Delaney Rain's Blog, page 4

Free eBook Giveaways for November

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash I'm participating in two BookFunnel giveaways running for the month of November:November Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Paranormal ShowcaseFree LGBT Fantasy & Paranormal Book FairI've been learning just how important having a mailing list is to authors and, since I want to succeed, I decided to pay for access to BookFunnel in order to attract readers to my work. Yep, spending money I haven't even earned yet, but that seems like a theme when you're an author. Of course, being so new, I'm relying on the other authors to help me get noticed. But I don't want to be the one they have to carry, so I'm hopeful that I can send some new readers their way too.

I do believe downloading free stories from new-to-me authors is a great way to get to know them and their writing style. Even if it's a sample, you still get a feel for what they can do with characters, plot, and dialogue, and the emails they send to you after you signup will definitely tell you want kind of salesperson they are.

So I hope you'll take a look at the links above and maybe signup to get some new books. Every click helps newbies like me get a good reputation for assisting my fellow authors.

Erotic Romance Authors Do Research Too

Since I’ve had a few people in my life ask me about whether I have to do any research before writing “one of those” books, I thought I’d answer the question here.

Yes, even authors of the smuttiest smutfest have to do some research sometimes.
​
And no, not just that kind.

Though I am now aware of the fact that there are animal-themed dildos out there…

Anyway, that research was accidental, but a lot of the rest of what I’ve needed to look up was something I needed to understand.

How long can a person be submerged in water without negative effects?
Where in the world are there islands with lagoons? Is that place LGBT-friendly? What’s the political climate like there?
Can a yacht have a saltwater pool?
Can one person sail a yacht of significant size by himself?
Find a yacht floor plan
How deep can a person dive safely?
Where in the Pacific Ocean is the shipping traffic routinely lighter?

Though the first two questions were ones I needed to answer while plotting, the rest have come up while I’ve been writing. I guess that’s because I’m something of a pantster/plotter hybrid. I know where I want to go, but I don’t know all the details until I’m on the road.

I’ve found all my answers online and honestly have to give a shout-out to Quora and all the fine folks over there who are willing to ask and answer all kinds of questions. I mean, a guy who builds yachts and had actually built a saltwater pool into one answered that question! I’d be hard pressed to find an answer with that much authority anywhere else.

And yes, I know I’m writing a smutty little romance about a mersquid whose ancestors built Atlantis, but I’m only going to make up those parts. Fiction still needs to be based in fact, so the details matter.

Even if it means finding out how long a squid’s schlong is.

The post Erotic Romance Authors Do Research Too appeared first on Gay Monster Romance.

Erotic Romance Authors Do Research Too

Photo by William Iven on Unsplash Since I’ve had a few people in my life ask me about whether I have to do any research before writing “one of those” books, I thought I’d answer the question here.

Yes, even authors of the smuttiest smutfest have to do some research sometimes.
​
And no, not just that kind.

Though I am now aware of the fact that there are animal-themed dildos out there...

Anyway, that research was accidental, but a lot of the rest of what I’ve needed to look up and understand was something I needed to understand.
​How long can a person be submerged in water without negative effects?Where in the world are there islands with lagoons?Is that place LGBT-friendly?What’s the political climate like there?Can a yacht have a saltwater pool?Can one person sail a yacht of significant size by himself?Find a yacht floor planHow deep can a person dive safely?Where in the Pacific Ocean is the shipping traffic routinely lighter?
Though the first two questions were ones I needed to answer while plotting, the rest have come up while I’ve been writing. I guess that’s because I’m something of a panster/plotter hybrid. I know where I want to go, but I don’t know all the details until I’m on the road.

I’ve found all my answers online and honestly have to give a shout-out to Quora and all the fine folks over there who are willing to ask and answer all kinds of questions. I mean, a guy who builds yachts and had actually built a saltwater pool into one answered that question! I’d be hard pressed to find an answer with that much authority anywhere else.

And yes, I know I’m writing a smutty little romance about a mersquid whose ancestors built Atlantis, but I’m only going to make up those parts. Fiction still needs to be based in fact, so the details matter.

Even if it means finding out how long a squid’s schlong is.

Making Monsters Sexy

Fantasizing about something is one thing. I’m in my own head, so who’s ever going to know that I wondered what it might be like to get fucked by a mersquid? I can go deep imagining that and never have to worry about seeming freaky.

But writing about it? Well, now I’m telling the world I thought about something with tentacles getting all up in me. Er, my character. All up in my main character. I’m not saying I fondled an octopus at the local aquarium, jeez no! But I might’ve stared a little longer than most people did and done some research later on about their, um, anatomy.

I’m coming out as a monster fucker.

And I’m totally being dramatic there, but that’s how it felt when I was writing The Sea Monster’s Mate. I had to find a way to make it not only plausible that a human man would be able to get turned on by a mersquid, but that he’d eventually fall in love with them too.

In order to do that, I had to find the man inside the monster.

I’ll be honest, I started thinking of the non-human half of the couples as a man in a costume. Yes, okay, they’d have their own culture and experiences as someone non-human, but below the surface, they were just regular people. They had to be for the humans to relate to them, think sexy thoughts about them, and want to spend the rest of their lives with them.

Which meant that my mersquid is just an ocean-dwelling paraplegic with prosthetic limbs. Bigfoot is a scavenging hippy who lives rough in a Canadian forest. My vampire is just a man with a very specific diet and photosensitive skin. My unicorn is a sensitive conservationist on a mission. And my alien is a dedicated researcher with some medical-themed kinks.

So while you’ll get to read about some amazing sexual experiences, you’ll also get to know some really great guys who are working through a few things that are in the way of their happily ever afters.

Because monsters are sexy too.

The post Making Monsters Sexy appeared first on Gay Monster Romance.

Making Monsters Sexy

Photo by Donovan Reeves on Unsplash Fantasizing about something is one thing. I’m in my own head, so who’s ever going to know that I wondered what it might be like to get fucked by Bigfoot? I can go deep imagining that and never have to worry about seeming freaky.

But writing about it? Well, now I’m telling the world I thought about something with tentacles getting all up in me. Er, my character. All up in my main character. I’m not saying I fondled an octopus at the local aquarium, jeez no! But I might’ve stared a little longer than most people did and done some research later on about their, um, anatomy.

I’m coming out as a monster fucker.

And I’m totally being dramatic there, but that’s how it felt when I was writing The Sea Monster’s Mate. I had to find a way to make it not only plausible that a human man would be able to get turned on by a mersquid, but that he’d eventually fall in love with them too.

In order to do that, I had to find the man inside the monster.

I’ll be honest, I started thinking of the non-human half of the couples as a man in a costume. Yes, okay, they’d have their own culture and experiences as someone non-human, but below the surface, they were just regular people. They had to be for the humans to relate to them, think sexy thoughts about them, and want to spend the rest of their lives with them.

Which meant that my mersquid is just an ocean-dwelling paraplegic with prosthetic limbs. Bigfoot is a scavenging hippy who lives rough in a Canadian forest. My vampire is just a man with a very specific diet and photosensitive skin. My unicorn is a sensitive conservationist on a mission. And my alien is a dedicated researcher with some medical-themed kinks.

So while you’ll get to read about some amazing sexual experiences, you’ll also get to know some really great guys who are working through a few things that are in the way of their happily ever afters.

​Because monsters are sexy too.

Making the Move to Write

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve written before. Part of my evil day job is spent writing some kind of thing or another. I’m pretty creative with blank greeting cards, too. But write a book? I’ve dabbled at writing stories since I was a kid, but I never really thought about putting in all the time and effort required to write a book other people might buy.

That’s a big deal!

I’m creating something with the hope that people — readers — will like it enough to pay for it. Now I’ve never been so well-off that even a dollar wasn’t a prized possession. Everything’s gotta be worth it.

Am I worth it?

That…I don’t know. I hope so. I hope what I have to say in these books is worth the price of reading them. Because that’s why I’ve decided to go from being a reader to becoming an author: I feel like maybe I have something to say.

Now I’m not doing anything groundbreaking or speaking some truth the world needs. Don’t make me laugh! I know they’re fluffy little romances about gay guys falling in love with monsters and aliens and mythological creatures. And the sex is pretty incendiary, if I do say so myself. But they’re still feel-good fiction and probably won’t win any awards. Well, maybe? That’d be nice.

What I have to say is really about my imagination when it comes to these beings and the men who love them. I want to share my take on tentacles and fur and fangs and why they might be what turns some guy’s crank passed a hundred.

​I hope you’ll come along and that you’ll think my books are worth it.

The post Making the Move to Write appeared first on Gay Monster Romance.

Making the Move to Write

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash Don't get me wrong, I've written before. Part of my evil day job is spent writing some kind of thing or another. I'm pretty creative with blank greeting cards, too. But write a book? I've dabbled at writing stories since I was a kid, but I never really thought about putting in all the time and effort required to write a book other people might buy.

That's a big deal!

I'm creating something with the hope that people — readers — will like it enough to pay for it. Now I've never been so well-off that even a dollar wasn't a prized possession. Everything's gotta be worth it.

Am I worth it?

That...I don't know. I hope so. I hope what I have to say in these books is worth the price of reading them. Because that's why I've decided to go from being a reader to becoming an author: I feel like maybe I have something to say.

Now I'm not doing anything groundbreaking or speaking some truth the world needs. Don't make me laugh! I know they're fluffy little romances about gay guys falling in love with monsters and aliens and mythological creatures. And the sex is pretty incendiary, if I do say so myself. But they're still feel-good fiction and probably won't win any awards. Well, maybe? That'd be nice.

What I have to say is really about my imagination when it comes to these beings and the men who love them. I want to share my take on tentacles and fur and fangs and why they might be what turns some guy's crank passed a hundred.

​I hope you'll come along and that you'll think my books are worth it.