Harper Bliss's Blog, page 36
June 25, 2014
French Kissing Fantasy Casting: Stéphanie Mathis
Full credit to my wife, who fantasy-cast Cécile de France as Steph. It works out well in so many ways! Most importantly, she has that boyish charm and effortless, nonchalant elegance. I can just see her holding court at the bar at Les Pêches, possibly sneaking into Le Noir… Or, perhaps not entirely as planned, on her way to Dominique.
Admittedly, it would also be a bit of a disgrace to not fantasy-cast (is that a verb now?) anyone French in a serial called French Kissing set in Paris. Not that I have with Cécile de France, because she’s from Belgium. Ha! Okay, that didn’t make any sense. Although Cécile de France is from Belgium, she is super famous in France and might as well be French. (There is no work for her in Belgium, anyway.) (And her surname is ‘de France’.) Either way, no matter where she’s from, she would make an excellent Steph.
If she thinks she can summon me… oh, what the hell. Taxi! Palais Bourbon, s’il vous plaît!
Back in the day, when Steph just started at Barbier & Cyr…
I know, I let her top me again…
This concludes the fantasy casting. Truth be told, apart from Steph, the names of these actresses appeared next to the names I gave my characters back when I was making my first notes months ago. All five of them have been in my head, doing all the things they do in French Kissing, for quite some time. For those of you who follow my blog, it may make for more interesting reading in Season Two! 
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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French Kissing Fantasy Casting: Dominique Laroche
Yes, I’m keeping Steph’s fantasy casting for last (but only because she seems to be the hardest to pin a face on.) So, let’s do Dominique first. As you can see, the character of rising political star Dominique Laroche is based on an almost-real politician: Birgitte Nyborg.
At Casa Bliss, during that week about a year ago when we binge-watched all three seasons of Borgen, all we talked about was Birgitte Nyborg (and Kasper and Katrine… do yourself a huge favour: watch Borgen!) I may even have chosen to insert a bit of politics in French Kissing just so that I could have a character inspired by Birgitte Nyborg (and, yes, sometimes I do wonder if I shouldn’t just write fan fiction).
I’m conservative, but not that conservative…
Oh god, what have I done? (And when can I do it again?)
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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June 23, 2014
French Kissing Fantasy Casting: Nadia Abadi
It’s not because I have a serious soft spot for Juliette that I don’t recognise that Nadia is the real hero of their relationship. Maybe it’s unhealthy, or co-dependent, or just very lesbian, but Juliette needs Nadia. In fact, most characters in French Kissing need Nadia. She’s not free of mistakes—no one is—but she’s not afraid to speak her mind and, e.g., set Margot straight. (I won’t go into detail to avoid spoilers.)
Who better to portray such a wise, warm, righteous woman with a hidden dominant streak than Saul’s wife? I know, it’s a disgrace that I didn’t even know who Sarita Choudhury was before I swooned every time she got a few seconds of screen time on Homeland (but I’ll definitely be watching Kama Sutra this week!)
You can’t exactly tell by looking at her, but we all know what she’s thinking (
about doing to Juliette…)
Oh Nadia, I, too, have tried to give up wine numerous times and have never once succeeded.
So, now that I’ve revealed both ‘my’ Juliette and Nadia, how do you feel about their last sex scene in Episode Six?
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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French Kissing Fantasy Casting: Juliette Barbier
I love all ‘my ladies’, of course, and I hope they all come across as complex and interesting as I intended them to be, but as far as understanding of and compassion for a deeply flawed character goes, I’m firmly in Juliette’s camp.
Based on reader reactions after the first two episodes, Juliette was the least favourite character, because she does have a sense of entitledness about her and she does make the wrong choices and, more often than not, says the wrong things to Nadia. On an emotional level, half of the time, Juliette has no clue what she’s doing, despite being a control freak. But she has a big heart and she means well, she’s just not very good at expressing it most of the time. This probably makes her the most ‘real’ character I’ve written.
Oh wait, this is a fantasy casting blog post, not an ode to Juliette Barbier.
For me, Juliette = Gillian Anderson.
I’ve had dreams about Juliette & Claire, but it was always crystal clear that it could never work out.
Most likely NOT discussing work again at Barbier & Cyr…
These fantasy casting blog posts are so much fun. Can’t wait to introduce you to ‘my Nadia’ tomorrow…
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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June 19, 2014
French Kissing Fantasy Casting: Margot de Hay
Honestly, it only just now occurred to me that Ming-Na Wen used to play a doctor on ER. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because in Margot’s case, the character was very much inspired by another fictional character: Melinda May (aka the only valid reason to waste time on watch Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.) Emotionally guarded. Tough as nails. Smoking hot in leather. Always ready to kick your ass (or tie you up). Ring any bells? Indeed, Margot = Melinda May!
You can tie me up any time, Margot.
You should also check out this Tumblr with too many amazing gifs, like this one:
And this one!
(Episode Five, just before…)
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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French Kissing Fantasy Casting: Claire Cyr
When imagining a character, I have a very strong tendency to picture them as really hot famous people. It’s what makes erotica writing the best job in the world.
I know I said in an one of my earlier French Kissing blog posts that I wouldn’t reveal the physical inspiration for the characters, but I’ve been (mildly) pressed to do so and… well, I also came across this picture which simply begs to be shared. (I’ve only been staring at it all day long.)
Let’s start with Claire, because I believe that cat has been out of the bag for quite some time (due to the obvious nature of my choice/long-standing celebrity crush.) Of course, Claire = Robin Wright!
I’m so jealous of Margot.
Tomorrow I’ll be back to reveal who ‘my Margot’ is (although that one’s not really much of a secret either.) ;-p
All info on French Kissing: Season One here >>
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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June 18, 2014
Goodreads giveaway of French Kissing
I’m giving away two (signed!) paperback copies of French Kissing: Season One on Goodreads! Do enter, I’ll ship them anywhere in the world.
Also, FYI, French Kissing: Episode One is not yet free on all Amazon websites (e.g. Amazon UK), but you can get it in all formats from the retailers listed here >>
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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June 16, 2014
French Kissing: Season One
Six months ago, it all started with this…
And now… we have this! 
The boxed set of French Kissing is out! My mind is still a bit frazzled by this, so I will resort to bullet points to make the following announcements/pleas for help…
- The price of the boxed set is 40% cheaper than all episodes combined. To make this fair on readers who started to buy the episodes separately, I did this. This offer is still valid. E-mail me your receipts and I’ll send you the boxed set for free!
- If you’ve e-mailed me with purchase receipts of the first 4 episodes, you should have received the boxed set from me via e-mail (or directly on your Kindle if you went for that option) last Friday. If you haven’t received it, do let me know!
- Season One is also available in paperback. At $18.99 this version is not cheap, but for a book of 510 pages, it was the cheapest we could go (paper costs money). I’ll be doing a GoodReads giveaway for the paperback. I’ll post the details as soon as I have them.
- French Kissing: Episode One is now free. So, if you haven’t sampled my dramatic new serial yet, here’s your chance to do so risk-free!
- If you’ve read and reviewed the separate episodes, an overall review on Amazon and/or GoodReads for the boxed set would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!
- I want to thank everyone who has sent me feedback on French Kissing while I was writing it. Your kind words and insightful comments were very much appreciated… and gave me a few ideas along the way.
- French Kissing: Episode One currently has 9 reviews on Amazon. I need one more before I can submit it to a few promo sites. If you happen to be the person to write the 10th review, send me an e-mail with the link and I’ll offer you a free book from my back list.
- The F/F Romance group on GoodReads will read French Kissing: Season One as book of the month in July. I will be giving away free copies and engaging in some dramatic discussions. Do join if you like processing as much as my characters do.
French Kissing: Season One is available as e-book from:
buy
Direct from author
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon DE
Kobo
iTunes
All Romance
Smashwords
Add it to your GoodReads shelf >>
Available as paperback from:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season One and Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust
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Want more FREE stories? Download Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl
June 9, 2014
French Kissing: Episode Six
Well, here we are, Episode Six (aka The Season Finale) is out! For the release of the boxed set (planned for next week) I’ll be doing some retrospective blog posts on what I’ve learned from writing a serial, who my favourite character is (despite, of course, loving them all equally!) and to reveal my ‘fantasy casting’. But, for now, I’m just enjoying the moment of having finished this rather epic undertaking.
It all started from two pages of scribbled notes six months ago, and trust me, these characters, as they grew, have surprised me greatly along the way as well. It was my initial plan to start on Season Two quite quickly after Season One (with just a break for writing a novel in between), but I think I’ll give myself a bit more time. For me (e.g. a person with a very short attention span), spending six months on (basically) one story is very long. But, I promise to have the first episode of the new season out in January 2015. (There should be enough resolution at the end of Episode Six to tide us all over for a bit.)
That being said, writing this first season of French Kissing was so much fun and I hope that comes across on the page (or e-reader screen). I have such a soft spot for all six (Dominique Laroche included!) of the characters and I hope the season finale leaves you satisfied.
Here’s the short blurb. The longer one (containing mild spoilers about previous episodes) can be found here >>
In Episode Six of French Kissing all the drama comes to a head. Will all the ladies get their happy ending?
It’s available from these retailers:
buy
Direct from author
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon DE
All Romance
Smashwords
Add it to your GoodReads shelf >>
P.S. I’ve you’ve e-mailed me with purchase receipts of the first 4 episodes, I’ll send you the boxed set early next week!
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Latest releases: French Kissing: Episode Six, Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust and French Kissing: Episode Five
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May 21, 2014
NEW RELEASE: Bossy
I should have known that when asking my favourite lesbian erotica authors to contribute to a ‘sex-at-work’ mini-anthology, none of them would actually use the office as a setting. Their originality and quirkiness (along with excellent writing skills) are, after all, what makes me a fan. Even I, possibly the biggest aficionado of sexy F/F office encounters, chose to set my story quite far away from the traditional work floor.
Once again, I’m honoured to have been able to put this mini-anthology together (the third of it its kind already, after Sweat and A Christmas to Remember). It’s always such a pleasure to work with these talented authors and publish their stories (one of he biggest perks of being in this business.) I like to think we have a good mix of styles going in these mini-anthologies with Laila Blake’s poetic prose, Cheyenne Blue’s dazzling quality, Lucy Felthouse’s light-hearted smut and Erzabet Bishop’s irresistible fun factor (and my own flair for the dramatic.)
Without further ado, I give you Bossy.
Here’s the blurb:
If the characters in Bossy prove anything, it’s that getting it on at work doesn’t mean you need to wipe all papers off the surface and get busy on your desk. The settings in this new mini-anthology from Ladylit are as diverse as the positions the ladies in these five stories find themselves in. A doctor finds comfort with a nurse in Cheyenne Blue’s romantic tale of love in the ultrasound room, while Laila Blake’s story shows a professor who can’t resist one of her students on a sweltering hot day in the classroom. Add a maid whose mistress demands full servitude, a sexy mechanic offering roadside assistance and an A-list actress who has trouble hiding her secrets from a Hollywood reporter… and you get Bossy: five productive tales of lesbian lust.
Caution: This title contains graphic language and bossy f/f sex and is suitable for adults only.
Table of contents
Bird of the Summer by Laila Blake
Off the Record by Harper Bliss
Roadside Assistance by Lucy Felthouse
As You Wish by Erzabet Bishop
My Name Is Bond by Cheyenne Blue
Available from
buy
Direct from author
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
Amazon CA
Smashwords
All Romance
Add it to your GoodReads shelf >>
Enjoy! (And, as an extra caution, it would be better to not read these stories at work.)
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Latest releases: Bossy: Five Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust, French Kissing: Episode Five and French Kissing: Episode Four
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Want more FREE stories? Download Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl
