Lori Perkins's Blog, page 23

BDSM Writers Con is All Joey Hill’s Fault!

(reprinted with permission from RomanceBeatcom)

At the opening ceremonies of the First Annual BDSM Writers Con in Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel, founder and hostess Dr. Charley Ferrer tearfully confessed that the reason the conference exists today was because she’d read a book; in particular Joey W. Hill’s novel The Vampire Queen’s Servant. Doctor Charley stated, “…it was the first BDSM book I ever read that depicted a Dominant woman respectfully and with great empathy. This was especially important to me as I identify as a Dominant woman and it’s rare that I find a book that doesn’t portray me as a club owning ProDom servicing men,” she explained.

Impressed with the author, Doctor Charley jokingly states she wrote “Joey” a fan letter that started with the line, “I’m really disappointed to find out you are a woman because I wanted to kidnap Jacob…” (Jacob was the hero in the story.)

Doctor Charley said that she started the BDSM Writers’ Conference because she wanted to help decrease the level of misconceptions and prejudice that exists and help other authors create realistic characters where the BDSM practiced was authentic and the characters were real. Doctor Charley stated that BDSM is a very individual experience, and that she did not see that diversity in popular culture, so she wanted to bring that variety to the written page.

When Joey W. Hill got up to give her keynote address, she said that Dr. Ferrer had almost taken the wind from her sails, because the point Joey wanted to make was that the real life experience of BDSM is so very personal. She then went on to share how she never understood that she had a submissive streak in her until she became a writer, but looking back, as a little girl, she always had “Ken hold Barbie captive in a dungeon” and she had been awed by the service the Knights of the Round Table offered to their King and Ladies. Joey shared that the first time her husband, who she said is “not a dom - he considers himself ‘vanilla with a mean streak'” tied her up, she had a cathartic release. But she explained that this was before the internet, so for her it was a very personal journey “explored in solitude.”

Joey then commented that for her, the practice of BDSM is “Soul Love - love that speaks to the need to connect and trust, to be safe and accepted in a very lonely world,” adding that if she can give her readers a “one-handed read or a revelation, or both, it’s a win-win.”

Joey W. Hill ended by saying that she would consider herself “a success as a writer if her books made a positive effect on just one reader” and Doctor Charley’s tearful confession of inspiration for the conference seemed to bring her full circle. Joey and Dr. Charley Ferrer both laughed about the fact that they had not shared notes prior to giving their speeches, and yet had a very similar message to share with participants. You can review their speeches at the Riverdale Avenue Books blog, riverdaleavebooks.blogpspot.com

Riverdale Avenue Books co-Sponsors BDSM Writers Con and Publishes First Annual BDSM Writers Con Anthology

Riverdale Avenue Books has signed on as a sponsor of the BDSM Writers Conference where erotic romance and erotica authors will come to New York City to explore the real life world of 50 Shades of Grey. Authors and readers will learn to navigate the nuances of power exchange relationships as well as how to flog and whip and write about it from August 21-24th.

In addition, Riverdale Avenue Books has teamed up with conference founder Dr. Charley Ferrer, a BDSM educator and clinical sexologist, to publish the first annual BDSM Writers Con Anthology which features 21 stories and essays by the conference’s featured authors which include erotica legend Laura Antoniou, Lambda Award-wining author Debra Hyde, as well as three new writers and established erotica authors such as Cris Anson, Gray Dixon and Roz Lee. The First Annual BDSM Writers Con Anthology is now available for pre-orders at the conference website and will make its debut at the conference where readers can purchase it during the BDSM Book Fair & Between The Covers Erotica Reading Series on Sunday from noon to 4:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The con is divided into two tracks: "writers" and "everyone." The writers track focuses on craft and includes a panel presentation facilitated by Riverdale Avenue Books Publisher, Lori Perkins. Editors from Samhain and Loose Id, as well as established literary agents and anthology editors are also attending. The track for readers and fans, in addition to the opportunity to meet favorite writers, includes live demos and lifestyle workshops.

The weekend is capped off with a night out at an actual BDSM club on Saturday, followed by a book fair and reading on Sunday, which is being presented by Riverdale Avenue Books’ Between the Covers reading series. Thirty-eight featured authors, from conference keynote speaker and NY Times best selling author Joey Hill to Laura Antoniou will read and sign books. The Between the Covers reading features a unique dirty word raffle where participants are encouraged to write a favorite dirty word on a piece of paper (with initials because dirty minds think alike). Prizes include a corset from hipsandcurves.com (a $150 value), samples of Dude Wipes, Simply Slick Oil Based Lubricant and Uberlube Silicone Lubricant from MySecretLuxury.com, and signed books by the readers.

“I am thrilled to be working with Dr. Charley Ferrer on this innovative, educational writers and readers conference and hope that the next 50 Shades of Grey will come out of the BDSM community,” said Lori Perkins, Publisher of Riverdale Avenue Books and author of 50 Writers on 50 Shades of Grey.
Dr. Charley Ferrer said of this alliance, “BDSM Writers Con is dedicated to bringing education and a greater understanding to authors and readers of Dominance and submission; a highly erotic and often misrepresented lifestyle. It’s my pleasure and honor to work with Riverdale Avenue Books to bring together over twenty of our Featured Authors in our FIRST Annual BDSM Writers Con Anthology.”

Two New Agents Join L. Perkins Agency

New York - June 26, 2014 – The L. Perkins Agency has hired two new literary agents, Leon Husock and Rachel Brooks, to help expand their representation into genre fiction and picture books.

“I am really pleased to have these creative, enthusiastic young agents join the agency” said Agency Founder Lori Perkins. “I am looking forward to watching them discover the next wave of authors to make the best-seller list.”

Leon Husock joins L. Perkins Agency as an Associate Agent specializing in speculative fiction of all kinds, as well as young adult and middle grade novels. Leon earned a B.A. in Literature from Bard College and attended The Publishing Course at Columbia University’s School of Journalism. Prior to joining the L. Perkins Agency, Leon was an Associate Agent at Anderson Literary Management

Rachel Brooks will be joining the agency as a Junior Agent handling romance, young and new adult fiction and select picture books. Before joining the L. Perkins Agency, Rachel Brooks worked for a year as an agent apprentice to Louise Fury. In addition to her industry training, Rachel has a business degree and also graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.

About L. Perkins Agency
The L. Perkins Agency is a New York-based literary agency with four agents on staff and agents in 11 foreign countries. The Agency has had a number of books on the best-seller lists and Agency clients include Jenna Jameson, Cecilia Tan, and Laura Antoniou. Lori Perkins was named 2010 Agent of the Year by the New York Chapter of Romance Writers of America. Lperkinsagency.com

RAB Re-Releases "The Hot Streak" in Print from Cecilia Tan

“The Hot Streak is an interesting take on loving someone who is in the limelight. I enjoyed the book and found it to be an entertaining read.”—Coffee Time Romance

Riverdale, NY – June 20, 2014 – The innovative hybrid publisher Riverdale Avenue Books just re-released and published The Hot Streak from award-winning erotic romance author and baseball expert Cecilia Tan. This is the first time The Hot Streak is available in both print and ebook formats.

“If you loved ‘Bull Durham’ and ‘Fever Pitch’, then The Hot Streak is definitely for you,” said Riverdale Avenue Books’ Publisher Lori Perkins. “The last scene made me cry with joy and a little bit of envy. I could not put it down.”

In The Hot Streak, girl next-door Casey hits it big when she meets major league baseball player Tyler Hammond at a photo shoot and they start up a steamy romance. Traveling with Tyler, she’s living it up and enjoying all the hot sex she can get between games. But when Tyler’s on a winning streak, he thinks it is thanks to Casey—and she has to decide for herself: is this the real deal, or just a summer fling?

"Writing this book was a real indulgence for me," says the author, Cecila Tan. "I fell in love with baseball when I was ten years old. Baseball players were my Prince Charmings, stadiums were my Cinderella's castle, and The Hot Streak is my chance to tell a 'fairy tale' romance my way."

About Cecilia Tan
Cecilia Tan is the award-winning author of numerous works of romance and erotica, not to mention her baseball nonfiction. Her novel Slow Surrender won the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Erotic Romance. Her other romances include Mind Games, the Struck by Lightning series, and the Magic University series. Tan's erotic short stories have been collected in the books Black Feathers, White Flames, Edge Plays, and Telepaths Don't Need Safewords and she has also edited close to a hundred erotica anthologies for various publishers including Circlet Press, the publishing house she founded in 1992. She lives in the Boston area with her partner corwin and three cats.

Why Let Fantasy Writers Have All the Fun? Guest Post by Donna Minkowitz

I wrote Growing Up Golem, among other reasons, out of a profound envy of the work that fantasy writers do. Magic swords, evil usurpers, captive monsters straining to be free- aren't they the language of the soul? Just as important, aren't they fun?

The elements of fantasy are active in all of our brains, no matter what culture we come from, or what our politics are.

Impossible trials, shapeshifting lovers, child-eaters, kings and queens -- they are all there in their richness and glory, inevitably becoming part of the lens through which we see ourselves psychologically.

But I am a memoir writer, and the story I wanted to tell was my own sad, funny, freaky one. I always felt like my body and even my heart belonged to my mother, who wasn't physically sexually abusive, but definitely was verbally, and in the way she treated me in emotional terms as her lover, not a child.

And despite the way she might sound in that rather clinical description, my mother was alluring. She was brilliant, beautiful, and always talked to me about books. It was hard not to be captivated by her. And yet she made my sisters and me admire and praise her body, her mind, and her accomplishments so often that sometimes I wished my tongue would fall out rather than have to praise her just once more.

I felt like nothing and no one, unable to be desired, scarcely able to desire anyone because it had felt so shameful (and yet somehow inevitable) to want my mom.

But rather than tell this story as just another sad, heavy memoir about unpleasant things, I decided to tell it through the language of playfulness, fantasy, and myth -- the language in which we dream of impossible journeys, and creative transformations out of being stuck.

My mother had often "joked" with my sisters and me that she herself was God, and she had told us in all seriousness that she could do medieval Jewish magic from the Kabbalah. I decided to tell the story as though she had used Jewish magic to create me as a golem, a magical servant made of clay from Jewish legend.

I tell the real story of my life, but all as though I were a golem trying to do it, and pass for human. So, as a lesbian golem, I go and write for the Village Voice, I try to be a radical activist, I try to date real human women, but because I am only a fake person – an automaton made of clay – I am never able to have real power over my life.

But there is a very painful, difficult way that golems can become human, and eventually I find out about it…Thanks, fantasy writers, for giving me some of the tools to write this journey!

Donna Minkowitz

www.donnaminkowitz.com

Buy the book on Amazon: http://amzn.to/SXvmr9

YA Novel by Head of Lambda Literary Foundation Just Pubbed by RAB/Magnus

The President of the Board of Lambda Literary Foundation, S. Chris Shirley, published his first book with RAB/Magnus Books. Playing by the Book was included in The Advocate's 10 Great

Summer Reads and Kirkus just named Shirley "an author worth watching."

Playing by the Book is about seventeen-year-old high school newspaper editor Jake Powell, fresh from Alabama, who lands in New York City to attend Columbia University's prestigious summer journalism program. For Jake, it's a dream come true, but his father, a fundamentalist Christian preacher, smells trouble. And his father is rarely wrong.

Jake navigates new and unfamiliar ways "up North,” starting with his feelings for a handsome Jewish classmate named Sam. What Jake could keep hidden back home now rises to the surface in the Big Apple. Standing by his side are a gorgeous brunette with a Park Avenue attitude and the designer bags to match, a high school friend who has watched Jake grow up and isn't sure she's ready to let him go, and an outrageously flamboyant aunt who's determined to help Jake find the courage to accept love and avoid the pain that she has experienced.

“Playing by the Book adds an important new voice to Young Adult fiction. S. Chris Shirley has written a highly personal story about the intersections of sexuality and Christianity that he's ideally suited to tell. The novel's protagonist, Jake, reminds us that coming out as gay remains a big deal for people raised in religious fundamentalism,” says Magnus editor Don Weise. “It's not an easy path, as Playing by the Book makes clear.”

Alex Sanchez, author of The God Box and Boyfriends with Girlfriends says, “In Playing by the Book, S. Chris Shirley tells a story I loved curling up with, featuring one of the most endearing teen protagonists I've read in years.”

Provocative and moving, Playing by the Book is a feel-good novel about the joy and heartbreak we encounter in the search for our own truth.

About S. Chris Shirley

Chris is an award-winning writer, director and President of the Board of Lambda Literary Foundation. He directed Roger Kuhn’s music video, “What’s Your Name,” which aired nationally in the US and made the annual MTV-Logo Top 10. He also wrote and directed “Plus,” an award-winning short film that played at film festivals internationally.

He graduated from Auburn University where he served as photo editor of The Auburn University Plainsman. He later received a graduate degree from Columbia University and studied filmmaking at New York University. He was born and raised in Greenville, Alabama, and now resides in Manhattan. Playing by the Book is Chris’ first book. Visit Chris online at http://schrisshirley.com/.

RAB/Magnus Publishes Gay Twilight

Venomoid: The Night Code Saga: Book One by J.A. Kossler is the First Book of the Series

Riverdale, NY – June 7, 2014 – Riverdale Avenue Books’ LGBT Imprint Magnus Books has just published the first title in The Night Code Saga, Venomoid which Riverdale Avenue Books Publisher Lori Perkins describes as a “Gay Twilight.”

The world of the The Night Code Saga features paranormal creatures governed by a secret police force, the IPO, that ensures vampires, zombies, and others follow all required public safety regulations. Among the officers is seventeen year-old Lorin, the IPO's most skilled cadet. His co-workers distrust him and, in extreme cases, barely tolerate him. As a vampire, he must follow the rules--including turning a blind eye to the IPO's practice of torturing prisoners--or face death by sunlight exposure.

On one intense dragon-hunting mission, Lorin encounters Lex, a handsome but flesh-eating paranormal who is quickly intrigued by the young vampire. Lorin fears this hunter, but as an unexpected friendship unfolds between the two, an even more unlikely romance blossoms. The problem is Lex is on the IPO's radar, and when they capture him for scientific experimentation, Lorin must risk his life to overthrow the organization he's always feared in order to save his love.

Magnus Books Editorial Director Don Weise calls Venomoid “a harrowing and yet tender love story told with great compassion and enthusiasm. Readers will be rooting for Lorin and Lex from their first encounter.”

“I have always been an avid reader of young adult literature, especially fantasy and paranormal romance. However, in reading the genre, I had never come across a gay protagonist, and very few characters who were not both cis (gendered) and hetereosexual,” said J.A. Kossler. “LGBT representation is important to me, and I hope that my contribution to the young adult genre will help fill the hole for younger readers who, like me, were looking for LGBT protagonists.”

Buy the ebook for $6.99 at Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com or the print version for $16.99.

About J.A. Kossler
J.A. Kossler is the founder and owner of Explorer Games, a company that creates and manages a collection of online computer games. Among them is Aywas.com, a colorful world full of fantasy creatures, and Felisfire.com, a genetics game based on breeding winged cats. Both websites' communities—tens of thousands of members—are primarily young adults, and have expressed interest in their administrator's work. When not writing or working, J.A. likes drawing, conceptualizing new games, and taking care of dozens of pet snakes.

Joseph Pittman to Head New Mystery/Thriller Imprint at RAB

RIVERDALE, NY – May 28, 2014 – The innovative hybrid publisher, Riverdale Avenue Books is pleased to announce that Joseph Pittman has joined its team as the Editorial Director of Dagger, Riverdale’s new mystery and thriller imprint.

Joseph Pittman, a twenty year-plus veteran of the publishing industry, has held editorial posts at Bantam Books and New American Library, as well as Executive Editor at Alyson Books and Editorial Director for the start-up imprint Vantage Point. He has also been an editor for Bookspan, served as Contracts Manager for the Berkley Publishing Group, and most recently as Publishing Coordinator for E-Reads.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining Riverdale Avenue Books. I have long-admired its independent spirit and fierce loyalty to its authors. I share that spirit and look forward to publishing many great authors–both new and established–on the Dagger line. Publishing may be ever-changing, but the desire to work with and discover talented authors remains a constant.”

“Riverdale Avenue Books knows the mystery and thriller readership is a strong and voracious one. We are delighted to bring our speed-of-light publishing know-how to this dedicated readership with such a talented editor,” said Lori Perkins, Publisher of Riverdale Avenue Books. “Joseph Pittman is sure to strike the heart of the mystery/thriller market with our Dagger imprint.”

Several of the books he acquired and edited have won awards, including the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Lambda Literary Award. Among the many authors he has worked with are Stephen King, Martha Grimes, Lawrence Block, Jeff Abbott, Max Allan Collins, Greg Herren, Neil Plakcy, Michael Musto, Bentley Little, Robert J. Randisi, Judith Gould, Mary Rockefeller Morgan, and Joan Collins.

Pittman has also published ten novels, including the acclaimed “Linden Corners” series and the Todd Gleason mysteries.

Pittman can be reached at joseph@riverdaleavebooks.com.

New Manhattan Home for Erotic Reading Series Between the Covers

Riverdale Avenue Books Partners with the People Kitchen for “Between the Covers” Erotic Reading Series

Riverdale, NY – May 27, 2014 - Riverdale Avenue Books’ monthly erotic romance and erotica book reading series, Between the Covers will be moving their downtown reading to People Kitchen starting on Friday, June 6th. The monthly series will feature best-selling authors the first Friday of every month, as well as their signature Dirty Word Raffle for free books and prizes.
The readers at the first reading in the new location will be Lambda nominated Donna Minkowitz, author of Growing Up Golem: How I Survived my Mother, Brooklyn and Some Really Bad Dates, IPPY Award-winner D.L. King, reading from Her Wish is Your Command, 21 Erotic Fem Dom Stories, Sheela Lambert, editor of the newly published Best Bi Short Stories anthology and Ann Herendeen, best known for her erotic interpretation of Pride/Prejudice.

“Between the Covers” features a unique dirty word raffle where each participant is encouraged to write their favorite dirty word on a piece of paper (with initials because dirty minds think alike). The June 6th reading will feature raffle prizes from hipsandcurves.com corsets (a $150 value), samples of Dude Wipes, Simply Slick Oil Based Lubricant and Uberlube Silicone Lubricant from MySecretLuxury.com, and books by the readers.

“Authors of erotica and erotic romance don’t often get the chance to read at the local bookstore or library, so we are pleased to offer an opportunity for them to mingle with their fans, “ said Lori Perkins, Publisher of Riverdale Avenue Books and an a erotica author herself. “And since Fifty Shades of Grey has sold 300 million copies world-wide, we know there are a lot of fans out there.”
People’s Kitchen is located at163 Allen Street and the readings will begin at 7:00pm.

Riverdale Avenue Books also hosts a Between the Covers reading at Bael Bocht Café, near the Riverdale Avenue Books’ company’s headquarters, to entice book lovers located in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut to attend.

When Your Author "Makes It"

I have been a literary agent for more than two decades, and I've had many auctions and six figure deals. I've had a number of books on various best-seller lists, but most of them have been one-shot or celebrity books or books that the author and I knew would sell a zillion copies, but the publisher didn't, so we received a low advance and waited two years for the royalty check to come in (reserves against returns).

I have watched many authors thank their agents who have believed in them for years as, after 10 or 20 years of writing in diligent obscurity, or even a dedicated fan niche, they suddenly are out and now everyone knows their name - Lee Child, Charlaine Harris, Lisa Renee Jones, to name a few off the top of my head.

And now it has happened to Cecilia Tan, who is one of my best friend and a client.

I love Cecilia's work. When she sends me an outline, or I have the privilege to edit her (I signed 4 Harry Potter-esque fanfic turned "real" novels by her when I was the Editorial Director of Ravenous Romance, as well as a really hot baseball novel), her work often brings me to tears. I would fangirl her so hard if she wasn't my client and friend.

And now the whole world knows what an awesome writer she is thanks to the amazing Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Erotic Romance for Slow Surrender, the first book in her amazing trilogy.

Cecilia took my advice when I called her and said, "this is your moment. You've been writing erotica for years, and the world is ready for you. Give me a contemporary BDSM light series that will show the world what you are made of," and she did.

We did not get a lot of money up front from Grand Central. We didn't even get a full promise of print, but we had an enthusiastic, great editor in Latoya Smith, and I urged Cecilia to take the opportunity and see where it would take her. The books were awesome, and got wonderful reviews, which promoted Grand Central to get it on the '"If You Liked 50 Shades" table at B&N, which made it sell.

Fast forward a year later. We have had some amazing foreign sales on the Slow Surrender trilogy, and two concurrent trilogies at two separate houses.

I can proudly state that Cecilia will be chained to her desk writing for the foreseeable future, which is what she has always wanted to do.