Isabelle Drake's Blog, page 56

What to do about Valentine’s Day?

Who truly loves Valentine’s Day? Who wakes up on February 14, sure that the entire day will be wonderful, romantic, and filled with happiness?
Not most of us. There are too many pit falls. Too many possibilities to feel emotions other than pure bliss. Like what, you ask?
Non-bliss emotions caused by gifts:·        Disillusionment: No gift from your SO. (SO = significant other).·        Irritation: Wrong gift from your SO. You clearly said you wanted sparkly jewelry. Not an itchy brown turtleneck sweater.·        Exasperation: Last minute gift from your SO. The orange price tag from gas station ruins the moment.·        Unworthiness: Much, much too nice gift from your SO. You expected a bag of Hersey Kisses and got a new BMW. Now what?·        Puzzlement: Unidentified gift. You have two or more possible gifters. Who to thank?
Non-bliss emotions caused by your “status”:·        Irritation: Not so subtle, prying questions from your well-meaning relatives who are older, wiser, and concerned about your ‘painful’ single status. ·        Annoyance: Not so subtle, prying questions from your well-meaning friends who are in new, sparkling, fresh relationships full of excitement and romance who are concerned about your boring, been-together-forever, couple status.
Non-bliss emotions by sex:·        Ecstasy: Okay. This one isn’t a problem. But it is a possibility and so must be included here.·        Weariness: After all that pressure about the gifts, your status, and where to eat and what-not, your just too wiped out for those extra steps to make it wild enough to lead to ecstasy.·        Bewilderment: After a bottle and half of wine, your SO suddenly decides to try __________ (< insert anything you never talked about or even considered). You have no idea where to start and so spend all your energy trying to figure out what to do instead of relaxing and getting to the ecstasy.
See what I mean? It’s a wonder any of us make it through the day at all.
Because I like to leave people with a little something more, I’ll offer a link to this quiz, How Sexually Adventurous AreYou? It won’t help you avoid the above emotions, but it might make you laugh. And hell, if you ask me, laughter is an absolute necessity on Valentines Day.

Must be December!

Play for Keeps, two men, one woman, a secluded beach.

Which man really knows how to give her what she craves?

EXCERPT:
“On your way somewhere?”

Keera Koltai lifted her gaze from the nearly empty beer bottle wrapped in her fingers to connect with a pair of very liquid, very male eyes. Brown, with flecks of lighter tan about the same colour as the bare skin of his lean chest.

What was it with the guys around these islands? Didn’t any of them wear shirts?

At least, this one had a black tee tucked into the back pocket of his low hung jeans.

He spoke again, his southern Florida accent hanging heavy in the damp August air. “Where’d you ride from?”

“Up by Tampa.” Keera swallowed the last of her beer and rolled the empty bottle in her hands as she scanned the mostly empty roadside park. The only life enjoying the mangrove shaded crushed shell shoreline was a trio of stilts, wading along in the quiet tide. Over on the other side of the parking lot some parents dug through their van, sorting out gear while their kids jumped up, trying to touch the low needles of a slash pine.

When she looked back to the guy, he nodded, swinging himself around her bright yellow Buell and dropping onto the sandy grass where she’d stopped to stretch before continuing the last few miles to the isolated campground where she was headed. The day’s last rays of sun crossed over his chest, casting shadows over his long, lean legs. Tipping his head, he said, “Nice bike.”

The Buell was Keera’s only real possession, a symbol of some constant quest. Maybe a quest for freedom, maybe a quest for something else, she really didn’t know. The bike was such a personal part of herself, a part that even she didn’t understand, she rarely talked about it with anyone. So she simply nodded and said thanks.

He slanted her a grin and held out his hand. “I’m Samuel, off-duty fishing guide.”

Keera accepted the gesture, wrapping her fingers around his wide palm. Calloused skin rasped against her fingertips as he slowly pulled away in a release so gradual it was a sensual promise. A warm sliver of awareness slipped through her, and she found herself taking an appraising look at his leanly muscled chest and flat stomach.

He noticed her stare and angled back onto his elbows, strands of his shaggy black hair catching in the evening breeze. “I was fishing the rivers that come off White Water Bay the past couple days, now I’m headed up Tamiami Trail to hang out with some friends, then, you know, whatever.”

Right.

Whatever.

Keera knew where the conversation was headed.

To hook up or not to hook up.

It was the scenario she’d heard her customers at Fantasies Inc. recount over and over, mostly on Wednesdays when they stopped in to take advantage of the Hot Hump Day specials as they stocked up for the upcoming weekend. She loved hearing their lusty stories about frisky one night stands and leisurely afternoons spent with long-time lovers but lately as she’d listened to the tales she’d started to wonder if there was something wrong with her.

Like now, for example. Here she was with a sexy, easy-going hottie with rough hands that could probably deliver on some sigh worthy stories for when she got back to work but she didn’t feel...enough.

Shouldn’t she be panting? Or feeling all hot and melty? Shouldn’t she be fantasising about all the things this guy could do to her—or what she could do to him?

“So how about it? You up for something?”

An inner voice shouted, this is exactly the sort of thing you need.

An opportunity to jump start her sex dive. But she hesitated. She had no reason not to hook up with him for a night or two—but she couldn’t find a reason to want to.

Think sex, Keera. Want it. Feel it.
~~~Get your copy of PLAY FOR KEEPS

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Goodnight Innocence: the sleeping beauty fetish

Who doesn’t love the sweet fairytale Sleeping Beauty? A beautiful woman, frozen in time, awaiting her true love’s, awakening tender kiss. Ahhh.
Recently, I stumbled upon a very different version of Sleeping Beauty. In this one, from 2011, the main character is a university student who needs cash. She replies to an ad and starts working as a series of erotic freelance jobs. 
I started to wonder, did a little research, and sure enough this sleeping beauty thing is a fetish: somnophilia. In its simplest form, the somnophiliac seeks to awaken a sleeping person with erotic caresses, gentle non-violent touches. Some scholars speculate that this particular interest is related to the much less romantic necrophilia, the desire to have sex with dead bodies. Obviously in this case the goal is not to awaken the sleeping but rather to take advantage of their incapacitated state.

It was difficult finding scholarly work on this topic but I did find an article from Psychology Todaythat offers some analysis. “Although somnophilia appears to have some characteristics in common with necrophilia, the two syndromes do not necessarily reflect the same underlying pathology. Using Freudian theory, Calef and Weinshel speculated that underlying somnophilia was the desire to return to the maternal womb, and that somnophiliacs had unresolved Oedipal complex issues, fixations on pre-genital stages of psychosexual development, and castration anxiety. However, as with almost all psychoanalytic theory, it is hard to design any research to either confirm or deny such speculations. Carolyn Fay’s of the University of Virginia, explores the sinister side of this fetish. “Contemporary sleep fetish culture is driven by the idea that the sleeping person is an absent person…To the fetishist, sleep is that perfect moment when consciousness is evacuated, leaving a living, breathing fragment, worthy of love.” [Those who seek to actualize their desire to have intercourse with a sleeping person may use drugs to maintain the unconscious state] “for if the person wakes up, the fantasy and the fetish object become lost." (2002).
That’s all very dark. Whatever happened to the sweet, delicateAfter some looking, I found House of the Sleeping Beauties (2006). Plot info from IMDb: Edmond, a man in his sixties whose wife has recently passed away, is told about a secret establishment where men can spend an entire night in bed alongside beautiful, sleeping young women, who stretch, roll over and dream, but never awaken. Bedazzled by their seductive yet innocent tenderness, but distressed about the reason for their deep sleep, he delves into the mystery of the house of sleeping beauties.
The film is German and the only trailer I could find is without subtitles, but I don't think you need to understand the words to understand the story or main character.

So what have we learned? The Sleeping Beauty fetish is out there and comes in extremes. From sweetly romantic to darkly dangerous. In some ways that's not much. In other ways its everything.

Cuckold Beach 3 excerpt: story out now!

Pink Lace excerpt:
Kelly’s blood turned warm and that jumpiness started to pool in her center. Not from fear, but from that internal heat starting to gather in her core and pulse downward, settling deep inside her.
He can’t be serious.
“Have you met my husband, Edward?” she asked.
The man’s brown eyes were steady. “No, I haven’t. But he’s watching us now.”
Kelly’s gaze hopped from one security camera to the next. The green lights on top of each glowed softly.
“That’s why the cameras were installed. So he could watch.”
Her heart started to thump and she a lump formed in her throat. “I don’t believe you,” she said, finally finding her voice.
The man folded his arms across his chest. “Send him a text.”
Kelly pulled her cell from her pocket. A text from Edward, sent two minutes ago, displayed on the screen. I love you.
She wrote back. Can you see me? Him?
The reply was quick. Yes.
She stared at the screen, trying to think of what else to ask. Even though she had many questions, she asked only the most obvious. You set this up?

This time the reply took longer. Finally the screen blinked. Yes.
Cuckold Beach 3 out now. Get your copy from Amazon.

Cover reveal and preorder: Cuckold Beach 3

How does a romance writer go about creating a "cheating" storyline that is both romantic and erotic?
Most mainstream romance readers shy away from "cheating" stories. This is with good reason; the idea of a married person having sex with someone other than their spouse goes against much of what we think of as romantic. Another thing about romance readers, they're always on the lookout for something fresh and intriguing. Its the second point that promoted me to dip my pink-painted writer toes into the cuckold pond.
I've done a couple posts on this unique lifestyle. Cuckolding: What you may not know and Cuckolding: the femdom lifestyle. My desire in writing these stories was to embrace elements of the unusual practice while focusing on the romance. I wanted to assure the reader that the husband and wife are fully committed to one and other in all the ways that matter. It's been an exciting challenge, creating these three stories and , needless to say, I'm excited to have them all together.
Cuckold Beach 3: Pink LaceEdward Dean knows his wife wants more than his usual brand of gentle lovemaking, so he seeks help from Winona, a woman who specializes in custom sexual experiences. He expects a tame lesson in seduction, a little something to spark Kelly’s interest, as he settles in front of newly installed video monitors and waits for the fun to begin.
When a powerfully built man appears onscreen, he does way more than “spark Kelly’s interest.” He unleashes her wildly sexual side—the one Edward quickly realizes he hasn’t been satisfying. He’ll be damned if he lets Kelly get what she needs from a dominating stranger. Bolting from his seat, Edward takes his rightful place behind his bound wife…
Reader advisory: This was previously released as Cuckold by Request from Ellora's Cave.
Preorder: Cuckold Beach 3: Pink Lace for release date August 29.
About the Cuckold Beach stories: On a sizzling stretch of California beach, devoted husbands are dedicated to satisfying their wives' deepest desires. They'll do whatever it takes to bring intimacy and ecstasy to the women they love...even if it means giving their wives to other men.

Read it already! A writer’s confession.

I’m not so great at reading my own writing aloud. Sure, I’ve done it. For small groups, large groups, for college credit, and a couple weeks ago, for fun.

For fun? Well, sort of. Partly for fun, partly out of curiosity and well, yeah, I also did it for promotion. Promotion! Marketing! These are topics writers are encouraged to think
about all the time. 
Where are you going to do to promote your new release?How're you doing to promote your backlist?What about your work-in-progress makes it marketable?How are you reaching new readers?
You get the idea. We’re encouraged to try new marketing strategies--all the time. We should be innovative and exciting. Relevant. We must keep up with our blogs, twitter accounts, and Pinterest boards. On the side, we’re also writing books.

That’s a lot of pressure. No, not the writing. That’s not pressure. That’s fun. We’re writers, so creating stories and torturing characters, that’s what we do. It’s that marketing and promotion stuff that stresses us out. Not because we don’t want to do it, don’t understand it, or even because we’re not good at it. It’s because there’s always something newer, fresher, and more exciting we need to do. Right now that new fresh thing is Facebook Live. 

Now here’s my confession. I don’t care that I’m not good at reading my work aloud. I’m a writer. I write stories for other people to read. I love crafting stories and I’m thrilled that I have readers who support my work. Isn’t that what matters? The words on the page? The story? I think so. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I think its funny that I’m not a great performing-author. Sure, on occasion, I have pulled myself together and done a fine, if not good, job at reading. Like when I did my MFA graduate reading. But for the most part, I’m happy to hand over my work for other people to read (inside their head) and enjoy (without me there staring at them).

So, if you haven’t guessed already, I did a live reading of my new release, BAIT, from New Vintage Press, on Facebook. I was at the Romance Writers of America national convention, standing on my balcony in San Diego, wearing my favorite Hello Kitty t-shirt, and I did it. I hit go live. I said, hi, showed people around, then read.




Yeah, it was promotional, but more important to me, it was fun. Will I do it again? Sure. Will I worry about how well I perform? Nope. Not at all. The only thing I’ll be concerned about it whether or not people have a good time.

BAIT, zombie noir short story, from New Vintage Pulp

Slick. Sweet.
Pain.
The roughness of his own howl.
Images of the night before, bright then dark, blinked like the busted out liquor store neon along the swamp highway. Yes. No. Yes. No. Cade never did maybe. Maybe was a wicked bitch, a waste of time. Weeks. Fuck, years. He pulled a slow, deep breath in through his nose then coughed against a sour stench that seeped into his brain like red tide. His shoulders shook. The flashes in his mind returned, beckoned, promised, and called to that one thing—the answer to what the hell happened. Did he get what was promised. There was no deliverance, just more pain.
He gave up on the possibility of remembering and put all his effort into breathing through his mouth. The impact of the stench faded to a manageable level. The coughing slowed then stopped but the damage was done. The neon in his skull had exploded, causing sending shards of agony into his brain. He squinted and tried to put his forearm over his eyelids, but something sharp bit his wrist. He tried again. His arm jerked in response. He opened one eye.
On the floor of his truck were three cans of ReddiWip, two chocolate and one plain. There was also a pile of Taco Bell trash and an empty fifth of Jack. A lavender thong hung from the truck's shifter; Cade’s t-shirt was twisted around his left forearm and his wrist was handcuffed to the steering wheel. So it had been yes. He opened the other eye.
The 45 on the dashboard was a beauty. Black. Solid. Looked trustworthy. But seeing it there probably meant that yes should've been no.
Especially because it wasn’t his gun.
"If I go get the bolt cutters, will you put your pants on? Please?"
Laurent, appearing out of nowhere to rescue Cade’s sorry ass once again. Not as surprising this time as the others. Seeing as Cade was parked in the far corner of Laurent’s southern Florida fish camp.Cade nodded, then closed his eyes as he dropped his head back. After what felt like twenty-five minutes but was probably six, Laurent reached through the open window to cut the links between the cuffs. Once Cade's wrist was free, he righted himself. He wanted to check out the Colt but, in deference to Laurent, grabbed the pants. That's when he noticed the gash on his left thigh and the tear in his plaid boxers. He touched the wound. Not too big, but the skin on each side of the cut was smeared with dried blood and something else. Something sticky.
Laurent grunted. "Pants?"
Even though they were spattered with mud, Cade tugged his jeans on then rolled out of the truck barefoot. The sand and gravel yard in front of the fish camp was already hot from the sun. That was bearable. The sour stench wasn't.
"What the fuck is that smell?"
"Hell if I know. Something from last night. You don't remember?"
Cade shoved his hair off his forehead. His scalp was sticky. His jaw was sticky.
That stench.
There was only one thing he could think of that smelled that nasty, but when he looked on the floor of his truck for signs of vomit, he came up empty. Whatever that hideous odor was, it hadn’t come from inside him.  One solid shove closed the truck door and he wobbled forward, toward Laurent’s building. "I need a shower.”
Get your copy and read the rest.

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Would you like to:Create satisfying sex scenes?Examine how  the best sex scenes are structured?Be sure to infuse your sex scenes with emotion?Make sure your sex scenes move the story forward?Are you:Totally new to writing sex scenes?Have some experience but looking for ways to punch your sexy writing up?Searching for an opportunity to brush up your skills?If you’re nodding yes to some or all of these questions, this online course may be for you. Taught by an erotic romance author and college writing professor, this course will be a combination of daily challenges, lessons, scene work-shopping, and instructor feedback.
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