Emerald's Blog, page 6

Jumping into Book Hooks with “Relative Anonymity” #MFRWHooks #MFRWAuthor

Now that I have a book (books, actually, but the erotic romance one is the one I’m emphasizing in MFRW promotions :)) of my own, I get the pleasure of taking advantage of Marketing for Romance Writers (MFRW) promotional opportunities like Book Hooks! A number of authors participate each week, so please follow the links below my post to check out theirs as well.

This week I’m excerpting six sentences from one of the stories in my erotic romance collection, If… Then, which was released last month from 1001 Nights Press. The collection comprises ten stories—eight previously published and two new—and the official blurb and buy links are below.

From “Relative Anonymity”:

Sometimes looking at her life had felt like looking at scenes from a book: they fit together perfectly, but she almost hadn’t felt inside or a part of them. She and David grew up together, their families were best friends, and they loved each other, but their marriage was like a piece of a puzzle of overall togetherness that the situation required. “They as a couple” had sometimes seemed like no more than a congeniality, a formality to complete things the way they were supposed to be completed. Was it about privacy? Maybe. Carly wasn’t even sure what she meant by that, but she knew that privacy had seemed like a mysterious, elusive concept that occurred in other people’s lives.

-“Relative Anomymity” in If… Then: a collection of erotic romance stories

BLURB: In these tales of sizzling erotic romance, deep affection and the warmth of familiarity underlie the erotic connection between longtime lovers. “The Plant on the Mantel” explores the unexpected implications of a generations-past affair on a young married couple. “Honey Changes Everything” finds Kim wondering how to lead her husband out of his state of despair upon losing his job; inspiration comes when breakfast in bed serves up more than just pancakes. And “If…” and “…Then” examine what happens when Valerie finds herself intensely attracted to someone other than her boyfriend—and what he does when he finds out.

With two original stories (“Soft and Gray” and “Shattered Angels”) joining the eight previously published tales in this collection, If… Then is a testament to the scorching eroticism that can so seamlessly subsist with long-term romance.

Buy If… Then: a collection of erotic romance stories from:

   Amazon
   Barnes & Noble
   Smashwords
   iBooks
   Kobo
   Scribd

Thank you for coming by, and please do check out the other authors participating in this week’s Book Hooks listed below!

Love,

Emerald

The Story of Safe

It is my pure and profound delight to announce that my second single-author short story collection, Safe: a collection of erotic stories, is available in print and e-book formats now!

In February of 2013, I embarked on a solitary writing trip to Niagara Falls. I talked at some length about the reasons for that, as well as the results, on KD Grace’s blog here later that year when she graciously invited me to be a guest there.

One thing I didn’t mention at that time, mainly because it hadn’t happened yet and I’ve tended to not want to chat about such things until they’ve actually materialized, is that I was aware at that time that I had gone to Niagara Falls for a very specific reason. There were three particular stories I had wanted to write there that I had conceived in my head but yet not transferred onto paper (or computer, as the case may be). I wanted to take that trip to specifically relinquish other responsibilities for that few days and focus solely on allowing these three stories to be written.

They were the final components of the short story collection I had known I had wanted to create for some time.

You may be noticing at this point that it took me quite a while to complete said process. :) Yes, that seems true, but I consider that trip to Niagara Falls to be a watershed moment in the process that has led to my first two single-author books, If… Then and Safe .

Safe was the title of the manuscript I originally submitted to 1001 Nights Press for publication consideration earlier this year. As I alluded to in my post announcing the release of If… Then, when I heard back from Sharazade, 1001 Nights Press’s head honcho, I interpreted her as suggesting the collection be divided into two separate volumes.

I balked at this idea, since I was admittedly pretty set in the perception of it I had had for more than a year as a complete whole. Now, I appreciate that suggestion so much and can see just how wise it seemed.

Basically, we divided the original manuscript between erotica stories and erotic romance stories, or those that at least seemed to contain romantic elements and romance-oriented (i.e., happy!) endings. I am aware both that erotica and erotic romance are separate genres and that they have distinct (though sometimes, of course, overlapping) audiences. Thus, turning Safe into both If… Then and Safe (the erotica collection kept the original title, which is also the title of its final story) made a lot of sense from both a marketing and a reader-orientation standpoint.

If… Then came out first so I could promote it at Hot Mojave Knights, the magnificent reader-oriented author and reader event I attended in Las Vegas last month. It’s been a whirlwind month for me of the thrill of my very first solo book and the promotional obligations that correspond (in my view) with having had the honor to be published. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and offered such gracious congratulations, and especially to those who have bought the book! :)

Today, October 15, is Safe‘s release date. It is a profound joy to me to have this volume published and available to the public as the final step of the collection of which I began the vaguest formulations in my consciousness literally years ago.

Safe’s table of contents is as follows:

Power over Power

Hers to Keep*

Of Her Own Accord*

Lifeline

Open Invitation

Is Not Gold

To Make It That Way

On the Rise*

More**

Safe*

*previously unpublished

**previously published as “With Random Precision”

I have been working as well on a slight update of my website, which should be visible soon, that will emphasize the availability of these two collections. Probably the biggest difference will be that the home page will no longer be my blog. Rather, entry to the site will land visitors on a static page with information on If… Then and Safe. Rest assured, however, the blog will be quite easily accessible via the “Blog” tab of the menu bar. :) (The link directly to the blog will not change.) I’m not planning for the look of the blog to change much (save the site header, which I am revising slightly), but the pages will have a bit of a different aesthetic as I remove the side bars from all except the blog page.

Anyway, to get back to Safe, this collection contains four original (meaning previously unpublished) stories. Two of them have been done for some time, tucked away on reserve for the single-author collection I was so earnestly planning. The other two were finished more recently—specifically, in Niagara Falls.

Technically that’s not exactly true: the first drafts were finished in Niagara Falls, though the editing process went on for months after my return. These two are “On the Rise,” which had waited patiently as an almost entirely formulated short story draft in my head for an astonishingly long time before I buckled down to concentrate on actually transferring it into more tangible existence. The other story is “Safe” (the title story, obviously), whose idea had just taken shape a couple months before I headed up across the border to Canada to bring it to fruition.

And so, at long last, the stories have been completed, the manuscript submitted (and accepted, and divided), the volumes formatted, and now, the books released out of my sole possession and into the world. I couldn’t be more thrilled about it and once again want to extend particular thanks to my publisher, 1001 Nights Press, for its place in this manifestation of a dream that’s been in me for thirty years.

Safe: a collection of erotic stories is on sale now in both print and electronic formats at the following retailers.

Amazon

Amazon UK (Kindle) (print)

Barnes & Noble

iBooks

Kobo

Scribd

Thank you for reading. :)

Love,

Emerald

EXCERPT:

“You’re safe with me, baby.” Sam’s whispered voice was rough, urgent. His solid form pressed against her back as his embrace held her arms, her whole body, in place between himself and the counter. “Do you hear me? You’re safe with me.”

The words brought forth a rush of fluid between her legs, and her strength left her as she sagged against his grasp. It tightened, not letting her fall, and she made an incoherent sound as she felt him pause a split second before removing one hand and sliding it slowly down her hip.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” His grip had turned to iron, his voice like redemption in her ear.

Her “yes” was strangled, pushing forth faster than her system had the capacity to articulate.

-from “Safe,” the title story of Safe: a collection of erotic stories

Recommended Reading #217: Humanity and Inspiration, Pt. XIII

      “Creative People, Forgive Yourselves” by Scott at New Trail Coaching (Non-Sex-Related, Self-Care, Creative Endeavors) 10/13/14

This struck me as beautiful, astute, poignant, and needed.

***

      “Pause” by Sommer Marsden (Non-Sex-Related, Memoir, Tribute) 8/12/14

I find this tribute so beautiful I don’t want to interfere with it by commenting further. I simply offer a recommendation to view it.

***

      “An Open Letter to My Now Ex-Wife” by Michael Cheshire (Relationship, Memoir, Consciousness) 9/24/14

I find this an inspiringly beautiful expression in response to a shift in relationship. It reflects, in my interpretation, the true spirit of authentic loving relationship. I don’t see such shift in relationship as some kind of relationship “failure,” nor do I use longevity as a standard judgement for the “success” or quality of a relationship.

***

Recommended Reading posted every Wednesday

If… Then Is Here!!

I am thrilled beyond description to present my first solo book, If… Then: a collection of erotic romance stories, published by 1001 Nights Press.

When I first submitted the manuscript to the publisher, Sharazade, who is the founder of 1001 Nights Press, recommended splitting it into two books. While I was at first taken aback by the idea, having carefully written and compiled the collection as a whole, I quickly understood the reasoning behind her suggestion as I interpreted it. Thus, If… Then was born, a compilation of ten stories that comprised almost half of the original manuscript (I actually got to add back in a few previously published stories I had removed from the complete manuscript due to length). Eight of the stories in If… Then are previously published, including the two title stories, “If…” and “…Then,” a pair of sequel stories that respectively open and close the book.

The complete table of contents is as follows:

If… Then: a collection of erotic romance stories by Emerald

If…

Soft and Gray

Honey Changes Everything

The Plant on the Mantel

Relative Anonymity

Shattered Angels

Apple Blossoms

Rain Check

No Such Thing

…Then

The two original stories in the collection are “Soft and Gray” and “Shattered Angels.” I worked on “Shattered Angels” during a portion of the solo writing trip to Niagara Falls I took early last year. When the ever-lovely KD Grace invited me to be a guest on her blog last year, I talked about that trip and offered an excerpt of the (then unpublished) “Shattered Angels.” If you would like to read said post, please find it on KD’s blog here.

If… Then is available in both print and electronic forms, and I really don’t know if I could feel more excited about it. :) A huge shout-out of appreciation to my publisher, 1001 Nights Press, for publishing this collection and especially for working so hard to get the book out so in time for me to have it (in both print and e-book form) this weekend for Hot Mojave Knights in Las Vegas this weekend.

And for those keeping count, this does mean that yes, I will have another collection coming out soon with 1001 Nights Press. :) The dividing line for the manuscript was roughly into erotic romance and erotica stories: If… Then is the erotic romance compilation. The erotica one will be released later this year. More about that when the time comes!

For now, If… Then is on sale at the following retailers:

Amazon US (e-book and paperback)

Amazon UK (e-book and paperback)

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

iBooks

Kobo

Scribd

Thank you so much to everyone who has ever read, supported, and/or appreciated my work. I love you. :)

Love,

Emerald

EXCERPT:

I brushed my lips against his cheek as I stepped back.

“There, I’ll kiss you instead,” I said.

Hayden’s chuckle was barely audible. “That wasn’t a kiss.”

He moved forward, and his lips touched mine so lightly it was possible those behind him wouldn’t even know what was happening in the shadowy dusk around us. He backed up with the same silence with which he had stepped toward me.

My breath had seemed to disappear into the growing darkness.

-from “If…”

Recommended Reading #216: Animals

      “9/11 Ground Zero search dog still lends a helping paw” by Laura T. Coffey (Non-Sex-Related, Humanity and Inspiration, 9/11, Dogs) 9/11/14

I cried pretty much all the way through this, finding it intensely, indescribably beautiful and moving.

***

      “Losing My Healer & Protector Max” by Dr. Diane Poole Heller (Non-Sex-Related, Memoir, Dogs) 9/4/14

I found this a beautiful and heartbreaking tribute to a dog I once saw on DVD helping a client as Diane describes when I was attending one of Diane’s workshops a few years ago. Beautiful journey and all love to you, Max.

***

      “Who Rescued Whom? Shelter Dogs and Prison Inmates Give Each Other a New ‘Leash’ on Life” by Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald (Non-Sex-Related, Dogs, Humanity and Inspiration) 9/3/14

Beautiful in so many ways.

***

Recommended Reading posted every Wednesday

Recommended Reading #215: Shifting Perpectives, Pt. V

      “Why The Questions We’re Asking About Sex Work Are Wrong” by Kate D’Adamo (Sex Work, Psychology, Labor, Sex and Culture) 9/9/14

I really appreciate Kate’s (appropriately and realistically, as I see it) nuanced and pragmatic approach in this piece. While I myself have tended to perceive more ideologically than pragmatically in general, in this context I certainly recognize great value in the pragmatism I interpret in this piece.

***

      “Iowa’s Family Values” by Steven W. Thrasher (Memoir, Marriage, LGBTQ Rights) 4/8/09

I don’t doubt I would find this a lovely piece anyway, but that it was about my home state made it particularly moving to me. I am aware of some political fallout in the state following this that was executed in a way I find appalling (as I understand it, basically the very conservative candidate that lost in the primary race for governor shortly thereafter then leveraged his campaign momentum and resources solely to oust the state Supreme Court judges whose votes had overturned the gay marriage ban…and succeeded :( ), but the state still did indeed overturn a ban on gay marriage, which is currently legally permissible in Iowa.

***

      “Spanking Is Great for Sex” by Jillian Keenan (Youth, Sociology, Parenting) 9/17/14

I understand how very controversial this will undoubtedly seem. I also, however, agree with it. UPDATE: After I posted this, my attention was brought (through a series of tweets from the truly magnificent Alana Noel Voth to the author) to this response. Please consider it a Recommended Reading addendum!

***

Recommended Reading posted every Wednesday

Kissing for Good—The Snog for Sommer Blog Tour

It is my privilege to participate in the Snog for Sommer blog tour event to help support author colleague Sommer Marsden and her family as Sommer’s husband battles cancer. The blog tour features more than 50 authors who have posted snippets of their work featuring kissing in order to encourage financial support for Sommer and her family in the midst of their current and immense challenges.

You may recall a few weeks ago when I posted about Summer Loving, the anthology created to financially benefit Sommer and her family. If you missed it, feel free to take a look at my post that explains in a bit more detail why so many of us in the erotica and erotic romance author communities are aspiring to help Sommer and her family at this time. (The post also includes buy links, so feel free to pick up your copy of Summer Loving both to benefit Sommer and to read some lovely flash erotica.)

To participate in the Snog for Sommer blog tour, authors are asked to post a kissing-related excerpt on their blogs today. As I announced yesterday (see post below!!) my first single-author short story collection, If…Then, should be coming out later this month. (I don’t have an exact release date and will be sure to update when I do!) As it happens, there are a few kissing scenes in it. I’ve chosen to excerpt one from one of the two stories in If…Then that are original to the collection/not previously published. The following excerpt is from “Soft and Gray”:

Fighting the urge to turn around and reenter that which was familiar to him, Aaron turned left and set off across the foyer, bypassing the sweeping staircase for the hallway that ran behind it. He had no idea where Kate would be. Most of his visits to the Buchanans’ house had been formal, without much wandering of the countless rooms of the mansion. But the chances were just as good he would run into Kate as either of her parents, and he could always excuse himself if the latter happened. Finding her was more important than politeness.

He quickened his pace, then stopped as he heard a noise. He crept forward, passing a full-length mirror on his right before he came upon the open doorway to the billiard room. Kate was there, quietly pulling a bottle from the wet bar. The glass clinked as the bottle brushed one of its neighbors.

She looked up as he entered. He couldn’t see her eyes. Minus the backlight of the bar, there were no lights on in the room. He couldn’t tell whether she felt anger at his parading around the house trying to find her or relief that he had done exactly that.

He stopped just inside the doorway. Before he realized what he was doing, his hand reached behind him and pushed the door closed. Kate’s shadow didn’t move. When he heard the faint latch, he slowly took a step forward and moved around the pool table toward her. She set her drink down. As he got closer, the smoothness of her skin took on a glow in the faint backlight.

Bethany’s piano playing started up again. Aaron continued forward and slipped his arm around Kate’s waist before he could see her gray eyes clearly. If they looked as they had the last time he’d seen them, he knew he wouldn’t have the nerve to touch her.

To Aaron it felt as if her body tried to stiffen but was receiving mixed signals somewhere inside. He pushed his mouth to hers, suddenly breathless with wanting her. Grabbing her with both arms, he twirled her around and lifted her in one movement to the pool table where she sat with her legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed her with a desperation he couldn’t remember ever feeling. It didn’t have to do with her body, with fucking her. It was just her. Or him. Or both, he couldn’t tell. He just knew that the very act of touching her was like an orgasm. Their clothes were all on, his hands touching only her waist, and he felt like he was coming—like something was climaxing in him that wasn’t sexual but felt just as powerful, as though he couldn’t bear to stop touching her.

Kate’s lips were kissing him back, but it felt like a moment out of time, like something beyond their actual lives that he couldn’t necessarily count on to mean what he wanted it to when it was over. He had seen her body overtake her before, when it was as though it borrowed time from her mind.

It didn’t mean it wouldn’t have to be paid back.

-from “Soft and Gray,” a story in If…Then, forthcoming from 1001 Nights Press

Thank you so much for coming by today, and please visit the Snog for Sommer blog tour page to find links to all the other participants, as well as a link at which to donate if you feel so moved. Namaste, and be well!

Love,

Emerald

“Maybe you’re losing pieces of your heart, you have a world but it stopped turning…spare your heart, save your soul…and hey, now, let’s recover your soul…”

-Elton John “Recover Your Soul”

I’m Going to Have a Book of My Own!!

I have been honored and unspeakably excited over the last several years (good lord, almost 10 now) to have a number of short stories published in various editors’ anthologies and at online magazines. I have not, however, ever published a book of my own.

That will change at the end of this month. In literally one of the most exciting things I have experienced in this lifetime, my single-author erotic romance short story collection, titled If…Then, will be published by 1001 Nights Press in late September—ideally just in time for Hot Mojave Knights!

AND THIS is the cover. I don’t know that I could have even conceived of one more beautiful or with which I would be more thrilled.

I feel so much appreciation right now for the myriad ways so many people (so very many) have helped and supported me in the context of writing and multiple other ways. Thank you to Rachel Kramer Bussel, Alison Tyler, Violet Blue, Jolie du Pre, and Kristina Wright for choosing my work for your anthologies. Thank you to Cleis Press, Logical-Lust, Sensorotika, Mischief, Ravenous Romance, Excessica, and Sweetmeats Press (that one’s forthcoming!) for publishing those and other anthologies in which I appeared. Thank you to The Erotic Woman, the Good Vibrations blog, Erotica for All, and the now-defunct Oysters & Chocolate erotic and Ruthie’s Club for publishing my work online and to Susana Mayer and Monica Day for inviting me to be featured readers at their events. Thank you enormously to 1001 Nights Press for publishing my collected work in a book that has my name on the cover :) , and thank you to Marketing for Romance Writers (MFRW) for teaching me so much about marketing and offering access to so many resources I will now be needing to use (haha). And a heartfelt thanks definitely goes out to the many, many dear colleagues and friends (often the same thing) I have met in the erotica-writing community over the last near-decade. I appreciate you all so much.

I don’t have an exact release date and will post updates, undoubtedly, for…well, the indefinite future! ;)

Love,

Emerald

“‘Cause everybody has a dream, something they can barely see, and though my heart will break, there’s more that I could take, I could never let it be…”

-Weezer “Photograph”

HMK is Two Weeks Away!

Hey, that rhymes. ;)

This year’s Hot Mojave Knights (HMK) in Las Vegas is from September 25-28 and will be the event’s second annual manifestation. I went last year and am honored and so excited to be attending again this year as a Court Spotlight Author.

I’m not only looking forward to going, I am having (just as I did last year!) tons of fun getting things ready to be there. My costume for the warrior-themed ball is very close to complete, I just sent my swag for the swag bags off to the organizers today, and I’ve just gotten started making the special swag for the people who sit at my table for Saturday night’s ball/banquet. So much fun!! I tend to really like doing stuff like this. ;)

Oh, and I almost forgot—I’ve been hard at work on my raffle basket, too. This year proceeds from our raffle baskets go to Operation Homefront (and I so admire and appreciate that the HMK organizers make a point to organize financial support for a charitable cause as part of the event). I’ll be sure to post pictures of my raffle basket after I’ve compiled everything and put it all together. Pictures will be forthcoming of my special swag too!

Speaking of swag, here is a picture mine for this year—a homemade bookmark with one side green glitter and one side my pen name and website (click to enlarge):

I love glitter. ;)

That’s all for now. If you haven’t registered yet and you live in or near Las Vegas or want to take a trip there, please do join us! If attending the whole event won’t work for you but you find yourself in the Vegas area that Saturday, September 27, we’d love to see you at our public book-signing event from 1:00 -4:00 p.m. at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino!

Let’s get ready to viva Las Vegas!!

Love,

Emerald

”Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire…”

-Elvis Presley “Viva Las Vegas”

Recommended Reading #214: Raising Awareness, Pt. II

      “Next Time Someone Says Women Aren’t Victims Of Harassment, Show Them This.” by Robot Hugs (Gender Socialization, Sociology) 8/9/14

I find this nicely put. I’ve read (and recommended) things that said basically the same thing before; I appreciate this as another way of straightforwardly and succinctly expressing it.

***

      “Mr. Obama, Your Move” by the New York Times Editorial Board (Non-Sex-Related, U.S. Public Policy, Labor, Sociology) 8/9/14

I don’t claim to be any expert on immigration law. I do, however, agree with what I interpret to be stated here. And as with so many (if not all) areas of public policy, I see laws and policies as neither the facilitators nor the upholders of shift…though they can contribute in certain instances/ways. Laws will not fix our species. A much greater shift(s) is necessary for that.

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      “Crime, Bias and Statistics” by Charles M. Blow (Non-Sex-Related, Sociological Research, Race) 9/7/14

I so agree with this and agree too that it’s important to point out. I myself find almost all statistics related to social phenomena something that may seem interesting but should be observed with an understanding that both ways of gathering and ways of interpreting statistics are easily manipulable, both intentionally and unintentionally.

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Recommended Reading posted every Wednesday