S.E.’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2013)

S.E.’s comments from the S. E. Lund - Author group.

Holy Hannah - Dominion, Ascension and Retribution were nominated for the top 10 paranormal with BDSM books that debuted in 2012 over at BDSM Group. #5, #7 and #8. Which, by the way, I have no association with, just so ya know it wasn't me who pushed it or nominated it. ;)

Cherish wrote: "Alisa wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Alisa wrote: "Yep...sex in the clouds. He's an archangel come to earth to find his archess. He was the angel of death & for some reason when he got here he became the f..."

That's a really sweet sentiment but of course it hasn't happened yet and I'm of the be hopeful but don't count those chickens... ;)

Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "lets just say I didn't have the "normal" upbring...but it was always filled with loving and caring people. but it sure wasn't ozzy & harriet.
I am a bi-racial child of the 50's whose mother did no..."

I felt that in a different way - as a military brat who moved to a new place almost every year or two I was always on the outside looking in. I became a bit of an observer rather than a participant. An introvert rather than an extrovert and was exposed to many different people, ideas and cultures when I was growing up. I was always very tolerant and learned early on how strange and particular intolerance was. Every place we moved seemed to have its own brand of intolerance, which just seemed baseless and arbitrary when seen as an outsider.

Paris wrote:

lets just say I didn't have the "normal" upbring...but it was always filled with loving and caring people. but it sure wasn't ozzy & harriet.
I am a bi-racial child of the 50's whose mother did not believe in marriage, and i never even lived with my father till i was 11...
I understand being different, and never really fitting in anywhere

S.E. wrote: "Just moving some comments here:


Paris wrote:

My first job in life - when I was 15 was in a homosexual sandwich shop in San Francisco, I had so much fun, and some of those I worked with were drag..."

That is so cool, Paris -- what an interesting life your mother led! And you as well! (view spoiler)[ I am very gay positive as I have close family members who are both gay and trans. I didn't know this about them until recently but I guess my earlier experiences helped prepare me to be more open. My PhD thesis advisor was a lesbian, one of my first bosses in government was a gay man in a long term committed relationship, and I have had several gay and lesbian friends in university, which seems to be quite a lot more open than the rest of the world - at least, the political science and social science departments! So my entree into M/M fanfiction was pretty laid back. I love M/M but am just focused now on M/F. I could get quite into M/F/M but not with these twins although I know there is some twincest out there in fanfiction land and material like Wincest, but that's not my cup of tea. (hide spoiler)]

Just moving some comments here:


Paris wrote:

My first job in life - when I was 15 was in a homosexual sandwich shop in San Francisco, I had so much fun, and some of those I worked with were drag queens, throughout my life time I have remained close to the gay male community, and have even played the "female" in the required situations for some....kinda funny as I think about it as my Mother also had played that role when she was young in nursing school in SF. wow I never thought about that connection till right now..

this was the scene my Mom hung out in the early 60's

(view spoiler)[ The Black Cat Bar or Black Cat Café was a bar in San Francisco, California. It opened in 1906 and closed in 1921. The Black Cat re-opened in 1933 and operated for another 30 years. During its second run of operation, it was a hangout for Beats and bohemians but over time began attracting more and more of a gay clientele.

Because it catered to gays, the bar became a flashpoint for the nascent homophile movement. The Black Cat was at the center of a legal fight that was one of the earliest court cases to establish legal protections for gay people in the United States. Despite this victory, continued pressure from law enforcement agencies eventually forced the bar's closure in 1964. (hide spoiler)]

Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Just revised the first 5 chapters of Dominion. Anyone want to beta for me? Give me feedback? Send me an email."

sure I would - kerbytejas@gmail.com"

Thanks Paris -- look forward to your comments!

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "Ok... My Aunt & I discovered that we both have similar tastes in books a while back, but it's a big secret because she's a closet smut reader. lol

Soooooo... After I finished Retribution, I sent ..."

Woo hoo! Thanks for that -- every time someone reccs my books to someone else, a beautiful little fairy is born somewhere in an enchanted forest ...

No, it's just good for my sales and exposure so thank you!

Just revised the first 5 chapters of Dominion. Anyone want to beta for me? Give me feedback? Send me an email.

Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "a little more explanation of the Council & SCU might be good, and the cats could evn be at a kennel, neighbor talen care of or Vasily could take care of them to further is his character as a "good..."

I like the idea of Vasily taking care of them in a more overt fashion. I had it in my mind that Vasily takes care of this because he is just such an organized guy and sweet like that, but I didn't make it explicit enough in my narrative to ensure the cat lovers, of which I am one, were less angsted/pissed. The SCU and Council will get a tad more explanation, and Julien will have a few more scenes with escalating attraction developing. The sexual scenes will happen a bit later in the book. The submission element will be clarified a bit more and maybe be less urgent in Michel's dialogue with Eve. The book is only 88,000 words while A is 99,000 and R is a whopping 126,000. So I have a bit of room to play if I bring it up to 100,000.

We will see... Have to go back to my writing drawing board and revise my workplan. I'm working on the contemporary romance right now and had that on the front burner with Book 4 coming on the slate after it was done at the end of March and Book 5 coming on line in August... Decisions decisions...

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "There are those that will not purchase it because of the M/M sex that is going to be in that book, no matter how big of a BDB fan they are. I'm tempted not to purchase it myself - I've said how I feel about M/M - because of the sex & the high price. However, I'm only tempted... "

I could see how M/M could be off-putting for those who are not familiar with it or don't particularly like it. I remember my very innocent introduction to M/M back when I started writing. I happened onto a very dark M/M in a fandom that will remain anonymous and I was shocked by it. I had never read or imagined M/M before and had never seen the TV series or even knew who the actors were. But I wanted to write and needed a writing group so I joined and adapted myself to it. I finally did get into it and used it as a way to learn to write. Met my first editor there, who had a PhD in English Lit. I have no interest in reading it anymore. But I once was an afficianado.

Probably best to discuss it here since people who haven't read the series would maybe avoid this thread. I would probably look at the criticisms from Goodread readers for D -- there were a number of bad reviews for it and those are instructive.

Some people found Eve to fall for M too fast. I could revise and delay that scene for a while, put in more build up. Some people felt that there wasn't enough Julien to really develop the love triangle in the first book. I could add in a few more scenes with Julien and Eve so that the triangle element is more developed. I could have Eve spend more time with her kitties so the cat lovers don't worry about the cats dying. ;) I could have Michel's motivation for wanting Eve a bit more fleshed out. I could include a bit more explanation for what the SCU does, the Council of Clairveaux, what Dominion is. Those were things that maybe made some readers bail because they are the kind of readers who like a bit slower pace with a bit more background that I provided. I wouldn't do too much, because my books overall are fast-paced and suspenseful, and I want to keep the series that way because that is what I like personally, but hopefully just enough so that I addressed some of the legitimate concerns raised by readers and that would improve Dominion. People who read the series seem to say that they like A better than D and R better than both the other two. Which means D can be improved.

There is a new publishing model developing due to the rise of eBooks and self-publishing. Many authors are self-publishing their first book or books and if they get some degree of success, publishers are more likely to consider them. It's like a proving ground and you are all my focus group to see if my product is appealing enough to develop further.

So that is why I value people's polite but honest feedback and questions. My goal is to write the best novels I can and reach the widest audience I can for the kind of books I write. It's so wonderful to interact with readers and learn from you!

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "Like the Wicked Lovers series - which I haven't finished because the Kindle versions are $13 a piece."

I went to check out a kindle book yesterday and it was like $16 and I thought WTF??? Why would I pay that much for an eBook? It's like highway robbery. I refused. Seriously, the price of an eBook should be less than a paperback. I know -- I've freaking published them both. Traditional published books can charge more I suppose because they have large staffs to do all the work indie authors do themselves, and so they need to cover costs of overhead, but still. An eBook should be cheaper than a paperback. Cost of production is so much less without printing and shipping.

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "S.E. wrote: "You mean not all PNR books have explicit sex? :)

I honestly don't know if I want to rea..."

lol... Unfortunately not. I have to say, I felt absolutely cheated in Breaking Dawn when..."

With erotica, there has to be some reason why I want to read it, as in the protag looks the way I like my sex objects -- I mean men -- to look. LOL I'm not shallow. Or a scenario I like. I have nothing against erotica but just prefer plot to PWP. Sex can be plot -- I like it when sex is plot. My CR WIP is all about that.

Thank you for your reviews! Glad that it was a satisfying read. I didn't want to leave people in a bad state of mind because I knew it would be at least 6 months before the next book came out. If things happen on the publisher front, it may be longer. Will have to see.

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "I posted my review on Amazon too of all three books. I'm not sure if you've seen, but R has only received 5 star review from all that have reviewed it. I'm not sure about the others... I didn't c..."

No I didn't see your Amazon reviews but thanks for them! Will check them out. This tells me that D needs a revision because the reviews are much more mixed for it.

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "S.E. wrote: "So what made it your favourite? Inquiring minds of authors, you know..."

Of course! There are several things, actually...

One, and probably the most profound (for me), is that most ..."

Wow, thanks! Thanks for the wonderful review on Goodreads. I understand what you mean about books that just keep going on and on about nothing important and seem like filler to get from one point in time to another. To me, fiction should be dramatic as in covering only the important parts -- the parts that move the plot forward or develop character.

Let's just say that this arrangement persists for a while in the next two books but that things happen to challenge Eve's feelings and that threaten it, and make it change in some ways. As to how it all ends up, not going there!

Here's a question -- I've been invited to participate on a FB Book Club promotion and wanted ideas for a small gift that was symbolic of the series. Is there something small that you could think of that would be a nice little gift for a winner to receive? I have a few ideas so far but would like to see what others think.

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "Yes! I'm done!!! Wow, what an amazing book. By far my favorite! I wish GR had more than 5 stars!"

So what made it your favourite? Inquiring minds of authors, you know...

❃ Brandy ❃ wrote: "Yes! I'm done!!! Wow, what an amazing book. By far my favorite! I wish GR had more than 5 stars!"

YAY! Glad you enjoyed!