The Dangerous Beasts unleashed: Fire

A while ago I (unashamedly) went over to the “dark” side of writing erotic romance, and not only did I discover that this was fun, but I also discovered a bunch of stories that I wouldn’t ordinarily have dared to under normal circumstances. Granted, there are erotic elements in some of my novels, but the driving force behind my regular line of fiction isn’t necessarily romance (though the characters do fall in and out of love).

So, that’s how Therése von Willegen came into being: basically Nerine’s stories with a whole pile of additional *schmexxors* as we like to call it among my fellow authors. You’ll still find all the usual elements, but let’s just say that things will be … erm …  a wee bit more frisky. Or, as one friend described my latest, “Wow, Nerine, this is quite saucy.”

For those of you who like this sort of thing, I already have two novel-length works available. One is Tainted Love that I published a while ago. It’s a bit of a reverse-Cinderella story, about the good girl who discovers her innate, natural flair for exotic dancing after she gets retrenched. Then there’s Hell’s Music, which ties into the Books of Khepera universe, although my notorious Jamie only gets a brief appearance as a secondary character. Both have their feet firmly planted in contemporary culture.

Which is why I’ve decided to start dipping my toe into writing fantasy erotica, and releasing these in bite-sized pieces, which seems to favour the current climate of mobile reading. The first of these is my tale The Salamander Lord, which is themed according to the element of fire. (Yes, there are more to follow.)

Everything the witch Enya holds dear is threatened by the advance of the Golden Empire. In order to find the power to better her magical skills and help save her sisterhood, she’s sent on an impossible mission to capture an elemental. Not just any elemental, but a creature born of fire—a salamander lord. Only Enya doesn’t expect her passions to be ignited in the ruins of Castle Mondragon. Nor is she prepared for the immense power her fascination with fire unleashes.

To whet your appetite, here’s a little teaser…
She hissed against his lips and dug her nails into the satin-slick skin above his hipbones. The man pulled back, his smile a wicked slash as he regarded her.

“What do you want to offer, little witch? My price is to hear you moan and sob. I want to pin you to this couch and sink myself so deep within you that you’ll be split in twain with lust. I will take my fill of you. Or...”

“Or?” she all but whimpered.

His eyes gleamed. “Or you return to your sisters. Alive. Unharmed. And I will give you this.” He sat back on his haunches and held out his right hand palm up. A tiny flame fluttered into life and shivered before winking out.

“Wait,” Enya said, confused. “You just saved me after making me promise to pay a price and now you’ll let me go with fire...”

“You choose. You can have fire. Any fool can hold a flame but can you truly say you know fire?”

* * * *

Like that? Well, feel free to purchase a copy at Smashwords, Nook or Kindle for only 99c. Alternatively, three lucky readers who sign up for my newsletter here, will each receive a free ecopy of The Salamander Lord.

Uncovering Hell's Music

Those of you who read Just My Blood Type this past week would have read about Therese von Willegen, intrepid romance author. Well, folks, that's me, my other half who writes dirty books.

Last year this time I wrote and sold my first erotic romance novel, entitled Tainted Love, which released through Siren. This was more an experiment than anything else, to see if I could write and sell contemporary erotic romance. I discovered two things: not only did I write this well enough to sell to a publisher other than my existing one, but I also enjoyed the genre very much. Enough to write Hell's Music, which I've homed with Lyrical Press.

Why back at Lyrical Press? Because Lyrical gave me my foot in the door, and have allowed me to experiment with my writing and flex my muscles. Another reason: because behind the scenes there's a well-oiled machine and a support staff of fellow authors, content editors, line editors and, lastly, I must thank people like Stef, Mary, Piper and Renee for just being absolutely the best team I've worked with. Ever.

So, without further ado, I'd like to thank Renee for the wonderful cover art for Hell's Music. This was pretty much spot-on what I was looking for when I briefed her with regard to the artwork.

Hell's Music releases early in September and I'm already very excited with how things are looking.

And, if you're on Facebook, do swing by my author page.