Sapphic Signs: Kenna's Virgo by Jolene Hui

I've barely been at my computer this week, so Donuts & Desires has been sorely neglected. Poor Donuts! Poor Desires! But we're back with this week's Sapphic Signs post:

Kenna's Virgo

by Jolene Hui

Shortly after Maggie graduates from college, she meets Kenna, a beautiful redhead. Mere moments after their meeting, Maggie reads her Virgo horoscope that encourages her to try new experiences and to “open your heart.” She reflects back on her life and decides she’ll take the horoscope to heart and attempt to come out of her shell. After outing herself to her mother, Maggie moves in with Kenna as her roommate. Even though Kenna is in a relationship and Maggie starts to date another woman, Maggie still has feelings for Kenna that just won’t go away.

Sample

I set down my spoon and stared straight ahead to keep the wave of nausea from sweeping down into my stomach. Emma didn’t wait. She grabbed my elbow and led me to the bathroom where I lost everything I’d eaten. The wine burned in my throat. I relaxed on the rug and stared at the ceiling. When I finished emptying the contents of my stomach I sheepishly walked out into the dining room area.

They had set up a pillow and blankets on the couch in the living room. Kenna led me there. Emma was still cleaning up.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, “I don’t ever drink much, and I think the ice cream didn’t mix well in my gut.”

"Just relax on the couch and don’t worry about it,” she said.

I snuggled into the couch nest they’d made for me and closed my eyes. I could easily fall asleep there, but I kept myself awake. Emma and Kenna joined me, and we talked about everything that came to mind. I talked about how I missed going to the waterpark in the summer. Emma confessed she felt attracted to David Beckham. Kenna said she missed all her pets that had passed away throughout her lifetime. My stomach began to settle as we chatted like old friends.

Kenna’s teeth were perfectly straight. Her body was slim – her clothes hitting her in just the right spots, just like the servers I always adored. Under her apron was a flowing pink blouse and Capri jeans. She must have forgotten to take her apron off after she finished cooking. She wore a bronze bangle on her wrist with a necklace that matched. I kept my eyes on Kenna while our conversation went from here to there. Somehow in the depths of the evening our conversation had turned to sexual experiences.

“My first time was with an older woman,” Kenna told us. She put her mouth around her ginger ale straw and sucked firmly but seductively. I sipped silently while she relayed the story.

“She was about thirty five. I was sixteen. I was a nanny that summer. She was the mother of one of the kids’ friends. She stayed to help me watch the kids during a sleepover. After the kids went to sleep we had our own sleepover. A movie was on but I wasn’t watching it. I could feel her breathing on my neck. She smelled like fresh lilacs, and her skin looked so soft.”

“This sounds like a made for TV movie,” I interjected.

Emma laughed with me. Kenna rolled her eyes and continued her story. “It’s all true! She was married to a wealthy man who traveled a lot. She wanted some hot, young, action!”

“That’s a movie I’d tune into!” It didn’t take me long to feel comfortable around the two women.

“How about you, baby girl?” Emma moved the spotlight to me.

I blushed and sipped my ginger ale.

“You’re still a virgin!” shouted Emma. Kenna smiled and sucked on her straw.

Kenna's Virgo is Available from Torquere Press!

Quick Six PRO with Jena Galifany (Part 1)

Here's another interview where I'm going to tell you NOT to count... because if you do, you'll find there are more than 6 questions and answers here. Actually, forget I said anything. There are 6. All is well. Tune in for more next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Quick Six PRO

Interview with Jena Galifany

Q: What's hot on the market these days?

It seems to be vampires and paranormal, but I've not really ventured there much. In Her Perfect Man, the main character can see things before they happen. I have a vampire idea but it is still in the development stage.

Q: What's the most time-consuming part of a writer's life?

The marketing of the book once it's been released. An author needs to keep their name in the public arena as much as possible. That's why little interviews like this one are so wonderful and appreciated.

Q: On the topic of ebook piracy, hunter or head in the sand?

My first book, Three Times a Hero, was pirated by a rude little man in the Philippines that told me when confronted that I was a rich American and could afford for him to make money on my book. As if! I responded by closing down his site and his Paypal account along with his partner's site as well. I'm always on the look out for pirates, not only of my work, but of the work of my fellow authors.

Q: What should a writer's priority be?

To entertain the reader by stirring some emotion, be it anger, love, joy, hope, what ever. If the reader felt nothing, the writer did not do their job.

Q: How do you handle a bad review?

A review is one person's opinion. If it is a bad one, I try to see what they saw and learn from it. I don't fuss about it. I use it to my advantage to become a better writer.

Q: Have you ever encountered any unprofessional behaviors from editors, publishers or other writers, that they might not even realize are damaging?

I've worked with so many wonderful people in the writing industry and have been blessed with only professional behavior. I did see the one writer that threw such a fit about a less than wonderful review that she effectively destroyed her own career as a writer. That was sad to see.

Q: What advice do you give aspiring authors?

You never know it all. Keep working at your craft and learn from those who have gone before you. Never stop writing. If one project doesn't work out as you'd like, begin the next one. Learn from rejections and keep at it.

The ShadowsForge series can be found at Whiskey Creek Press.com:

http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=58

Call for Submissions: Senior Erotica Anthology

Here's one for the 50+ crowd. Pay close attention to what the editor is really looking for: erotic fiction that celebrates the sexuality of older individuals. Can't wait to read this one. Wish I could write something for it, but I'm all young and stuff. heh

Senior Erotica Anthology: Call for Submissions

Joan Price is seeking erotic stories and memoir essays of high literary quality from writers over age 50, featuring steamy characters also over age 50, for a senior erotica anthology to be published Spring 2013 by Seal Press.

Will this be your typical erotica anthology with a few wrinkles?

No, the truth is that we seniors don’t respond to the sopping-wet panties and rock-hard erections that are the hallmark of traditional, youth-oriented erotica. Instead, we want erotica that we can relate to, that encompasses the changes and adaptations of age, that acknowledges how we like to be stimulated. Age is accepted, celebrated, and sensually enjoyed.

Characters may be having spicy sex with partners they love and have loved for decades; or with new loves or casual encounters; or solo with hands, vibrators, memories, and fantasies. Although I admit my bias towards erotica that is tender and loving, I’m also looking for edgy and kinky stories for a balanced collection.

Seal Press and I will choose submissions of high literary quality, not just good, explicit sex scenes. Arouse us with a sexy, well-crafted plot we haven’t read before, characters who entice us and feel real to us, language that describes sex in a new way. I welcome diversity of all kinds, including race, ethnic background, gender identification, sexual orientation, disability, and every other kind of diversity.

Word length: 1,500-3,000 words, previously unpublished preferred.

Payment: $100 on acceptance and 2 copies of the book on publication.

Submission deadline: February 1, 2012 (earlier submissions preferred). Please submit Word document, double-spaced, Times or Times New Roman font. Authors may submit up to 2 contributions.

Before you submit (right now would be good!), please email me at SeniorErotica@gmail.com with the header “senior erotica submission” and include your 75-100-word author bio written in the third person and complete contact information: legal name, pseudonym if applicable, mailing address, email address, and phone. Please include your age, also (which won’t be public unless you want it to be). I’ll put you in my database of potential contributors and update you as the project progresses.

Please feel free to copy and forward.

Thank you!

Joan Price

9/22/11 update: I'm receiving submissions already -- thank you! I'd prefer the sex scenes to take place at the characters' current age (over 50, 60, 70...). A story or two with flashbacks to younger years is fine, but I'm getting too many youthful flashbacks and too few current-age erotic scenes. What makes a story sexy and arousing at our age? That's your challenge!

10/4/11: Please read this new post updating what I'm seeking -- even if you already submitted your story.

11/1/11: I know it's tempting to write about older characters having sex with impossibly attractive, young partners, and yes, it's ok if you've written a truly fabulous story in that vein -- but I'd love to see more stories about older characters who are wildly attracted to each other and have amazing sex together. Let's show our youth-oriented culture (and ourselves!) that we're sexy at this age, too.

Sapphic Signs: Skylar's Pride

Sorry I missed putting up a Sapphic Signs post last week. I lost track of the days (a writer's prerogative), and then suddenly it was Friday and I realized I'd forgotten it was release day for A Tale of Fur and Flesh so my focus got shifted. Yeah, one of those weeks. Anyway, Sapphic Signs are back with:

Skylar's Pride by Lara Zielinsky

Skylar's got a problem. Make that several. She's kept her shapeshifter nature a secret from her current lover, Lila. Now that it's midsummer, Skylar faces enforced return to her father's pride lands. But Max, Lila's son, has gone missing from the campsite where his father was murdered -- savaged by an animal. Will Skylar find Max and solve the mystery of the Cherry Creek Park wolves before her father forces her return or her secret is revealed?

Sample

The sound of snapping branches broke the silence of the woods to her right. Immediately her shoulders tensed, and she searched through the darkness for the source.

Seeing nothing, she nevertheless kept sweeping the woods with her gaze as she continued to run. Today she planned to run for the full hour, turning back only when she reached the reservoir wall within Cherry Creek Park.

A breeze blew from behind her, and she spun, having caught the scent of more than leaf decay in its bouquet. "Mar, show yourself, you runty sonofabitch."

Now Available from Torquere Press!

I Dream of Ronald McDonald

It's scary, the way advertising infiltrates the unconscious.

I dreamed I was at Starbucks, trying to order a coffee. Just a coffee. The barista kept trying to upsell me: "Get a vanilla latte, get a macchiato." Even in my dream, all I could think of were the dollar signs.

As those dollar signs danced through my head, I remember thinking, "Wait a minute... aren't specialty coffees on sale for $1 at Tim Hortons?" (I swear I saw a commercial about this--and on a Canadian network, too. Didn't I?)

But whatevs. I was at Starbucks and I needed a coffee, so I ordered a coffee. Done.

Well, not totally. Because I headed out onto Yonge Street and what did I see? The nearest intersection was blocked by a gigantic trampoline, and Ronald McDonald was jumping up and down on it, soaring into the sky. It was sadly glorious.

As I turned for the subway entrance, I dropped something I was carrying (can't remember what--maybe a book?) and it slipped beside and under the big trampoline. Luckily, Ronald McDonald was willing to fetch it for me. That's when it hit me: "Awww crap! I just paid for this coffee at Starbucks when McDonalds is giving coffee away for free all week."

Yeah.

And this wasn't even an on-the-couch-in-front-of-the-TV dream. It was a bed dream. It sort of freaks me out that the TV commercials I'd seen the previous day had wormed their ways so deep down inside.

Or am I just so cheap that my unconscious feels the need to keep track of current sale prices, particularly when it comes to the one substance I freely admit an addiction to?

Good thing I'm not afraid of clowns.

Hugs,

Giselle

--
Giselle Renarde

Canada just got hotter!

Visit me online
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com
http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/erotica
http://twitter.com/GiselleRenarde

Quick Six PRO with Kiki Howell

This Halloween, I'm delighted to have one of the greats of the paranormal erotic romance genre here at Donuts & Desires. We're talking shop with Quick Six, these days--all about the business of writing.

Quick Six PRO

Interview with Kiki Howell

Q: What's hot on the market these days?

Kiki Howell: From my perspective it would be paranormal and urban fantasies, which are heavy on the suspense and even crime, especially when paired with the erotic genre. Want to get even hotter? Throw in some M/M and M/F/M pairings. But again, I see things from my “world” - the authors and publishers I am around. So, as far as numbers go, I could be totally off here ;)

Q: What's the most time-consuming part of a writer's life?

Kiki Howell: I think the writing and promo come in about even if the work is novel length. Shorter works, an author will spend much more time in promoting the work than they did writing it. Promo is never ending. And why, yes, a new book releases and you promote it heavier than the others for awhile, you are always promoting your backlist.


Q: What should a writer's priority be?

Kiki Howell: To be honest, to be fully involved and motivated in every step of the process whether they like that step or not. You have to give 110 % of yourself from the research to the writing to the contracts and forms to the editing to the promo to playing nice with others if you want to be successful in this business. No, it isn’t easy, but if one part lacks, and the whole becomes scarred, slightly or heavily.

Q: How do you handle a bad review?

Kiki Howell: I try to remind myself of personal opinion, of the books that have left me wanting or that were just excruciating to get through, that many others whether friends or Goodreads or Amazon ratings have said were great. So much of reading is personal opinion, it has to be or there would not be so many genres. The only things that really get to me about a bad review, my personal list that have happened to me: reviewers says they didn’t finish the book - then they don’t really have enough info to form a review per say other than saying they didn’t like it enough to finish it; when the reviewer gets plot points wrong - so they must have skimmed through or actually not finished it – so again they shouldn’t have reviewed it; when they start the review with ‘I don’t like this genre’ – then again they shouldn’t have agreed to review it.


Q: What makes an editor great or...not so great?

Kiki Howell: I have worked with many great editors who have made my work fantastic, beyond what I could do with it. All I ask for is mutual respect when editing. I had an editor once, from a publishing house I am no longer with, who made mean comments all through the manuscript rather than just asking me to change something. For example, this one sticks out to me, rather than just asking me to change a word, the editor said, ‘Are you serious? So you really think a reader of erotica is going to know what this word means?’ Yeah, not sure who should be more offended there. But, a simple find new word, this one doesn’t really work for me, would have sufficed.

Q: Do you have a preference for short stories or longer works?

Kiki Howell: I go back and forth in my reading and my writing. I like to really put myself into a novel, having a good several months to really crank it out, totally immerse myself into the research and the writing. But when I am done with it, I need to write a few shorter works to give my brain a break from the long twisted braids of the longer plot. Then I am back and ready to get into another long one. I tend to do this in cycles too along with my families schedule. Summer when I have everyone home (teacher husband too), that is a time for shorter works! LOL I do the same with reading, devouring a series, then a few shorter ebooks after that. I think it is really about time before satisfaction too.

Kiki Howell is author of A Questionable Hero, a novella

Blurb:

Born of a mortal woman but raised in Hell by the demon that sired him, Abdamas is a Halfling—proof incarnate of the war between good and evil that exists in each of us. Shaebiel is an angel warrior earning her ultimate salvation in Heaven by fighting demons like Abdamas who are in search of human souls on Earth.

In the heat of a raging battle , Abdamas sees Shaebiel and wants her. When the blade of another demon aims for her, Abdamas is injured himself trying to save her. Shaebiel can’t believe a demon has rescued her from certain death and takes her questionable hero home with her to heal him.

As they both fight and surrender to their desires, the conflict around them continues, and there is Heaven and Hell to pay for their actions. Through divine intervention they are offered a gift. But Hell is nowhere near finished with either of them, and the stakes are getting higher and higher.

Can a questionable hero sacrifice enough to redeem himself in the eyes of Heaven so that he may claim the love of an angel?

"Not a stranger to Kiki Howell's work I was once again impressed with her ability to create a tale like no other. My experiences have always been more around magic, spells and witchcraft with her work. But in this one she really goes in a different direction. The result is a passionate, suspenseful and thrilling novella that leaves the reader breathless and wanting more." ~Bri at Romancing the Book

"I recently finished up the wonderful paranormal romance "A Questionable Hero" By Kiki Howell. Once I started reading this love story I had a difficult time getting my nose out of my Nook and back into reality since it was action packed from start to finish with very little breathing room in between the pages!” ~Punky’s Book Raves

“A Questionable Hero kept me pulled into the storyline from page one and I read it in one sitting. You realize quickly that the battle between good and evil aren’t black and white, there are shades of gray. If you like a fast hot read, with a touch of paranormal, and good versus evil thrown into the mix, then I would recommend this book.” ~Gracen Miller, Author of Pandora’s Box

Genres: Urban Fantasy (Angels and Demons), Erotic Romance

Adult Content Warnings: Explicit Graphic Language and Violence

from kNight Romance Publishing

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE KINDLE EDITION FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE NOOKBOOK FROM BARNES & NOBLE

Get your FREE copy of Best Bondage Erotica 2012

Rachel Kramer Bussel is great about passing out Amazon review copies of her anthologies. Now you've got a chance to get your hands on Best Bondage Erotica 2012 at no cost. See below (excerpted from Rachel's post) for details:

Erotica fans, want to wish me a happy birthday? Review Best Bondage Erotica 2012, which should be in my hands right around November 10th! I’ll send you a free copy, you promise to review it on Amazon by December 31st (sooner is great though) on pain of evil karma forever, and you get a free book before it’s even for sale in stores. I’ve only got one small shipment coming in so sign up before they’re gone. Email bestbondage2012 at gmail.com with “Amazon” in the subject line and your name and US mailing address in the body by 11/8 (or until they’re all gone). Thanks in advance! Please feel free to let any erotica lovers you know know about this.

Foreword: Use This Book for Your Kink Life Midori
Introduction: Tying Men Up: Dominant Women Storm the Pages Rachel Kramer Bussel (see below)

Melting Ice Shoshanna Evers
A Night at the Opera Elizabeth Coldwell
Darlene’s Dilemma Andrea Dale
Snow White A. R. Shannon
Trophy Boyfriend Lucy Felthouse
The Spider and the Fly Salome Wilde
Tied Down Elise Hepner
The Cupboard Under the Stairs Kay Jaybee
Suffer for Me Teresa Noelle Roberts
Dry Rub Giselle Renarde
Worth Redemption Craig J. Sorensen
Laced Elizabeth Silver
Pawns Billey Thorunn
Cumaná Helen Sedgwick
Good British Steel Lana Fox
Parting Ways Tenille Brown
Knot Alone Kathleen Tudor
The Insurrection Valerie Alexander
The Tipping Point Lolita Lopez
As Long As You Don’t Wake Me Neil Gavriel
The Weight Rachel Kramer Bussel

To read the introduction to this collection, check out Rachel Kramer Bussel's post here

Rick Mercer's Teen Suicide Rant

Without editorializing, here's gay Canadian satirist (and my source for Canadian news and views) Rick Mercer on making it better NOW:

A Tale of Karma and Television

This happened over a year ago, when I was sitting in my girlfriend Sweet's living room, typing away on my laptop, happy as a clam.

Sweet came storming into the room and, completely out of the blue, hollered, "At eight o'clock I'm watching Big Brother. If you've got a problem with that, you can just go upstairs. I don't want this to be a whole big argument. If you don't want to watch it, take your laptop and write for the hour."

I looked at her like she had three heads. We hadn't been talking, hadn't even been in the same room, and suddenly she's coming at me like a hurricane? And all because of Big Brother? It was so unlike her. Very, very bizarre.

So I said, "It's your house, watch whatever you want," trying not to sound as defensive as I felt.

Okay, I can be a little critical of Sweet's tastes, especially when it comes to American pop culture and reality TV. Maybe she takes things to heart more than she lets on. Maybe my little jabs had been building up inside of her.

Even if that's the case, her outburst was so weirdly unprovoked that it kind of made me want to laugh. I wanted to ask her, "Why are you getting so worked up over some stupid TV show?"

But I didn't say anything, just closed my computer and watched my Sweet pick up the television remote. She turned the TV on, but there was only a blue screen. She asked me, not accusingly at this point, if I'd changed any settings or if I'd had the TV on when she was at work during the day. I hadn't. She flipped through settings, trying to get a signal, but... nothing.

The cable was out.

Now, I'm sure I'll sound like a horrible person when I say this, but in that moment I felt a tad vindicated. Ha ha, you let TV take control of your emotions, and now you don't get to watch your show. Karma's gonna getcha every time, babe.

I know. I sound mean. And, in fact, I felt mean, thinking that way. There's just something so satisfying, whether it's your karmic debt or somebody else's, in seeing it resolved with such immediacy.

Instead of being a bitch about it, I chose to recognize my girlfriend's disappointment. There was nothing she could do about missing the TV show she wanted to watch (the cable was out for another two days after that). Sweet could have spent that whole night irritable, but she didn't. She brought out her DVD collection and we sorted through movies until we found one we both wanted to watch. Karma resolved, it turned into an unexpectedly cozy evening.

And for Karma unbelievers, this is complete coincidence: You're mean to me, the TV is mean to you. It sounds silly, I know. I know, but I don't care. Keeping Karma at the forefront of my mind encourages me to do good and avoid meanness. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

Hugs,

Giselle

--
Giselle Renarde

Canada just got hotter!

Visit me online
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com
http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/erotica
http://twitter.com/GiselleRenarde

Quick Six PRO with Tamara Monteau

Quick Six PRO

Interview with Tamara Monteau

Q: What's the most time-consuming part of a writer's life?

The edits. Even the most skilled writer knows he/she cannot write perfect prose in one pass. It takes a lot of careful reviewing, making changes and re-changes, until you have a marketable piece. I can write a novel in a couple of months, but I review it so many times I memorize most of it before I’m done. And that’s before the pros get their hands on it.

Q: On the topic of ebook piracy, hunter or head in the sand?

Hunter, I suppose, though I wouldn’t begin to know how. Certainly I don’t mind people borrowing books – that’s what we have libraries for. To me, e-book piracy ranks right up there with music and movie piracy. After all, it’s copyrighted material.

Q: How do you handle a bad review?

I try to look at the positive points, if any were made – try to find something to focus on. I try to look for the constructive criticism, and if there isn’t, and it’s a really bad review, I get upset. I suppose most of us would. But that doesn’t diminish my belief in my work, and if one person didn’t like it, I look to the many who have told me just the opposite.


Q: What advice do you give aspiring authors?

First, read. Know your genre. Do your research. Read others’ works in your genre and get a feel for the method, then try to develop your own. Make certain your ideas or plots don’t too closely mirror someone else’s. Then pick up a pen and start going. Share what you’ve written with trusted friends, teachers, or other writing professionals and take to heart the constructive criticism you receive. They can help guide you while you perfect your craft.


Q: If you've ventured into self-publishing, what are the pros and cons?

Well first, you get what you pay for. Self publishing is a great way to expose your work, and get it out to the world without the hassle of contacting traditional houses. It gives you complete autonomy, but it also places all the burden on you. Self-publishing can be very expensive, because you’re basically contracting the publisher to do the work for you, and even editing services run up big bucks. Still, had I not put my first book out through one of those, I would not have taken the initiative to write the rest, and helped me further develop my characters and style. Then, one fine day, as luck would have it, I came across Secret Cravings Publishing’s site and took a chance with my fourth book. Lo and behold, they contracted all four! I guess Lady Karma was on my side that day.

Q: Do you find yourself writing for the market and not for YOU, or self-censoring in any way?

I write more for myself than anyone else. I take great joy in communing with my imaginary friends and hearing their whispers. I get involved with them, often to the exclusion of all else, when the muse kicks in. The act of writing, of putting my thoughts down on paper (more or less) is as necessary to me as the food I must consume. It is a passion, and a deeply satisfying pleasure. I wouldn’t bend to any critic. My stories are what they are. I hope only that others like it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Tamara Monteau is author of:
Twilight Destiny
(Haven's Realm 1)
Tamara Monteau
Erotic Contemporary, Paranormal, Vampires
(3 flames)

Joshua MacAaron led a solitary existence until the night he crossed paths with Catherine Mills. From the first, her innocent joy and strength invaded the most secret parts of his long-quiet heart. He felt inexplicably and irresistibly drawn to her, until at last he resigned himself to the fact that they were destined to meet, even though he knew the decision to involve himself with the young mortal could mean the end of his existence.

Katie led a simple life, ruled by order and practicality. She had no time for romance, had never given it thought, until the night a stranger stepped into her life. Joshua’s old-fashioned, Scottish mannerisms and extraordinary good looks awakened her heart to new and unknown
yearnings. When she discovered that the man she’d learned to love was a vampire, she became torn between fear she couldn’t control and an almost desperate longing.

Available in ebook and paperback