Cheyenne Blue's Blog, page 16

All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance & Erotica

I’ve been sitting on this one for a while. A few months ago I was invited to contribute to “All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance & Erotica”, an anthology of stories revolving around food. And lesbians. And Romance. And Sex. Andi Marquette and R.G. Emanuelle have put together a great line up of writers: Sacchi Green, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Jove Belle and more. And me. My story, “Tomato Lady” is included alongside these great writers.

Look at the cover! Isn’t it pretty!

You can read more about this collection from the editors, R.G. Emanuelle and Andi Marquette, or over at the publisher, Ylva Publishing.

Roll on August!

Are you Bossy?

Are you Bossy?

I am right now, and so are Laila Blake, Lucy Felthouse, Erzabet Bishop, and Harper Bliss!

Harper Bliss has put together another mini-anthology, featuring the same authors whose stories made up Sweat and A Christmas to Remember.

Bossy is all about sex in the workplace. But the the workplace is a wide one, and the settings include a mechanic on roadside assist duty, a professor and student, a Hollywood reporter and an A-List actress, a mistress and a maid, and doctor and nurse.

Check us out!

Cowboy Heat in USA Today!

Hey, Cowboy Heat is featured in USA Today! Check us out, us being many of the fantastic authors talking about their stories. Et moi.

Writing on the move: planes, trains and automobiles

I’m guest posting today, over at Delilah Devlin’s blog. My post on writing on the move is here.

Why don’t you wander over and pay me and Delilah a visit?

Update: Call for Submissions Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire

I’m receiving some wonderful submissions for Forbidden Fruit. Great stories, strongly written, and a wide variety of interpretations of the theme. Thank you to those who have already submitted.

There’s still three weeks until submissions close, so it’s a good time to talk about what I’m actively looking for to round out this collection. If you’ve already submitted to me, or your story is nearly complete and ready for submission, don’t be put off if, after reading the below, you think your story doesn’t fit. The below is not a requirement. It’s all about a variety of styles, subjects and interpretation.

I’d love to see a few more stories that focus on the internal conflict of the forbidden fruit theme. What makes your character override the safety switch in her head that says “She’s off limits; I must NOT do this.”? It’s not enough to say “she was my [insert reason why she is forbidden]” and then dive into the story without further reflection or reference back to this. I want stories that enmesh me in the conflict of wanting what your character can’t have, of yearning for someone who is off limits, of wanting them so badly that your character is prepared to risk everything for love. Or lust.

Happy ever after is not necessarily required (although it can be), happy for now and ambivalent endings are fine. The memory of a single night can be powerful enough to sustain, if your characters go their separate ways.

Please feel free to email any queries to forbiddenfruitantho at gmail dot com.

I look forward to reading more of your stories.

Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire

Editor: Cheyenne Blue

Publisher: Ladylit

Deadline: 15 May 2014

Payment: US$40.00 plus a copy of e-book and paperback

Rights: First worldwide digital rights and print rights.

Forbidden Fruit. She’s off limits but the attraction burns so bright it’s impossible to resist.

Cheyenne Blue is seeking stories of lesbian passion on this theme. Think teacher and student. A best friend’s ex—or current—lover. A monogamous couple tempted by a threesome. A traveler leaving on the next plane. A much younger—or older—woman. A straight woman. The bad girl heartbreaker. The attraction between characters should scorch the pages and sexual tension is as important as the actual sex. As for the sex, think hot and desperate. Think once-to-get-it-out-of-our-system sex. Or this-really-is-the-last-time sex.

Please note the usual no-nos still apply: no incest / underage sex / rape / necrophilia / bestiality / scat. No poetry please.

Preferred length: 2500 – 5000 words

Unpublished stories strongly preferred, although a couple of reprints might be used. Reprints must be solely owned by the author.

US English. Please submit a double-spaced Microsoft Word document, using a 12-point serif font, such as Georgia or Times New Roman. One inch margins. If using a pen name, include both real and pen name on the manuscript.

Send your story as a .doc or .rtf file attachment to Cheyenne Blue at forbiddenfruitantho@gmail.com. Please include Forbidden Fruit and your story title in the subject line. In the body of the email please include your legal name, pseudonym, a short bio, and previous publication information if the story is a reprint.

Established authors welcomed, newcomers encouraged. I look forward to reading your work.

All submissions acknowledged within 3 days and acceptances notified by 15 June 2014.

About the editor: Cheyenne Blue’s erotic fiction has been included in over 90 erotic anthologies since 2000. Under her own name she has written travel books and articles, and edited anthologies of local writing in Ireland.

Guest Posting at We Love Kink

You can read my guest post on polocrosse and cowboys over at We Love Kink

Cowboy Heat blog tour

Hey everyone, I’m a day late (and some would say and a dollar short) but the Cowboy Heat blog tour kicked off yesterday. You can read my post about the difference between the genteel sport of polo and the rough and tumble sport of polocrosse over at The Scarf Princess’ blog. My story, “Cowboy Downtime” in “Cowboy Heat” is based around a polocrosse match.

Comment over there with your email address and you could win a $10 Amazon gift card.

Best Lesbian Erotica 2014

Contributor copies for Best Lesbian Erotica 2014 were sent out a long time ago by the ever awesome Cleis Press, however as I’m in Australia, I’m used to my copies taking longer than usual. I had it in my head they’d arrived, but could I find them? No.

They turned up today. Seems my partner collected the mail and chucked it on the front seat of the ute, where it became buried under a mishmash of shopping bags, rolls of duct tape, screws, small tools, and more than a few wrappers from the fastfoodchainthatshallnotbenamed.

However Best Lesbian Erotica 2014 emerged from the debris today (along with a now overdue water rates bill) and I’m looking forward to reading. Edited by Kathleen Warnock, it has stories by some of my favorite writers including Teresa Noelle Roberts, Catherine Lundoff, and Xan West, as well as writers that are new to me (but not for much longer).

My story “Run, Jo, Run” is included as well, which is inspired by my days of fell running in the UK. However I’m not half the runner that Jo and Carys are! (I wish).

“Cowboy Downtime” in “Cowboy Heat”

I’m posting on the “Cowboy Heat” blog today in the lead-up to the release of “Cowboy Heat: Western Romance for Women”. This collection of short stories from Cleis Press has a release date of 18 March. Edited by Delilah Devlin, the editor who brought us the super-hot “Cowboy Lust”, this anthology contains stories from Randi Alexander, Cat Johnson, Cynthia D’Alba, Amber Lin, Sabrina York and many more.

You can read about the inspiration behind my story, “Cowboy Downtime” here.

The writing process meme

There’s been a meme going around for a while now, about writing process. I was tagged by the wonderful Harper Bliss (Check out her new series, “French Kissing”. Go on, what are you waiting for?).

The meme asks these questions:

1) What am I working on?

I have a few things on the go. I’m working on a couple of different lesbian short stories for a couple of different anthologies (yes, Harper, including yours!). Both are around 75% completed to first draft, but that’s when the real work starts.

I also am playing around with writing something longer. Long novella, I think. All I’ll say about this is that it’s lesbian erotica, and it’s not for any particular call, and it doesn’t have a home. It may never have a home if I don’t stop wiffling about it and finish it.

And of course, I’m also editing an erotica anthology, Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire which will be published by Ladylit later this year. I’m very excited about that!

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

To be honest, I don’t know. I read others’ work and I can see their trademark style: humor, a particular way of telling a story, favorite words or scenes, but I can’t see those same pointers in my own work that would enable anyone to pick it.

I do have a liking for giving stories a very strong sense of place. Maybe that’s my trademark. Maybe not.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I started writing erotica 14 years ago – my first published story was in 2000. Back then, I wrote erotic short stories as a way of writing about life and characters and how they react in different situations. Life through sex-colored glasses. That’s still my reason for writing what I do.

4) How does my writing process work?

I’m a pantser who is trying to become a bit more organised. Generally, I let an idea roll around in my head for a while before I start to write, so that I’ve a good feel for the characters and what’s going to happen (apart from A meets B, they have sexxx. The End). I like to put my characters into a situation and see what happens, which is all well and good, but before I start writing I have to know that there’s a full story in there, rather than just a reaction (or a one line gag, or a description). Sometimes I will start writing to find that the story won’t work, in which case I shunt it over to my huge ‘unfinished’ folder where it may sit for years. This folder is normally my first stop when I want to write something specific. I check it to see if there’s something I can finish in a different direction. Often there is. My story in “A Christmas to Remember” was first started back in 2007. My story in “Cowboy Lust” has several much longer drafts dating back to 2008 before ending up as the current version.

There’s also several jottings, opening lines, and character descriptions that I hope will someday find their way into a story.

My first drafts are always horrible, but I edit a lot. A LOT.

I’m supposed to tag someone else for this meme, but everyone I asked had already been tagged or was standing aside on this one. If there’s anyone out there who still wants to play, shout and I’ll link you in.