Liz Everly's Blog, page 62

Six Ways Sweet Valley High Lied To Us

Photo courtesy of Goodreads and my childhood.

by G.G. Andrew

There are many memories that burn bright in my early days of reading, but few can compete with the day I discovered Sweet Valley High.

As a third grader, I was at a friend’s house when we stepped into her sister’s room and saw a revolving book carousel filled with paperback Sweet Valley books. Those 1980s covers held such pretty, pastel images of handsome guys, pink phones, and two perfect blond twins (with their matching size six bodies, aquamarine eyes, and lavalier necklaces). It was book love at first sight.

A lot of my friends read The Baby-Sitters Club books, but here was something even better. Smuttier. Older girls who drove and french-kissed! Much to my mom’s chagrin, I spent the next couple years devouring the series whenever I could (and even, years later, still read book blurbs to find out what befell my beloved Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield).

But, as much as Sweet Valley has fed my fascination with sisters, opposites, and relationship drama through the years, it wasn’t all that…realistic. Here are six ways Sweet Valley lied to me about love and life:

1.) Kisses don’t always taste like french fries and milkshakes. 

In Sweet Valley, Elizabeth Wakefield’s perfect boyfriend Todd always seemed to be french-kissing her after they left the Dairy Burger, the local hangout. In real life, it’s more likely you’ll be kissed by someone who recently drank a Pabst Blue Ribbon, or just rolled over in bed.

Photo courtesy of Goodreads and my desire for that pink phone.

2.) Your flirty and likely evil sister will probably get the guy.

We were supposed to root for Elizabeth in Sweet Valley High, the “good” sister who kept up her grades, worked on the school newspaper, and was kind to all. And Elizabeth usually ended up with the best high school boys. But in real life it’d be Jessica who’d nab all the guys. Sure, Jessica was pretty much a sociopath, but she was a perfect size six too, and she wore bikinis and knew how to flirt.

3.) You don’t get to date the high school basketball star and then the stellar soccer player.

It just won’t happen.

Photo courtesy of Goodreads and my irrational fear of motorcycles.

4.) If you land in a coma, then come out of it with a temporarily different personality, people aren’t going to let that slide.

Elizabeth Wakefield took an ill-advised ride in her boyfriend’s motorcycle in Dangerous Love, and as a result got into an accident and slipped into a coma–and then somehow woke up with a completely different personality. She flirted shamelessly, she hung out with rich bad boy Bruce Patman, she was irresponsible–shit, she was like Jessica. Then something happened like she got hit on the head again and bam! back to the old Elizabeth, and everybody was happy. But if this ever happens to you in real life, you’ll be lucky to come back with any friends, let alone the star basketball player by your side.

5.) Getting listed in anything resembling a slam book will be more likely to lead to an uglycry, not romance.

Superlatives (“Most popular,” “Most likely to marry”): less likely to start love connections, more likely to ruin your life.

6.) That rich, arrogant jerk you knew in high school probably isn’t going to do a 180. 

In a strange followup to the world of Sweet Valley, in 2011 Francine Pascal published Sweet Valley Confidential, an update of the Wakefield twins ten years after high school. Elizabeth and Todd had broken up, and he was now with Jessica, and (spoiler alert) Elizabeth developed feelings for… Bruce Patman? While the pairings were kind of inspired, the book was not so much, and I couldn’t help but think that Bruce probably couldn’t go from alphahole to Nice Guy in ten years. Unless, of course, he had a motorcycle accident that landed him in a coma. Then, as we all know, anything is possible.

 

G.G. Andrew writes quirky romantic comedy–stories about people who fall in love with the most unlikely person, and stumble through some awkward conversations, mistaken identities, and ill-advised kisses along the way. Her latest book is GRAFFITI IN LOVE, a romance between an infamous British graffiti artist and the American woman who hates him. There are no twins in it. Nor, sadly, pink phones.

Menage, Menage, Menage

Make Me

Make Me plays out a fav Charlotte Stein fantasy: the woman who doesn’t know that for a long time two guys have been talking about/fantasizing about having filthy hot sex with her.

By Madeline Iva

This is my first report on our Lady Smut Read Hotter Challenge (2016)

I read three Charlotte Stein ménage stories that I haven’t read before: Make Me, Power Play, and All Other Things. Let’s compare and contrast, shall we?

So far I’ve loved reading Stein’s books where the hero is based on Armie Hammer.  The fun of reading these new stories is imagining Armie Hammer joined by Michael Fassbender.

Which is great–because Fassy rules.

Meanwhile, the true Stein fan understands that we would not have her ouvre without Sexually Repressed Guy.

I love SEXUALLY REPRESSED GUY.  He is too nice to say what he wants, but he has a totally hot body. He is adorable because he is so afraid of being disgusting.

Yet he wants sex very badly with the heroine. And pretty much only her. Which is why we lurvs him so.

Fassy rules.

In this situation, the heroine or *someone* has just got to pry those sexual feelings out of Sexually Repressed Guy, because he deserves it because he’s so good and feminist and considerate.

Once the heroine pries him open, he’s earnestly uninhibited. All his repressed filthy desires are unleashed upon the heroine, and readers rejoice. Or at least—he’s worried about the heroine. The sexually repressed guy isn’t sure they should be doing these terribly naughty things that they end up doing. Is she being sexually exploited? Is she being disrespected? Is she able to voice what she wants? Yes, he not only wants to be good, he wants to be a considerate feminist as well.  I read about this character and–I die.

Make MeMAKE ME is a story about Sexually Repressed Guy and his wife.

She’s all like: Why won’t he have sex with me?

Her male friend at work is like: Well, what’s he fantasizing about when he’s masturbating?

She’s all like: masturbate? Him. No way.

Then her male friend just laughs and laughs.

Anyway, she rolls out of bed late at night to discover, doh! hubby has an online friend—a kind of sexual Svengali, nudging him towards opening up about all his filthy fantasies to his wife. She goes back to her hot male friend at work—and he is typical of another kind of character Stein writes:

THE KNOWINGLY FILTHY ONE: This guy has been there and back, sexually speaking. He intuits what they secretly want to do. He says what they cannot say. He commands them to do what they would neeeeeever ever do on their own. He leads them by the hand towards sexual shamelessness. He’s a bad boy with a heart of filthy, lewd gold.

And if you’re picturing Michael Fassbender in this role–ding! ding! ding!

Power PlayPOWER PLAY, meanwhile, is for anyone who liked the movie SECRETARY. It’s like Stein’s Telling Tales with some BDSM thrown in. In this story we get…

SEXUALLY REPRESSED GUY PLUS: Once this guy has been pried open he’ll do anything submissive, anything.  If it’s humiliating, then he’s hard. He’ll even suck off another guy off or letting another guy mount him.

And in Powerplay, SRGP meets up with SWITCHY WOMAN.

Power Play

Tods topping from the bottom in this book.

Yes, in her heart of hearts she wants to be some guy’s filthy slut, but if she needs to pry open Mr. Repressed Guy Plus by getting all dominatrix-y on his ass, then that’s what she’ll do to make him happy.

I again have to bow down to Stein’s writer’s chops. She can write about a couple in which the woman is sexually dominant but emotionally insecure, while the male sub is completely on edge sexually yet socially relaxed and optimistic. He winds up more in charge of the relationship emotionally as time goes on, guiding it along, not letting it falter on the rocky shoals of her uncertainty.

Moving along…

ALL OTHER THINGS: If you love Fassy and you enjoy reading menage about two guys who are so helplessly horny over a girl that they end up getting it on with each other just from thinking about doing her–then you will love this book.

Ultimately, the dynamics of this story are really good. Wants are fulfilled, needs are met. Horny sex is unleashed. No one is judge-y in a Stein ménage. People are worried that others feel loved, feel respected.

BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT SEMEN FOR A BIT, SHALL WE? This was definitely the part of the #ReadHotter challenge where I was pushing my boundaries.

We are all familiar with Charlotte Stein’s semen conventions.  Each heroine eagerly swallows at the end of every bj, coveting semen “across the tongue” like I covet chocolate ganache cupcakes.  I accept this because it’s a pretty standard in erotic romance, just like the men all have massive cocks and the women all having tiny, tight va-jay-jays.  It’s standard erom fantasy.

Meanwhile, a Stein hero almost always has tracks of pre-come drizzing all over his dick.  He shoots his load like a fire hydrant, spewing forth copious amounts of jiz.  Your typical Stein heroine gushes like the nile between her legs.  All this is a little porn-y, I guess, but I’m down with it.  People are excited, their bodies are excited, everyone is maximally turned on.  Go Charlotte!

But in these particular ménage stories, our Stein heroines also want the heroes to come on her face.

Let me pause for a second to collect myself.

I’m okay with that.  But am I?  Actually, well, I guess I’m surprised Stein would go there.

There’s a part of me that’s not *quite* cringing.  A part of me that wants to be open minded.  So as I’m reading these moments in her books I’m saying to myself: Okay, well if the heroine is enjoying it that much, and the repressed guy plus is also lapping it up–erm, literally–then…well…okaaaaaaay.

But another part of me is standing behind Amy Schumer when it comes to as she so elequently puts it “jizzing all over a woman’s face.”

Ultimately, I could have done without it.  Yet I liked all three of these reads.  I’m glad I read them. I’ve even started re-reading one.  Sometimes, ladies, nothing but Charlotte Stein will do.  But for all you semen-sensitive readers out there, you’ve been warned. ; >

Madeline Iva writes fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary romance.  Her novella ‘Sexsomnia’ is available in our LadySmut anthology HERE, and her fantasy romance, WICKED APPRENTICE, will be out Spring, 2016.

 

Taking A Breather – Just For A Little While

By Elizabeth Shore

You’re probably familiar with the children’s books by author Lemony Snicket called A Series of Unfortunate Events. Alas, that’s a description of the way things have been going for me recently. It’s said that into every life a little rain must fall. But the way I’m looking at it, out of rain comes renewal. So for a few weeks, I need to renew. To restore my sanity and order so I can come back pulsing with vigor! Kind of like taking a viagara for my life. Hehe.

I’ll be stepping away from my regular Wednesday posts for a few weeks but will be back at some point in April. See you soon, y’all!

xoxo

Elizabeth

All in My Head: Hot Erotic Research

This is how erotic romance writers work on their novels. For real.

By Alexa Day

Okay, real talk.

I write erotica and erotic romance. You all knew that.

From time to time, I do need help with research. Not that long ago, a friend and colleague helped me out with some questions I had about horseback riding. Someone else pitched in with some info about Uber. Another friend is drawing a floor plan to help me out with a location.

All these things are rich background details. They’re here to make the story feel more real. It’s important to get these right because getting a detail wrong can pull readers out of the story.

Today I want to talk about those other details. You know. The “good” parts.

I can only speak for myself here, but I do have to research at least some of the hot sexiness that appears in my work. I just don’t think I’m doing it the way the general public seems to think I am.

I’ve had to lie down in back seats to see if they’re the right size. I’ve had loud conversations in bathroom stalls to gauge just how far a girl’s voice will carry. I’ve rested my arm against a marble countertop to see if it’s cold. (The triceps muscle is great for this, in my experience.)

A great many people seem to be under the impression that one cannot write sex without having exactly the sort of sex that one is writing about.

That’s not true for me. I mean, I guess other writers might be doing that — and more power to them, I say — but I’m not. Honestly, with my schedule, I can’t imagine where I’d find the time to have that much research sex. And I’m concerned about what would happen if my worlds collided, and work and play became one. What usually happens is that both work and play become less enjoyable.

So no research sex for me.

In her February Salon article, “I’m a smut-smith, not a nympho,” Nicola Jane writes about the “Erotica Fallacy,” which she describes thus: “For nonfiction writers the gap between writing and life doesn’t exist. Nigella Lawson cooks, Bill Bryson travels and Piper Kerman recounts her real-life experiences of prison. For some reason, now I write erotica, I’ve apparently become a nonfiction author.” Many people, including her boyfriend, presumed that she had done most, if not all, of the things she wrote about.

In Jane’s case, and mine, all those titillating details come from the imagination. We’re making it up. I don’t think people find that as intimidating, but I often wonder why. Shouldn’t the woman who is constantly thinking about sex, in glistening Technicolor detail, raise eyebrows, too?

Or consider: should the woman who is constantly thinking about sex warrant the same non-response as the woman indulging in frequent research sex?

Why should the revelation that a woman writes erotica, erotic romance, or both generate so much hand-wringing, winking, and nudging? Is this happening to the male writers in our genre?

I wonder if we’re moving toward a society that treats erotica and erotic romance like just another subset of fiction. But then I wonder if I really want to live in a society like that. Sure, all that chuckling and giggling gets on my nerves sometimes. But sexy books are still pretty special, in their own unique way.

Follow Lady Smut. We’ll give you something to think about.

Alexa Day writes erotica and erotic romance with heroines who are anything but innocent and fictional worlds where strong, smart women discover excitement, adventure, and exceptional sex. A former bartender, one-time newspaper reporter, and recovering attorney, she likes her stories with just a touch of the inappropriate, and her literary mission is to stimulate the intellect and libido of her readers.

It’s Awards Season for Romance

by Kiersten Hallie Krum

Last Friday, Romancelandia experience the yearly giddiness (and for some, crushing disappointment) that is the annual announcement of the RITA/Golden Heart finalists by the Romance Writers of America. These awards are given out at the formal closing banquet to the annual Romance Writers of America National Conference this July in San Diego, California.

For the uninitiated, the RITA is basically the Oscar of the romance novel industry, a prestigious award given to best romance novels of the year in their respective categories. The Golden Heart is the award equivalent for as yet unpublished writers and can (though not always) help a writer struggling to get publish get noticed by prospective editors and agents. I know several of each who use the finalist list of the Golden Heart awards as a kind of cheat sheet for prospective authors, and really, who could blame them?

Congratulations to the 2016 RITA and Golden Heart finalists! https://t.co/MlhCSFSQAO #RITAGH

— RWA (@romancewriters) March 25, 2016

Like many readers, I use the RITA finalist list as a cheat sheet for my TBR pile. I mean, take a look at those names! That’s the crème de la crème of Romancelandia right there–not all of them, mind you, but a fair few special snowflakes ripe for the reading.

The #RITAGH hashtag was burning fast and furious on Friday as finalists were notified and announcements made. I could hardly keep up with all the well wishes and congratulations. I was thrilled to see names I know and titles I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed make the list. Some are even books and authors we’ve talked about here at Lady Smut!

Woohoo! Soooo excited that SAY MY NAME is a #RITAGH finalist in the Erotic Romance category!! If you have not had t… pic.twitter.com/YrRqncr3YY

— J. Kenner (@juliekenner) March 25, 2016

But what struck me and what has stuck with me all weekend (and not for the first time either) is the overwhelming goodness that was palpable across the interwebs. Board members making calls were nearly as excited as the people being notified. Posts popped up from finalists in a running “Where were you when you got the call” scenarios that included dead batteries on phones, needing to pull over to the side of the road, and immediately after, needing to make a Play-doh chicken leg for a finalist’s unimpressed daughter. Now there’s a reality check!

#RITAGH Finalists. Congrats. When you’re done screaming and jumping for joy – take a bow for being the best our genre has to offer. Love ya

— Beverly Jenkins (@bjevechip2) March 25, 2016

It was this goodness that filled me with the warm fuzzies all day Friday and throughout the weekend. The romance industry is unique on several levels, not the least of which is that it is predominately written and produced by and for women. But it is also the fact that romance writers are perhaps the most supportive group of professionals you can find. Oh ,we’ll cut a bitch if necessary–not literally, but you get me. No one is perfect and wherever there are people, you’ll find bad seeds full of back biting and nastiness. It’s human nature. But it’s also human nature to be good to one another, to support each other, and to celebrate those wonderful moments of success and accomplishment and no one does that better than romance writers.

Some of Friday’s finalists have published many books for many years and this is the first time they are finalists for a RITA. Some took the chance to write the book that was on their hearts, perhaps the one that no one wanted to publish, and now see validation in being nominated.

LOVE AFTER ALL was my 69th book and my first RITA final. I’m so excited I can’t breathe. This was worth waiting for

Sexy Saturday Round Up

Hello, readers! Did you miss us last week? We’re here today with lots of links and lustful insights into the world of women and mayhem.  So grab a cuppa joe and come along for the ride.

From Madeline:

Why black women need to know what negging is. 

What if facebook had a vacuum cleaner for a break-up?

NC revoking transgender rights.

The godmother of Manga sex.

American Sex Norms that Europeans will never understand.

How NOT to plot a romance!

Rough sex or rape? Victims on trial in Canadian Broadcaster case.

Sext and the Single girl.

Not so happily ever after — a new trend in romance?

Canadian woman horrified at broadcaster’s acquittal after being accused by four women of rape – claims he has a predilection for rough sex, but it seems the victims were on trial more than the defendant….

From G.G. Andrew:

Romance Writers of America announces finalists for the 2016 RITA and Golden Heart awards. Congrats to the finalists!

Guys’ bodies vary, too. Check out these Photoshopped images of a man to show different beauty standards around the world.

89 of the creepiest unsolved mysteries of all time.

 

 

 

 

Torn fishnet stockings and sex in cages. Or, how I got started writing erotic zombie horror

By Isabelle Drake

Write about zombies? Not me. Write about zombies who feed off sex? Well, that’s more likely. Add in a horror element–now I’m all in.

January of 2011 I was about halfway through my MFA in Creative Writing. We were given a writing prompt that, we were told, was designed to push us “out of our comfort” zone. The assignment: read a tabloid newspaper, like The Weekly World News, long time supporter of Bat Boy, or the National Enquirer, currently keeping readers up to date on the happenings with Matilda, the Cat from Another Planet, then write a scene based on one of the features. Being the good student that I was, I dug right in to the assignment.

The two articles that inspired me most:

Zombie Barbies! by Frank Lake of the Weekly World News

A Very Zombie Holiday also by Frank Lake

Since I was soon to be on my way to Boston, I was also inspired by a very real blizzard wrapping its way around the East coast.

Before I move on to the rest of my account of how I started to write erotic zombie horror, I should mention that prior to beginning my MFA program I had already publisher about ten novels, fifteen novellas, and twelve short stories. Give or take a few in each category. All of them were written to make readers happy, many were romances of all heat levels, and nearly all were “commercial.” And, to be honest, pretty much all of the stories were written with the end goal of selling them. Like, for money. I mention this last part about the money because in the literary community writers are often paid with contributor copies or not at all. So, I entered my MFA program with the mindset that the work I produced should be, could be, salable. Enter this assignment.

Even before my fingers typed the first word, I was already planning to write not only one scene, but a whole story that my readers would be excited about reading. In the winter of 2011, I was writing all erotica and erotic romance. So, the story had to have sex. Problem: sex scenes with yucky rotting zombies would not be…pretty. Or alluring. Solution: attractive zombies. Logical solution: zombies that live off sex. Even better solution logical solution: zombies that live off sex with human captives. That’s right, as long as they have enough sex with their human captives, they stay attractive. Bonus to the improved solution: sex scenes will be necessary and part of the storyline.

The current East Coast blizzard intrigued me because it had shut down entire cities, halted travel. That sort of thing doesn’t, or rather didn’t, happen very often. What if zombies roamed an entire frozen city? A city held hostage to a fierce winter storm? One thing that came to my mind, zombies don’t feel the cold. That’s creepy. I took that idea and went with it. Soon, my tribe of sex zombies had extraordinary strength, from all that sex no doubt, and the ability to climb ice coated buildings. The last thing I needed was a zombie. An sexy, aggressive sex-hungry zombie. My inspiration? Zombie Barbie. Once my imagination was done with her, she was built like an Amazon goddess, wearing a mini-skirt, torn fishnets, and heavy black boots. Simply put. Mattie is a badass who takes what, and who, she wants. Her victim? A tabloid newspaper writer named Hayden.

Servant of the Undead breaks some of the “rules.” For one thing, the point of view character is male. Hayden’s capture and subsequent servicing, read: giving Mattie the sex she craves, is the main storyline. The other thing, he is the captive, not her. So, to see what readers think of this role-reversal, I decided to post the novel on Wattpad, the free, online reading community. I post a new part every Friday. Each part is about 1000 words long and features a “fishnet” video.

The fishnet videos, like the story itself, are an “accidental” creation. I did not set out to use myself to promote Servant. But after looking for images that suited my story and uncompromising zombie Mattie, I came up empty. My solution to this dilemma: put on my own leather mini, torn fishnets, and boots, then go out into my backyard and make my own pics and videos. I imagine I looked a tad eccentric wandering around my backyard, climbing on my woodpile and such, dressed that way and with a hoodie, undone hair and no makeup, but hey–I’m a writer. The neighbors know I’m weird.

You can check out Servant of the Undead on Wattpad, let me know what you think about that role reversal, then come back every Friday for the next part of the story. Want to be sure you don’t miss any? Add the Servant to your Wattpad Reading List.

Isabelle Drake writes erotica, erotic romance, and urban fantasy. Her most recent novel, Off the Rails, is a romantic comedy about a girl faced with one of life’s most challenging events: the high school reunion.

Because you want more Lady Smut, follow us here and on Facebook. We’re here to rock your world in all the ways you like.

How Romance Saved My Life

The Wicked Wallflower

Doesn’t this book look delicious?

by Madeline Iva

Last weekend was #Love Fest at Virginia Festival of the Book.  All the panels were well attended, but the biggest event of the weekend was showing LOVE BETWEEN THE COVERS–the latest documentary all about the romance world–followed by a discussion with Maya Rodale and Eloisa James and a book signing.

I experienced rapture from meeting Eloisa James in person.  Her stories have made me laugh and cry–almost at the same time.  We went out to dinner together along with Maya Rodale, and a smattering of other authors.  First of all, bringing people together always makes me feel kinda high.  Second of all, Maya Rodale’s husband was like a walking romance hero.  Handsome, British, and also, oh you know, an artic explorer.  Ba-bam!  Romance authors always have the best husbands.  It’s like they say, Write What You Know.

At the same time I was full of revelation.

First revelation: OMG, why am I sniffling and sobbing all the way through this documentary? Okay, any ‘we women‘ vibe gets me going.  Mix that with comments like (I paraphrase) “This is the one genre where women are the center of attention, where their needs are important and they are active in getting those needs met. Romance shows women as sexual creatures in a possitive way.  They get to have satisfying sex without being punished for it.”

Whoa! That’s so true–damn straight!

Sue London and Eloisa James at dinner. Eloisa is so generous and friendly.

Second revelation: We are pioneers! I was moved to witness women who wanted romances about them, and when they didn’t see those romances on the shelves, they went out and wrote them.  That kind of “If you build it they will come” ethos makes me bawl. Beverly Jenkins in particular comes to mind.

Third revelation: Romance can save your life. I already knew this one.  There was that crucial time in my teens that was spent in ER waiting rooms. Many, many hours I sat in uncomfortable chairs, my face buried in a Georgette Heyer novel.  How did I get through those horrible years full of stress and crisis? How? I always credit romance novels.  I desperately needed an escape, and we had no money.  Instead of dropping out of school, having babies, becoming a drug addict, breaking the law, or doing all those other things traumatized teens without parents tend to do, I escaped into a world of civility. It was full of small kind, intelligent, sane, and responsible people.  Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t read romances? I’m sort of dubious that I’d even be here.

What I didn’t realize was that:

Kim Castillo on the left. Famous authors wuvs her.

Fourth revelation: Romances taught me how to live happily ever after.

Kim Castillo–assistant to Eloisa James and other romance authors–talked about growing up in a home without good role models for relationships.  That’s when the real hard sobbing started.  Me too, Kim. Me too.  Then she talked about how romances gave her hope.  How she found her true love — and now all is good.

I don’t know what Kim went through.  But what I saw at home–it was ugly.  And sad. A lot of domestic violence–while my mom was pregnant, mind you.  Guns.  A house full of guns.  That day my step-father almost shot my mother in the face.  BAD, HORRIBLE, AWFUL stuff that I don’t even want to go into.  Events that left me taking sleeping pills when I was eight, alone in the house at night, and couldn’t get to sleep.  Events that left my mother poor, mentally unstable, and broken. Events she did not recover from.

Tragic.  Traumatic — but you know, I never questioned how I went from Dysfunction-ville to being in my first serious relationship at 19, and married to that same guy 30+ years later. Where did those crazy excellent relationship skills come from? Cause I didn’t learn it at home…that’s for sure.

This documentary–and by documentary I mean Kim Castillo–revealed all: it had to be romance novels. Kim, I love you. I AM you, Kim.

Jenn Scarpa drove hours to have Eloisa James sign a stack of her books.

“Romances provided me with hope,” Kim said. They provided her with models of caring, support, and bonding, just like they did me.  In a world bereft of good male role models, romances provided me with examples of men who were responsible, even tempered, loving, and tender.

There’s a shot of Kim–my new personal hero–clasping hands with her husband, and, dear readers, I know that clasp. It’s the One True Love hand hold.  I dissolved, readers.  I dissolved like a f***ing pillar of salt.

I kept thinking, the movie’s going to be over soon and I have got to stop crying.

You’d think I’d know better, but no.  I had to share my new insight at dinner with Eloisa and Maya and everyone.  And while telling them about it, I sobbed.  So embarrassing, but so not at the same time.

My American Duchess

Got Duchesses? Eloisa’s latest.

Because I thought I was writing fluff, here.  It’s much more important than that. Or at least it can be.  I’m proud that I survived that time. Okay, all the trauma left me a bit on the weepy side, but ultimately, who cares?

I’m blessed that I found my One True Love.

I’m proud to be one of these women creating love on the page.  I’m proud to be sending it out into the world.

Have you seen the documentary? What did you get out of it?

While I type this at the cafe, my writing buddy Joanna Bourne is dancing to “What I Like About You.” I love you Joanna. I love you readers.  Okay, I need some kleenex.

Follow us at Lady Smut for other tips on surviving this cold, cruel world with some blazing hot romance.

America's First Daughter: A Novel

Two authors I adore–Laura Kaye and Stephanie Dray–were also at the fest. Bet they were swarmed–people at the fest love all things Jefferson.

Out of Pocket? Let’s Hope Not

I feel like Olivia didn’t need special marketing.

By Alexa Day

I’m having what the sports folks call a rebuilding year. Basically, I’m enjoying the opportunity to reconstruct my brand, revise some work, and get some new work out to new markets. Part of this means that I’m on the lookout for publishers who might be on the lookout for me.

That’s not an easy job — for me or for any author, really — under the best of conditions. But you know, there’s always someone out there who wants to make a tough job tougher.

Want an example? Look back with me at last year’s RWA National Conference. I wasn’t there myself. I’m looking back courtesy of RWA’s blog post. You can head over there for more detail if you like; I’m going to keep this recap brief.

At the Spotlight on Pocket Books, someone asked Pocket’s representative, an executive editor named Lauren McKenna, what Pocket was doing to diversify its author list, which included very few, if any, authors of color. McKenna responded, in essence, that while Pocket did not have “an African-American line,” its sister imprint, Atria, had two. Atria “really does focus on publicizing those titles, marketing those titles, getting placement in stores,” McKenna said. Over at Pocket, such a book “really doesn’t get the attention and time it deserves, so it also requires a different marketing and publicity plan.”

Then to remove all doubt, McKenna said “we do do it [acquire diverse books], just not within Pocket and Gallery.”

I have, from time to time, complained about empty lip service promising the acquisition of diverse books and not delivering on the promise. And here I must praise McKenna. Her response contains no empty lip service.

According to her, books with “a multicultural topic or author” [emphasis mine] don’t stay with Pocket. They go to a separate imprint for special handling. I want to be clear about why this bothers me so much.

I certainly don’t mean to sneeze at Atria. A quick glance at their holdings turned up Karen Robards and Jude Deveraux and Jamie McGuire. That’s not the problem I’m having.

The trouble at this point is the idea that books by authors of color need some sort of special marketing plan that can only be executed away from Pocket and Gallery. I will not suggest that authors of color have it easy when it comes to marketing, but if the first step of your plan is “get it away from here,” I think I have cause for concern.

But there’s more.

RWA responded to McKenna, saying that “we are very disturbed that you indicated that Pocket does not acquire books by multicultural authors.”

Pocket’s response was measured. It said it didn’t have a policy against publishing multicultural authors.

You guys know I’m an attorney, and that sounds like attorney speak. Of course, Pocket doesn’t have a policy that says, “hey, don’t pick up any authors of color.” If anyone in this day and age is that crazy, they know better than to codify their position in a policy. But the powers that be at Pocket said McKenna misrepresented the company and offered to meet with RWA at this year’s National Conference.

Still unsatisfied, RWA decried Pocket’s Spotlight statements as “insulting and unacceptable” and its response as “insufficient.” Pocket sent an open letter. You can and probably ought to read the whole thing, but it essentially says that Pocket is committed to acquiring and publishing diverse authors and always has been.

That’s not really the problem anymore, though. Pocket has admitted, through McKenna, that they acquire and publish diverse authors. The problem is that McKenna has said — and Pocket has not specifically refuted — that these authors are redirected to a separate imprint because Pocket at large doesn’t know what to do with them.

I challenge all of you reading this post to ask the next few questions with me.

Why does any publisher need to do something different with authors of color?

Why does a book that treats topics of race need to be marketed differently if it was written by an author of color?

Why should any book be treated in any specific way because of its author’s racial or ethnic identity?

I can only speak to my own experience in the world of publishing as a relatively new author, but I think it’s important to tell you my tiny part of this story.

I do not now, I have not in the past, and I will never restrict my readership on racial grounds. My books are for all people who like the sexy, thought-provoking stuff. If you like to think kink (which is my shiny new tagline), I’m pointing my work at you.

So if you can market work to readers who love to wrap their brains around the hot sexiness, you can market my book. Right? I don’t think you have to approach that differently because I’m black, and you shouldn’t have to approach the reader differently because my work is for all readers. You know, if they’re old enough.

If there is a marketing secret here, I think someone should disclose it. I think someone should explain why my work is being treated differently because I’m black. I think someone should share with us why a romance with a black character should be treated differently.

I don’t think that will happen because sharing those answers means disclosing an uglier truth.

Whether or not publishing has a diversity problem, some publishers think the reader has a diversity problem. You and I know that some readers have a problem reading outside their race, but should that vocal minority be driving decisions for the rest?

I’m not sure Pocket’s leadership understands exactly why McKenna’s position at the Spotlight and its own position in the open letter are problematic. I’m really not sure that message is being received. I look forward to hearing more at the National Conference this year. We could all benefit from a good conversation.

In the meantime, are you following Lady Smut?

Beyond Ruin by Kit Rocha: A Review

by Kiersten Hallie Krum

Hello Lady Smutters!! I have met my (first) deadline (admittedly late, but there’s a certain greatness to my lateness.) To add some shine to the luster of my euphoric return, I have, for you, today, a review of the newest Kit Rocha Sector Four, O’Kane wonderbeast Beyond Ruin–and a giveaway!!!

Click on image to buy!

Unfortunately, the giveaway isn’t Mad from Sector Four, because in Beyond Ruin he gets not one, not two, but three lovers hooked up with him for good in a web only Kit Rocha could weave this tight.

Look! A blurb!

The explosive 7th book in the bestselling BEYOND series. The sectors will never be the same.

Adrian Maddox fled his royal life–and tragic past–in Sector One, choosing instead to join up with the O’Kanes. For years, he’s lived by one rule: love fast, love hard, and always be willing to walk away. He’s managed to guard his heart, keep it whole and untouched–until now.

They couldn’t be more different–Dylan, the brilliant, burned-out doctor from Eden who drowns his pain with drugs and self-destruction. Scarlet, the sensuous, sexy rocker from Three, a woman unafraid to embrace the world. And Jade, the whore turned spy from Sector Two, who battled addiction and came out stronger than anyone he’s ever met.

Separately, they make Mad long to open his heart, to tumble head-first into a sea of possibilities and wild love. Together, they make him burn, inside and out, with lust and unbearable, unimaginable pleasure.

Then one fateful moment shakes their world to its foundations–and leaves the sectors on the verge of all-out war with Eden. It’s the biggest fight the O’Kanes have ever faced, and Mad and his lovers are at the dead center of it. They could end up with everything they never knew they wanted–or lose it all. Including their lives.

So, this is Mad’s book and, I won’t lie, I’ve been waiting for his book for a loooooong time. Bits and pieces of his story and his connections to Sector One and his angst over being the grandson of the Great Prophet, treated like a god on earth whenever he’s in his home district and how the hell he got from Sector One to become an O’Kane of Sector Four have been teased through nearly all of the past six Beyond books. Me, I don’t like to be teased (mostly…) but I do like the fulfillment part, and that’s what Beyond Ruin aims to do with Mad’s story…and succeeds. Boy. Howdy.

This is a polyamory story with Mad finally addressing his feelings for Doc, Scarlet, and Jade individually and as a whole. Mad and Doc have been in a relationship with each other for some time. Ditto Scarlet and Jade, but each knows they are all tied to one another in unique ways and they’ve been discussing that for some time with their partners. They finally chuck it all out front and center and dive into having sex together as they cautiously poke at the emotional lengths to which they’re all willing to go to make their unit as a commitment foursome work…or not as the case may be.

As usual in Sector Four, the sex scenes are hot and highly emotional. There’s a lot to juggle in their big bed and pains are taken by characters and author to make sure everyone is being cared for on both levels. True, I had a few moments when I kinda wished I had a flow chart, or maybe Elizabeth SaFleur’s Sex Position Gumby for clarity about how one…part went where. But, once I let go of focusing on the “how does that work again?” component and let the emotions take center stage, any lingering muddled edges quickly smoothed out. Still, flow chart. Just sayin’.

Outside of the polyamory emo angst–on which, Kit Rocha delivers big time as per usual–what really pumps me up about Beyond Ruin is this book is a BFD game changer for the Sectors. As is huge.

That line of the tagline above–“The sectors will never be the same”–is not fucking around. The playing board of sectors and their leaders is not shaken up, it is tossed in the air, flung around the room. doused liberally in tequila, and set on fire. By the end of Beyond Ruin, Dallas O’Kane is facing the biggest fight of his life and it is all or nothing for everyone in the sectors…and beyond.

As a part of this game-changing action, Beyond Ruin takes us finally into Sector One, where the rulers are viewed as gods on earth thanks to the dubious inspiration of the Great Prophet, Mad’s grandfather who abused his power as religious and civil leader to disastrous results. As a direct descendant, Mad is next in line to assume the leadership of Sector One, now ruled by his cousin, a man Mad respects and loves a great deal. But Mad isn’t interested in ruling; he’s torn between the love he has for his family and the resentment he feels for being expected to live in lavish wealth and worship he feels none of them deserve while their people struggle in a post-apocalyptic world. Mad’s conflict over where he came from and how the sycophantic mindset of his family’s worshipers lead to his parent’s deaths over which he stills bears guilt strongly influence his angst over Jade, Doc, and Scarlet. It also becomes genuinely life-threatening a few times over.

Our entry in Sector One also introduces the bad ass, super devoted Gideon’s Riders, the elite secret police force intensely loyal to Mad’s cousin, Gideon, who rules Sector One and equally reverent of all members of the royal family, like Mad. If the Riders feel like delicious sequel bait, well you’re not wrong. They will be the focus of the next new Kit Rocha series…coming soon.

Jade does some unhappy walking down memory lane too as the BFD game-changing action erodes the power structure of Sector Two. Jade is called upon to fill the vacuum and come to terms with her own history involving Sector Two and her past as a famous and powerful mistress during which she was a skilled spy for her sector leader along with the addiction that was eventually forced upon her and what she did to defeat it. Doc, Scarlet and Mad must come to terms with the way this changes Jade status (and location) if they’re to make their foursome unit strong enough to survive the perils of the Sectors.

Clearly there is a LOT going on in the Sectors in Beyond Ruin and while this may be the titular “Mad’s book” in fact, a whole lot of dangling threads are being yanked the hell out and snared up together in new complicated knots. Which makes me all…

I’m a back story whore–gimme, gimme more–so I dig hard all the delving Beyond Ruin does in fleshing out what makes these characters who have influenced events sometimes dramatically in books before, but have not had their own real chance to shine, finally take center stage. I also deeply enjoyed seeing the inner workings of the Sector world shatter and reform. I can’t wait to see what happens next–and I admit to being a tad scared some favorite characters are heading toward bloody ends. Beyond Ruin takes serious narrative risks, which expertly set the stage for the upcoming last two books of the series. For any O’Kane fan, it’s a must read.

Are you new to Sector Four? Want to see what all the hubbub is about the O’Kanes? Well, how about a handy book bundle of the first three Beyond books to get you started? Thanks to the generosity of Kit Rocha, I have a book bundle of Beyond Shame, Beyond Control, and Beyond Pain to give to one lucky Lady Smutter. Simply click the button to follow Lady Smut and then leave a comment and let me know what you love most about the world of Sector Four or, if you’re a newbie to the Beyond series, what tempts you most to start reading? I’ll pick one lucky winner and announce the name on my post next week.

Be sure to check out all the Lady Smut love for Kit Rocha

Follow Lady Smut. We’ll ruin you but good.

Singer, writer, editor, traveler, tequila drinker, and cat herder, Kiersten Hallie Krum avoids pen names since keeping her multiple personalities straight is hard enough work. She writes smart, sharp, and sexy romantic suspense and her first book will be available to buy on April 14th. Visit her website at www.kierstenkrum.com and find her regularly over sharing on various social media via @kierstenkrum.

But wait, there’s more! Enjoy these blurbs about the bundle giveaway to whet your appetite. And remember to leave a comment to win!

Blurb for Beyond Volume One

BEYOND SHAME

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain. But ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms.

Those ruins house the corrupt and the criminal–men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. He’ll defend the O’Kane gang with his life, but no fight prepared him for the exiled City girl who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, and so is their attraction. But if she wants to belong to Jas, she’ll have to open herself to a world where passion is power, and freedom is found in submission.

BEYOND CONTROL 

Alexa Parrino escaped a life of servitude to become one of the most influential people in Sector Four, where the O’Kanes rule with a hedonistic but iron fist. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for the gang–and for its leader. But she bows to no one, not even Dallas O’Kane.

Dallas fought to carve order out of the chaos of the sectors. Danger threatens his people, but his liquor business is flourishing, and new opportunities fuel his ambition. Lex could help him expand his empire–and no one says no to the king of Sector Four.

Falling into bed is easy, but their sexual games are anything but casual. Attraction quickly turns to obsession, and their careful dance of heady dominance and sweet submission uncovers a need so deep, so strong, it could crush them both.

BEYOND PAIN

Live fast, die young–anything else is a fantasy for Six. She’s endured the worst the sectors had to throw at her, but falling in with Dallas O’Kane’s Sector Four gang lands her in a whole new world of danger. They’re completely open about everything, including their sexuality–but she hasn’t survived this long by making herself vulnerable. Especially not to men as dominant as Brendan Donnelly.

Bren is a killer, trained in Eden and thrown to the sectors. His one outlet is pain, in the cage and in the bedroom, and emotion is a luxury he can’t afford–until he meets Six. Protecting her soothes him, but it isn’t enough. Her hunger for touch sparks a journey of erotic discovery where anything goes–voyeurism, flogging, rough sex. He has only one rule: he won’t share her.

In Bren’s arms, Six is finally free to let go. But his obsession with the man who made him a monster could destroy the fragile connection they’ve forged, and cost him the one thing that makes him feel human–her.