashamed of writing lesbian fiction (or gay, or poly, or Master/slave for that matter), I can't help but wonder at the realism or authenticity of what I write. Noticing today that four fifths of my current novel-length interests feature lady lovers, I started wondering to myself... why do I write lesbian fiction?


I suppose the real answer is, I don't.  To be honest, I don't mentally label my work as 'lesbian' fiction as opposed to 'straight' fiction.  Sometimes friends comment that I have a large collection of lesbian characters, and that's true.  I also have many characters who are straight, bisexual, kinky, virginal, or several combinations of the above.

Angel never thought she'd fall so deeply in love with another woman, until devilish Tali swept her off her feet.

When a character comes to me, that character comes with their own personality and interests, which I really only discover as I write along. I've had characters develop in my mind and fully intended  them to be paired up with an opposite-sex romantic interest, only to have them veer directly towards a same-sex supporting character instead.  I've had gay ladies swoop in and steal the hearts of characters who had, for years and years of story-writing, been staunchly straight.  I've had ladies who never felt even the slightest attraction to men, and ladies who never felt at all drawn  to women.  I've had male characters who never showed the slightest sexual interest in a woman, yet be driven nearly to tears over a beautiful young man. 

I've even had one leading lady begin her story courting only other ladies, but then one day found her heart pulling her towards a man.  I've never appreciated the concept of 'turning' a lesbian... the idea that somehow the right manly macho man could change a gay woman's mind or somehow 'show her the light'.  I find the idea patently offensive, as a matter of fact.  As though one's sexuality is driven only by who gives her the wildest time in bed.  So I was actually a little frustrated at first to find a character I understood to be wholly and happily gay suddenly falling for a man.  At first blush I cringed to think I had let my fiction take a turn for such a cliche and frustrating trope.  I tried to write it away, even, but I couldn't... as I wrote her stories, my leading lady was, after a lifetime of loving only women, strangely drawn to a man. 

Calico Sue originally found a male companion, in my mind, but when Idris of the Desert came along Sue had other ideas.

One of my readers once asked why I didn't just call this character bisexual and avoid any controversy.  The truth is, because she wasn't bisexual.  She was gay... and one day, she discovered a person she fell in love with, as much as she had ever loved others, and the fact that he had a penis was pretty much incidental.

I don't really write 'lesbian' fiction. I write the characters as they feel genuine to me: gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, poly, kinky or vanilla.  If I try to write them any other way, it just doesn't work.  So I write love stories... I write characters who seek happiness, in themselves, in their relationships, in their one-night stands.  And I love to write that.  And at the moment, I am loving writing the stories of my tomboy lady Knight Reagan and her beautiful princess Ceridwen; I love writing voluptuous Captain Devon of the airship Chimera and her fugitive aristocratic love Samantha; and as always, I love returning to the world of Rhiannon, my vampire, and the ladies who have shaped her over three centuries of unlife.  

Sadira has always been meant for Bannon.  There has never been another who can master her as he does.

But on other days, I love writing Sadira, rapturous and passionate slave to the barbarian Bannon, and all the ways his dominance and control makes her feel so vibrantly alive.  I love writing Raschael, my scheming succubus, to whom gender means nothing when it comes to selecting a victim or mate.  I love writing Feste, a pensive and clever vampire 'fool', who stalks lovely men into graveyards to kiss them and kill them with his deadly brand of romance.  And I'm still looking forward to the day I can write out the story of Finn of the Morrigan, the Elvyn half-breed, who loves both his Ladies with equal passion and fervor, in the 'perfect' love triangle.

So, I suppose I just write what I like.  The characters shape themselves up as they will and I follow them in the directions they lead.  I love my gay ladies and their lady-loving ways, as much as I love my straight ladies and my ladies of other persuasion. I'm happy to write all their stories, and see all the different facets of romance and erotic love that there are to be offered in the telling.