Giselle Renarde's Blog, page 137

Sapphic Signs: I Get It by Jodi Payne

Can you believe we've arrived at Sagittarius already? Hope you've been enjoying these Sapphic Signs posts, everyone. Get out there and read some lesbian fiction!
I Get It by Jodi Payne
No one ever expects to end up in the hospital, least of all adventurous Casey, who's suffering from a head injury. Her case intrigues Dr. Catharine Hill, a commitment-phobe who's avoiding troubles in her personal life. As Casey's story unfolds with the help of her girlfriend Jane, Catharine begins to see the light about her relationship with her own lover, Fran. Can Catharine get it before it's too late?

Sample

My mother hated motorcycles. If she were still with us today, she would tell you that I was the kind of kid that did exactly the opposite of what I was told. In everything but this one thing, she'd be right.

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I had my first motorcycle ride, maybe six or seven. I remember the first curves we took, my uncle Bill and me. I was small enough that I had to hook my fingers through his belt loops to hold on because my arms were too short to reach around his waist. I was wearing a white helmet that was so big on me it would slide down onto my nose when we hit a big enough bump.

The way we leaned to one side and then the other, hugging the corners, felt so natural to me; a balancing act of speed and weight. I remember taking a deep breath at one point and letting it out slowly and after that there was nothing but me, my Uncle Bill, the hum and grind of the bike's motor, and the sunshine. I couldn't stop smiling the entire trip. I didn't have the words to explain how it felt to me then, the way my six year old heart felt as we flew down those country roads, but now I can tell you that it felt like freedom. It felt like flying. Riding that motorcycle, I felt as if we were defying gravity.

That was many years and many helmet styles ago. The one I am wearing today has a shell made of Kevlar and fiberglass, which is really the important point right now, as I watch the convertible coming toward me take the inside curve too fast and cross over into my lane. Even over the roar of my chopper, the first and only bike I've ever customized on my own, I can hear the car's tires skidding across the rumble strip that's been carved beneath the double yellow lines. I swerve in the outside lane, and although it feels like slow motion, it's all happening very fast and suddenly it's just me, the car and the guardrail. I make a desperate effort to squeeze between a rock and a hard place but it's no good – the front wheel of my bike gets pinned and I'm thrown from the seat.

I'm flying through the air. I know I just flew over the handlebars, but I have no idea where I am going anymore.

Buy Now from Torquere PressGiselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

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Music Leaves a Mark

I was going to be uber-romantic today, and let you listen to the song that was playing the first time Sweet and I kissed. Yes, I still remember. Because music leaves a mark. The song is inextricable from the moment. In fact, the music itself is probably better than the moment, considering I was eating a bagel at the time and had terrible coffee breath. Poor girl had to kiss my bagelful mouth. Yuck.
So, as I said, I was going to be romantic. As yet, nothing I've written seems to have hit that mark.
But I will tell what song was on and why I'm not playing it for you at this very moment. The song was "A la mitraille" by Weepers Circus: not their most popular, not findable on YouTube, and not at all romantic. But Sweet doesn't understand French anyway, so I guess that doesn't matter.
There is another song I can play for you, which was also playing that evening, though not at the very moment Sweet and I first kissed. "La renarde" is a favourite of mine, for obvious reasons, and another song by Weepers Circus (with Olivia Ruiz), so it's about as close as I can get to sharing this romantic, if bagel-y, moment with you. It's pretty perfectly apt to a new relationship, actually:


The kiss I'm talking about happened not four years ago, and it's amazing to think how much has changed in that time. How much Sweet has changed, and how much I have. How we've gone through gushy in-love-ness, through early complications when she wasn't sure yet if she could trust me with her fragile heart, when I had to prove in word and action that I saw her as a woman and I wasn't just in it for the novelty of dating "a guy in a dress" as she puts it.
(If you're confused and/or new to the blog, Sweet is a trans woman and she had a lot of fears early on. She didn't understand why I'd be interested in her. I'm still not sure she really and truly believes that, to me, she is the most beautiful woman in the world.)
It really is hard to believe that in fewer than four years, life has changed so drastically. Sweet and I have fought a lot since then. Argued, I should say. A lot. Which is not pleasant, but is, I gather, part of growing together as a couple. And, my god, have we grown. I know because I've felt the pain of it, the stretch of it. I've felt bigger and smaller, I've felt insecure and I've felt relieved. And she's always been there. And I've always been there.
And music's always been there. There have been days where a certain song caught my ear and I've found myself thinking, "If it wasn't for this music, I would probably die just now." Most probably I wouldn't have spontaneously dropped dead from lack of music, but there's something soul-salving about it.
Cabaret Blanc is another song that was playing that first-kiss evening, and I've noticed that every time it comes on, Sweet stops what she's doing and listens to it. I think she's a little bit hypnotized:



But I suppose when I named this post "Music Leaves a Mark" I was thinking about the nebulous relation music has to life and time, and the memories, images, and emotions certain music evokes because we lived with it at given moments. Sweet and I went to a k.d. lang concert this summer, and now I can't hear a k.d. lang song without thinking of Sweet and smiling.
As for Olivia Ruiz, as for Weepers Circus...I love their music. Every time I listen to it, I remember why. But I find I don't listen to it as relentlessly as I used to, and I suppose that's because their time in my life was not this time. I fell in love to their soundtrack, and now the time of falling is complete and the work of climbing back up to reality is in full swing.
I'm hoping one day my girl and I will arrive at a place where we can live out our days in relative peace together. I wonder what music will be playing when we get there.
Here's a little more Weepers Circus:

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Giselle Renarde Canada just got hotter!

Visit me online
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Giselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

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Best Lesbian Erotica 2012: But Are There Vampires?

Yes.
*massive applause from the paranormal crowd*
Okay, well that's it for me. Have a great night, and try the lobster--it's to die for.
*perplexed crowd asks, "What the hell is Giselle talking about?"*
hehehe
I'm talking about Best Lesbian Erotica 2012 and, more specifically, about my story Blood Lust. Although, on second thought, before I start in on my contribution, can we just admire BLE 2012's kick-ass cover? I think it's g-g-g-gorgeous!Alrighty, back to the issue of vampires. Now, when I think about "Best of" anthologies in general, I tend to assume everything I'm going to read in that book will be contemporary, mostly relatable fiction. Am I wrong there? For the most part, that's what you get, right? And that's good shit. Most of the erotica and queer fiction I write is contemporary, primarily urban, often based loosely on real life events. For the most part, that's what I do.
But there are exceptions to every rule.
When Oysters and Chocolate announced a paranormal story competition a while back, I figured what the hell, might as well enter! I wrote a "cutting edge" (haha--that was a pun) lesbian vampire knife play story called Blood Lust.
It won an honourable mention, which surprised me, considering I didn't consider myself anything of a paranormal writer. (Though, since then I have published a shapeshifter book called A Tale of Fur and Flesh) Maybe that was the appeal for the judges. My work is often called "quirky" and "different" (which I've decided to take as a compliment) so maybe that's the appeal of vampire fiction by a not-usually-vampire author.
I can't quite remember why I submitted Blood Lust to Best Lesbian Erotica 2012. Looking back objectively, when an author is limited to two submissions, it doesn't seem like the best idea. Sometimes it's hard even to get in my own head. All I can think is that Blood Lust was initially well-received, and when I read it over I thought, 'Holy Mother, this is some hot erotica! Yeah, baby, cut her back with that scalpel! Drink her blood! Yesssss!!!'
Maybe that's what I was thinking.
Not that my thought processes matter at this point. Blood Lust is hot, kinky, paranormal--and it's in the book, for your enjoyment. Hope you like it.
Hugs,Giselle

--
Giselle Renarde Canada just got hotter!

Visit me online
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com
http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/erotica
http://twitter.com/GiselleRenardeGiselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/ero...

Quick Six PRO with Cain Berlinger

Monday, Monday... Quick Six PRO day! And today we've got a fellow loveyoudivine author, Cain Berlinger, in the hot seat. (That's a lie--it's quite cushiony, the seat.)

Quick Six PRO with Cain Berlinger
Q: What's the most time-consuming part of a writer's life?
Cain Berlinger: The most time consuming thing for a writer is almost everything that comes after the piece is finished. The PR, the rewrites, even second guessing yourself in some cases.
Q: What should a writer's priority be?Cain Berlinger: A writer's priority is to touch the readers' emotions, intellectually and sexually.
Q: What advice do you give aspiring authors?Cain Berlinger: For an aspiring author: they should write, write, and write some more. You DO improve with practice.
Q: What makes an editor great or...not so great?Cain Berlinger: A great editor is an editor where the writer says 'you're right' more often that they say "you're wrong"
Q: If you've ventured into self-publishing, what are the pros and cons?Cain Berlinger: Self publishing gives you total control and all the monies. You never really feel validated though as an author until someone else wants to read your stuff.
Q: Do you have a preference for short stories of longer works?Cain Berlinger: I prefer short stories, it's a personal choice; it reflects my own attention span.

Cain Berlinger is author of: Morphine
You can buy from here
http://www.loveyoudivine.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=76&products_id=850&zenid=2510ae6c346408c8d3346a6ccaedbc66
His website is www.cainberlingerbooks.comGiselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/ero...

Six Sentence Sunday - Good Neighbors, Threesomed

In case you haven't heard, I'm very excited about a new anthology called Threesomed. It contains my story Good Neighbors, about which I blogged extensively yesterday. So today I'll leave the intro at this: prudish wife, gang bang in the woods.
Six Sentences from Good Neighbors:

Gazing at the men in her midst, Prudence licked her lips like a wolf on the prowl. The look in her eye was new to John, but he no less recognized it as lust. Unmistakable.

There was his perfect little wife stretched naked on a velvet-covered log, looking like she'd die without a good fuck. He couldn't believe it. This had to be a dream.

Threesomed is now available as an ebook from:

All Romance Ebooks

Amazon

New Dawning International Bookfair

Enjoy!

--
Giselle Renarde

Canada just got hotter!

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

Giselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/ero...

Canadian Erotic Identity (or Giselle Does the American Literary Tradition)

Threesomed, a new menage anthology, was just released by New Dawning International Bookfair, and you'll find me between the covers.
I've been itching for this anthology to come out, because I couldn't wait to tell everybody about my story, Good Neighbors. When it comes to short stories, I often don't have much editorializing to do because the works speak for themselves. While Good Neighbors certainly speaks for itself (gang bang in the woods--booya!) there is another dimension to this one I want to share.
The story of conceptualizing this group sex tale begins last March during a snow storm. Sweet and I had tickets to attend a conversation with Margaret Atwood, and with the amount of snow being dumped on the city I was really worried our evening's plans would fall flat. Good thing Margaret Atwood still lives close to our Alma Mater, because the event went on through the snow, in true Canadian fashion.
What I found most sticky, of everything discussed, was Margaret Atwood's mention of a Nathaniel Hawthorne story called Young Goodman Brown. She was talking about Canadian versus American literary identity, and characterizing Young Goodman Brown as a prime example of American literature, and a reminder of America's roots and why that country came to be.
Young Goodman Brown is a story about an upstanding young puritan who one night discovers all his fine upstanding neighbours involved in a Satanic ritual.
So that was my starting point for my gang bang erotic fiction work Good Neighbors.
This is an instance where spelling is important. I'm Canadian. Even when working with American publishers, I most often fight to retain my Canadian spellings. In this instance, I went the opposite route, opting for the spelling Neighbors over Neighbours, because this story is sort of an ode to America.
I walked away from Margaret Atwood's evening in conversation contemplating my work and what defines it as Canadian and not American. Identity is an issue we Canadians struggle with collectively, but Margaret Atwood's words got my mind working overtime. America is a country founded by puritans. Canada is a country founded by hunters, explorers, trappers. Therein lies our fundamental difference.
Most Canadians can't really explain why we're different from Americans, we just know we are. In a sense, we're eternally pubescent children trying to figure out our place in the world, knowing we're the continent's misfits, but not yet secure in our collective identity.
By and large, I don't think the American audience is all that interested in my writing. I make that statement based on absolutely nothing. No evidence, just a gut feeling. And the fact that most of my known fans are Brits, Australians, New Zealanders, and other Canadians.
With Good Neighbors (spelled the American way), my goal was to write a piece of American erotic fiction. It was sort of an experiment, and one I quite enjoyed, but it was entered into self-reflexively and I don't know if it will be received that way or not. At its base, it's a story about a "prudish" wife who actually quite likes getting fucked by the whole neighbourhood. (Oops! My spelling's gone Canadian.) It's explicit gang bang erotica. It can certainly be read that way. One needn't be aware of its American literary inspiration to enjoy the piece.
But at its BASE base, it's my Symphony For the New World.

Hope you like it.Hugs,Giselle

--
Giselle Renarde Canada just got hotter!

Visit me online
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com
http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/erotica
http://twitter.com/GiselleRenardeGiselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

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Cuteness Overload, The Sequel: Even More Animals Hugging

Okay, I'm a suck these days. But you know what? I don't care. There's something irresistible about pictures that make you go awwwww! If you missed the first edition of animals hugging, you can catch it here. But today's post is bigger, better...fuzzier. Booya!








Awwwwwwwww!
Hugs,GiselleGiselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/ero...

Sapphic Signs: Like Water and Water

I'm going to make this week's Sapphic Signs intro quick because I'm in the middle of writing a supercalafragalistically hot sex scene and you're probably in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, if you're American. But when you're full of food and hungry for some lesbian romance, give this excerpt a read:
Like Water and Waterby Sarah Ettritch
University roommates Rachel and Barb met in their high school's zodiac club, where they spent hours doing their Scorpio charts and became best friends. Now Rachel has fallen in love with Barb, but Barb is dating the sultry Carla. When Barb and Carla experience problems, Rachel is uncomfortable with being Barb's confidante, especially since Barb's relationship issues involve sex. Finding it more and more difficult to hide her feelings and remain impartial, Rachel reaches her breaking point and makes an agonizing decision.
Sample

The laptop and textbook were in her bedroom. Rachel walked down the apartment's narrow hallway, then stopped when the bathroom door swung open. Barb stepped out, wearing only her panties and a sports bra. Rachel's breath caught in her throat.

"Forgot a towel." Barb opened the door to the nearby linen closet and rummaged inside.

Rachel's gaze lingered on Barb's firm ass. Heat flooded her chest and travelled down to her crotch. It would be so easy to close the short distance between them, slip her arms around Barb, cup Barb's breasts, slide her fingers underneath... oh, god. She turned away and mumbled, "Forgot something."

She fled down the hallway and stood trembling in the kitchen. Thank god Barb had been focused on looking for a towel. If she'd seen Rachel's face, sensed the raw desire oozing from her every pore . . . Rachel swallowed. She'd seen Barb half-naked before, but her interest in Barb's body had been nothing more than idle curiosity. She'd never ogled her, wanted her, fought the urge to jump her. Christ, she had to be more careful.

Like Water and Water is available from Torquere Press... right here!

Giselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/ero...

Hot Under The Collar BDSM Anthology Now Available

Just noticed the e-version of Xcite's awesome Hot Under The Collar anthology is available in advance of the print version, which hits the shelves in January. The first time I saw this cover, my knees went weak. I just love it.
Hot Under the Collar - Tales of Submission and DominationDomination and desire go hand in hand, but are you ready to submit to the ultimate in sexy seduction?

Masters and slaves get together to inflict, pain, pleasure and above all passion upon each other. Bondage and whips, dungeons and dominatrix, collaring and conquering, these 20 stories explore every aspect of sexual submission. From Xcite Books, winners ETO Best Erotic Book Brand 2010 & 2011.

My story in Hot Under the Collar is called Diamonds and Gold, about a woman who "never claimed to be a perfect slave." After 20 years of marriage to her Master, she starts an affair with man she met online and lies through her teeth until her husband catches on.
Jai Li isn't your typical millionaire businesswoman, or your typical submissive, for that matter. She's been married to her Husband and Master for nearly 25 years, and she's spent 4 of those years cheating on her Husband and Master with a man in another city, claiming she's traveling so often for business. Jai Li thinks she's got the wool pulled over Master's eyes until the day he buys her an early 25th anniversary gift: a permanently-affixed diamond and gold collar. When he then asks her to cancel her next "business" trip, how can she refuse?
And, yes, it happens to be named after a Tom Waits song. Thanks for noticing :-)

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Giselle Renarde Canada just got hotter!

Visit me online
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com
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http://twitter.com/GiselleRenarde Giselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

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WANTED: Lovers of Cowboys and Westerns

Authors! Readers! Publishers!
You're wanted. Yes, you. When? Today. Where? The LoveRomancesCafe Yahoo group. Why? For a celebration of cowboys and westerns.Reward: Participation is its own reward!
Want more information? Keep reading, partner.

**Permission to Forward Granted**
Wednesday November 23rd is all about Cowboys and Westerns. Love hunky sexy cowboys with a slow drawl that makes shivers go up your spine? Well so do I...so get ready for our Western theme day here at the LRC Loop.

Theme Day is EXCERPTS ONLY so save those new contract, blogging, etc news for Mondays.

Time: Midnight to midnight EST (USA TIME)

WHERE: LR Cafe Yahoo Loop
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveromancescafe)

Genres welcome: Westerns as well as sub-genres as long as it's classified as Westerns or Cowboys by your publisher.

Any heat rating is welcome-from sweet to oh so hot you need a fire extinguisher.

Put "Excerpt" in subject line please.

Unlimited posting of excerpts this day.

Publishers-if you have any submission calls for this theme, please drop in and let us know.

If you have any questions, please email me at dawn_roberto@yahoo.com OFF
THE LOOP and I can answer you as soon as I get back online.

Dawn-Owner-LRC

Giselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!

http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/ero...