Writing action into erotic stories by Cari Silverwood

Today I hand over my blog to my wonderfully wicked author Cari Silverwood with whom I've walked a long path indeed. Welcome, Cari, and play nicely with my readers, okay?

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Writing action into erotic stories.

Or should that be, writing sex into action stories? Whichever it is, the two of them need to be essential for the story or they shouldn’t be there.

The best scenes are ones that drive the story onward, ramp up the tension, the conflict, the mystery, or whichever collection of words you like to use to describe what you do to haul the reader through the story by their eyeballs, making them frantically flip the pages so fast their fingers risk decapitation from paper cuts or strange electronic zappification, thence leaving a blood trail across the landscape of their kindle. Kindles are blood proof, aren’t they?

Gore is good.

If it’s an erotic story at heart, the sexual relationship is the main drive, and should therefore be the final part of the plot that is wrapped up in a nice neat bow. If it’s an action story when you strip it back to its core, the action plot should be resolved last. Those are rules, but I guess rules can always be broken, just know what you’re doing or your readers may feel unfulfilled.

Sex gets a bad rap from some fantasy or scifi readers and writers. Though happy to arouse voyeuristic thrills by murdering an entire kingdom of warriors, and wizards, with blood and brains spurting to the heavens or perhaps repainting the hull of Spaceforger 309 a motley purple (alien blood, see), some writers think the emotions associated with arousal are lesser in some way. It’s as if describing an axe whistling through the air and cleaving skulls is so much more technical than a cock plunging into whatever it plunges into. Keeping it clean here.

Not so, I would argue. To me, writing action scenes is very akin to writing sex scenes. If you’re reading this you possibly agree with me anyway.

If you don’t agree with me? I probably can’t convince you. It all depends on individual taste, and many people dislike gory violence in stories. Others dislike sex in books. Not I. Adding battle scenes and action to my erotic books is what keeps me writing.

Here’s an excerpt that segues from one to the other. For me, it’s best when the sex directly affects the action and, in this story, mating with their alien lover enhances the magic the women possess, and so it affects how well they can fight the enemy.

This is a practice fight scene from DEFILER, Preyfinders #3.

Her flight was a rapid parabola curving to wall and back in, with a somersault and a spin to confuse Brask’s aim. The force when she hit him surprised even her and he thunked backward with her on top of him and the sword point diving toward his neck with her full weight behind it.

At the last microsecond, Brask batted it away. The sword flew sideways and stuck into the upholstery of a chair, yards away to the side.

A second later, it was back in her hand. Gaping, still straddling Brask’s stomach, she stared at the blade. How?

Then he hauled her down and kissed her.

The impact went through her like a flight of slow-motion doves. Bliss. Everything shut down except an awareness of him beneath her and his lips on hers. His hand was at the back of her head and he threaded his fingers through her hair, gathering more in his fist to pull her even closer. To keep her still.

But she wasn’t going anywhere.

The kiss lasted forever, or it seemed so. While they kissed she lived only that moment, the press on her skin, the heat, the parting to allow his tongue inside her. When his lips left hers she was struck by the loss. She kept her eyes shut, reliving what had happened even though his breathing was still so close, inches away, warming her face.

And as he breathed, she rose and fell. Her thighs were spread. She was vulnerable, despite her position above.

She opened her eyes.

He looked up at her, smiling, with his fingers still tight in her hair, pulling on her scalp.

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Cari Silverwood is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer of kinky darkness or sometimes of dark kinkiness, depending on her moods and the amount of time she's spent staring into the night. She has an ornery nature as well as a lethal curiosity that makes her want to upend plots and see what falls out when you shake them. When others are writing bad men doing bad things, you may find her writing good men who accidentally on purpose fall into the abyss and come out with their morals twisted in knots.

This might be because she comes from the land down under, Australia, or it could be her excessive consumption of wine.

Her favorite hobby is convincing people she has a basement...though she really doesn’t. Promise. If it existed it would be a terrifying place where you would find all the dangerous things that you never knew you craved.

Silver: Humanotica by Darcy Abriel #review

Title: Silver (Humanotica #1)
Author: Darcy Abriel, 2010

We enter a fascinating future where those who have become modified with robotics – humanotics – over a certain percentage, are considered the chattel of the wealthy upper classes. Political decisions are made not only in governmental departments, but also through the sexual liaisons that can easily decide outcomes and tip the balance of power.

The humanotic Silver is our viewpoint character, and she is a trinex – possessed of both male and female aspects, and as humanotic, she is the chattel of her powerful, enigmatic and charismatic master Lel Kesselbaum. Though she still chafes at her lost freedom and being subservient to Lel, and is no better than a sex slave that exists as an object of aesthetic pleasure, she revels in her submission and the exaggerated sensuality of their relationship and her heavily modified body.

We also encounter Entreus, another humanotic, but one who is rogue and allied with a human resistance movement fighting to overthrow the current regime. He an Silver are obviously captured in an orbit of mutual fascination as the story progresses.

First off, be warned, various highly graphic sexual encounters form the mainstay of this novel. Also, Dacy Abriel’s vision allows for fluidity in gender and sexual preference, so if you’re a bit squeamish about the idea of a hermaphrodite who’s well-endowed and all too comfortable with her sexual orientation and appetites, then this might not be the story for you.

Essentially, we are faced with the inevitable coming together of these three main characters, and we eventually see the story from all three points of view. Lel himself does eventually reveal some dangerous secrets, and I so did not see these reveals, erm… coming.

Abriel mixes fantasy and SF in a heady melange. At times I was left with the sense that plot development and resolution was abandoned in favour of the highly eroticised encounters, but then this might just be a matter of reader’s taste and my own need for stronger narrative elements. My main feeling is that there could have been more effort put into heightening tension and elaborating on the closure, which definitely got overshadowed by the erotic elements. It’s also my feeling that the characters themselves weren’t challenged enough, but that being considered, this was still an enjoyable, entertaining read. Abriel’s writing and visualisation is highly detailed and evocative, and for that alone this is a treat.

Girls Who Score edited by Ily Goyanes #review

Title: Girls Who Score
Editor: Ily Goyanes
Publisher: Cleis Press, 2012

Hazards of my day job, I’ll bet. Of all the dozens of books that land on my desk for review each year, this was the last I would have chosen to read, but in the spirit of trying something completely different and quite far out of my usual chosen genres, this slim volume provided me with much enjoyment.

Those who know me will understand fully well that I am possibly *the* most unsporty person around. In fact, I absolutely loathe sport with a burning passion that equals my hatred of pink legwarmers and peanut clusters. That being said, I shoved aside my personal misgivings and plunged headfirst into this collection.

First off, just absolutely delicious and WOW. Although my interest in erotica is cursory—as in I edit erotica should a manuscript get passed my way—but editor Ily Goyanes has successfully brought together a diverse selection of tales that made my little bi-flavoured heart go thumpity-thump.

From locker room shenanigans to love found while running in the countryside or skating competitively on ice, the ladies whose stories are told here are contrasting and varied. What they share in common is the exhilaration of physical expression. And for once I have to admit it was lovely to read about women who are so very different from the world with which I’m familiar.

I will let slip that my absolute favourite-favourite in this collection was Cymone’s Dominatrix. I was *not* expecting an ancient Roman setting and two gladiatrices… Considering my absolute current adoration of Riptide Publishing’s Warriors of Rome series. No contest.

So, for what this collection of short stories is, it wasn’t what I expected when I was given the book by one of my editors, but it far exceeded my expectations. If you’re looking for a selection of beautifully crafted stories about those girls who’re not your typical femme fatale, then don’t hesitate to lay hands on this title.

Quid Pro Quo by LA Witt and Aleksandr Voinov #review

Title: Quid Pro Quo
Authors: LA Witt and Aleksandr Voinov
Publisher: Riptide Publishing, 2013

The more I read the Riptide offerings, the more I absolutely adore what this publisher is bringing out, and in Quid Pro Quo, LA Witt and Aleksandr Voinov are in top form, their writing bearing the hallmarks of the confluence of sex and power in a heady short story.

Lines like this:
“Help me, I’m trapped in a Harlequin novel titled The Billionaire and His Rentboys,” Jared muttered under his breath.

Well, *that* just made me laugh out loud and pretty much summed up the entire premise quite succinctly. Quid Pro Quo doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It’s raw, hot sex, with our rich boy known only as Rolex, paying *a lot* to see our two dah-lings get it off.

And if you finished reading this and did *not* squirm just a little and fan yourself, there’s no way in hell you still have a pulse. So, there’s not going to be much more to this review than a big thank you to the two authors for offering me some cheap thrills, and writing great gay erotica in a way that makes even this slightly bi woman get a bit hot and bothered.

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.

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Beautiful Mess (Bailey’s Boys #1) #review

Title: Beautiful Mess (Bailey’s Boys #1)
Author: Lucy V Morgan
Link 

I’m not normally in the market for contemporary erotica, but Lucy V Morgan snagged me on this one with her fresh voice. It’s a free read on Amazon. Go download it now. You’ll devour it in less than a day.

Bailey Frost and her male flatmates and their buddy Linc have a good thing going. Essentially, they treat her as one of the guys and that suits her fine. That’s until her boyfriend Craig dumps her and a cheer-up night of Jagermeister and pizza leads her to confess that she’s never had an orgasm during sex before. As if it’s not enough, Bailey works in a wedding cake shop so is faced daily with others’ relationship bliss when she’s struggling to come to terms with the reasons why Craig left her.

Without offering spoilers, the rest of the story is all about how a very determined friend goes out of his way to prove that Bailey can indeed let go during a sexual encounter. What’s even better is watching the relationship unfold. Yes. Morgan writes great sex scenes, but that’s not what kept me reading. Morgan’s dialogue is just fantastic, and it feels like I’m playing fly on the wall watching a bunch of young people interact to great hilarity. And they all *feel* like real people, down to Bailey and her pet rats.

Morgan manages to capture a ring of authenticity with her characters, which is a rare quality in this genre. For a short, hot read, I can’t recommend Beautiful Mess more, and I’m keen to give Morgan’s other titles a spin too.

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:
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#guest "How Much Is Too Much?" with Jenna Jaxon

Everyone always says, “Sex sells.” Well, as far as I’ve been able to tell, they’re right. Just look at Fifty Shades of Gray. And I’ve done my share of sexy, erotic, you-can-hear-the-panting-coming-out-of-the-pages scenes, where you hope your computer screen or Kindle won’t melt.

But is that always the right decision? Does every book--contemporary, historical, paranormal--need to have a fair amount of sex in order to be marketable?

I sure hope not. Because the many of the historicals I’ve written so far (published and unpublished) have had one or two sex scenes at most. One, my short Victorian, has no sex, though it’s implied at one point. Does this mean my little short story won’t sell? Au contraire. It’s doing better than the two erotic novellas I’ve got out.

So how much is too much? And how do you know?

For me, it’s all in how the story is plotted out. If the internal issues between hero and heroine are the major conflict keeping them apart, then likely there isn’t going to be sex until near the end of the book. I’ve got a couple like that. If the heroine doesn’t like the hero very well, or she likes him but thinks he’s done something bad, or she’s physically unable to be with him, then to keep your plot going you will have to withhold sex from them until late in the novel.

Usually, I know how many love scenes are going to be needed in a book when I start. With my current WIP 7 Days of Seduction, that was easy to figure--seven days and at least once a day (some times multiple times in a day). With Hog Wild I had three “little pigs” or “hogs,” so again, pretty easy to figure out. An historical romance that’s actually out on submission now, As Long As You’re Mine, had more sex scenes than I’d ever put in a novel before. But making love to the heroine was how the hero was trying to make her fall in love with him. And even I thought there were too many of them in it, but then I found a place that needed another scene and lo and behold, another sex scene appeared.  I wouldn’t have thought so, but the book is stronger for that new scene.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the almost sexless books. Where the love scenes are delayed until the last third of the book. One such is my soon to be released novel Only Scandal Will Do. Due to the circumstances of their meeting, Katarina dislikes and distrusts Duncan, even after they are married. During the course of the book there are some great kissing scenes, but no steamy sex scenes until close to the end. I was concerned about this as I was writing it. I even considered putting a sex scene early in the book, to facilitate a later plot development, but I just couldn’t do that. It would have been wrong for this book. And I’m just hoping my readers will agree that delayed gratification and lots of sexual tension are almost as good as the spicy lay.

How have you coped with when to insert or delete a sex scene from a work? Do you agonize over it, or do you know instinctively what works and what will not?

Here’s the blurb and excerpt for Only Scandal Will Do, releasing July 23, 2012.

He has the woman of his dreams, but what price will he have to pay to win her heart?

Kidnapped and sold at auction in a London brothel, Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam squelches an undeniable attraction to the masked stranger who purchased her, pits her wits against him, and escapes him and the scandal that would ruin her life.

Unable to resist temptation in a London brothel, Duncan Ferrers, Marquess of Dalbury, purchases a fiery beauty. She claims she's a lady, but how can she be?

No lady of his acquaintance in polite society is anything like her. Then he discovers she is who she says, and that this latest romp has compromised her reputation. He knows how that is. One more scandal and he'll be cast out of London society, but he needs a wife who'll provide an heir to carry on his illustrious family's name. He seeks out Katarina, intending only to scotch the scandal, but instead finds his heart ensnared. He's betting their future he'll capture her heart, but does he have what it takes to win the wager?

WARNING: A blade-wielding heroine who crosses swords with a master of sensuality.

Excerpt for Only Scandal Will Do:
“I assure you, there was never a night like that before.” Lord Dalbury spoke quietly, and Katarina sensed a tension in him. “I had never done such a thing before. Never participated in such an auction. Never tried to take a woman unwillingly to my bed.” He stopped speaking. Just stopped. Then his breath hissed as though he’d slowly released it.

“I cannot find the words to tell you how deeply I regret I was not a better man that night.” He paused, and she held still and waited. “What I tried to do was madness, without thought, without honor. I do not even have an excuse other than my base desires, and that your abundant charms overwhelmed me.” His face was shadowy in the scarce light of the sickle moon, but he sounded contrite. “I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. I have no right to expect it. But I would ask you to allow me to attempt to remedy the situation.”

Kat shook her head slowly. “What on earth do you believe you could do, Lord Dalbury, that could even come close to a remedy for the terror and humiliation you put me through? Do you think now that I have met you, heard your feeble attempts at an apology, and rejected them, the memory of that night will magically disappear?” She fought to control her anger, though she yearned to blast him with it. “What magic potion would you have me take that would erase the memory of you pinning me to the bed? Because if you have such an elixir, then yes, I will gladly take it from you and obliterate you absolutely and irrevocably.”

He stood silent at her words, then said simply, “I have only myself to offer, my lady.”

“You would have me kill you, my lord? In that, too, I agree I would oblige you, but not at the cost of my own life. I understand the English law punishes those who do murder quite severely.” Kat was astonished when he lurched backward, as from a blow.

“No, my lady, I would not have you kill me,” he said, sounding grimly amused. “Though indeed that would probably give you most satisfaction. I meant I would have you marry me.”

His words surprised a laugh out of her. “Marry you?” The laughter grew. “I see, my lord, you think me both a whore and a fool.”

“I think you are neither, Lady Katarina.”

“Then you are the fool to believe I would put such a man as you in control of every aspect of my life.” That he thought she would even entertain the suggestion was insulting.

The pale moonlight shadowed his face, but she could read displeasure there just the same. “You judge me solely on one act that, I assure you, was grossly out of character for me. You cannot possibly know what kind of husband I would be.”

“And never will, Lord Dalbury. I can swear to you that I would not marry you if I were in Hell and you were my only hope of Heaven.”

He inclined his head toward her, a faint smile touching his lips. “I believe you made a similar claim about dancing with me, Lady Katarina. Yet we have indeed enjoyed a dance together despite your words.” His tone was soft, the sensuous, cajoling one he had used to seduce her that night in the House of Pleasure.
Kat trembled, recalling the incredible sensations of his hands, his mouth on her body. Damn. He could not do this to her again. Not just with his voice.

“Is there nothing that would entice you to leave your Hell for my Heaven?”

She struggled to answer, opened her lips to deny it, only to find her mouth completely sealed by his.

Wild Arcana with Lux Zakari

Lux Zakari and I have known each other for quite a while now. I've had the privilege of having her as my editor and I can say with all honesty that I love her fiction as much as she loves mine. She writes what I'd term as erotic fiction for women who are looking for sharp characterisation and narrative in addition to the erotic elements. Definitely a thinking woman's writer who leaves you well satisfied to the last page.

Today I welcome Lux to my blog for a little Q&A, and we're chatting about her most recent release, Wild Arcana.

ND: Wild Arcana balances the story from a handful of characters. Multiple points of view can be quite tricky. How did you manage to give each character a meaningful story arc?

LZ: Wild Arcana is made up of several intertwining stories in one because it was actually supposed to be several books—both Trey’s and Shane’s storylines were meant to be separate stories, and Kri’s was half-borrowed from a previous collaboration I’d written with a friend. In the end, I decided I’d rather experiment with weaving them in with everyone else’s storylines.

I honestly don’t remember where I came up with the ideas for what happens to Brand and Disa, but I did know that in the beginning, my goal was to write a story guided by tarot cards. I intended to achieve this by not having any kind of plot in mind; I just wanted to start writing, and when I got stuck, I’d choose a tarot card at random and try to make it work. Somehow, this idea evolved into following the already existing storyline in the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana, as well as getting the opportunity to recycle and reuse some half-formed ideas. I tried to keep each story arc meaningful by considering them as separate from the get-go, then I went back and laced them together more tightly.

ND: So, who ended up being your favourite character? Why? Any parts of his/her development that jumped out at you?

LZ: It’s really hard not to like Brand. As the son of a couple who had a one-hit wonder in the 1980s, he’s been living the easy life, doing little but sleeping around, selling weed, and having a good time. When his cop boyfriend finally has enough and calls an end to their relationship, Brand attempts to throw himself into the party mindset and move on, but despairs when he recognizes how meaningless his life truly is. He’s jaded, lazy, and careless and makes horrible decisions, but he’s also pensive, honest, and sweetly but sarcastically self-deprecating. I had fun writing him; I enjoyed the challenge of trying to rouse readers’ compassion for a drug dealer, and his scenes with his best friend Disa are some of my favorites. I loved writing their bratty banter and the challenge of keeping it both nasty yet affectionate.

Speaking of Disa, she’s another character who really grabbed me. She begins the story as a sexually manipulative pleasure-seeker—someone who gets off on breaking hearts and exerting her power over men—yet she is probably the one who undergoes the most growth, transforming from a cruel, relatively unsympathetic woman into someone to root for. Despite her carelessness when it comes to the boys, she is an incredibly loyal friend, which is demonstrated in her relationships with Kri and Brand. I also thought her sex scenes wound up being the hottest, and of all the characters, she’s the one with sequel potential, should I choose to go that route.

ND: You feature multi-racial and gay relationships in the story. Did the characters just jump out at you fully formed and shout "write me?" or did you purposefully set out to create such diversity?

LZ: It was a purposeful move on my end. I admittedly wanted to reach a wider audience, but more so, I just craved the variety; it’s no fun to perpetually write about white blondes, brunettes, and redheads rolling around together in a strictly m/f way. Plus, given the New York City setting, their lifestyles, and ages, the diversity just made sense.

ND: All your characters have quite fabulous lifestyles. What are the unique challenges each faces, in your opinion? Each of them gets their just deserts. Are there some especially piquant moments you can share without giving away the plot?

LZ: I believe I can sum up all the character’s drama with a blurb from the blurb!:

SHANE, the movie star. He arrives at a rehabilitation clinic for his sex addiction only to be enticed in ways he never thought possible...

TREY, the contractor. He looks after his friend’s deeply troubled stepsister under the guise of remodeling his New York City high-rise, but soon faces temptations that test the bonds of friendship and his self-control...

KRI, the Japanese heiress. Regrets haunt her when she learns she’s pregnant and must leave her lover at the insistence of her strict, traditional father...

BRAND, the high-profile drug dealer. He wrestles with demons of his own after his boyfriend—a cop—ends their relationship over his questionable career path...

DISA, the wayward tennis player. She has her sights set on talk show host Jules Rohan with no idea just how much truth lies in his bad-boy reputation...

I don’t know about their challenges, but one of mine was whipping up those fabulous lifestyles of theirs! Often I get bogged down and distracted with logistics, but with this story, I just had suspend my disbelief and go with it, and hope readers do, too.

As for something spicy, would a brief excerpt suffice? The following is in regards to Shane, suffering in rehab for his supposed sex addition with more than just a crush on his tasty group leader, Cyndi, when he gets an intriguing message online:

The message read, “You think I don’t notice you, trying not to notice me, but I do.”

Shane arched an eyebrow and clicked on NYLunatic’s profile, which revealed only the user’s gender, female. He couldn’t imagine who it could be. “You sure you have the right person?” he typed.

“Shane Gunder. I’m definitely sure.”

He started at the woman—if it was truly a woman—identifying him so accurately. Aside from the past month, he rarely found reason to go online, and his username was not something he gave out liberally. “I take it I know you then?”

“Of course you do. You fantasize about me all the time. You’re probably fantasizing about me right now.”

He stifled a sigh. He had no desire to play mind games with idiots on the internet. “Yeah? And who exactly is ‘me’?

“I’m hurt you don’t already know. Should I describe myself to you?”

“If you must.”

“Red hair. About five two. Pale skin. Freckles in places you wouldn’t believe. Wore a green dress you wanted to tear off me today. Currently not wearing much underneath it.”

Shane swallowed hard. No way. Cyndi? Knowing his username? Knowing his problem and coming on to him anyway?

“I want you to do me a favor, Shane. I’m going to tell you a fantasy of mine, and I want you to come thinking about me. Okay?”

That wouldn’t be difficult. “I thought we weren’t supposed to beat off while in the program.”

“Please. I know you do it anyway. And I can tell just by looking at you that you do it while thinking about me. So drop the pretense. I find the truth much sexier.”

“Fine.” He drew another cigarette from the pack and let it dangle from his mouth. “Let’s hear this fantasy.”

Shane lit his cigarette and smoked in a nervous silence for the next few minutes while Cyndi wrote her reply.

His heart hammered in his chest, both excited and scared to death of what Cyndi would say.

Finally, her message appeared. “The hallway of the center is completely silent. I find my office and slide my key in the lock. The door opens with a click. I step inside the room and shut the door behind me without turning on the light. Then I feel him behind me. Shane.

“He pulls my hair to the side and kisses my neck as his other hand works at tugging up my dress. His hand untangles from my hair and pushes the neckline of my dress down, exposing my tits, as the other hand makes a circle around my clit. I start to moan but his hand silences me, and he plunges a finger in my dripping cunt. Soon his hand is replaced with his cock.

“Then there’s a knock at the door. It’s my colleagues, fresh from the meeting and wanting to know if I’d like to get dinner. I can hear them breathing, separated from me by only a weak door. God, what would they think if they walked in and saw me getting screwed by one of the people I was supposed to be helping? So much is at stake here, but I can’t push him away. I want this too much…”

ND: How did you borrow from the themes of the Major Arcana to shine through in the story? This sounds like it could have been quite tricky--with the very real danger that you'd shoehorn a plot to fit the theme. How did you get past this?

LZ: I was actually grateful for the opportunity to have the Major Arcana’s basic formula/plot line to follow, with the added bonus of having the freedom of interpretation. I definitely don’t consider myself to be a tarot guru; I doubt myself too much when doing readings, and I never know if the answer is just my wishful or negative thinking. But I know enough about the Rider-Waite basics to know what themes I needed to have in each chapter.

I remember in the beginning assigning each character to a chapter and its corresponding card. I knew I wanted to start and end in a similar way, with the same character, and certain events had to happen at certain times. And I tried to be “even” with the character assignments—“Oh, it’s been awhile since we heard from Shane, let’s give him something to do here” or “I need to wrap up this storyline about here, but that can’t happen until this other one ends,” and so on. Man, I’m getting exhausted just remembering all that! But the plotting was fun, and I liked sneaking the tarot themes into the details—be it in a prop, event, someone’s name, or just the way something was phrased. I’d like to think of them as little Easter eggs for readers with a little bit of a background in tarot!

ND: You've recently embarked on a self-publishing career. What challenges have you faced and how has your considerable experience in small press publishing prepared you for this endeavour?

LZ: Having experience with small-press publishing was helpful in that it gave me a boost in regards to exposure, and working as an editor helped me become a better writer for sure; I’m more critical of my own work. The challenges I’ve faced are, unfortunately, marketing ones. I don’t have the budget or the time to do anything elaborate right now, but I’m experimental! I have some ideas up my sleeve. Also, because anyone who knows how can publish a novel these days, I think it’s hard for readers to trust what’s truly worth their time and money. I definitely need to do more to prove myself to them.

But I’m really enjoying self-publishing. The world of publishing is changing; authors have more control, provided that they want it. An author friend of mine pointed out that if you have a good editor and cover artist in your corner, as well as marketing know-how, you’re pretty much good to go. I also have a background in art, so now I’m dabbling in creating my covers, such as the one for Wild Arcana, so to be able to combine my love for writing and art (and control freakiness) is absolutely perfect for me.

ND: You've got a tasty short up as a free read. Can you describe Across the Way in three words?

LZ: In the words of red-scrunchie queen Heather Chandler: “Shower-nozzle masturbation material.”

I’m deferring to MS Word here, which believes “shower-nozzle” is one word. However, it also thinks synonyms for “information” are “in a row,” “in sequence”… Bug alert!

ND: Any future works readers should look out for?

LZ: Right now, I’m in the process of editing my next novel: Single, Cool, and Fine: How to Get Laid as an Ex-Teen Idol. It’s about how a struggling musician, who had fame when he was young, is in the throes of a divorce, only to realize that, because of his lifestyle and early marriage, he has no idea how to date. So, at the urging of his friend and younger brother, he takes to reading fan fiction about himself in order to gain dating tips and advice on how to be the guy everyone wants him to be. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it. So far, it’s my most favorite story I’ve written; I had such a good time writing it, and I can’t wait to unleash it upon the world!

# # #

Wild Arcana is available on Smashwords or Amazon.

To download Across the Way for free, visit its page on Smashwords or Goodreads.

Find Lux Zakari at her website or email her.

Alternatively, follow her on Twitter @luxzakari, Goodreads, Tumblr or Facebook.

#Review: Across the Way by Lux Zakari

Title: Across the Way

Author: Lux Zakari

Publisher: Smashwords edition

Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145120

Under normal circumstances, Sam probably would never have danced around her apartment in her underwear, but too much cranberry schnapps leads to her moment of indiscretion, and her discovery of the young man she affectionately names The Boy. And so begins her obsession, if not an addiction. Sam soon spends more time spying on and taking photos of The Boy than going out, and lives herself entirely in his world to the detriment of her own, up until such time that their paths eventually do cross.

Of course how does one explain incriminating evidence once the cards are on the table? Sam as a character is self-aware in that she knows her behaviour isn’t healthy, but she can’t help herself and in that Zakari salvages what could be quite a creepy story of stalking if not so sensitively handled.

Sam could be any one of us, and I can safely say very few of us haven’t experienced unrequited love. To a degree there is some sadness to Across the Way if one considers how modern city living isolates people and often makes it difficult for us to meet new people. Or indeed to reach out to them. Isolation is a big theme in this story.

My verdict: if you’d like a small taste of what Zakari is capable of before you commit to one of her longer works, give Across the Way a try. She writes the kind of erotica I like to label as “hot writing for chicks who like to think”. The characters are not larger-than-life as one would find in standard romance and erotica examples. They’re real, three-dimensional people in what feels like authentic situations. She doesn’t fall into the trap of hyper-reality, and therefore leaves readers feeling that they too, have had a voyeuristic peek into the lives of others.

Her story-telling leaves me thoroughly satisfied, and Zakari’s characterisation lets me feel as though for a short while I visited in others’ lives, and for a brief time shared in their loves and losses.

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

News of a contest from Lyrical Press

The First Annual Lyrical Press How Lyrical is Your Romance? Contest opens on Monday, January 16th. This contest is open to both published and unpublished authors.

Entries must be complete works, ranging in word count between 15,000-100,000 words, any heat level, and fit into one of the following subgenre categories:

Contemporary romance

Historical romance

Paranormal or urban fantasy romance

Romantic steampunk

Romantic Suspense

Prizes:

1st Place: $200 advance and digital publishing contract (advance payable as $100 upon finalized contract and $100 upon publication).

2nd Place: $100 advance and digital publishing contract (advance payable as $50 upon finalized contract and $50 upon publication).

3rd Place: Top-scoring contestant in each genre category will receive an acquiring editor’s critique of synopsis and first 50 pages of manuscript.

Guidelines:

File type: .rtf, .doc, or .docx only

12pt black font (Times New Roman, Cambria, Courier or Georgia preferred)

Line spacing: 1.5

Margins: 1" all

Page-breaks between chapters

Please include a title page listing the following information:

Legal name

Pen name

Email address

Contact phone

Working title (include series name and details if applicable)

Word count

Genre/category

Entries will be accepted from January 16, 2012 through February 5, 2012, and must be emailed to contest@lyricalpress.com. Entries sent to an email other than the aforementioned will be ignored. Please include book title and contest in subject line thusly: Booktitle – How Lyrical Is Your Romance?. Attach full manuscript, and 2-5 page synopsis in .rtf, .doc, or .docx format (Booktitle_MS and Booktitle_SYN as file names--your book title replaces “Booktitle”). After February 5, the contest will close, but we’ll still be accepting submissions as always at our submissions@lyricalpress.com address.

No entry fee required. Judges reserve the right to Decline to Judge any entry if it does not fit our lines, level of writing is not acceptable, or submission guidelines are not followed.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria: Hook, Pacing/Plot, Characterization, Dialogue, Mechanics, and Author Voice.

Winners will be announced on March 12, 2012 via our blog http://lyricalpress.blogspot.com/ and direct emails to winners.

Call for submissions: Erotic Dystopia

A word from my publisher, Lyrical Press.

Lyrical Press is actively acquiring erotica dystopian works.

Dystopia - A repressive and controlled society, usually under the pretense of utopia. Dystopian societies feature all different kinds of social control systems that repress some while lifting others to a form of nobility. There is usually a distinct system with blatant and vast privileges and oppressions separating higher classes from lower classes. Dystopian societies are often police states, where an individual (dictator) has unlimited power over citizens.

Sensuality level: Red hot

Length: 30,000 – 95,000 words (60,000+ words are eligible for print)

Key Characteristics: Erotica romance set in a dystopian society. Strong sexual relationship between main characters. Elements of bondage and S&M that explore the dominant/submissive roles of a BDSM relationship welcome. Multiple partners acceptable.

Deadline: None

Submission Guidelines: http://www.lyricalpress.com/submissions

Submissions eMail: submissions@lyricalpress.com

Go ahead and try to shock us. We dare you.

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/

The Mind Behind Coercion, Lux Zakari

Today I welcome author Lux Zakari to my world, to share a bit about her latest release.

Tell us about your latest release and who you think would enjoy it.

Coercion, my first novel, is classic in theme: a good girl choosing the wrong boy to love. Here’s the scoop:

Introverted and insecure Valerie Mercer was promised that during her senior year of college she would finally attract attention from boys…but never dreamed that would include Michael Vartanian.

Good looking, troubled and every parent’s nightmare, Michael is adamant on introducing Valerie to a world of both pleasure and, inadvertently, heartbreak. His interest in Valerie is dependent upon the mood and fidelity of his on-and-off-again girlfriend, Breeze.

Nevertheless, Valerie lets her hope and desire override common sense and soon finds she can’t deny Michael anything…no matter what’s at stake.

Considering its graphic sexual nature, it definitely should appeal to fans of erotica, although I believe the readers who will enjoy it most are those looking for a sexy, intelligent story and who can love a character despite his or her faults.

Is there a defining moment or a gradual creeping-up-on-author situation that led to the story?

I wrote a blog post titled “How to Write Coercion,” which details a few bulleted circumstances that led to the creation of the story. Ultimately, I’d really wanted to write a girl-tempted-by-the-bad-boy scenario, and I’d been romanticizing the ‘70s at the time NaNoWriMo 2007 rolled around, so I just went with it!

If you could pick any place to live, where would that be and why?

I’d love to live near the beach; I crave a laidback, sunny environment. Writing on the sand and smelling like coconut suntan oil every day sounds ideal!

Tell us a bit about your writing process.

The writing process happens whenever a) I get the chance, and b) I get inspired! I’m fueled by my muse—guilt—if I’m not writing, so I often ensure that I motivate myself and make the time to bang out at least something on a regular basis.

Who are the three authors you keep returning to? What is it about their writing that draws you in?

I will always love Nick Hornby; his insight on relationships is usually funny, moving and true, and I’m easily wooed by his pop culture references, so naturally I enjoy Rob Sheffield’s work as well. I also devoured Barry Lyga’s Boy Toy; it was completely captivating.

If you had to pick two celebrities for your main characters, who would you cast for the film?

This is a brilliant question, and something I think about all the time. My characters are in their early twenties, and sometimes I struggle to think of age-appropriate actors who aren’t on Gossip Girl and the like. Needless to say, I still haven’t made a concrete decision yet! I would be down for discovering newbies to the acting biz.

Are there any up-and-coming authors readers should look out for?

I’m really excited about Grace Cox’s next book, Seduced by the Playboy Heir, a contemporary romance that will be released in 2011. Not only is it sexy, but the characters are believable, as is their entire relationship, which is rife with flaws and difficulties that go beyond things like an absurd misunderstanding or the heroine’s body images. I love stories when the characters can legitimately screw up and still wind up happy in the end.

You also edit fiction. Do you have advice for anyone considering this as a career choice?

I think there are some basic common-sense guidelines when it comes to editing. For one, an editor needs to have a fundamental idea of what a book looks like! As a kid, I would go all OCD when I wrote stories by formatting them to look like an actual, published book, so I’m stunned by writers who don’t know when to throw in a paragraph break, use proper punctuation and so on. If you want to be an editor, that’s crucial. Grabbing a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, et cetera will help keep an editor informed all throughout his or her career.

Secondly, an editor-to-be needs to know what makes for a good story, be able to pick out plot holes and have an imagination on how a work can be improved upon, if only to jumpstart the author’s own creativity. I also think it helps if an editor writes him- or herself; it gives the editor more empathy for the writer, having been on the other side of things.

Care to share a little about your current WiP?

It’s already November, and I still have yet to pick a plot premise for NaNoWriMo, so that’s on the agenda!

I’m just about done with the finishing touches on a novel—a racy, unconventional love story about a self-absorbed, hedonistic ex-celebrity who, upon the death of her former lover, learns she’s been inexplicably named the guardian of his three children. Being herded into the parental role forces the protagonist to finally face the truth about the cruel decisions of her wild past, her now uncertain future and her secret, turbulent relationship with a man who, even in death, continues to upend her world. Here’s hoping the story has a successful future!

In the meantime, readers can check out my short story, Truss Issues, in Best Bondage Erotica 2011 – coming soon!

Useful links:

Coercion can be purchased at http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_12&products_id=315.

The book trailer for Coercion can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wVXW6xBdH0.

My website is www.luxzakari.com, and from there readers can find me on Facebook, MySpace, GoodReads and so on!