Cari Silverwood's Steamwork Chronicles

Cari Silverwood needs little introduction here on my blog. We go back many years, to writers' groups where we were both members, and now we're at the stage of our careers where I've edited her novel, Rough Surrender, and I've proofread numerous other works. Her Steamwork Chronicles take place in a world of her own devising, and she's here today to answer a few questions. Welcome, Cari! Tell us more about the setting in your Steamwork Chronicles. 

I guess the one thing I kept in mind was, this is fantasy, and so I set out to create something that was not actually Victorian and yet that still had nuances of it. I think restricting your steampunk to merely Victorian England is no longer necessary with steampunk. I went for continental drift, where the continents are much closer. I lumped countries together. I made Asia into the Greater Asian Monarchy and I turned the US and part of Europe into The Pan-continental Mexican Empire. You’ll have to read the stories to get the details. Listing them would be boring!

One thing I will mention is that I added in the frankenstructs, who are human clones stitched together from many pieces.

Iron Dominance is book one of the series. If you have to tell readers about it in a nutshell?

Hmm. Short and sweet.Female frankenstruct assassin meets MrUber-Hunk, Theo Kevonis, who is Lord of his manor and all he surveys, and yet also a good man at heart, despite loving to dominate and spank women…sound good? Anyway, she betrays him in a way that we really should NOT blame her for, and that leads to much angst. So she gets spanked a lot, and tied up and much fun is had by all. Even when the bad guy arrives and tries to murder people.

Lust Plague follows as book two... How does it fit into the sequence, and what's the basic rundown of this one?

Let’s see…Lust Plague…basically Zombies, BDSM, and romance all rolled up in a steampunk setting. It’s gory in parts, post-apocalyptic, and great fun, even if the world almost collapses in a heap. Kaysana and Sten save the day. Since it’s set in territory around Tibet I could isolate the events to a fair degree, from Iron Dominance.

Your latest release is Steel Dominance, and you return to tell the story of one of the secondary characters in Iron Dominance. What's the buzz here?

I had a lot of readers ask me to write the story of Dankyo, and so this is it. He’s mean, masculine, and not a man to be trifled with. But he does save the day despite somewhat insurmountable odds. I like to travel on new territory with each story, so I set this one in a steampunk Byzantium, which is the same city as is Istanbul. In our world, Istanbul came about because the Ottoman Turks besieged and conquered the city. In my story, the siege never ended. I aimed to write a complex plot of intrigue and deadly revenge and I hope I succeeded. There’s certainly a high body count.

Steampunk and BDSM erotica... that's quite a heady combination. How do you blend the elements? What makes your characters tick...or not?

As with all stories, you need to balance the plot threads. They should all weave together in a nice way so that the climax happens at the right time. Not meaning to pun there. But like any story, to get readers interested you have to keep them wondering what is going to happen next and like all romances, you need to make the hero and heroine fall in love, and then fall OUT of love, and then IN again.Tricky business. The BDSM is just a part of their attraction for each other. I like to make the sex scenes build in eroticism and significance as the story trundles onward.

Obviously my characters are into BDSM and find that it spices up their love lives.

And snippets of your favourite reviews?

Night Owl Erotica 5/5 stars, Top Pick
“most of all, this is an adventure with all the things great adventure stories have in them; fights, flights, deception and much more”

Guilty Pleasures 5/5 stars
“I have come to expect nothing less from her except perfection, hot and steamy sex scenes and a wild story. She brings you to a future that is written with such clarity that you aren’t imagining it, but living it.”

And something to tease us from Steel Dominance?

A loudspeaker came on. “Time for disembarkation in twenty minutes. Passengers are advised to have their baggage in order.”

People either side of them moved away, and when only a few were left and Dankyo hadn’t said a word, she made to follow them. He stopped her. His hands tightened on her neck, and he shifted behind her until his lower body pressed into her buttocks.

“Stay.”

She stiffened.

Then he nipped her ear and spoke in a warm, rumbling tenor. His breath carried his words in deep to curl inside her mind and paralyze her with their power.

“This is Byzantium, where slaves do as their Masters bid them. Where no one will know if you surrender yourself to me. Not your friends; not your family.” As he spoke, he slid one hand down her front, following the curve of her breast, then lower, until the flat of his hand rested on her belly. He pulled her back against him, gentle but sure.

“Sofia, will you let me take you to the edge and beyond?”

What's next for Cari Silverwood?

Next up to be released is Take Me, Break Me, another BDSM story, but one that skirts dubious consent.
Contemporary this time though. I like to call this story, the evolution of a sadist.

Blurb for this story which is very adult and only for those who like pushing boundaries:

Jodie is scraping the barrel trying to stay afloat. An idea arrives that could rescue her finances and bring her together in a kinky way with a man she never gave up on. She's terrified and fascinated, and tempted as hell.

Capture fantasies rule her eBook. Re-enacting one in a documentary would surely be irresistible viewing to millions of women?

But Jodie and Klaus discover that underneath an ordinary man dark desires may lurk. What will win in the end? The man and lover, or the monster?

After that story is the next in the Badass Brats series, The Dom with the Perfect Brats.

Linkage:
Books by Cari Silverwood
Facebook
Twitter

New cover art for Cristal Ryder #guest

Today I give Cristal Ryder, author of BDSM erotica, an opportunity to chat about her writing and her two titles, Being Ariana and Being Bound which have recently been rebooted with fresh cover art. Welcome, Cristal!

A facelift. Could we all use one? Sometimes when I look in the mirror I think “yes!” The same can go for books too. A favourite storyline of mine that is published with Lyrical Press got a dusting off and new look. Being Ariana and Being Bound have been re-released with wonderful new covers. I had cover love with their old cover but these ones are well….pretty damn sweet!


These are my first two books. It’s so nice to come back to a story that warmed my heart a while ago. In Being Ariana, we meet Ellie, she masquerades herself as Ariana so she can fulfill her sexual fantasies. But, when she meets Rourke, things take a delicious and unexpected turn. We follow Rourke into Being Bound, a darker, sexier and more intense story that catapults him into the Heather’s erotic web.

I’ll leave you with blurbs from both stories and an excerpt from Being Bound.

Being Ariana
Ellie Taylor lives her erotic dreams by masquerading herself as Ariana and visiting the Black Phantom. In this club where anything goes, she plans to perform onstage before an audience, building her sexual excitement to a fever pitch before selecting her man. But Ariana is sidetracked by a tall, blond masked maitre-d. He captivates her and all thoughts of performing are forgotten. He's every bit as domineering as Ariana and pushes her to her sexual limit. Their true identities concealed, they set out to use each other for pleasure--no risk of entanglement or commitment...but that may prove easier said than done.

Being Bound
A man used to getting what he wants, Tom Rourke doesn’t take being discarded lightly. Smarting from rejection, Rourke decides the complication of women is distracting him from his goal. He refocuses his energy into ownership of the Black Phantom, where he meets Heather Canyon. Drawn into her erotic web, he can’t get her out of his mind. But can he trust her? The only way to know is to experience her first hand. Dominatrix Heather Canyon is looking for a new beginning, and a safe place where she can let her talents shine. Rourke’s proposition is the perfect opportunity. She must test him to ensure they are the right fit for each other and challenges him at every turn. She isn’t looking for a partner, but has she found her match with Rourke?

Excerpt – Being Bound
Heather sat her coffee on the table and crouched to reach the arm of the chair, swinging it so the back was to the corner between the window and wall. It would offer prime vantage of the room and door. She settled into the leather and crossed her long legs. The skirt rose past her knees and the flash of pewter on the shoes contrasted nicely with her black silk stocking-clad legs.

Heather gazed around the room, letting her vision slide across the men trying to make eye contact with her. She had them figured out and watched for him. Another glance at the time caused her a brief sense of frustration. It wouldn’t do if he was late and in another minute he would be.

Heather left the coffee on the table and lifted her gaze. This time it met that of a man sitting across the shop. His blond hair reflected the sun and she was surprised at herself for not noticing him initially. But he had a half-empty cup in his large hand, which meant he had been here for a while. She pulled her gaze away from the magnetism of his and focused on the door.

But she was drawn to him and glanced back. Her heart thumped with anticipation at his predatory approach to her.

You can find me at:
www.cristalryder.com
https://twitter.com/#!/CristalRyder
https://www.facebook.com/cristal.ryderauthor
Ellora’s Cave
All Romance ebooks
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Sybarite Seductions
Lyrical Press

Dom with a Safeword #review

Title: Dom with a Safeword
Authors: Cari Silverwood, Leia Shaw and Sorcha Black
Publisher: Wicked Cucumber, 2012

I’ll come clean from the start and say that I was a beta-reader for this novel, and loved every minute of it. Three authors might seem like a bit of a handful when it comes to writing one story, but Leia Shaw, Cari Silverwood and Sorcha Black certainly have chemistry and sparks in all the right places.

Although there were a few times where I did notice a bit of an unevenness in style, the ladies hold everything together masterfully. What I especially appreciated was the authenticity of the characters' voices. Each has a history, has hopes, aspirations. As readers, we walk with them on a path of self-discovery.

Jude must decide whether to follow in the footsteps of his father, and study medicine – and put an end to his somewhat bohemian lifestyle of renovating houses. Sabrina learns to step beyond her somewhat conservative upbringing and taste forbidden pleasures. Q’s dark past casts a shadow on her future happiness.

If you thought a couple had its complications, try a threesome – but this combination also tantalises the senses, and Jude, Sabrina and Q create a beautiful dynamic as they explore the boundaries of their relationship. Their interaction is an absolute treat to experience, and this is tempered also by a touching romantic subplot. The ladies have paid attention to detail to their setting and the support characters – and these small details help to cast their world into three dimensions.

I must make mention of the dialogue, and the instances where the characters to-and-fro comments made me smile. Another added quirk was Sabrina’s obsession with paranormal investigating, which added a fun, light-hearted angle, especially in the séance scene. I almost wanted there to be more of a mystery theme to the story, and further development of a narrative, but that would have driven this into the realms of a doorstopper, and not the hot, tasty bite this novel is.

The Dom with a Safeword is a sweet yet kinky read, and if this sort of stuff blows your hair back then I recommend this title whole-heartedly. Scorching hot at times, yet with a gentle touch. Perhaps what I appreciated about the novel in its totality is that the ladies kept it real. Jude, Sabrina and Q could be that curious trio living next door to you, while you had absolutely no idea what goes on behind closed doors.

Mmm, 31 Flavors

Cari Silverwood is one of my favourite authors, and it's not just 'cos I'm her editor for her upcoming Lyrical Press release, Rough Surrender, but it's through our shared world of writing; I also consider her to be one of my closest friends.

Recently she co-authored a novel with Leia Shaw, entitled 31 Flavors, and I had the opportunity to proofread the story before it hit vendors' shelves. While BDSM erotica is not my primary choice in genre, much like any red-blooded female reader, I do appreciate a strong, narrative-driven erotica tale. 31 Flavors is one of those that totally gripped me. It's based on a true story and I found myself moved following Sid and Nick's tale of sexual awakening. This is a keeper and if you're curious about the BDSM erotica genre, this tale is a good starting point.

Recently, Silverwood told me, "Got an awesome bit of reader feedback: 'I just finished 31 Flavors and I just wanted to say that I loved it. In a way it was kind of hard for me to read because it so closely mirrors what the last year of my life has been like. I cried my eyes out when she was drunk and said she was sorry that she was so broken... I can't tell you how many times I have felt like that. The anxiety, tears, and struggle in the book was balanced with wonderful humor and such love. It was fabulous! Thank you both for writing such a great story. :)'"

Now isn't that something every author wants to hear from her readers?

But sometimes one needs a taste of the good stuff, so here's what the novel is about:

There are some things in life you have to try before you know how they will affect you.

After 5 years of awful sex, I was ready. Bondage and spanking had always featured in my fantasies, and one day, I convinced my husband to try them. That day was a turning point.

Ice cream comes in many flavors and that’s us too -- not vanilla, maybe not Rocky Road either. We can be a combination or make up our own and no one has the right to judge us.

But there will always be one question that tears at my soul: Will my husband, Nick, ever be happy with what I crave?

And here, for your reading pleasure, is an excerpt:

When he returns, he's carrying the coiled rope, the Throbbinator, and padded handcuffs.

"Remember you said something about shibari?"

"Uh-huh," I answer warily. I don't want to discourage him, but maybe I know more about it than he does? "Have you looked it up on the net?"

Nick tosses the handcuffs up the other end of the couch. "I can do knots. You know that. Just stand there. I have an idea."

Hm. This should be interesting. As the first loop goes around behind my waist, he kisses my shoulder, pulls me close using the rope and works his way up to my lips for a proper, thorough kiss – tongue shoved between my lips, my head pressed slowly backward by the force. Mmm, nice.

But, as soon as he breaks the kiss, my inquisitive, doubting nature makes me blurt, "You have to make sure the rope doesn't get too tight."

"Sid. Shh! Or do I need more cheesecake to stuff in your mouth? Let me work." He looks me over. "Maybe I should blindfold you."

"No! No blindfold. That'll make me all…" – I shudder – "squirrelly."

"Then shush."

When his attention goes back to his work, I stick out my tongue.

But then I remain quiet. I'm over the moon that he's trying. And he actually said he'd keep doing this – this BDSM stuff that he doesn't need. He's going to do it for me. I grin as he winds more rope around me. I watch him work. The top of his head is below me as he ties yet another knot then does a loop that goes beneath my breasts. I shut my eyes to appreciate the rough scrape on my skin.

A few minutes go past. I've sneaked a few peeks but managed to not interrupt, despite my curiosity.

"Hmm." The doubt in his tone makes me snap open my eyes.

"What?" There's a strange mess of rope around my middle that resembles a macramé session done by a shortsighted grandma who's lost her glasses. Then the rope wraps around each thigh and back around to my waist – almost like a harness. Are we going rappelling? "Nick!" I giggle. "What did you do?"

"Oh relax. I can get it off."

"I thought you looked up how to do this."

Still staring at the rope, he answers, "I looked at a few pictures."

"A few pictures?" I'm struggling now to get free. "You expect to be able to do a thousand year old Japanese technique after glancing at a few pictures?"

"I admit it didn't come out exactly like I planned." I laugh and he arches a brow. "Ideas, Miss Smarty Pants?"

"Anything's better than this mess." I think while Nick undoes everything far faster than he did them up. "Something simple. How about..." Having to imagine this then say it out loud is surprisingly arousing."How about you start with the halfway spot on the rope at the back of my neck, take it down between my breasts...then between my legs."

His brows shoot up. "Okay."

As I speak, he puts into practice what I suggest. Heat swirls and comes to life in my groin when the rope taps on my clit. I can't believe we're really doing this. Not fantasy, not just in my mind. My voice is whispery. "Then bring it up my back and tie my hands together there."

Odd, but as I watch the slide of his hands down my body as he guides the rope, and the way my words come true before my eyes, somehow weaves all this into something…almost magical.

Topping from the bottom? Who cares! I know each movement, each twist of the rope under his fingers, is done because he loves me. This is Nick's way. His type of poetry. Not words, not studying the art of BDSM until he knows it back-to-front...just making love to me in the way that excites me the very most.

* * * *

Like that? The entire story is filled with little incidents. Sometimes there is humor, sometimes tears. All in all, this is a thoroughly satisfying read and I can heartily recommend it.

Buy 31 Flavors at Amazon or Smashwords, or All Romance ebooks.

Useful links...

The 31 Flavors site

Leia’s site

Leia on facebook

Leia on Twitter @LeiaShaw

Cari’s site

Cari on facebook

Cari on Twitter @CariSilverwood

Celebrating Iron Dominance with Cari Silverwood

My good friend, BDSM erotica author Cari Silverwood celebrated the release of her steampunk BDSM novel, Iron Dominance yesterday. She graciously stopped by today to share a little about her latest tale. Thank you, Cari.

Is there anything in particular that sparked off this novel?

Spark? Hmm. I love steampunk and throwing a lady in there, mixing it round and having her ravished by a lovely man was irresistible.

Sum up your main characters in a nutshell.

Claire is a trained assassin but totally unsuited to her role--when put into her first mission she finds out she hates to kill and falls in love with the man who may be her target.

Theo is a strong independent man--rich, self-assured yet he's never found a woman who is more than superficially interesting to him. Claire turns out to be exactly the right woman.

How do you balance your narrative with your more erotically charged scenes?

I told the story the way it rolled out. Knowing it needed the erotic scenes I planned ahead though and wove the sex into the plot. It's a romance so you just have to make sure some of the pivotal moments for the people in it happen during sex. Or soon after. LOL!

If you have to describe the novel in three words, what would these be?

Action, tragic love.

What are some of the unique features of your milieu?

The Pancontinental Mexican Empire has surged ahead of the rest of the world and developed frankenstructs--humans made from cloned parts who are born as slaves to the PME. In this alternate steampunk world the world map is squeezed together and every continent is within reach of a well-steered airship. Just remember to pay a visit to the Hellene Nation where BDSM is the secret national preoccupation.

Guest Blog: Cari Silverwood

Cari and me go back a good few years. It all started innocently enough when we met on the Critters Workshop and and she eventually joined a closed writers' group we're both in. She's one of my writing buddies and we both pretty much started writing erotica at the same time. It's quite clear Cari's really taken a shine to the genre. Today, to celebrate the launch of her first venture into the realms of erotica, a novel entitled Three Days of Dominance, she's kindly agreed to guest-blogging slot on my main blog.

So yeah... if you don't like the heat, I suggest you don't read further, 'cos this is a sizzlingly steamy post.

Welcome, Cari, and I'd bet you put those mint-green eyes into Three Days of Dominance just to torment me, hey?

* * * *

My Journey into the Art of Writing BDSM

The topic of this blog is the suggestion of an evil friend, Nerine Dorman. Blame her. I usually plan things a little but here, I’m going to ramble through how I stumbled on erotica, and thence on writing BDSM. Despite the stumbling, I do adore writing in this niche.

Why. Hmm. Put simply. I was already writing in another genre, discovered the demand for online erotica, and went for it. I chose to write BDSM erotica, without ever having read a pure erotica book. I figured I could write a story about tying someone up without researching it.

Since then I’ve done a ton of research, spoken to a lot of people about BDSM, written three novels, and come to admit to myself that the reason I chose to write BDSM, is because it has always fascinated me.

So I wrote Three Days of Dominance and, though it has since been heavily added to and edited, to my surprise, as I read other stories in this erotica field I found that I had used a lot of the ‘tropes’ -- the themes that get repeated over and over. I may not have been familiar with the Dom and sub terminology, but I wrote them in anyway. All those ‘control’ aspects appeared.

I had the Dom circling the sub, the bondage (well, of course, a no-brainer LOL), the formal agreement between the two people before the hanky panky started. I had the insistence on obedience -- though I’m afraid my heroine, Danii, does get away with an awful lot, and also the lovely firm voice of the male Dom. Yum. Plus I didn’t forget to place in the heart of the heroine that little bit of, oh-my-god, trepidation whenever my Dom arrived on the scene -- my, my, my, I had to have that.

Oh, and orgasms, mustn’t forget the lots and lots of orgasms.

I now know I write BDSM because it pushes all those fantasy buttons in me that are common to a lot of women. And because I have always thought bondage terribly erotic visually, as well as on the page of a novel. The D/s aspect and bondage are my favorites. You may find some flogging and whipping in my stories, but anything dealing with nasty painand hard-core sadomasochism, I’ll leave for others.

One of the best things about BDSM is the versatility. I get toys to play with -- real nice ones. Throw that into steampunk land, as in my Iron Dominance, and you get upside down on a St Andrew's cross with a view of the sky passing by below to literally die for. Or throw that into my novel where fae mix with human…

Her wrists were drawn taut above her head, secured to the headboard by ropes of thorned red rose and bougainvillea. The pricks of their thorns threatened to puncture her dream. She resisted that, wanting more. Raising her head, she stared down the length of her body, past her protruding red nipples and along her stomach where sweat lined the floral rope fastening her thighs up against her body. With her bottom tilted and her legs spread, her pussy was open, available.

The man, his black hair floating like the rays of a sun, lifted his head from between her thighs. She gasped, rolling her hips upward. The wet tip of his tongue slid across as he licked her juices off his lower lip. Her clit, so recently probed by that clever tongue, pulsed. If he didn’t put it back there, soon…

She panted as his thumbs glided in the slickness down below, felt them sink deep into her, then deeper inside, and gasped again, lost in the molten sensation. She tried to move her arms, her legs and couldn’t. Trapped and pinioned for him to do what he wished. Excitement screwed her insides a notch tighter.

* * * *

I plan to keep writing these stories that will hopefullyleave you gasping and fanning yourself, my heroine tied up in knots, and the hero with a smile on his face. Like my website says: Scorched Souls, Bound Hearts.

Buy Three Days of Dominance here: http://www.loose-id.com/Three-Days-of-Dominance.aspx

Visit Cari's website at: http://www.carisilverwood.net/

Screaming Yellow with Rachel Green

When I was offered the opportunity to work on Rachel Green's Screaming Yellow, I jumped at the chance. Nominally playing fly-on-the-wall in and around Cape Town's BDSM and fetish scene, and being privileged to be on first-name basis with some of our city's more interesting personalities, I looked forward to working on fiction offering themes I'm familiar with. On top of that, who can resist the unholy alliance of a witch teaming up with a Catholic priest to solve a murder?

What I've enjoyed about Rachel's setting is how well realised not only the place is – true British eccentricity and charm all rolled into one – but the characters. Although everything about Laverstone is fictional, it still had me hitting Google. It just has to be real, I told myself.

Screaming Yellow is a novel I can fully recommend. Even though, as editor, I've lost count of how many times I've read through it, I always find some other small detail to have a quiet chuckle about, passages where the author paints characters or bits of dialogue that remain with me. Who'd have thought a small town could play host to a gloriously decadent cast of characters, where a bit of bondage, needle play and polyamory are the order of the day?

So, without further ado, I welcome Rachel to my world, to share a little about hers.

Why Laverstone? Tell us about your town.

Laverstone has been building, location by location, for the last six or seven years. It is a small (fictional) town in the south of England, bordered on the east by a range of hills and in the north by the M4 motorway. To the west and south are chalk downs. It first came into being as the setting for my novel, An Ungodly Child, and has grown slowly every time I add another tale to the mythos. Laverstone is a sort of Glastonbury without the head shops.

Have you had any real-life experiences creep into your writing?

Always. The kinky sections of Screaming Yellow were all based on personal experience and expertise, as was the polyamory and the social mechanics of The Larches. I've written non-fiction about BDSM and my partners and I have taught workshops on techniques. In the other books the fight and sword scenes are all as realistic as I can make them. I am a trained swordswoman and practice jiu-jitsu and budo. The dogs are used to me choreographing scenes with sword or werewolf-repellent silver-topped cane.

Which one of your characters would you have high tea with, and what would you discuss with them... Or do with them?

High tea? There's a phrase I haven't heard since childhood. My first answer is Jasfoup, of course, and I would discuss the nature of Fallen Angels with him, but he only has a bit part in Screaming Yellow so I'd pick Inspector White and take him to the Philadelphia on Old Oxford Street, a little past Meinwen's witchery shop on Knifesgate. He must have some tales to tell, don't you think?

Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that excites you?

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen are, in my opinion, the finest humorists in print. There isn't a book of theirs I don't pre-order as soon as I can. I've learned a great deal from them both in terms of character, pace and setting.

Iain Banks and Kate Atkinson share similar fields of excellence in their writing. Characters and attention to detail within individual lines. These people don't just write, they compose.

Finally, Agatha Christie. What a marvellous lady. I'd read everything by her by the time I was 12. From her I got the love of the mystery, the chase, the clue and the sheer delight in (literary) murder. Miss Marple is lauded in Screaming Yellow, and Laverstone boasts a public building named in her honour.

What sparked off Screaming Yellow? Was it an a-ha moment or a concept that slowly crept up on you?

It began as an attempt to write a non-paranormal novel. Laverstone is full of ordinary people and I wanted to reflect this in a way that would appeal to those with no interest in demons and vampires. I was also fed up with the way BDSM is portrayed in literature as a bad thing – an immoral, "sinful" pleasure that should be punished. I wanted to show it in a positive light and highlight the love between dominant and submissive personalities. It amused me to have a Catholic priest as a main character. I was raised Catholic.

I also wrote the first draft in a month and asked some friends in the scene to look it over. They seemed happy with it and so I tried to place it. It sat for a few years until a publisher was interested "if I took out all the BDSM". I did but they wanted me to take out the polyamory too, which was integral to the plot. Fortunately, Lyrical Press liked all the sex.

Tell us more about your creative process. Where do you work? Are there any good habits for writers?

I write at home, on a desktop PC and start every day with a series of four poems – a cinquain, a haiku, a takna and a Fib – which I post on my livejournal (friends only but happy to add readers). I catch up online (newspapers and blogs) and write 2-500 words on an ongoing novel at jasfoup.blogspot.com. Later in the day I post a long-form poem (I send these to magazines and anthologies and occasionally publish a chap book) and write for whatever short story or novel I'm currently working on. I walk my dogs and pet my family often. My tip for writing is to have a hobby that's not writing.

Useful links:

My homepage (also includes artwork) http://www.leatherdyke.co.uk/
My Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B0043VKG6U
My livejournal: http://leatherdykeuk.livejournal.com/
Jasfoup's Blog: http://jasfoup.blogspot.com/