I am thrilled to announce that one of my short stories – this time a dual timeline (quite a challenge when working with a limit of 5000 words) – won a coveted place in the RWA 2019 Spicy Bites Anthology: Masks.
Esther Jones and the Temple of the Moon is my first foray into Historical Erotic Short Fiction, and is now available on Amazon (click on the link to take a look).
I would love to share with you a short excerpt from the story… in my next post (soon, I promise!)
It has been awfully quiet on this page, but for very good reason, I promise!
I’ve been working on six new novellas, which I plan to release between September and December this year. I’ll keep you posted, and let you know as soon as I have a definite date for the first new adventure.
My new stories range from women’s fiction with a sensual twist (tentatively labelled Blush) to spicy romantic suspense (Girls on Film) and very spicy (Black Label).
Teasers for the spiciest? An unusual high-stakes poker game will give you a peek into the world of my sexy martial arts instructor who stars in the award winning short story Daisy, Chained. I’m so excited to finally be able to share this story with you, which I’ll include as a bonus with Pokerface.
I’m also half-way through a full length work of sensual suspense about a girl down on her luck who runs away to a tropical island to reinvent herself, and a chef with a knife fetish. I’m hoping to have this one ready for release early next year, but I’ll share spicy bites of it as I progress. With a foreplay session months long, I hope the release will be memorable 😉
I had the privilege this weekend to view some beautiful paintings, including a striking and sensual work in pastel, by artist Kate Smith. The local gallery I visited is a feast for the senses, with a lush garden outside and eclectic décor inside, but this one piece captured my imagination.
My attention was initial drawn by the jewelry, makeup and hairstyle, so richly evocative of the Jazz Age (my favorite historically period) but it was captured by the sensuality of her expression and pose.
“Master pastellist Kate Smith has for years been famed for her depiction of fascinating women. In this captivating piece, Kate conveys the sensuality of womanhood … The soft pastel medium is skilfully blended so that the rich chocolate tones in the background meld into the soft mauves and purples of the drapes that gently flow over and caress the model’s body. The provocative placement of a long strand of pearls over the woman’s breast enhances her sensuality…” Tiffany Jones, fine Art Consultant.
Getting acquainted with the characters in my stories is always a joy to me, whether they are easy-going and likeable, or emotionally damaged. Like getting to know a new friend, sometimes one will catch me off-guard by revealing a surprising detail about themselves. This happened to me yesterday, when my current protagonist let me know she’s a naturist. I have no idea where it came from–I’ve never met a naturist before (that I know of) and haven’t ever had a reason to research the lifestyle. My only brush with naturism was in the sauna on a cruise ship that departed from Hamburg with mostly German guests…
Anyway, when Alex (a sculptor) made it clear that being naked is crucial to her creativity, I was intrigued. And when she’s offered a commission to create a sculpture in a public park (in my current work in progress), I couldn’t help but get excited. What would she do? The work promises to generate valuable publicity for her career, but will being naked beneath her overalls be enough to satisfy her muse? If her employer, workmates or the general public found out about her love of nakedness, would she be treated as a curiosity–or a pervert? And what sort of influence does being a naturist have on her sexuality?
When I thought about it, it seemed the nudist lifestyle had gone quiet lately–doubtless due to the recent social sensitivity to sexual harassment–so I did a little digging.
Well, it’s that time of year again – I’m off to Sydney for the annual RWA conference, and I’m going as a prize-winner!
I recently ranked first in the Spicy Bites competition, and my story Daisy, Chained, will appear in the annual RWA Short Story Anthology Chains, which is being released on August 18 (this Saturday).
The story was a pleasure to write, the words seeming to flow through me–almost writing themselves–from my imagination onto the page. I almost felt like an imposter when I heard I’d received a score of 100% from the judges.
I would love to share with you a short excerpt. But first a quick background…
Daisy, hiding the vulnerable side of her nature behind her adopted name Kalika (for the warrior goddess), is the only female member of a private martial arts club.
Hiro is a special guest, invited to demonstrate a weapon not previously used at the club – a chain whip. Sounds kinky, hey?
So… as I’ve been editing my 130,000 word novel (which I have now finished and am about to send off for a structural edit). Part of the process was reducing (or removing) some of the more intense or ‘unsuitable’ love scenes. One of the scenes I cut back was at the sensual ‘climax’ of the story, the first time my heroine her dark and damaged Champagne producer give in to their lust.
Describing each act in a night of lovemaking was a bit extreme, so I removed the little one in the middle, and edited the rest down to their scintillating essence.
Circumstances have my lovers sharing a one bedroom cottage at Henri’s vineyard, but instead of arguing about who gets the bed, they fall in to it together.
One day I hope you’ll read my debut work of sensual women’s fiction, to read the scenes that made the cut, but for now, here’s a little tease…
Slow and sensual in a sun-dappled park; enthusiastic and artless on the banks of the Seine; fast and furious down a cobbled lane-way … Paris is the ideal place for kissing, and has been for decades (or centuries?)
There are many gorgeous images of passion in Paris, captured on paper, canvas, or through the lens of a camera, but there is one that—for me—captures the essence of the City of Love.
Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville (The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville) was taken by the great French photographer Robert Doisneau. It’s a photograph of a couple kissing, in the midst of a crowd. The image was captured on the corner of rue du Renard and rue de Rivoli, across from the town hall, in the Spring of 1950.
Doisneau’s pictures made the private and the personal visible, focusing on people to make a connection with the viewer. There is an excellent article about how he used friends and actors as models, in response to privacy laws (yes, even back in the 1950’s).
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170213-the-iconic-photo-that-symbolises-love
As always, images have been my inspiration and I have shared some on a pinterest board…
I recently had the pleasure of seeing The Art of the Teese, curated by and starring the legend herself, Dita Von Teese. In my opinion (apologies to Dita) the highlight of the show was Australian performer Zelia Rose. Her act embodies the spirit of Josephine Baker – and sent shivers over my entire body. I’m convinced watching her perform was second only to going back in time to see Josephine herself dance.
To give you a taste of Zelia’s act, I found this on youtube from 2014. It was brilliant back then, and is much more polished now.
As a little girl, I loved watching Wonder Woman’s adventures on TV, but I had no idea how controversial she’d been in her earlier years. Originally known for themes of bondage and lesbianism, outraged mothers influenced politicians and educators to pressure DC Comics into toning down the erotic elements. Wonder Woman was reinvented and the feminist icon became another ‘vanilla’ superhero.
The creator…
William Moulton Marston (psychologist and lawyer) was the inventor of the systolic blood pressure test, which became a component of the modern polygraph, or lie detector, with the help of his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston.
He was also radical feminist. Having served in the first world war, Marston introduced Wonder Woman to the world during the second world war, in 1941, and she was initially depicted fighting Axis military forces. “He believed that the only way to save the world from war was for women to rule the world and for men to become more like women. Marston was, among other things, a noted psychological researcher and an enthusiastic bondage fetishist; he believed comic books were a great form for educational, anti-patriarchy propaganda. Wonder Woman was designed to bring the world to matriarchy through confronting abuse and modelling girl power, genderfucking, bondage play, and erotic mind control.” Continue reading
I have a confession to make: I adore drinking wine – white or red – and have been a fan of rosé, especially the dry varieties, for many years. As a lover of most things French and sensual, on a recent mini break to Queensland’s ‘granite belt’, I couldn’t resist ordering the La Petite Mort Rosé from a restaurant wine list.
The cool, high country and decomposed granite soils of the area make for unique and excellent wines – the label got my attention, andthe wine did not disappoint!
http://www.lapetitemort.com.au/
As I was drinking, my curiosity sparked and I did a little digging about the origins of the term ‘La Petite Mort’. The little death as a metaphor for orgasm is fairly mainstream, and has been used as a title for many things, including restaurants and a ballet, and is referenced widely in music lyrics.
The term was in use as early as the 16th century, originally referring to a fainting fit, later enlarged to include ‘nervous spasm’. More recently the term has been used to describe a sexual orgasm as a spiritual as well as physical release, an orgasm so intense it feels like an out of body experience; the feeling of having expended life force, of having died a little.
Surely, a little warm death is even better? (sung beautifully by Stringmansassy):
La petite mort is commonly used in literature, although not always in a sexual way (i.e. Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles) and literary critic Roland Barthes used the term to describe the experience of reading great literature.
I’m sure I’ll find a way to slip it into my writing…
I’ll leave you with a beautiful but sad song…
a tout a l’heure…
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