A. Regina Cantatis's Blog, page 8

Hidden Treasure

This is a post about both my "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories: the one you probably already own, and the one in production now.

I'll start with the one in production, "Transfixed." As you know, the first half of the story is already on sale as an independent ebook with a semi-cliffhanger ending. But the thing about the cliffhanger is that you already know you can resolve it in whatever way you please, because the sequel is a "Choose Your Own Adventure." If you want to save Character A, who got enslaved in Part 1, you can save them - and you can also save Characters B, C, D, and so on. You can save everybody, if you do it right. Or if you prefer, you can doom everybody to a life of blissful slavery. Whatever floats your boat. My point here is that you shouldn't be afraid to buy Part 1 before Part 2 comes out. You can already imagine whatever finale you like and know that you can make it happen. Meanwhile, you've got a 77-page all-new story with lots of hot sex and creepy brainwashing bugs.

You'll also be pleased to know that I have an enthusiastic new volunteer (in additional to my usual cohorts) helping me brainstorm plot threads for the "Transfixed" CYOA. That means I'll be able to get up and running pretty fast. At this point I have a clear idea of the overall picture and several interesting story paths, and I'm just working out the fine details before I start writing. I think I'll be able to put this one together much faster than What Do You Give the Alien Who Has Everything?, partly because of my volunteers and partly because this time I know what the hell I'm doing.

So, moving on to "Alien," it has come to my attention that some readers who think they've read the book pretty thoroughly still haven't found the game-changing hidden plot line; and that makes me wonder what else readers might have missed. Well, the book's been out for over a year now, so I thought I'd give you a few helpful hints. Only the last one is a real spoiler, so I'll put it in spoiler text. You can read the other bullets points freely - and refer to the map above to refresh your memory of what's where.
I intentionally built this story in a way that forces you to follow many paths and interview many people to get the whole story about the Imperators. Visit each location more than once and make different choices each time. There's no way you can gather all the important information in one walk-through; and aside from the statuary, every location has at least one "lesson" you can't get anywhere else. You can interview the Imperators in detail if you can make it into the observatory, but you have to ask the right questions before they'll let you even start to interview them, and you can't trust everything they tell you. To get the true story in all its dirty details, you'll have to find that hidden thread.There's no advantage to choosing one reporter or orientation over another, but there's exactly one choice where the guide you picked could make a difference. No doubt you'll make a lot of bad choices and end up getting sent to the brainwashing chamber a lot. When this happens, don't skip past the text without reading it each time. There are lots of different ways you can be transformed in those chambers, and everything depends on who sent you there and why. My personal favorite result is getting turned into a mer-person.And now here, in spoiler text, are the directions for finding the secret story line. Just be warned: it's a game-changer, but it's also a game in itself, and it's not easy to win. All I'm telling you here is how to start playing. Highlight the next bit to find out: [Go to the lily pond, let the mer-people grab you and take you under, but don't fight them a second time. Instead, look for a hatch in the pond wall.]

Updates, answers, questions, and maybe a way for you to make money

Best wishes to all of you out there celebrating whatever holiday(s) you celebrate. I hope you get to be with the people who make you happy and to do things you enjoy.

I see that a lot of folks have already downloaded Transfixed at Smashwords, but for those of you who were meaning to do it and didn't get around to it yet, I've extended the coupon's expiration date to December 25. So if you want it for 25% off, just go here and enter coupon code ZG53J.

If you have any questions about the story, I do hereby declare the comment section of this post a spoiler-friendly zone. Ask whatever you like, and I'll answer it as long as it doesn't give away any secrets from Part 2.

But I'll keep spoilers out of this post itself. Here's what I can tell you about what's next for the "Transfixed" storyverse without spoiling anything for those of you who haven't read the first book yet. You can read Part 1 alone, but if you do, you'll be left with a cliffhanger that's larger than (just as a random example) the one at the end of the first Matrix movie but smaller than (again, just an example) the cliffhanger at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It's my hope that you'll leave Part 1 knowing that this time it's the good guys who'll be striking back; and because of the nature of the CYOA, they can win. If you figure out all the secrets, you can not only rescue everybody who was enslaved in Part 1 but also put an end to the tick menace once and for all.

Also, Part 2 will give you the option of following the story from a second point of view: the crazy Swede from the fridge in Part 1 (His name is Nils). If you "play" him, you'll find out his backstory and motivations, and you'll see how his goals dovetail a lot with the goals of the better know "good guys." That means Nils can win the big prize just like they can, but he can also get into some pretty nutty situations.


Now, about that ship hanging around at the top of this post. For the cover of the "Transfixed" CYOA, I need three realistic-looking ships depicted at angles that will allow for me to fuse them the way the Ajisashi and Myrddin were fused in Part 1. I've found lots of great spaceship art on Dollar Photo Club, including the above, which might work nicely for the Ajisashi if I tweak it a little. The problem is that I don't play video games, and I discovered entirely by accident that a lot of the best-looking ships I've found on Dollar Photo Club are close reproductions of ships from famous games and movies (Even the USS Enterprise is in there. I can't believe no one's been sued yet.). Obviously I can't use one of those ships for my cover, but how can I be sure I get something original? I'm going to need your help. Here are a couple of ways you can assist me:
1. Does anyone out there have the expertise to look at my potential choices and tell me whether they're ripoffs or true originals? If you can help, I'll give you full acknowledgment in the book and a cameo if you want one.
2. Does anyone out there have the skill to make three spaceships for my story from scratch? I would pay you for that, and we can work out the details of the payment in private. Email me if interested.

You don't mind if I titillate you, do you?

This is a passage from my new book, "Transfixed" (available on Smashwords and Amazon, but you
have a few more days to get 25% off at Smashwords with the coupon code ZG53J).


"Alec?" said Michiko. He was standing right in front of her, nude aside from patches of silvery gel. His was thinner than the armor she'd seen on the soldiers who stormed the bridge, and it didn't look like it was meant to protect him so much as to arouse him. Every strip covered an erogenous zone: his chest and shoulders, his navel, a broad diamond that stretched from his navel to somewhere behind his balls, and the inside of his thighs. The gel rippled almost imperceptibly, massaged by starfish-like creatures not much larger than a pinhead.  Alec's cock was at half-mast, his body trembled, and she recognized his smile from more than a decade of foreplay.But she couldn't look at that for very long, because the real horrors lurked above the gel. Her husband's eyes had rolled up so far that she could see only the barest blue sliver of iris; and a…a monster…had spread itself across his head and forehead. The thing's body was white, chitinous, and divided into eight narrow segments. Its scorpion-like tail curled backwards over the top of Alec's head and seemed (Michiko prayed she was wrong) to be buried in his skull, while its head was level with Alec's nose. Its multi-jointed legs – sixteen in all – pressed against, or possibly through, Alec's temples and other sensitive spots around his face. The creature raised its head on a narrow stalk-like neck and looked at Michiko. Its eyes were blue-black and fathomless. Hatred welled up in her. She'd never been a violent person, but seeing this…thing attached to her husband, she wanted to rip it off his head and tear it apart with her teeth. But Michiko couldn't move. She was standing motionless, just like Alec; and looking down at herself, she saw a pattern of silvery marks across her own erogenous zones. Thankfully, herstarfish weren't massaging her into unwanted arousal. That would have been too disgusting to bear.She looked at his face again, and a sudden, horrible though struck her. Although she couldn't raise her arms, she could blink and frown, and by doing so she was able to confirm that there was an alien like Alec's on her own head. "Alec," she said tightly, "get this thing off me."He flashed his most charming smile, but it didn't work without his eyes, and she sensed that he wasn't really the one smiling anyway. "Sorry, sweetheart," He said. "We can't resist our owners." His voice was softer than usual, but the ecstasy she heard in it sounded all too real.Michiko ground her teeth. "These things are not our owners. They're aliens – enemies – slavers!""Poor Michiko," said Alec. He still hadn't lowered his eyes, but she could swear he was looking at her. Maybe the alien was looking at her for him. "I know you're scared, but don't worry. You'll feel better just as soon as your owner connects to you."She could guess what that meant. "Look at me, Alec! Do I look like I want to feel better? Look at me!"His upturned eyes didn't waver. "I can't, darling. I'm in such ecstasy that it's all I can do just to stay my feet. But that's all right because my owner keeps me focused. It even sees the things I can't and feeds the images into my brain, so there's nothing to worry about. Really, sweetie, it's okay. You're going to feel just as good as I do before long."

Pre-Christmas specials

Just a quickie here.

I've made "Willing Subject" free on Smashwords through December 24, and I'm having a Kindle Countdown Deal Dark Spaces and Sleepwalkers from December 11-18. On December 11 the price of these two books will be $0.99, and then they'll edge back up to the original prices by December 18.

Also, I've permanently dropped the price of Slave-Bride of the Sidhe to $0.99.

This is a great time to pick up some of my books for yourself or as holiday gifts for your friends.

"Transfixed, Stage 1" is now available for purchase

I've just posted "Transfixed, Stage 1" at Smashwords, and as usual I'm giving you a coupon (good for one week) to get your copy at 25% off. Here's your code: ZG53J. In just a few minutes I'll be off to publish at Amazon, and I'll put up the link to that site when I get it.

This story turned out to be pretty long and lots of fun to write. As I told you, I developed such a fondness for one character that I changed the whole ending to accommodate them. I also had fun learning Swedish curse words, and I tossed in a bunch of clues that will make you go "hmm" now and "aha!" when you read the eventual Choose Your Own Adventure.

Here's the synopsis. I hope you'll enjoy the story. :-)

Captain Michiko Sato is quite literally in an impossible situation. Her ship has been attacked by another vessel under the command of mind-controlling alien “ticks,” and now their human slaves are after her crew. Still worse, those slaves came from her husband’s ship, and he’s at the head of the brainwashed attack force. It’s not that slavery has turned Alec into her enemy; he still loves her. He just wants her to join him in the bliss of thralldom.
Before long Michiko is separated from her crew and held captive aboard Alec’s ship, where he tempts her to submit and unwittingly tortures her with memories of the man he used to be. Meanwhile, the crew on Michiko’s ship are no match for the invaders, and everyone’s on the lookout for a wet-behind-the-ears assessor who could be the key to breaking Michiko’s will. Then the crazy Swede in the refrigerator….
This ebook is not only a story in itself, but it’s also prelude to a “Plot Your Own Adventure.” In Stage 2 of “Transfixed,” you’ll be able to play some of these characters, rescue others, and (if you’re clever enough) stop the tick invasion for good.

Mozart, Mesmer, and Me

About a week ago, I found an article that claimed Mozart had written his opera Cosi fan tutte entirely in a state of mesmeric trance. Franz Mesmer, in case you don't know (although you probably do know if you're into EMC) created an early form of hypnosis and was very popular in his day. If' you want to know more about him, here's his Wikipedia page.

Now, Mesmer was a patron of Mozart, and as I said, this article implied that Mozart wrote a whole opera in a state of trance. I thought about linking to the article here until I actually read it. Then I discovered it was really just a discussion of Mozart's weirdness in general, and it didn't have much to say about mesmerism. The most interesting detail, apart from the above, was that Mozart once wrote a little ditty called "Lick Me in the Ass."

Anyway, the article is still worth mentioning because it makes me wonder whether Mozart could have written coherently while in trance. I sure can't. Writing under post-hypnotic suggestion is definitely possible, but while you're deeply hypnotized, you're clumsy - and you enjoy the clumsiness because it's a sign of how deep you are. Of course, it's possible that the right hypnotist could get you to write neatly and clearly while in deep trance. I just haven't experienced that.

But by now you're probably asking what this has to do with "Transfixed," the story I've been talking about for a few weeks, and which will go to press on or around December 8 (That's an in-progress cover above. I'd love some feedback on it). Well, I came up with most of the plot for "Transfixed" while I was in trance. I didn't write it that way, but that's where the ideas began: in my subconscious mind. I just kept them in my head until I had time to write.

Here's how it came about. If you've been reading my blog long enough, you know that I have trouble with insomnia and developed a Virtual Hypnotist program designed to help me relax and get to sleep. I still use it every night, and it still works very well; but I'm so familiar with it now that my mind wanders a good bit while I'm using it (To those of you who've never been hypnotized: yes, your mind can wander while you're in trance). Since I've been so focused on this story, even writing right up until bedtime, my mind often wandered over to "Transfixed" while I doing my nighttime trance thing.

I've also written before about how some of my best ideas come to me in dreams, or while I'm lazing in bed on a Saturday morning, half awake but too lazy to get up. I guess all three states are similar, in that they allow me to tap into my subconscious - and my subconscious is usually more creative than my conscious mind. I've been wondering whether anybody will notice anything different about "Transfixed," or whether it will read pretty much like the rest of my stuff. Again, I'd love some feedback once the book comes out.

In the meantime, I can tell you some places in "Transfixed" where I've noticed contributions from my subconscious mind. The subconscious communicates in symbols, sometimes but not always sexual in nature; and since I'm writing erotica, my thoughts are headed in a sexy direction right from the start. Now, "Transfixed" begins with one ship getting run through by another ship. The second ship has been taken over by mind-controlling aliens (but of course!), and now they're invading the first ship as well. I explained in a previous post how that part of the story grew out of a failed collaboration between myself and several other EMCSA authors, so you can't blame trance-plotting for that. But now let me throw out a new non-spoilery details regarding the finished story. See if you can work out all the Freudian references:
The ship which gets pierced has a female captain (Michiko), and the ship doing the piercing is captained by Michiko's husband Alec.Alec, under the influence of MC, constantly tempts Michiko to give in to the aliens' control and he tells her how hot it feels. Part of the alien MC process involves piercing the skull of the victim - in a way that causes orgasm rather than pain.When Alec's ship first appears, it emerges from a wormhole; and it carries Michiko's ship into another wormhole - which is where the piercing occurs.The guns fire darts instead of lasers or bullets. This actually makes sense from a "preventing hull breach" standpoint, but darts are still more phallic than lasers or bullets. At one point a character on the run hides inside a large egg-shaped object.In two other scenes, crucial information is shared by two people talking inside small, enclosed spaces.And as a bonus for you Jungian fans, a white man* receives help from a black woman who is his opposite in almost every way.
*Actually, you don't have to assume he's white; I often leave characters' races unspecified so that readers can imagine people who look like them, and I encourage you to do that with this guy. But in my mind, he has pale hair and skin.

Your feedback, please?

May I have your input, please? Below are comps of some images I'm considering using for the "Transfixed" book cover (The book itself will be out in roughly three weeks). Please note that some of these are in iffy shape because I didn't take much time correcting them, and I'll probably add a background to whichever one I pick. These are just rough ideas of things I might use. I'd really love some feedback on what people think about the different images. Which one(s) do you love? Which one(s) do you hate? Thanks!

Here's an ethnic group that recognizes five genders

I know a lot of my readers are genderqueer. I hope you'll find this story encouraging - and I hope my cisgender readers will find their minds pleasantly blown by the idea of an ancient culture that has accepted a wide variety of genders for centuries.

I don't suppose anyone who watches this video will find themselves into total agreement with the Bugis' system, but it makes me happy to know they're out there - and that today their ethnic group is a powerful political force in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Paris, my heart goes out to you

I don't have anything else to say this weekend.

This, that and the other

Here's what I've been up to lately.

As I said last week, I am now taking story commissions. I should have added that I'm also taking commissions for creating ebook covers, proofreading/copy editing other people's stories, and photo restoration/colorization. So far I've had takers on the first three of those four options, and while I can't share the clients' names, I can tell you they've all been very happy with my work. I'm especially surprised that the story commission came off well, since what the client asked for was waaaaay outside my wheelhouse. It's nice to know that I can take someone else's ideas, which are very unlike my own, and turn them into a full-fledged story that the pleases the person who asked for the story. And writing it went very quickly, too. I'm normally a slow writer, but I turned out this commission in less than a week.

I'm more than halfway through the first draft of "Transfixed," and it's coming along very well. I'm in the zone and writing fast. I've also decided to follow it up with a "Choose Your Own Adventure" that will be set after the events of "Transfixed"and will allow you to [spoilers ahead, so highlight the text if you really want to know]save some or all of the characters who've been brainwashed and even stop the alien invasion[/spoilers]. Of course, writing a CYOA takes a lot more time than writing a straightforward story, but I'm going to try to zip through this one pretty quickly. I learned a lot from writing What Do You Give the Alien Who Has Everything?, and I think I'll be able to turn this one out a lost faster. I might also take suggestions from fans of the "Transfixed" short story as to what I should include in the CYOA. If I go that route, I'll be sure to give credit to anyone whose ideas I use. There will also be opportunities for several beta readers, who'll get cameos in the story as a reward.

I also have an idea for updating and sexing-up a lesbian vampire story called "Christabel." The original version is by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whom some of you might remember as the opium addict who got interrupted in the middle of writing his best poem ever ("Kubla Khan"), lost his high, and was unable to recover the dream. Well, "Christabel" is a lot longer and sexier than "Kubla Khan," and I've already figured out how to turn it into the kind of fetish-filled EMC story you've grown to know and love (I hope) from me. I plan on writing "Christabel" and the CYOA at the same time so I can get the former on the market quickly while still working on the latter.

Finally, speaking of markets, here's something I threw together that you might or might not be interested in. I've been keeping track of all my sales over time, and I wanted to see which books were most profitable and why. The chart below includes everything I've written except Slave-Bride of the Sidhe, which hasn't been out long enough to take a proper measurement, and the two anthologies I took part in. For those of you who publish your own ebooks, or who are thinking of getting into publication, here are my biggest takeaways: 1) CYOA's sell like hot cakes, and 2) sexy covers make all the difference in the world (Colonized has only been out since August, and it's already in third place, beating out books that have been on the market since 2013; and Willing Subject is still raking in the money after three years on the market - thanks, as always, to Callidus, who is also taking commissions BTW). I can't help wishing Sleepwalkers was higher up the list since it's my baby, my epic, and the story that got me into self-publishing. But what can I do besides encourage you to buy it if you haven't already? If you like my stuff, Sleepwalkers is quintessential thrall.

I don't know if this info or the pie chart will interest anyone besides me, but I'm throwing it in here just for the hell of it.