A Domestic Violence Resource for Trans People

I came across an online pamphlet this week, and it particularly drew my attention because--well, for a lot of reasons, actually.  Firstly, I do volunteer work with an organization in the domestic violence sector that takes an inclusive approach to the trans population, and is notably progressive on the anti-racism/anti-oppression front.

Secondly, I wrote a trans lesbian novella last year wherein one of the characters was dealing with domestic abuse. My novella is called "Friday Night Lipstick" in case anyone's interested.  Actually, two of the characters are loosely based on a cis/trans couple who were friends of my girlfriend (who is also trans, as you probably know).


Now, I should note that this publication, Domestic Violence: A resource for trans people, is written for trans people experiencing abuse in London, but I think it's a helpful read for people outside that geographic location (aside from the resources section, which lists London-based agencies).  I hope readers in Canada, America, New Zealand, Australia and all the other countries you're reading this blog from will be able to find additional resources in their area, but this is certainly a start.

In addition to addressing abuse within current intimate relationships, this publication also looks at abuse coming from former partners and family members--which, as far as I'm aware, isn't addressed very often despite how common it is.

Anyway, I'm talking too much--as usual.  This publication speaks for itself.  Have a read:

http://www.domesticviolencelondon.nhs.uk/uploads/downloads/DV%20Trans%20guide_FINAL_FOR_WEB.pdf

Hugs,
Giselle

The Kink in Kinksters: The Other Other Woman

For those who like vintage clothing, adultery, and age gaps, have I got a tale for you! 

Originally published by Oysters and Chocolate, and now available exclusively in the Kinksters anthology, "The Other Other Woman" is full of surprises.  

Edith is a young exchange student type who's been working with Garret's wife.  She likes older fashions, older coiffure, and older men.  And she's insatiable, as Garret will tell you.  Hot hotel sex is their bread and butter until Edith pushes for a threesome.  Garret once confessed he'd had another affair.  Why don't they all get together and play?

Poor Edith... she's in for a big surprise...

Excerpt from "The Other Other Woman":

“Who is she?”

“Not is.  Was.”

“Fine.”  Edith wrapped her arms around Garret’s mellow middle.  Resting her cheek against his belly, she gazed at him adoringly.  “Who was she, then?” 

Garret looked away, staring at the embroidered pink roses on the closed curtains.

“Who…was…she?” Edith asked, accentuating each word with a kiss to his chest.

“I don’t see why it matters,” Garret whined, already exasperated. 

“It doesn’t matter.”  She pinched his love handles.  “I’m only asking because I’m curious.  You should tell me things—secrets, I mean.  Tell me all the dirty little morsels of life you can’t share with Cindy.”

Garret covered his face with his hands.  “I wish you wouldn’t talk about my wife when we’re in bed.  It makes me so…”

“Flaccid?” Edith teased, waggling his limp dick side to side. 

“I was going to say guilty, thank you very much!” 

Rustling her hair, which had been done up like The Andrews Sisters’ before their romp destroyed the look, Garret smiled.  Edith’s blue polka-dot sailor girl dress hung over the floor lamp in the corner.  One of her high heels had somehow wedged itself beside the television in the overbearing entertainment unit.  The other was nowhere to be seen.

Grinning at her queer retro taste in all things fashion, Garret said, “You try dating a twenty-three-year-old when you’re my age, and see how long it takes for your sexual prowess to diminish.”

“What was it this afternoon?” Edith reminisced, as though their lovemaking had taken place decades prior.  “Three solid fucks, if memory serves.”

“Three and a half,” Garret insisted.  “And I finished you off after the third round.”

“Ah, yes.  You give excellent head, I must say…”

“So, technically, that counts as four.”

“And we must always be technical about these matters,” she replied, mocking his accent.  Fetching the date book from her handbag, she jotted down 4-fuck afternoon.  “These records are for the ages.”

“Of course.”

She threw her calendar and pen across the room.  The pen landed in the shoe by the TV.  “I don’t think you’re old.”

“I never said you did.”  Garret traced his fingertips along the back of her neck.

“You never say it, but you think it all the time.”  She kissed his shoulder with lips that had once been bright red.  Her lipstick was now spread in stains across his much-loved body.  “You’re only, what, seventeen years older than me?  That’s really not that bad.”

“I never said it was.”

“But you thought it.”

She was right, of course.  Strange how someone with far fewer years of life experience could always be right about everything.

“I want to meet her,” Edith went on. 

“Meet whom?”

“Your other other woman.  Can I meet her?  Will you set it up?”

He shook his head.  Alright, so she wasn’t right about everything.  She was completely off-base with this.  “What makes you think there was ever another woman?”

“Don’t you remember?” She ran her fingers through his pubic hair.  “The first time we got a hotel room together I asked if you’d ever cheated on Cindy.”

“Did you?” he asked, realizing her paws were eliciting a positive reaction downstairs.  Maybe if he didn’t think too much about it, this would be a five-fuck encounter after all.

“Yes, and you told me you had an affair ages ago.”  She snaked her way down his body.   

“Wish I’d kept my mouth shut,” he said.  “Listen, Edith, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.  It really wasn’t what you think.”

“We should set up a threesome.  I’ve always wanted to do another chick.”

That brought the lifeblood streaming back into his cock.  Even if Edith was completely off-base about the nature of his affair five years past, the image of he and his young mistress participating in a threesome was more than he could handle.

“Oh God, Edith, stop hovering and suck my cock, will you?”

“Only if you promise to let me meet the other other woman.”  She brushed her full breasts along his erect shaft.

“There is no other other woman.”

She didn’t buy it.  “Make the call and I’ll suck your cock.  Does she live in the city?”

“It isn’t…”  He didn’t want to explain it all right now.  “Yes.”

Picking up the bedside phone, he dialled the number.  “Hi, it’s Garret…No, I’m fine…Oh, yes, that’s right.  Well, don’t tell…Anyway, I just have a quick second, but could we get together…”

“Next week,” Edith mouthed, pressing his firm cock between her tits.

“Next week.  I’ll call you later with the details.  Oh, that’s great.  Bye, now.”

Hanging up the phone, he launched a despairing gaze in Edith’s direction.  “Happy now?”

“Ecstatic,” she replied, devouring his cock.

 ***

To find out what kind of surprise Edith's in for (and to get your hands on 9 more group sex stories), snap up your copy of Kinksters today!

From All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-kinksterscompletedigitaleditionmmffffmfm-1060314-146.html

From loveyoudivine (the publisher):  http://www.loveyoudivine.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=26&products_id=1094

From Amazon:

Guest Post: How To Write a Book Review on Amazon

Hello, you lovely people, you!

I came across this post on book reviews, and thought I'd share it.  To be honest, every time I decide I want to review a book on Amazon (which, to be TOTALLY honest, I don't do very often), I always sit here staring at the screen, wondering, "What the hell should I write?"  That's a terrible thing for an author to admit, isn't it?

Anyhoo, I found this post really helpful, so I added some cute animals, and here it is (I'll be back at the end to comment a little more):

"Loved it."  "Hated it."

How To Write a Book Review on Amazon

The following post by Gwen Perkins (used with permission) walks you through how to write an Amazon review and the impact reviews have on sales.

As anyone who is or knows an author knows, many of us frequently go around wishing and hoping that our book will receive reviews on that book giant, Amazon. (I also wish and hope for Powell’s and Barnes and Noble’s but as more and more authors publish exclusively through the Big A, that’s what this blog post is about.) I thought that I’d explain my own reasons for wanting reviews and how they work. I’m choosing to address this via questions that I’ve received from friends and family.

1) I’m no good at writing an Amazon review. What do I say?

The beautiful thing about Amazon reviews is that you don’t have to be Roger Ebert. You can click a star rating and then write a couple of sentences about the book. Reviews can be as simple as “This book was really good. I wish there was more romance” or really elaborate.

Here are some things you could put in a review:

Adjectives that describe the book (it was good, it was awful, etc).

Say something you liked about it. Things that you could focus on could include the plot, a particular scene, characters, how things changed during the course of the story, etc.

If there was a moment or character that personally impacted you in some way, don’t be afraid to say so. Put yourself in the review. Authors love to know their readers and I know that I’m always touched when I can tell someone made a personal connection with what I wrote.

Talk about what you wanted to see more of or what needs improvement. Do you wish another character was in the book more? Say so. Did bad spelling distract you? Tell us that too.

"Write better, you bastard!"

Tips to remember:

Don’t be afraid to be honest. Do, however, remember to be helpful. Don’t just say “it sucks” but tell everyone why it sucked.

Don’t give away the ending of the book. You can allude to it very vaguely (“the ending surprised me”) but don’t say specific plot details.

You’re not being graded. Write a review as long or short as you want. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece of art—think of it more as a conversation or what you might tell people you know about this book.

Make sure that you read the book before you review. This seems like it should be obvious but… it’s not.

2) Do Amazon reviews actually affect a book’s sales?

I have to be honest with you and tell you that I don’t yet know for sure as I don’t have the “magic number” yet. This is what I understand to be true from conversations with my publisher and other authors:

Around 20-25 reviews, Amazon starts including the book in “also bought” and “you might like” lists. This increases your chances of someone finding your title.

Around 50-70 reviews, Amazon looks at your book for spotlight positions and the newsletter. This is HUGE. This is my personal goal although I use Amazon reviews for other reasons (more later on in this post).

Number of reviews may affect Amazon sales ranking. (Again, this is anecdotal–I have no actual proof of it.)

Some websites will not consider or promote your book unless you have a number of reviews on the page (this is very true of those sites that highlight free promos—I can attest to this).

And, of course, readers may read through your reviews and decide to purchase or not purchase the book based on this.

3) Whatever. I don’t care if you sell this wonderful/awful book. Why should I write a review if it doesn’t change how you write the next one?

Oh, but it does.

When I read my Amazon reviews, they tell me things that my editor might not. Let’s face it, an editor is only one person and even with beta readers, you’re working in a group of people who are familiar with the craft of writing. What an author also needs is the opinion of the average reader, that person who just picked up their book and doesn’t have an English degree.

While you have to have a tough skin about reviews, as an author, they’re very helpful. They can reaffirm something that you were already working on. For instance, I’d already decided to make one of my minor characters in my first book a point-of-view character for the second—my reviews have told me that people wouldn’t be uninterested in him. They can also point out things that you need to work on. In my case, exposition!

Likewise, positive reviews tell you what you’re doing right. If people rave about your characters, then that’s likely a good place to keep going. If reviews talk about the fighting scenes in a positive light, then you know you’re making a difference.

So, in short, yes, what you write in that review is fairly likely to change something about the book I’m working on now. Writing is a process.

4) But I really hated the book! Should I still review it?

Here is where I probably differ from some other authors so I’m going to speak only for myself here.

"Seriously, guys--this is giving me a headache."

Yes. Absolutely. How will I know where to improve unless I get reviews that tell me so? Yes, it can be painful to read some reviews but am I ever going to say that there isn’t truth in them? No. After the initial sting, I’ll read it again and take something home from that. I’ll be a better writer for it. To be honest, not everyone likes every book. There are people out there who hate Harry Potter. It would be a little presumptuous to think that all of my reviews would be golden for any book (they’re not now and I don’t expect that to change. Especially not if anyone reads this post.).

The only thing that I ask is to please make sure you have something to say about why it is bad. The only review that I’ve ever been really irritable about was a one-star on an old short horror story I posted for fun where the reader said they were underage and hadn’t read it.

Having said all of that, it is really tough to be a small press or self-published author (I am the former). Bad reviews can kill a novel if they’re the first ones a book receives or if they’re all that the book has. Please hold this in mind if you decide to go forth. This post by Anne R, Allen does a good job of explaining the impact in more detail than I’ll get into here.

(Feel free to share this post or copy it for your own blog. All I ask is that if you do, please keep my author note.)

Gwen Perkins is a fantasy novelist who is always on the hunt for Amazon reviews for her first novel, The Universal Mirror (Hydra Publications, 2012). She can be contacted through email at gwen@ironangel.net.

Hi! It's Giselle. I'm back. 

Wasn't that a useful post?  I'm going to consult it the next time I write an Amazon review, which, as I mentioned earlier, I don't do very often.  I review music sometimes, but something holds me back from reviewing books.  

Okay, I can better articulate that "something": if the book was written by an author I know personally (or if I'm published by the same publisher or have ties to the editor, etc. etc.), I don't want to say anything even remotely negative because I don't want to hurt their feelings or create bad blood.  

"Who you callin' a puppet?"

On the flip side, if I have only wonderful things to say about the book I'm afraid my review won't seem credible.  I'm also afraid people might think I was paid or persuaded to give a book a good review, even though that goes totally against my personal code of ethics.

Reading reviews?  Well, I don't read reviews of my books.  Why?  Because I'm a wuss.  Bad reviews (particularly the venemous, hate-spewing ones) depress me--in a clinical, can't-get-out-of-bed way.  So, in the interest of being a productive non-suicidal person, I just stay away.

But... I do read reviews of OTHER people's books and, let me tell you, it's not the 5-star or 4-star ones that get me interested.  When I see a book that's got a billion 1-star reviews, that's when I go, "Hey, hey!  Now, this I gotta see."  

Often, reviews that tear a book to shreds (as long as it's not mine, right?) make me want to read the book, even if it's in a guilty-pleasure/schadenfreude way. Or sometimes readers will hate the book because it's too dark, or too fetishistic, or OMG the characters are lesbians.  I see that and think, "Wow, sounds like a great book!"  That's why, to reiterate a point Gwen made above, it is vitally important to articulate WHY you hate a work.  Your yuck could be someone else's yum.

Anyhoo, enough from me.  I told you what I really think.  It's your turn now.

Hugs,

Giselle

Award-winning erotica writer Giselle Renarde is a queer Canadian, avid volunteer, contributor to more than 100 short story anthologies, and author of numerous electronic and print books, including Anonymous, Nanny State, and My Mistress' Thighs. Ms Renarde lives across from a park with two bilingual cats who sleep on her head.

The Kink in Kinksters: Beneath the Ice

My group sex anthology "Kinksters" isn't just full of fetish sex-writing in the contemporary erotica tradition.  It's got plenty of that, of course, but you'll also find few paranormal stories in the collection. 

The first out-of-this-world (or, under it?) tale in "Kinksters" is an erotic adaptation of the Inuit legend about a three-headed sea monster that lives beneath the ice.  This slithery, silvery, serpentine creature might just be interested in devouring a delicacy called woman.

In addition to appearing in Kinksters, "Beneath the Ice" is available as an ebook.


The sea monster Kaloopalooit lives in the cracks of the ocean ice, devouring the children of the Arctic.

When Enooya bets her husband she's a better fisher than he, she sets off unperturbed to the fissures in the sea ice. After all, the Kaloopalooit is just an imaginary monster the elders created to scare kids. Soon enough, Enooya discovers just how real the Kaloopalooit is, when it pursues her, dragging her down into the icy waters. The sea monster is beautiful and horrible, shimmering and bizarre. In exchange for breath, it demands that Enooya secure children for its dinner. Enooya has a better idea: Why not sample the delicacy called woman?

Excerpt:

The coil circled tighter around Enooya’s core as the faces of the monster gazed beseechingly, gallantly and broodingly, respectively. Those faces, frightening yet beyond beautiful, appealed to her.

Enooya had an idea.  “Have you ever tried woman?”

“Woman?”

“Woman?”

“What is Woman?”

“Woman is a delicacy where I come from,” Enooya said. “Woman is tangy and sweet, fleshy and filling. Woman is the highlight of the buffet.”

“I would like to try Woman,” the thin face decided, licking his lips with a thick, pointed tongue.

“Well, you’re in luck because there’s a plentiful supply right before your eyes.”

The Kaloopalooit looked off in all directions.

“I mean me!” Enooya cried in exasperation. Slow learners, these sea monsters.

The Kaloopalooit’s six eyes took on an air of consideration as their heads all bobbed in circles around Enooya.

“We would regret to destroy you,” said the noble one. “We have taken quite a liking to you.”

“I haven’t,” grunted the mean one.

“Yes he has,” the plump, patient one consoled.

“Destruction is not on the menu.  Eating a woman is not like eating food. It is done with great care and consideration.”

The monsters appeared puzzled.

“It’s like the kiss of life you gave me.”

“He gave you,” the nasty one clarified, with a nod in the noble head’s direction. “I would just as easily have let you die.”

“No he wouldn’t have,” said the kind one, shaking her head.

“It’s a kiss of life for the entire body,” Enooya went on.

The Kaloopalooit huddled out of earshot, whispering from one head to another. The mean one broke away, then returned begrudgingly to the conversation. There was a collective nod, though the nasty head’s was not as enthusiastic.

“We have agreed,” the noble one said. “We are very curious to taste Woman.”

***
Beneath the Ice and the Kinksters anthology are both published by loveyoudivine and available from many retailers, including Amazon: