It's Time for Lessons, My Lovelies! Guest Blog by Raven McAllen

 Get your naughty schoolgirl outfits; I know I've got mine!  Time for a peek at an upcoming release from Raven McAllen. Welcome the wonderful lady herself to Foreplay and Fangs!

 

 

Miss Simpkins' School. Where seduction's the game, and success is the aim. Let your classes commence.

Are you all ready? Do you have your paper and quills? Ink, and sand to blot your script with?

No don't all look at me like that, this is Regency times, and therefore you have to think a bit differently.

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.

Goblin Fires: Chapter One (WIP)

Want a taste of what I'm writing for this year's National Novel Writing Month?  Here is the opening scene of Goblin Fires, an erotic romance full of faeries, elves and goblins:

 ***

The warm aroma of blended spices—nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and just a hint of black pepper—curled up in tendrils of steam from the simple blue mug on the table before me.  I closed my palms around it, relishing the effusive heat like a nice hot bath, and inhaled the scent of Talaith's favorite chai tea with a soft sound of approval.

"Careful, sweetie," Tala purred in my ear.  She had a very eloquent, very refined accent, and she leaned over my shoulder to sprinkle a pinch of cocoa powder into my cup.  "Don't want to burn your tongue now, do you?  I think I should be very disappointed…"

 

"Flirt," I accused her with a smile.  I lifted the cup to my lips and blew gently over the tea, then shut my eyes and took a long, leisurely drink.  I never mind Tala's habit of teasing.  It's a welcome, cozy bit of humor, pleasing even in its childishness.  She always makes me tea after one of our delicious liaisons.  Our familiar ritual, her means of keeping me a little while longer in a gesture of intimate yet innocent domesticity.  She was ever the gracious host.

Coming Soon: Progeny, Book 3 of the Endure Series

PROGENY (The Endure series, book 3)

Author: S. A. Huchton

Genre: New Adult Science Fiction Romance

Release Date: December 2nd, 2013

Heartbroken over Lydia's unexplained departure, Daniel Brewer is barely functional. When she left the Endure, she took everything important with her: his purpose, his heart, his reason for breathing. Daniel's convinced Nick Miller has the answers to his questions, but Dr. Gorgeous isn't talking.

A world away, Dr. Lydia Ashley struggles with her choices and mistakes. With one small discovery, everything she thought was true is shattered in an instant.

The buried secrets of the Maven Initiative surface. 

No one is safe.

And Daniel and Lydia must both decide exactly how far they'll go for love.

Coming Soon: Ribbon of Darkness, by Decadent Kane

An old family secret draws Ribbon into an Elven world while Draven is forced to find a way to drag her back home to save Christmas magic.