back on track

5000 words yesterday and 1500 or so today on the naughty lions. This is turning into a very, very sexy paranormal more than the erotic romance I thought it would be, but I'll just write the bloody thing and then get one of my critters to tell me what genre I should pitch it as! I can't help it. I love fantasy, and if I have a chance to play with supernatural creatures and magic, that's going to take at least as much as time as the love story.

The 1500 words came AFTER spring-cleaning for 6 hours solid; we decided that we'd never get to it on a weekend so we'd just take a weekday and do it. Boy is the house gleaming--all except the office, which is waiting for a time when someone with actual muscle can come and help Himself move the desks so we can lay the new carpet. I'm amazed by how good things look. Almost cried when some crumbs fell while we made dinner. Okay, the crying is an exaggeration, but I did curse a bit more than was warranted!

I got paid for several stories in the last few days, which is always good, and got a tentative acceptance (pending publisher approval) for a fun erotica anthology that I'll tell more about assuming the acceptance is confirmed.

Watch this space! On June 18, I'll be participating in a "blog tour" to promote Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica. I'll be answering some fun questions, including "Why do you write erotica?" and "what do you like best about lesbian erotica?" Several of my writer friends, including Dayle, will be participating; I'll post some linkies when I have them.

In other news, my friend Kate Pearce's new book Where Have All the Cowboys Gone came out in the US yesterday. (It's been out in the UK for a couple of months now.) If you like a good sexy romance with a cowboy hero, go get it!

Some days I hate my subconscious

After a too-long hiatus (during which, in all fairness, I wrote two short stories, revised some poetry, did the first pass on a freelance proofreading job, helped a friend write her wedding vows, and drove about 800 miles round trip), I'm back to the book I'm tentatively calling Your Lion Eyes. Like most of my titles, that's a placeholder. You see, my original conception was a lighthearted novella about shapeshifters--about how one lonely shapeshifter recognizes others of his kind and finds a home.

But then I started brainstorming. Suddenly, I had a complex magical system, a conflicted hero who's been passing as human, an angry, politicized hero, a human witch heroine who finds herself in love with two men--and convinced that this will spoil her magic--and a Nebulous Government Conspiracy. (My sanity is thankful that my subconscious has since figured it out so it's a bit less nebulous.) If you're thinking this sounds dark, convoluted, and probably far longer than a novella, you're absolutely correct. As in, I'm at 27,000 words and maybe a quarter done. (The beginning has a lot I know I'll to cut or move around, but I still think this may be a 100K monstrosity.)

Oh, and have I made it clear it's a menage a trois with two bi heroes? This does make for a lot of sexual tension, and some fun-to-write sex scenes. But sometimes I wish the part of my brain that said "cute and fluffy" had stayed in charge.

Got a Minute?

or two or three?

Join editor Alison Tyler and various authors, including yours truly at Lust Bites (lustbites.blogspot.com) on Friday as Alison talks about the hawt new anthology Got a Minute?: Sixty-Second Erotica. I've got work in this anthology, and it's a really fun collection--all, as the title suggests, designed to read when you don't have much time--just enough time to charge yourself up a little! (Perfect before a date, or what the heck, in on a coffee break during a dull workday.)

So, if you have a minute (or two) why not stop by to read an excerpt and to post your own thoughts on super-short erotica. (Or even your own super-short erotica.)

Then stick around for something special on Saturday. Lust Bites will be posting an excerpt from the fabulous new etymology collection, Words of a Feather. Ever wondered what “bondage” and “husband” have in common? We’ll have the answer to that, and many other puzzling word pairs, this Saturday.

New story up!

It's been up a while, in fact, but I lost track of when it was going up and forgot to post it. (Blush!)

http://magazine.goodvibes.com/2007/05/02/moon-tantra/

Usual not-safe-for-work caveats apply. This is a rather sweet and romantic naughty story, but it's still not something most workplaces will appreciate.

Which is a pity...Wouldn't the world be a more entertaining place if we could take erotica breaks along with our coffee breaks? Perhaps not as productive, but happier.

In case your life is a smut-free desert...

Or if you just don't believe there's such a thing as too many books, take yourself to Lustbites and add a comment. You might win this impressive stack of books full of fine, literate erotica. Cat Scratch Fever is there, if hidden by handcuffs (not entirely inappropriate!) as are B is for Bondage and Got a Minute: 60-Second Erotica, both of which contain stories by yours truly. (The stack also includes several anthologies with stories by the luscious Dayle. And a whole bunch of other hot and fun stuff by people I know, at least electronically.) It's all to celebrate the upcoming release of the new Black Lace anthology Sex with Strangers, where I make an appearance both as myself and as half of Sophie. (It's already out in the UK and will be out in the US next month...but you can always pre-order.)

While you're there, go back a few posts and check out the next installment of the Dayle and Teresa Show, as we talk about writing outside our comfort zone.

Good grief, it's been a while...

April went by in a blur, thanks to various bits of Life Happening, including a family emergency that necessitated a two-week trip to central New York. (Mom's much better now, thanks, and I got to finish the edits on the book formerly known as Master Right while she was recovering...but I don't recommend it as a writing retreat.)

So what's been up with me in the writing department?

The Out of the Frying Pan partial went off to Kensington and we got a "we want to see the whole thing" in about ten days. In the irony department, Dayle had just sent me an email saying, "Take care of your mom and don't worry about the revisions for the second half of the book; we'll have months" when they contacted us. Hey, it was a good distraction from fretting.

Too many story acceptances (and, alas, rejections!) to bother tallying.

Several new books have come out...

Got a Minute? 60-Second Erotica (me and Dayle),
B is for Bondage

He's on Top

and its companion piece She's on Top (me, Dayle, and one by Noelle Keely, who's also me)

and the US release of Sex with Strangers , which contains stories by me, Sophie Mouette, and Dayle's other co-author, Sarah Husch. We are achieving world domination.