Cecilia Tan's Blog, page 17

Cecilia Tan’s “Why I Write Bisexual Romance” now live on HuffPo for Queer Romance Month

First of all, did you know it’s Queer Romance Month? It is. This is the second year I’ve been part of QRM and I heart it heartily. Check out all the many wonderful essays and blogs and giveaways at QueerRomanceMonth.com.

As part of the shindig, my essay “Why I Write Bisexual Romance” went live yesterday at the Huffington Post. Read the whole thing here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecilia-tan/invisible-friends_b_8265012.html

The gist is that being a weirdo who lives in my imagination a lot is not only the best occupation ever for a writer, it’s what’s kept me alive and happy in a real world where my identity is regularly suppressed, i.e. “to stay sane, I’ve had to find ways to push back against the consensus reality that the mainstream tries to saddle me with.”

I write: “When I write, all my characters are bisexual until proven otherwise. My invisible friends earn their keep, not only by being part of how I make my living in fiction writing, but by keeping me sane, by giving me an outlet for all my urges and desires.” Erotic writing isn’t always all about the object of the desire. It’s also “about who I want to BE.”

In my fiction I can be Jorin, or Kyle, or Karina, or Wren. Or, as James is fond of saying in Slow Surrender, “Forget or–embrace and.” I can be all of them and more.

If you’d like to read more on the topic of wearing my Bi Pride T-shirt to Disney World 20 years ago, ruminations on why so many of the love interests in my books edge toward the genderqueer, and more, the essay is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecilia-tan/invisible-friends_b_8265012.html

Xan West: Kinkster scribe of viscerally thinky erotica

I’m very pleased to host Xan West, whose new book SHOW YOURSELF TO ME is this season’s “must read” BDSM book. I’ve known Xan for years through leather/BDSM activism circles as well as queer writing circles. If this interview doesn’t convince you to give Xan’s work a try, you can read a story from the book over at Sinclair Sexsmith’s blog: “Tender Sweet Young Thing.”

CECILIA TAN: First off, how would you describe yourself to a new reader just discovering you? I’ve been trying to write a coherent short bio of you and utterly failing. 

XAN WEST: My erotica contains a heavy concentration of sadism and a strong D/s dynamic and a bunch of dirty talk. It is deeply queer and often centers trans and genderqueer characters, with a range of pairings and a bunch of group play.

Many of my stories are about scenes that are transformative for the characters involved, and many of the characters have trauma histories, where play is partly about claiming their desires. Many are written in the first person and let the internal struggles of the characters unfold through the sex and play, so the scene starts very early in the story. Expect a lot of public sex, and a lot of BDSM, with a particularly high concentration of boot play, blade play, edge play, breath play, dacryphilia, orgasm control and rough body play.

CECILIA TAN: I think I first ran into your fiction about five (?) years ago — long enough ago that I can’t remember exactly — and I heard you read a really powerful piece at a leather conference. (Perhaps The Floating World 2010?) In fact, powerful is the word I’d use for all your writing, both your short stories AND your essays on D/s and kink. What words would you use to describe your own writing?

XAN WEST: I remember that reading! It was such a lovely mix of folks, and such an honor to share the stage with you. The piece I read that night, “Missing Daddy” is the first story in Show Yourself To Me, and powerful is definitely a good word for it.

My fiction and my essays often reflect my BDSM practice. So, my writing tends toward intensity and it pushes edges, works to create arenas where folks (readers, characters, myself as a writer) can be vulnerable and consciously take risks. I would also describe my writing as visceral and emotional, and about intimacy and creating connection.

My work insists on complex representations of power, and openly talks about abusive power, including oppression, both in the world and in kink life. It deeply values consent and I work to make consent very clear and often openly negotiated in my fiction. My writing is deeply and insistently queer. I care about writing for trans and genderqueer folks, in particular, endeavor to put us at the center, and I think all of my writing reflects that.

When I’ve described Show Yourself To Me to folks who don’t know my work I’ve said: “it’s very filthy. Take whatever you imagine erotica might be and turn the dial up several notches. That’s how filthy my book is.”

CECILIA TAN: These days it seems to me the majority of BDSM-themed fiction is written from the bottom or sub’s point of view. You often write deeply and movingly from the top or dom’s point of view, though. Do you find it different and if so how? 

XAN WEST: I agree, it’s hard to find fiction from the top or dom’s point of view. I’ve written about that on my site a bit, discussing how much of the fiction that is written from a top’s point of view rarely taps the top’s emotions or vulnerabilities. I think that reflects (and helps to create) a BDSM culture that doesn’t make much room for tops to be vulnerable, have needs, or talk about how they feel. Instead tops are valued for being inscrutable and cold and always super scary and in charge of everything. Much of the rare fiction that represents the inner workings of a top’s mind during play reflects that fantasy image of tops. (Some of those stories are very hot, by the way! I’m just working toward a different representation of tops in my stories.)

I work really hard to write tops that are vulnerable. It is often my instinct, when writing a story from the top’s point of view, to start where most of the emotion and vulnerability are under the surface. So I generally have to do several drafts before I get one that comes closer to where I want to be. It’s sort of like the process of building trust with someone that has a lot of emotional armor, as I work to reveal the top or dom’s vulnerabilities, and where they might ask for or need support, strength, and care from the bottom or submissive. It takes a lot of intentional labor, and often help from beta readers, to get stories that are that open about the point of view of top characters. More time between drafts often helps me get there.

Writing from the bottom or submissive’s point of view often feels very different for me. In some ways it’s likely to be more personally challenging, because touching the experience of submissive desire is often edgy for me. That often pushes the story towards deeper more intense edgeplay, plotwise. Writing from the submissive or bottom’s point of view often comes with less armor for me to grapple with, where I have other things to work on in the story instead. The stories I write from the bottom or submissive’s point of view often include wider more expressive emotional elements, including a more intense experience of internal conflict. I often am more deeply embodied on the first draft, really working to find language to describe the bodily sensations that the bottom is processing, and the emotional intensity that come with them.

My recent work has been mostly in the third person, where I am writing from both (or everyone’s) point of view, and that comes with a whole different set of challenges! Some of those recent stories are in the book, too.

CECILIA TAN: Your stories often have a deeply personal confessional sort of tone, even if they might be completely fictional. Do you usually experience a kink first and then write about it, or do you write your fantasy idea of what a scene or experience might be like without knowing if you’re going to have firsthand knowledge of it someday? (I realize the answer to this question might be different at different stages of your life of course…)

XAN WEST: When I was a novice, I wrote my kinky fantasies, what I dreamed or hoped I might do. (I still do that occasionally, usually for a lover.) As I gained more experience with kink, I wanted to write things that felt real, that captured moments or feelings or things I’d experienced or observed. My work is not autobiographical, but it is deeply personal, speaks to emotional realities I know, desires I have, and things I’ve viscerally experienced. It tends towards representation of desires that are (or have been) deep for me: both emotional desires and kinks that are particularly hot and charged for me. That’s why there is so much boot play, knife play, breath play, and orgasm control—those are core kinks of mine. So in that way, I tend to write what I know. Because my stories are so visceral, I really try to center the kinds of desires and physical sensations I have a deep connection to.

I also tend to write about kinks that have been deep for me, but that I’ve stopped doing in life. It’s an outlet for those desires. I’ve written about my relationship to Daddy porn; that’s a great example of something I have a lot of experience with, from both sides of the kneel, and have chosen to no longer do. But I sure do write a lot of Daddies.

I don’t write kinks that I don’t feel I understand; I know I’ll get too much wrong! That’s one of the reasons that you won’t find detailed descriptions of scenes centered on rope bondage or rubber or puppy play in Show Yourself To Me. I’ve got a character in a novel I’m working on that does power-neutral SM and I’m working so hard to get that kind of play right because it’s not something I know personally. (I’m planning on getting a lot of help!)

I do write kinks that I don’t have personal experience with, but feel that I get. A good example is piss play. I can’t imagine doing that in my current body configuration, but I get the hotness of it were I to have a different body, and can write from that understanding, as long as it’s not the center of the scene, because I don’t know it deeply enough to feel like I could do that justice. (Maybe with more research…) Given that (in my experience) water sports are so central and accepted and such a big part of gay leather culture, it has felt important to write stories that include it.

CECILIA TAN: Do you have a favorite story in the book or is that like asking a parent to pick a favorite child? 

XAN WEST: I wouldn’t use the word favorite, but I do have a story that touched me the most when I was doing final edits. The final re-read of “The Tender Sweet Young Thing” made me cry. I was so intensely moved by the community in the story, the ways that the story showed belonging and recognition, and all these amazing queers gathered together to create a fantasy fulfillment of a gender play scene that two characters deeply ached for. I adore this story, it speaks to my queer heart so deeply, and I’m very excited to share it. In fact, Sinclair Sexsmith has reprinted it in its entirety on their stop of the blog tour for the book, so everyone can go read it! (“Tender Sweet Young Thing.”)

CECILIA TAN: BDSM can be transformative in sometimes unexpected ways. If people are transformed by reading your stories, how do you hope they are changed? 

XAN WEST: I definitely agree that BDSM can be deeply transformative; a lot of the stories in Show Yourself To Me depict those kinds of scenes. I have a deep hope that queer, trans and genderqueer readers, stone readers, disabled and chronically ill readers, and fat readers in particular find stories where they can see themselves and connect with their desires. That kind of thing is so rare, in my experience as someone who aches to see those aspects of myself in erotica. When I’ve found those stories, they have changed me in beautiful ways.

I’ve spoken earlier about my intention of creating representation of tops in their vulnerabilities, tops that have needs and who receive support from bottoms in play. It is my wish that telling these kinds of stories will help create a bit more room for tops to be vulnerable, have feelings, be open about desires, ask for their needs to be met. This is particularly important to me as a disabled top, because I feel that the image of the all-powerful top who has no needs is an intense part of ableism in kink culture.

My stories also speak frankly about experiences of abuse and oppression in the context of kink, and I hope that telling stories about the ways those things connect with desires might help to open up more conversation about these things in kink culture. I tell stories about trauma survivors claiming their desires, and endeavor to tell stories where characters deeply value consent and consent is illustrated clearly. I have found all those things to be rather rare in erotica, and I hope that my stories create an arena where trauma survivors can connect with their desires and imagine possibilities for play that feel accessible and hot.

CECILIA TAN: Anything else I should ask you or that you want to share with us? 

XAN WEST: I should mention that there are a few speculative fiction stories mixed in to this collection. “Willing” is a gay vampire story, and I would characterize it as the most romantic story in the book. It also doesn’t go for the blood as metaphor for sex or food, but revels in blood from a blood sports enthusiast perspective, so that may be of interest. There is a time travel story, “My Will” where a trauma survivor falls back in love with submission after giving it up and only being a dominant for a long time, and his first scene returning to it is so powerful it sends him back in time to endure the ordeal of knighthood and grapple with what he really wants. (You can check out my guest post on Dilo Keith’s stop on the blog tour to read more about that story.) Lastly, “The Tale of Jan and Tam” is a kinky genderqueer retelling of the Tam Lin and Janet fairy tale. That story is particularly dear to me, as it took several years of work (and some really awesome feedback from beta readers) before I got it where I needed it to be. It was a labor of deep love for that fairy tale, which is one I adored from childhood.

SHOW YOURSELF TO ME is available in paperback or ebook from:

• Go Deeper Press

• Amazon

In Show Yourself to Me: Queer Kink Erotica, Xan West introduces us to pretty boys and nervous boys, vulnerable tops and dominant sadists, good girls and fierce girls and scared little girls, mean Daddies and loving Daddies and Daddies that are terrifying in delicious ways.

Submissive queers go to alleys to suck cock, get bent over the bathroom sink by a handsome stranger, choose to face their fears, have their Daddy orchestrate a gang bang in the park, and get their dream gender-play scene—tied to a sling in an accessible dungeon.

Dominants find hope and take risks, fall hard and push edges, get fucked and devour the fear and tears that their sadist hearts desire.

Within these 24 stories, you will meet queers who build community together, who are careful about how they play with power, who care deeply about consent. You will meet trans and genderqueer folks who are hot for each other, who mentor each other, who do the kind of gender play that is only possible with other trans and genderqueer folks.

This is Show Yourself to Me. Get ready for a very wild ride.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Xan West is the nom de plume of Corey Alexander, a recent transplant to Oakland from Brooklyn, who has been doing community kink education for over ten years. Xan has been published in over 35 erotica anthologies, including the Best S/M Erotica series, the Best Gay Erotica series, and the Best Lesbian Erotica series. Xan’s story “First Time Since,” won honorable mention for the 2008 National Leather Association John Preston Short Fiction Award. Xan’s work has been described by reviewers as “offering the erotica equivalent of happy ever after” and as “some of the best transgressive erotic fiction to come along in recent years.”

Xan refuses pronouns, twists barbed wire together with yearning, and tilts pain in many directions to catch the light. Xan adores vulnerable tops; strong, supportive bottoms; red meat; long winding conversations about power, privilege, and community; showtunes; and cool, dark, quiet rooms with comfortable beds. Find Xan’s thoughts about the praxis of sex, kink, queerness, power, and writing at xanwest.wordpress.com.

OTHER STOPS ON XAN’S BLOG TOUR:

October 1: Xan West https://xanwest.wordpress.com/

October 2: Book Birthday! Go Deeper Press http://godeeperpress.com/

October 3: Heather Elizabeth https://kinkopedia.wordpress.com/

October 4: Sinclair Sexsmith http://www.sugarbutch.net/

October 5: Hermia Swann http://www.cuntext.com/

October 6: Dilo Keith https://dilokeith.wordpress.com/ and Cecilia Tan http://blog.ceciliatan.com/

October 7: Kinky Brits http://thekinkybrits.com/

October 8: Stella Harris http://stellaharris.net/

October 9: F. Leonora Solomon https://fdotleonora.wordpress.com/

October 10: Tasha Harrison http://tashalharrison.com/

October 11: Benji Bright http://www.theeroticledger.com/

October 12: Tamsin Flowers http://tamsinflowers.com/ and Karida http://submissionandthecity.com/

October 13: Cassandra Perry http://cassandrajperry.com/

October 14: Peep Scoop http://www.peepscoop.com/ and Radical Access Mapping Project https://radicalaccessiblecommunities.wordpress.com/

October 15: Sugar Cunt http://www.sugarcuntwrites.com/

October 16: Emily Byrne http://writeremilylbyrne.blogspot.com/

October 17: Oleander Plume http://poisonpendirtymind.com/

October 18: K. A. Smith https://authorka.wordpress.com/

October 19: Giselle Renarde http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com/

October 20: Butchtastic Kyle http://www.butchtastic.net/

October 21: Lisabet Sarai http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/

October 22: Syrens https://syrens.wordpress.com/

October 23: Anna Sky http://www.iamannasky.com/

October 24: Jade A. Waters http://jadeawaters.com/

October 25: Kal Cobalt http://kal-cobalt.squarespace.com/

October 26: Rebekah Weatherspoon http://www.rebekahweatherspoon.com/

October 27: Malin James http://malinjames.com/

October 28: BD Swain http://www.bdswain.com/ and Jillian Boyd http://jillianboydauthor.wordpress.com/

October 29: Kaleigh Trace http://thefuckingfacts.com/

October 30: Kiki DeLovely https://kikidelovely.wordpress.com/

October 31: Annabeth Leong http://annabetherotica.com/

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles Book EIGHT up for pre-order!

I’m pleased to announce that Volume Eight of Daron’s Guitar Chronicles will be released in ebook and paperback on November 10th!

Pre-orders are live in the major ebook stores:

• Amazon

• Apple iTunes/iBooks

• Smashwords

• Barnes & Noble

• Kobo

The cover reveal will be on October 15th, with the launch of the book on November 10th. Bloggers, if you want to be part of either the reveal or the launch events, contact my publicity folks via this link: Rock Star Lit P.R.

Meanwhile, paperbacks of all the individual ebook volumes are coming, too! Vols 1 and 2 have been available since last year, but I finally finished volumes three through seven, too! I’ll post links once those are all live as well!

Cover reveal for “Like A Circlet Editor” erotic fantasy antho

So, a couple years back at a Circlet writers and editors retreat, which I host annually at my house, one of the writers in attendance wrote the start of a humorous and sexy story playing on the fantasy of what people imagine in their wildest dreams it must be like working at an erotica publishing house. During one of the writing exercises he wrote the start of it and read it aloud to much laughter. That night he finished the story and brought it back so we could hear the whole thing.

That was also the day we did brainstorming on anthology themes for the coming year. And thus was the anthology LIKE A CIRCLET EDITOR born.

The book will be out shortly, and you can pre-order it now! But I’m pleased to be part of the cover reveal! See below! Also see below for entry to a rafflecopter giveaway…and for an enticing and sexy excerpt from the very story that I spoke of above!

“The Intern”

by D. Mark Alderton

She showed up at the Circlet estate eager for the job. Working on a graduate degree in the publishing field, a chance to intern at Circlet Press was an exciting opportunity to work with the top writers and editors in erotic science fiction and fantasy. She hoped they deemed her worthy of the position.

Pressing the button to the side of the massive oaken doors, she heard a gong resound deep within the recesses of the house, although the word “house” hardly did justice to the medieval manor. Within moments one of the doors swung wide, and a tall woman in a smart leather outfit bid her enter. Her long, ebony hair was pulled back in a sort of pony tail that cascaded down the ties of her outfit. Her severe look was belied by her smile and gracious manner.

“Welcome to Circlet Press,” she said. “I am Mrs. Stanford, and I’ll be conducting the orientation. And you are…?”

“Susan,” said the grad student, “Susan Chambers.”

“Ah, that will be confusing,” replied Mrs. Stanford. “Most of our interns are named Jennifer. I hope you don’t mind if, for convenience sake, we call you that.”

“I suppose that’s okay,” replied Susan/Jennifer, not wanting to blow the opportunity before it even began.

“Very good then. Let me show you around Circlet. You know, of course, we are the premiere purveyors of science fiction and fantasy erotica, specializing in alternative sexualities. So long as it is loving and consensual among adults there’s little that we won’t explore.”

“Yes, indeed. It’s why I was eager to get a position here.”

Mrs. Stanford gave a look through slitted eyes and then nodded. She led the young woman down a hallway lit by elaborate sconces and took her into what seemed like a massive bedroom. “This is the office of our publisher and editor-in-chief and thus the nerve center of Circlet Press. Let me see if she’s in.”

Dimly, through the darkened room, Susan/Jennifer could make out a large canopied bed with what seemed to be a trapeze hanging from the top. She could hear several voices, one of whom was clearly in command, “Both of you kneel before me and pleasure me with your tongues. Take turns if you have to, but punishment will be severe if I’m kept waiting. I haven’t come in more than an hour and I have no more time to waste.”

The grad student felt a hand at her back. It was Mrs. Stanford. “She’s in conference right now.”

(To read the next segment of this story check which blog is hosting it from the Cover Reveal main page on Circlet.com!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Rafflecopter direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b8b23a841/ )

Book release day is here! The finale of Magic University!

Whew! And here we are at long last, with the release of the final book in the Magic University book series, The Poet and the Prophecy! Kyle’s quest for true love will finally come to an end! But will the universe end, too?

On Sale Now!

The Poet and the Prophecy: Magic University Book Four

by Cecilia Tan

Riverdale Avenue Books Pub date: September 15, 2015

ISBN 978-1-62601-123-6 (paperback) $16.99

ISBN 978-1-62601-124-3 (digital) $6.99

Page count: 318

Word count: 106,041

Links to buy (will update as various sites go live): Amazon ebook – Amazon paperback

– Audio | Smashwords ebook | Kobo | iTunes | B&N.com | Indiebound independent bookstores: paperback

Read an excerpt!

RT Magazine featured a hot excerpt from the book in their Hump Day Wednesday feature: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/blog/85272/hump-day-excerpt-poet-and-prophecy-cecilia-tan

Facebook party today! (Sept. 15th)

Today I’ll be hosting a party on Facebook to celebrate! I’ll be hosting from 4-5pm and 11-midnight, with other new adult college-setting authors in the hours in between. I’ll be giving away full sets of the ebooks to some party-goers who comment on the event page. Drop by here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1647147665517621/

In related news! The Nobilis Erotica podcast did an audio version of one of the short stories from Spellbinding: Tales from the Magic University! They did Frances Selkirk’s “What I Did on My Summer Vacation,” which fills in a bit of what Kyle and Alex got up to between Kyle’s freshman and sophomore years. Listen here: http://nobilis.libsyn.com/episode-332-what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation-by-frances-selkirk

I’ll be doing a plethora of guest posts and interviews this week of course. Some of them are starting to appear already:

SF Signal: On Writing Multi-Genre Fiction

Thank you everyone who has stuck with me through the ups and downs of this series, the change of publisher, and everything in between!

Here’s the official description of THE POET AND THE PROPHECY:

Kyle Wadsworth has mastered sex magic, dreamwalking, and even poetry in his years at Veritas. But in this conclusion to the Magic University series of new adult paranormal fantasy romance, Kyle begins his senior year full of doubt. Will the dire ancient prophecy he has been studying come true if Kyle cannot find true love? The signs of the Burning Days seem to be everywhere—odd storms, earthquakes, and people losing their magic—and though Kyle has many loving friends and eager acquaintances, he has no true love in sight. The only person in Kyle’s heart is Frost, and the last time they laid eyes on each other, it didn’t end well.

Frost has a troubled past and deep secrets. Kyle begins to hope, though, when it appears he and Frost will be in a class together. A poetry class. Maybe Frost will start to thaw after all, though Kyle has a long way to go from nemesis to lover. If the prophecy speaks true, our hero will need love to keep the world, his friends, and himself from losing magic forever.

“The Magic University books really need to be read all together to be understood. You should definitely grab all four books and get comfortable – you’re in for an exciting ride! The Poet and the Prophecy is a satisfying conclusion to the series, and one that adult Harry Potter fans will no doubt enjoy.” —Lucy Felthouse, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“I love that in The Poet and The Prophecy Kyle needs to draw on everything about himself to succeed, from his talent as a poet to his bisexuality. How often do bisexuals get to save the world in books? Kyle accomplishes things that a ‘typical’ straight hero would fail at, including the ‘enemies to lovers’ relationship we’ve all been waiting for since book one.” –BookPost

“Tan has long been one of the foremost voices in writing and publishing erotic sci-fi and fantasy. With her New Adult paranormal romance Magic University series, Tan combines her favorite elements from the Harry Potter books with LGBT characters and eroticism. Her protagonist Kyle Wadsworth, studying at the secret magical university Veritas, learns to harness sex magic to combat sirens and prophecies alike. With Kyle starting out knowing less than Jon Snow, he experiences the kind of in-depth sexual apprenticeship that Anastasia Steele should have learned at the hands of Christian Grey.” —Tor.com

“Very nice series of books that I look forward to rereading some day. The frequent description of ‘Harry Potter for Adults’ made me fear it would be totally derivative, but it really wasn’t.” —BookLikes

Love Between the Covers: romance writers documentary film

Last night I attended a special screening of LOVE BETWEEN THE COVERS, a fantastic documentary by filmmaker Laurie Kahn about romances and the women who write them.

The film has been in the works since all the way back in 2009 when she attended the RWA National conference and thought, hm, I’m onto something here. She secured a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to not only work on the film but also a full cross-platform documenting of the subject with a website, The Popular Romance Project. At the website people can see hundreds of hours of interviews and footage that didn’t make it into the finished documentary.

And like romance novels themselves, the film has faced an uphill battle against sexism. A special bill was introduced to Congress specifically to de-fund this documentary as “wasteful to the taxpayer.” Because of course studying the largest and most prolific form of popular fiction in the United States (by far: 75 million Americans read at least one romance novel last year, dwarfing every other genre) must be a “waste”?

Obviously we disagree, and thankfully the bill was voted down, and the documentary has at last come to fruition.

I first heard about the project in 2011 when I spoke at the IASPR conference and Laurie was there filming various talks and speakers. We’ve crossed paths a lot since then, as I’ve been attending a lot of romance conventions since then (that one was my first!) and so has she, first gathering footage for the film and later promoting and publicizing it. She had it on continuous showings one day at this year’s RWA but my schedule was so packed that I missed it, so I was really glad to see the finished film in a theater.

Some folks saw an early version of the film at the Library of Congress earlier this year, but this was more polished, with full musical score. And boy is it polished! A truly seamless piece of filmmaking that takes you from the glitz of the RITA Awards ceremony to the bunny slippers on Beverly Jenkins feet (“I write in pajamas,” she says in the film).

The movie is sort of like a romance novel itself. It opens with some very slick and enticing cover artwork and quickly introduces you to some very engaging and interesting characters (Eloisa James, Radclyffe, Beverly Jenkins, and more) and their conflicts (women’s popular fiction has been denigrated and supressed all the way back to Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was jealous of how much money “domestic fiction” was making). There are struggles and triumphs along the way, the fight for freedom, the fight for justice, the fight for what we love, and of course, as all romances must have, a happy ending.

It’ll be coming to iTunes soon, but if you’re interested in setting up a screening at your local school, library, theater, university, book club, etc… send an inquiry to screenings@lovebetweenthecovers.com or call 617-924-6633. The LBTC team will give you postcards, flyers, posters, and everything you need to host a screening!

I highly recommend this film to any romance reader or writer. If you’ve ever felt the incredible sense of community that exists around romance conventions, or you’ve just dreamed of feeling that connection, this film will thrill your heart.

Official trailer (which I just realized I’m in! I’m the woman in black with my hair in a bun at the bar from 1:11 to 1:12 seconds — filmed at Lady Jane’s Salon at Madame X in NYC!):

Taking the Lead: Rock Star BDSM Romance now up for pre-order

I just noticed that TAKING THE LEAD is now up for pre-order most places! (In fact Amazon has the paperback at 25% off right now, which means B&N does, too.)

Pre-orders are important to authors especially at B&N and iTunes because all pre-orders count toward the FIRST DAY of sales in those stores, which can really help a book hit the bestseller lists in those stores! And sometimes getting onto one of those lists will help new readers find it which will then help keep those books on the list if they enjoy the book and tell their friends about it!

Note that you can use the IndieBound bookstore finder to find an independent bookstore near you where you can pre-order it: Taking the Lead at Indiebound

Amazon and B&N.com are happy to take order for either ebook OR paperback:

Amazon: paperback or ebook

Barnes & Noble: paperback or ebook

And of course there are a bunch of ebook-only stores:

Kobo: ebook only

iTunes: ebook only

Google Play: ebook only

etc…

Magic University Book Four: Cover’s here, launch is 9/15!

All righty folks! I’m gearing up for the big finale of Magic University at last. THE POET AND THE PROPHECY goes live on September 15th and can already be pre-ordered at Amazon and Smashwords, with other ebook sellers coming online this week.

The big cover reveal was Friday at Tor.com and they published the image with my essay on What #FanworksTaughtMe and all the fandom connections in the series, from the inspiration for writing it, to my beta readers, to the fans who wrote Magic U. fanfic themselves, to the cover artist who has done such incredible covers for me! (Check out her store: Art by Fox) Head over to Tor.com to read the essay and see the cover in beautiful full size: http://www.tor.com/2015/08/28/digging-into-fandom-cover-reveal-for-the-poet-and-the-prophecy/

Bloggers, if you want to get involved in launch events, Rock Star PR is handling the blog tour and everything. Signups are here: http://rockstarlit.com/content/the-poet-and-the-prophecy-magic-university-book-four/

On launch day I’ll be hosting a Facebook party from 4-5pm and 11-midnight, with other new adult college-setting authors in the hours in between: https://www.facebook.com/events/16471...

And I’ll likely do a livechat on my Youtube Channel, exact time TBD!

Hormones, Caffeine, or Writing a Romance novel?

Right now my nerves are on fire, I’m jittery as hell, and yet I’m also so exhausted I can barely move. I might be about to cry, or scream, or maybe pass out. Why do I feel this way?

It might be that I gave in to my intense chocolate craving today and had far too much of it than is healthy (plus lots of tea), so perhaps this is caffeine overload.

It might be that my erratic hormone cycles are about to coalesce into something.

Or maybe it’s merely that I’m deep in the guts of the rewrite for TAKING THE LEAD, my next romance novel for Hachette/Grand Central/Forever…

This book has a rock star hero who loves sex but is blindsided by intimacy (Axel), and a Hollywood heiress heroine who think she has to shut everyone out and never show the world anything but her “competent businesswoman” side (Ricki). They both have tragedies in their pasts that have made them vulnerable and both of them depend on their public images for success–put them together and you get ample opportunity for emotional pitfalls.

Great word, “pitfall.” Makes you think of a nice safe-looking piece of ground, under which lurks a terrifying plummet, screaming, into unknown darkness… Kind of like taking a nice solid premise for a novel and then having to actually write it. Or maybe that’s the hormones talking.

The thing is, in the first draft of this manuscript I wrestled mostly with getting the plot into working order. The standard operating procedure for romance these days is to write fast, almost NaNoWriMo style, sprinting through the first draft to just get it all storyboarded and the main points fleshed out. Then after editorial input, to go back and fix up what needs to be done.

What needs to be done on this one isn’t much with the plot but to peel back one whole additional layer of what we see of the characters, to get closer to their raw cores. I’m writing in the first person so we already see pretty deeply into their heads, but my editor’s comments make it clear we need to go even deeper, tearing open both the hero and heroine to the point of seeing the bleeding heart inside each of them with our own eyes.

Sorry, that was kinda graphic. But that’s where I am right now. My knees are weak and a sob is kind of stuck in my throat and anxiety is sparking off my skin like static electricity, and there’s no way to answer that question of whether it’s hormones or if it’s that my heroine feels exactly that same way right now.

And I’m only halfway through the rewrite on this manuscript. Oh jeez, am I going to make it?

I know I will. I know when I get to the end (rewriting takes a few weeks!) it will all be worth it, and the euphoria and satisfaction my characters feel when they finally settle together like a key in a lock, completing each other, will be how I, the author feel, too.

And hopefully when my readers pick up the book later, and their hearts leap into their throats and their eyes brim with tears, they won’t worry, because they know beyond any doubt that a happy ending’s coming. Even when sometimes–like right now–everything seems fraught.

Wish me luck! And look for the finished results in January 2016!

Preorder Taking the Lead:

Indie bookstores | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Kobo

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles Book Seven is here! Meme contest!

Tadaa! Here we are folks, with a new volume of Daron’s Guitar Chronicles finally out in ebook! Volume seven begins in January 1990 (whoaaa…. the nineties…!) with Daron’s international jaunt from Australia to Guitar Craft School to Seville, and ends a few months later after his much anticipated reunion with Ziggy.

I think the first of the “reunion with Ziggy” chapters might be the post with the most single reads in the 24 hours after posting in the history of Daron’s Guitar Chronicles.

Anyway, if you’re collecting the ebooks, here are buy links:

B&N | Amazon | Smashwords

Now, what’s all this about a MEME CONTEST??

Here we go! Various fans of DGC have gotten into making memes or “quote art” — combining photos with quotes from the series. I’ve decided why not make it a contest? Here are the rules:

PRIZE: Grand prize will be a DGC Prize Pack including a Moondog Three tote bag, both paperback omnibus editions of Daron’s Guitar Chronicles, and a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Five runners up will get a prize pack of a tote bag and all seven ebook editions.
Deadline for entry is September 9, 2015.

HOW TO ENTER: All entries must be made by posting to one or more of the following social media networks: Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, or Instagram with the tag or hashtag #daronquotes. If you post the same meme/quote art to more than one, you will be entered more times!
VERIFY: To verify your entries and make sure we didn’t miss them, email links to your meme posts to daron.moondog@gmail.com.
REQUIREMENTS: The size of each entry must be a minimum of 640 pixels wide and 360 pixels tall, and a maximum of 1280 pixels wide and 720 pixels tall. (If your art is too big, use a free resizing tool like PicResize.com or ResizeYourImage.com.) To be on the safe side and make sure you’re not infringing on a photographer or artist’s copyright, either get permission from the artist to use their image, or use images that are licensed for re-use, are public domain, or Creative Commons. You can search popular photo sources like Flickr and Google Image search with a filter to only show you CC or non-copyrighted images.
OPTIONAL: You don’t have to add the DGC logo to your meme or quote art, but if you want to, you can grab the images from the bottom of this post: http://daron.ceciliatan.com/archives/3693.

Quotes can be from any part of Daron’s Guitar Chronicles. They don’t have to be from Book 7.

That’s it! I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!

SAMPLE MEME: