Out now: NAUGHTY STORIES VOL 4

NAUGHTY STORIES FROM A TO Z volume 4 is now shipping from Amazon. This popular series is edited by Alison Tyler, and volume 4 includes my short story "Trying it for Size," a naughty story about the erotic potential of furniture, and just how much you can get away with in a public place. Hehehe.

Oops, forgot to blog

Whoops. I think I'm having too much fun plotting the two shorts I'm currently working on. They're going to be fun, and hothotHOT! Grin. They’ve got to be done and gone by the weekend, it'll be busy but not impossible.

It’s not all work, I’m glad to report. I've been breaking the constant work routine a goodly bit, this last ten days or so. Couple of weeks back, I got thoroughly disgusted with myself when I realised how badly I was sticking to my planned routine of not working weekends. I've been like a hamster on a wheel, mostly because I was playing catch up on the time when I'd been ill. Well, I may not have achieved perfection, but we’ve had a whole day off both the last weekends, and I've been partying a whole lot more, which I have to say the real me DEMANDS. Also caught up with my dear friend of 15 years (not a writer) Kate, for a lazy chinwag last week, much enjoyed.

The Man of the House and I hit the city this last weekend, pleased to report we had a lot of fun. Grin. We also raided the Oriental supermarket this week. It was partly brought on by the fact our favourite noodle bar is shut for a make over. Mark had a secret mission in mind…and last night he created home made sushi for the first time. It was really good. Much better than the M&S stuff I've been buying in. Oh my, I was in heaven! The only problem for him is that he'll be getting requests for more, all the time :-D

Fantasy novel blurbs

Here are the blurbs for the two fantasy novels that I have coming out with Juno books early next year.

THE STRANGELING
"The strength of her love weighs the balance of life or death for her world."

Two armies fight for the mystical forest called The Strangeling and both meet their doom. From their death a curse is born. One hundred years hence the slain will rise from the underworld, an invincible army of dead men who will prey upon the living souls of Edren and beyond

One woman alone holds the power to undo the curse: Maerose, the beautiful, resilient maiden destined to undertake the immense deed. In order to drive back the evil spirits who had met their end at The Strangeling, Maerose must mate with a man of faith on the dark night of Samhain at the very gates of the underworld. Her dormant magic can only be unleashed by willing submission to her predestined lover...but a mad man aligned with the demonic forces of the underworld threatens to possess her in his place.


UNVEILING THE SORCERESS
"In an ancient place and time long since forgotten, mystical and awesome powers are within the reach of every soul -- if one has the ability to tap the source."

Elishiba, the daughter of the leader of Aleem, seeks to secure the land of her beloved people through a quest that harnesses her powerful inner strengths for the good of all.

Betrothed to the ineffectual son of the evil Empress of Karseedia, her planned marriage is to be a symbolic pact sealed between Aleem and neighboring Karseedia. But nothing is as it seems. Elishiba find herself enmeshed in a growing web of political intrigue as magic and romance weave their own vibrant and inexorable threads. Elishiba's love for a man considered an enemy may enable her to recognize her own inner powers...or contribute to the jeopardy she faces. Secret love and forbidden liaisons combine with the deadly implications of the enemy's plans in this sensual story of danger, passion, and intrigue with the exotic allure of '1001 Arabian Nights'

Juno have a brilliant cover artist -- check out the cover art here. Can't wait to see what the artist makes of mine. Exciting! I hope to get web pages up and running for these two soon. STRANGELING is tentatively scheduled for January, UNVEILING for April. It's going to be a busy few months, with lots of releases. KINK, the duet anthology Sasha White and I did for Berkley, is due out between these two, in February.

GLBTQ publishing

If you write/read GLBTQ, check out Anna Genoese's post HERE about publishing and audience. Fascinating stuff.

The business of writing

The business of writing takes up so much time! I’m not talking about the writing itself, but the other stuff. Admin stuff. When I was a wannabe full time writer (in my spare time,) I just wrote and subbed... oh, and yeah, dealt with rejection. ;) When the tide turned and I got to grips with the necessary skill set, (the stories were always there for me, but I was missing important writing skills,) I started to sell more. We made the decision to go for it and I became a full time writer. I’ve noticed recently how much other stuff there is to do, outside of the actual writing. I’m not complaining, it’s all good stuff. Exciting, too, but it amazed me. I had this vision of writing, all day. Uhu. Ha! That’s the dream. As writers who are being published we need to deal with all sorts of paraphernalia, from revisions to contracts to fed ex to promo to hunting down reviewers and publicity. And much more. Phew...

All good. I used to dream of getting up to an email from an editor, one day. Now, it's an almost daily event. The dream came true. Imagine that...some cynics told me I'd never make it happen. So (insert rude sign) to them, ay LOL Take heart in that, aspiring writers out there, and keep your dream alive.

Back to the point. For me, (and others who work like me,) the admin is magnified by the fact I work for so many different editors and publishers. But I like that, it gives me the variety of outlets I need to stay fresh. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier, right now I’m writing fantasy and contemporary, both with romantic and erotic elements. As I switch from one to the other I’m refreshed by the different genres. The shorts too, refill my creative well by giving me a different kind of boost. There's a great sense of achievement in writing a short story that works, and that motivates me for the longer stuff. It all generates bits of paper and email though – busy stuff! All good, but busy. Now that I have a clearer idea of what I’ll be working on for the second half of this year, I’m trying to block off days where I do nothing but write, and live that dream too. Naughty, greedy me.

Hope you’re all having a good weekend. It’s pleasant and sunny again here in Yorkshire, and we’re off out shortly to PARTY and celebrate the latest contract. Got to mark that magic event. Woohoo!!

New fantasy novel sale!

Great news, Juno books have commissioned a second novel from me! I’m very pleased to announce that UNVEILING THE SORCERESS, an exotic fantasy romance, will be published by Juno in April 2007. UNVEILING is very special to me, a book I was working on a couple of years ago that has been calling to me to finish it, ever since. To work on a second project with Paula Guran is a real treat, too. I’m learning heaps, and the lady is a lot of fun! For a taster of UNVEILING click HERE. Click HERE for Juno guidelines.

Juno publishes fantasy featuring strong female characters in richly-imagined contexts with romantic or erotic elements. Otherworldly romance, an adventurous quest, dark secrets, light humor, deep desires, high imagination, mystery, metaphysics, magic, myth...swept into the past, set in the future, or happening right now. Stories that go beyond the ordinary and take the reader with them.

In other news, our week in the X files has finally come to an end. Electricity and phone services stabilised, and today we had our cable box replaced. What a relief. It was driving me mad having an intermittent service, although the evening by candlelight was memorable, and not just for the football commentary.

Summer solstice..?

The longest day, and here in our bit of England it's cold and dark before nine pm, courtesy of stormy skies. LOL

Strange goings on, here at home on shady lane

It’s turning into a strange old week here at home on shady lane. We’re still suffering with intermittent Internet access, which is somewhat annoying. I worry about mail going missing, and being out of touch. You’d think I’d be getting lots done, but no, I seem to spend more time trying to maintain my connection. The cable guys can’t make it out to us with a new box until Thursday, so until then its tweaking/cajoling/kicking the box into life every so often. On top of that, both phone and electricity have gone down! We were without phone lines for two days, an uncanny coincidence. That service came back on yesterday, and this evening, we were victims of a power cut. Uncanny.

The amusing thing was the electricity went off whilst England was playing in the latest round of the world cup battle. Ha! What a disaster. I was working at the time and off went the power, followed by alarms going off everywhere in the street. Followed closely by shouting… and then doors opening/slamming… the sound of men, running into the streets...to their cars... to switch on the car radios… to continue following the football commentary. LOL Too funny. The best part was the Dunkirk spirit, as these guys turned up the radios so everyone in the street could hear, (whether we wanted to or not,) and when the cheer went up for a goal, a bunch of them beeped their horns loudly and then stood outside of their cars and shouted out the name of the player who had scored. At the top of their voices. What top blokes, thinking of us all! I was very amused... and the Man of the House was extemely grateful. ;-)

Cover for DOUBLE DARE

One happy author here!

Synopsis
This is the daring debut of a cutting-edge voice in contemporary erotic fiction. Her short stories have seduced readers in more than 30 international anthologies. This, her first novel, is twice as hot.

She is Abby Douglas, an investment advisor who has enticed many men. No commitments, no regrets, no games. Then she meets a dangerously sexy stranger in the elevator of her office building - and suddenly she's submitting to the kind of raw fantasies no respectable businesswoman should ever consider. He is club owner Zac Bordino, stunned to find such a receptive partner between floors. But Abby's also the brains behind his company's investments, and she doesn't even know it. Now Zac isn't sure what to tell Abby first - his growing feelings for her, or their secret connection. Either way, from London to Paris, it's business and pleasure for the both of them.

Wot, no internet?

Have been without mail or internet for a whole day, yikes. Scary business!! ;o) Our cable box has died and the service people aren't even answering phones until Monday. Anyway, broadband leapt into life but I'm still without my beloved horror, sci-fi, and comedy channels. Broadband may disappear at any moment again soon, it appears to be sporadic. Meanwhile, the good news is that the cover for DOUBLE DARE is ready to be seen, so as long as I can stay online I'll post it shortly! I love it, let me know what you think!

Contracts, like buses...

Nothing for ages and then three acceptances come along at once! Yesterday, I received confirmation I've got a short in THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOK OF EROTICA. Today I got confirmation I've got a story in CAUGHT LOOKING. Then the post arrived with the contract, cover flats and proofs for my story in SEX AND SHOPPING.

These are the truly great moments for a writer, when all is rewarded, the daily ups and downs, the years of rejections and learning. It's a totally wonderful feeling. For the unpublished authors out there -- keep at it, it's worth the hard work!! I do wish these golden moments would come more spread out though. :-) Now, if only I could calm down, I could get on with the work in progress. I have to keep telling myself "party tonight, not now" LOL

Gardening, not my forte

Me, gardening. Snigger. I posted here about harbouring shrubs indoors when the advent of British summer was more like November in Siberia. We did eventually get them out, but lest you think I do this sort of thing a lot, NO! That was me making an effort, and this blog post may indicate why I should be kept well clear of gardening in the future...

When we bought the shrubs, we diligently noted which were supposed to grow taller, and the medium, small sizes too. We drew a diagram for our planting, making sure the tall ones were nearest the fence and so on. At first I didn't worry too much, just thought the ones we'd planted at the front were coming on faster. Can you see where this is headed? Ha! I think I might have messed up at some point, like maybe I held the diagram upside down? :o) Today I noticed all the plants are flourishing now, but the sizes graduate the wrong way. I’m laughing. Our neighbour will, no doubt, think we did it as some sort of joke. Whatever. Grin!

Still haven’t wound up my partial. I have another five or so pages to write. But I did get some great motivation to push me to the end!

This afternoon I heard that my short story, "Party Girl on the Loose," will appear in this upcoming Cleis press anthology, edited by the lovely Alison Tyler.
Woohoo!!!!!

For motivational purposes!

Rain, glorious rain

It has been blistering hot here in Yorkshire for over a week, and finally its broken. I’m so relieved. We’re not built for it, so working with a hot computer under a fan had to be done in stints. I’m pressing ahead with my partial for RECKLESS though, and should have it wound up tomorrow. This one is aimed at Berkley and I confess it’s never wracking sending it in. Whilst they have taken two projects from me, I’m not yet proved in sales, because the first book hasn’t come out. Each time actually feels harder than when I was just subbing everyone as a nobody hoping for a hit! Before I was signed, I read other writers saying similar things about the time after the first big sale, and found it hard to believe. Well, add me to the list. It doesn’t get easier on the other side of the fence. Okay, enough whining, on with the work. ;-) More blogging later. Have a great day!

Out now: AGAINST THE GRAIN

AGAINST THE GRAIN, my futuristic novella, is now available! I'm pleased to announce that the Erotic Authors Association have published this title as part of their Signature Series.
This means it's available as a download for a very reasonable cover price ($3/£1.67/Euro2.44) part of which will go to the EAA to help keep membership free for everyone, and to reinstate the annual awards. You can also buy a print version.

Here's the blurb:

Sci-fi erotica. Noted erotic romance writer, Saskia Walker, once again tackles the fantastic with this blistering science fiction tale set in a future time when heterosexuality is against The System--unless mating is required. Two sets of lovers re-discover the thrills of heterosexual sex and find this cultural taboo is very much to their liking. Intensely erotic sex scenes fill this highly romantic novella. Explicit F/F and M/F erotica.

To buy or have a look at the first few pages, go here for a gander. And go HERE to check out all the other great erotic titles already in the line up.

V for Vendetta versus Mission Impossible 3 (contains spoilers AND rants)

We're lucky to live 4 miles from an IMAX cinema, and when we saw V for Vendetta was going to be an IMAX feature we were well pleased. This film was on our "must see" list. Apart from anything, the Man of the House is a huge Alan Moore fan (he has a treasured drawing of Evey, that Moore did on-the-spot for him when they met ;) As a die-hard fan, he was prepared for the rewrite for big screen, and actually thought they’d managed it quite well for the blockbuster effect, (unlike some PITAs who were whining about it afterwards.) IMAX had the advantage of great images of the cityscapes and wide pan action, and rather scary disadvantages of huge close ups, I mean, stuff like John Hurt’s teeth, 20 feet tall. Yikes.

Loved the film, can’t wait to get it on DVD and see it again. The best part for me was Hugo Weaving’s acting. Compelling or what? He was my favourite part of the Matrix, and he excelled in V for Vendetta. So much compelling acting, without facial expression. Magic. Hugo, I’m a big fan. Ms Portman's performance was also good, although my fave film of hers still remains Garden State. V for V was a great story about the underdog bringing down a totally unjust future society. It was gripping, and had enough conflict, intellect and romance for this viewer to be kept hooked. The only thing that would have made it better for me was if we had seen more of V’s actual machinations. He obviously used PCs, but we never saw them, and he made bombs, but we never saw them until they were done. Other than that, the film was a magical combination of British quirk and blockbuster appeal, all in all, a great view. Verdict -- bring on the DVD!

MI3, on the other hand… well, if you’re after a glowing review, go elsewhere. The critics loved it. Author pal Jordan rated it better than I am about to, so maybe go there if you don’t want to see me trash it. ;-) For me the magic MI mix is glamorous action and adventure with a convoluted plot to be resolved. This is what the TV series was about, and this is what the first two films achieved too. MI2 is a real favourite of mine. Not this one, though. For a start, I really missed John Woo’s stylish directing, which suited MI so well. There was a serious lack of marital arts, too. Boohiss!

I went to the film with an open mind, although I did wonder how they’d ever top that opening of MI2, the rock climbing/helicopter/shades -- awesome, glamorous, sexy, and… well, they tried to top it by going to the other end of the scale, with ultra grit, pain, death seconds away, totally cringing-in-your-seat stuff. It kind of went from there. Grim. In fact we both noticed that there was a serious lack of the theme music throughout, probably because it would have been too up-tempo for what was going on...!

They gave us the penultimate cliff-hanger in the opening scene, then flashed back (not a good tactic in a film like this, if you ask me) The writing on MI films is usually OTT --with over use of pull-off face masks, and agents who never need to look around and think “which way from here?” when in a new locale -- but it was part of the appeal; this time it fed into a different type of image, darker, less of a ride more of a haul through the dirt. Here’s an example -- the women in previous films have been strong characters, even if they are bad girls. In this film they were largely victims, imprisoned, beaten, tied up and killed, with the exception of one sidekick and Hunt’s wife in the final scene, where she flips over.

The writing was lazy, with gaping plot holes. The most amusing was an anonymous macguffin, (the thing that everyone's after.) In MI2, the macguffin was Chimera, a virus that would kill thousands and make the bad guys millions in sales of the antidote, Balleraphon. In this, the macguffin was never actually identified. Known as “the rabbits foot,” they didn’t even show the action sequence where Hunt liberated it, in case we might notice we didn’t know what it actually was -- well, we noticed. Maybe it didn't bother some viewers, but I need to know what it is, to be convinced and get emotionally involved. Believe me, not one of my editors would let me get away with it! Short cuts like that abounded. The main plot here is that Hunt got married, so puts a member of the public in danger (his wife.) It was clumsily done IMO. Work-pals advise he should never get married. Hunt tells them he already has. Work pals look doom laden. Then they catch the bad guy. What’s the first thing the bad guy says when he realises they’ve got him? Logic would say “I’m gong to kick the s*** out of you” right? But no, its “If you’ve got a wife I’m going kick the s*** out of her” I’ve paraphrased, but you get the point. Couldn’t they have built up to it a bit more, to make it a teensy bit more credible? You wouldn’t get away with contrived and shallow plotting like this in fiction! Although I did like it when Hunt flipped and dangled him out of the cargo chute. :-)

I am not even going to mention Jonathan Rhys Meyers attempted Irish accent. LOL In case you haven’t figured it, I groaned a lot. I did however think thatPhillip Seymour Hoffmanwho played the bad guy, and Keri Russell who played agent Lindsey Farris gave terrific performances. Finally -- big spoiler coming -- Tom Cruise dies for a minute there. Imagine my amusement when a girl in the cinema was blubbing her heart out, very loudly. The sound of her woe was almost (but not quite) drowned out by the ensuing laughter from the rest of the audience. Verdict – bring back John Woo.

Neil Gaiman, sushi, & my heroine's journey

Things are almost back to normal here, so I’ll be blogging properly again soon. I’m working on my partial for RECKLESS, and enjoying it immensely. I'll give a taster from the first chapter here soon.

Whilst working on this partial I keep thinking back to something I read on Neil Gaiman's blog a couple of weeks back. Neil was on a book tour in Australia and went to a sushi restaurant alone one evening, in Sydney. After looking at the menu, he told the chef to cook him whatever he wanted to. This isn't something I’ve ever done or heard of anyone else doing, but it instantly appealed to me! The mystery, the voyage of culinary discovery for the customer, and knowing the chef is going to give you the best he has got, prepared in the way he enjoys most. It kind of encapsulated the spirit of my current proposal too, and my heroine's adventure, so my mind keeps returning to it as I write. Neil reported his mystery meal turned out well, concluding: “He seemed to have fun, and I definitely did.” With that in mind, I’m going to continue to let it influence me...

Busy week ahead

We have visitors this week, so, between that and my RECKLESS proposal being overdue, blogging might be thin on the ground -- although I do have a half written review of V for Vendetta and MI3, so I might get them up at some point. If I owe you mail, I'll get to it asap. Have a great week!

Romance Wiki

Interesting new venture, a romance wikipedia. It looks as if it might be a useful resource, and includes both erotica and erotic romance.

Another first for me

I seem to have experienced a lot of firsts recently. I’ve been introduced to the world of FedEx for the first time, I’ve had short stories in award winning books, my first novel go to print, and so on and so on. Never a dull moment, and I just had another. When SLAVE TO LOVE went to publication, Alison Tyler, the editor, told me that the publisher was using part of my story on the back cover blurb of the anthology. I was amazed and thrilled. I spent the intervening time trying to guess which bit (great fun!) and suffered a mixture of awe and – at times – embarrassment. LOL So I’ve finally got to see it, and it amazed me all over again. I’m a writer. People like my stuff. Editors and publishers really do believe in me. My dream came true. Wonder when I'll wake up? :-)


In other news, it’s sunny in England! Always cause to celebrate. I completed my read through of the DOUBLE DARE galleys today. I’ve got to say, it's exhausting scrutinising pages that way. I wonder if it’s just me, or if other authors find that? I was impressed though, it was beautifully laid out and I only found a couple of teensy problems, a missing letter and a missing word. I’m going to blog about the whole NY editing experience soon, and how it differs to everything I’ve experienced before, because its been a fascinating experience. Right now though, I’m off to make fajitas and crack open a bottle of beer. Hope you’re having a good weekend!

Release date for WHAT YOU WISH FOR

I've heard from my Red Sage editor that my novella, WHAT YOU WISH FOR, should appear in SECRETS Volume 19, due out in July 2007. Woohoo! Red Sage have some super stories lined up, several new authors have been signed over the last six months or so, lots of hot erotic romance authors! Volume 16 is out next month, with stories from Chevon Gael, Sheri Gilmore, Cynthia Eden and Charlotte Featherstone. The anthology has just been given 4.5 stars from Romantic Times. Looking forward to it very much.

The writing life

So I’m fully engaged, strapped in and launching into my new proposal for a 90K novel called RECKLESS –- and yes, it is rather like being launched into a new world, at least it is for this writer –- when FedEx arrives on the doorstep with galleys for DOUBLE DARE for me to check. This is what it's like, because being a writer is a cyclical process. Once things are sent out, you start a long chain of them coming back to you in some form or other, to be looked at all over again. But this is good stuff, it’s very exciting having it arrive this way. A multi tasking brain is in order, to keep the current work simmering at the back of my mind, while I do the task of scrutinising the almost-ready-to-go DOUBLE DARE.

What's really exciting for me, though, is it finally seems real. I was signed by Berkley for the new Heat line back in November, and yet I’ve honestly never really felt it was real, until now. The galleys are laid out in the actual pages and fonts etc of the book; this is the version that goes to reviewers etc. It has the copyright all over it, my name and Penguin Putnam publishing – the largest publisher in New York. OHMIGOD! It is really going to happen! :-))

I confess I’ve spent the last 7 months or so thinking it's one long dream, or an error, and one day I’m going to wake up to an email saying “sorry, wrong author, we meant to send that contract to someone else” or something. Other authors seem to take stuff like this in their stride, promoting themselves widely when they get signed. I'm still far too busy being awestruck by it all. LOL