Harper Bliss

Lesbian fiction

Q&A: Lisabet Sarai on ‘Her Own Devices’

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Her Own DevicesI’m truly honoured to have erotica legend Lisabet Sarai as a guest on my blog today. Ladylit recently published her F/F erotica short story collection Her Own Devices, and she has stopped by to answer a few of my burning questions. Before we continue to the questionnaire, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to tell you that Lisabet’s lesbian erotica is of absolute excellent quality. Her stories are real, sometimes painful, always sensual, and written with an expert pen. In my humble (and, admittedly, somewhat biased) opinion, Her Own devices is a must-read for F/F erotica lovers.

Take it away, Lisabet!

Sell us your book in one sentence.
I hate being a salesperson, to be honest. But I’ll give it a try:
“Her Own Devices goes beyond arousal to explore the lives and desires of women you’ll care about.”

Favourite line (or paragraph) from Her Own Devices?
Come on, Harper, that’s like asking a mother to choose her favourite from among her children! These stories are my offspring and I love them all.

However, here’s one bit, from “Clean Slate”, that I am especially fond of:

“Tension crackled between us. I saw raw desire flicker across her face, shattering her usual calm. My body tightened, nipples in aching knots and pussy clenched like a fist. My heart slammed against my ribs. Adrenaline coursed through me. I wanted to grab her. I wanted to run.”

Last book that blew you away?
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver took my breath away. The prose is achingly beautiful, the characters show astonishing depth, and the author entwines personal and universal themes with devastating skill. I was also incredibly impressed by the intimacy with the heroine that Ms. Kingsolver manages to evoke, while still using the third person point of view. Since reading this novel three months ago, I’ve been recommending it to everyone I know.

Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
I’m not all that interested in celebrities, to be honest. I can’t remember the last time I fantasized about somebody famous. However, if I were forced to choose someone, maybe I’d nominate Salma Hayek. I recently saw the trailer for her film “Everly” — she’s spectacularly beautiful, and gutsy as hell.

What’s your favourite sexy song?
Quite a few come to mind, but “Come to my Window” by Melissa Etheridge is definitely up there, partly because for me, it has a D/s vibe:

“You don’t know how far I’d go to ease this precious ache,
And you don’t know how much I’ll give, or how much I can take…”

Melissa sings with such raw passion. I melt every time I hear it.

What are you most proud of?
I’m particularly proud of the work I’ve done for the Coming Together charitable erotica imprint. I’ve contributed stories to nearly twenty altruistic anthologies, as well as editing six single author collections for Coming Together Presents and a multiple-author anthology of vampire stories entitled Coming Together: In Vein, that benefits Doctors Without Borders. Other causes my work has supported include Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, the ACLU, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Coalition for Positive Sexuality and the National Organization for Women.

As your prototypic starving author (!) I don’t have a fortune to contribute to these organizations. I’m glad I can use my creativity and my editing skills to make a small difference in the world.

Who’s your favourite TV Character?
I haven’t watched television in decades. When I was a teenager, I was a big fan of Ilya Kuryakin, in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and Barnabas Collins in “Dark Shadows”. That dates me, doesn’t it?

Which author’s books are a must-read?
I’ll eagerly read anything by Remittance Girl, Cheyenne Blue, Giselle Renarde or Annabeth Leong. But honestly, I have so many talented colleagues, it’s very difficult to choose.

Anything else you want us to know?
Actually, I’d like to offer a few words of praise for Ladylit. (I’m not just brown nosing here, either!) I first heard about the press when Cheyenne Blue chose my story for her Forbidden Fruit anthology. That book was handled with such skill and professionalism that I was eager to work with them again. There are so few publishers these days dedicated to lesbian fiction. I’m so pleased to see Ladylit stepping in to help fill this void.

What’s next for you?
Alas, I have far more ideas than I have time to write. In the past two months, I’ve watched deadlines for three F/F anthologies whiz by. I would have loved to submit to them all— I have four different stories kicking around in my mind—but with the demands of my regular job plus some business travel, I just couldn’t make that work.

Anyone who wants to know what I’m up to can join my VIP mailing list, by sending me email at lisabet [at] lisabetsarai [dot] com. That’s how I keep my readers up to date on my new releases and frequent giveaways. I also host a monthly contest exclusively for list subscribers.

I’m not on Facebook for privacy reasons, but I’d love to connect on Goodreads. I am active there more as a reader and reviewer than an author, though I do have an author’s page:

I also have a lively blog with lots of guests and a website that features information on all my books, plus lots of free stories and other goodies.

Thank you for visiting my blog, Lisabet! (And for the kind words about Ladylit!)

All information and retailer links for Her Own Devices can be found here >>

Forbidden Fruit Blog Tour: Q&A with Rachel O. Esplanade

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Forbidden FruitMy stop on the Forbidden Fruit Blog Tour today. Before I start on my Q&A with Rachel O. Esplanade, just a friendly reminder that Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire is still available for that very special price of 99 cents. (Also: thank you to everyone who has bought the anthology already!)

Over to Rachel…

Harper Bliss: Welcome to my blog, Rachel. Very happy to have you. It’s no secret to my readers that I’m a huge fan of sexy sports stories so, naturally, I loved your story “The Rules” in Forbidden Fruit. I simply have to ask: are you a sporty person?

Rachel O. Esplanade: I am absolutely a sporty person. In general, I enjoy playing, watching and cheering on most sports as well as cycling as much as possible. I am especially fond of team sports and, in particular, enjoy playing field hockey and gaelic football.

Harper Bliss: Our esteemed editor Cheyenne Blue pointed out to me that I actually own the only other anthology you have a story in (Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2005, Edited by Nicole Foster). Seeing as it’s been almost 10 years since your last publication, what compelled you to submit a story to Forbidden Fruit?

Rachel O. Esplanade: What compelled me to submit a story to Forbidden Fruit was the anthology’s call for submissions. As soon as I read it, I immediately thought of that intricate relationship between coaches and players on university sports teams. It is important for coaches to build a sense of belonging, to instill in players a desire to work together for a common goal. Often this is achieved through team outtings and social events.

Also, university teams can lead to some blurring of the lines between what is appropriate and inappropriate behavoir on and off the field. For example: last year’s MVP graduates and joins the coaching staff the next year; this year’s star rookie is actually an international graduate student and only a few years younger than an assistant coach; or if the team physio realises that they are taping uninjured thighs before each match… But what keeps all of these possibilities in check? What prevents someone from not manipulating the power dynamic to get closer to someone else? Those are the ideas that came to mind when I read the call for submissions. After that, “The Rules” pretty much wrote themselves.

Harper Bliss: This is a mandatory question in all the Q&As I conduct with guests on my blog: Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?

Rachel O. Esplanade: My absolute number one is Miss Sugarpuss, a fabulous cabaret and burlesque performer in Montreal. A more globally renowned celebrity who is a close second is the fabulous Drew Barrymore. A gorgeous woman with an entrepreneurial spirit and a delightfully mischevious smile. That Roller Derby movie, “Whip It”, swooooon!

Harper Bliss: Because it’s so excellent, I stole the next question from fellow Forbidden Fruit author Lisabet Sarai, who interviewed me on her blog yesterday. 😉 Have you ever partaken of “forbidden fruit” yourself? Care to share with my readers?

Rachel O. Esplanade: Oh dear. I most definitely have. It was delicious.

Harper Bliss: Please tell us a bit about your story, “The Rules”. You must love hockey?

Rachel O. Esplanade: I do love hockey, I enjoy playing it and watching it, especially live games. Unfortunately, I haven’t played field hockey in a long time, which may be why I felt compelled to write a story with protagonists that play the sport. During my early years playing sports, I had many crushes on fellow players. Crushes which I chose to not follow through on at the time. My desire to play, to be part of the team, to abide by its unspoken straight rules of conduct, were much stronger than my desire to explore the sexual possibilities with teammates.

Now that I am older, and have enjoyed reconnecting with one of those crushes in the most delightful way decades later, I wonder how much my need to stifle my attraction in my youth was about abiding by the rules rather than due to a fear of the explosive sexual chemistry that would have rocked my world and forced me to re-evaluate my priorities at the time. Who knows? One can never go back but one can explore the possibilities in erotic fiction, which is what I attempt to do in this story.

Excerpt from “The Rules”:

You were so blissfully happy when you received your Most Valued Player award. Your mini dress displayed your beautiful full form in a classy, sexy way—the skirt stretched over your strong thighs, with the tiniest hint of the snaps at the end of the garter belt holding up your stockings. I remember being lost in the aural fantasy of the snap of garter belt straps against your skin. I wanted to snap them while my lips nipped at the hem of your skirt and my other hand glided up your thigh to find a purchase around a cheek, a fesse as you call it. Mes fesses you’d say to the other players if they ever made fun of your horrible French. Mes fesses—my ass, or, I suppose, my ass cheeks. I was sitting there, fully enraptured in my fantasy when you accepted your well-deserved award. Until you thanked me in your speech and pulled me out of my erotic reverie into an unsettling, blushing moment when I had no idea what you’d said and I felt like the biggest creep. Especially when you beamed your happy, grateful smile at me.

Later, when I held your award as you collected your things, I sensed you caught me checking out your ass, your fesses, in the mirror as you changed out of pumps into walking boots in the ladies’ cloakroom. A movement at the corner of my eye informed me the gig was up—you were staring at my reflection in the mirror. But when I looked in the mirror, your eyes were focused on your boots.

Why did I check out your fesses? It was only a quick glance. Barely worth it. How old am I? Forty, not fourteen. Too old to be sneaking looks and blushing at unobtainable crushes. And you—twenty-three or twenty-four? Even if I weren’t your coach, I was being creepy. What was I thinking? But that was it—I wasn’t thinking. I was drinking you in, enjoying your flushed cheeks from your well-deserved moment.

A well-deserved moment for me too. One more year. One more year of keeping those boundaries solid, in high relief.

* * *

The next stop on the Forbidden Fruit blog tour is Rebecca Lynne Fullan who is interviewing Lisabet Sarai

Leave a comment on any post in the Forbidden Fruit blog tour to be entered into a random draw to win one of these great prizes. Prizes include a paperback copy of Girls Who Score, lesbian sports erotica edited by Ily Goyanes, Best Lesbian Romance 2011 edited by Radclyffe, an ebook of Ladylit’s first lesbian anthology Anything She Wants, and a bundle of three mini-anthologies from Ladylit: Sweat, A Christmas to Remember and Bossy. All of these titles contain some stories written by the fabulous contributors to Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire. You must include an email address in your comment to be entered into the draw.

I’m adding something extra here. Anyone who leaves a comment on my blog has a chance to win a signed paperback copy of my short story collection Girls Only: The Collection!

Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire is available direct from Ladylit or from Amazon, Smashwords, and other good retailers of ebooks. Check out Ladylit for all purchasing information.

Q&A: Andi Marquette & R.G. Emanuelle on ‘All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance and Erotica’

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All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance and EroticaPhew, that title is quite a handful, which is only logical because today on my virtual interview chair I have not one, but two esteemed guests! Usually, I write my own little intro, but, aside from being good sports and replying to my inquisitive questions, Andi and R.G. have provided their own introductory text. Extra points for that, ladies, and take it away…

Greetings and thanks so much for having us aboard for a day! R.G. Emanuelle and I just released the anthology All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance and Erotica through Ylva Publishing.

This anthology percolated for a while before we decided to get to it and finally serve it up. The two of us had co-edited an earlier anthology—Skulls and Crossbones: Tales of Women Pirates (2010) —and we had so much fun putting that together that we decided to do another one down the line.

We thought about several options, and then it hit us. We decided to work with a theme that both of us love and that at least one of us has a whole lot of experience with. R.G. Emanuelle is a long-time foodie, food writer, and culinary school graduate. Andi just really likes food and all the things it signals about life and love.

We put our different perspectives to work so we could explore the sensuous qualities of food and how the act of preparing and eating it can engage many more senses than just taste and smell. We planned a menu that includes a variety of authors who incorporated food, romance, and/or erotica into their stories. We purposely left the subject open-ended so contributors had a lot of flexibility in terms of storylines and setting to bring their own particular tastes to the table. Our only requirement was that the story must incorporate food in its romantic and/or erotic trajectory.

We also thought it would be fun to include a recipe with each story. Some require cooking implements while others are whimsical accompaniments that don’t require cooking at all—at least not in the traditional sense.

Our menu includes the following authors: Ashley Bartlett, Cheri Crystal, Cheyenne Blue, Historia, Jae, Jove Belle, Karis Walsh, R.G. Emanuelle, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Sacchi Green, Victoria Oldham, Yvonne Heidt, and Andi Marquette

And here’s the Table of Contents.

We think you’ll find something tasty between these covers.

FIRST Q&A: Andi Marquette

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
How about four words? Here: food, romance, sex, women.

2. Favourite line (or paragraph) from All You Can Eat?
Oooo tough call! How about I give you a taste of Rebekah Weatherspoon’s “Burn”? I like this one because when you read the story, you’ll get a sense of why this moment is so very important to this couple.

“The look on your face when you walk through the door is everything. I know you found the formal invitation on the welcome mat. The card is in your hand. You’re wearing a new dress that I’m sure you picked up for the interview. The aqua blue looks amazing against your dark brown skin, especially in the candlelight. Your locks are up in an elegant bun. You look beautiful.”

3. Last book that blew you away?
God’s War, by Kameron Hurley

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
Lena Headey, Gina Carano (these can change at any minute…)

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
“Let’s Get It On,” Marvin Gaye (but I have lots of faves)

6. What are you most proud of?
I have lots of things I’m proud of. One is finishing my Ph.D. Another is getting my first novel published. I’m also proud of my friends and family when they do cool stuff that makes them proud.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
I don’t watch a whole lot of TV. If I want to see something, I can usually stream it off Netflix. I have very few regular TV shows I watch. Those include NCIS and Walking Dead. And I have lots of fave characters from those shows.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
Hmm. I read both nonfiction and fiction, across all kinds of genres. So I don’t really do “oh, you have to read this author.” Usually what I’ll ask someone is what genres they read and then I’ll suggest authors in those genres for him or her. Having said that, Alexandra Fuller’s writing really resonates with me. Even at her most stripped down, it’s lyrical, haunting, and stays with you.

9. Anything else you want us to know?
Putting anthologies together is kind of like herding cats. But R.G. and I always have a good time doing it, so we’re planning others. Stay tuned for those. And we also do a lot of writing on our own. I write mysteries, science fiction, and romance and R.G. writes paranormal, romance, and erotica. Swing by our respective websites to have a looksee: www.andimarquette.com and www.rgemanuelle.com.

10. What’s next for you?
In addition to the release of All You Can Eat, I just released a romance novel in June, From the Hat Down (a follow-up to last year’s Rainbow Award runner-up novella From the Boots Up). I have stories in two forthcoming anthologies from Ylva Publishing, Wicked Things and Unwrap These Presents—proceeds from that one will benefit, as R.G. says, two organizations that help homeless LGBTQ youth.

I’m also working on the fourth novel in my science fiction series, the Far Seek Chronicles, doing a bit of research for the fifth novel in my New Mexico mystery series, and I’m messing around with another romance novel I’ve almost finished. And I’m thinking about doing another series in novella format. Still in the planning stages, though. And of course, eventually R.G. and I will probably start work at some point on another anthology. And at some point, I’m going to build a fighter ship and join the rebellion against the Galactic Empire.

Thank you, Andi. Time for your co-editor to spill the beans…

SECOND Q&A: R.G. Emanuelle

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
With a menu that ranges from hot and spicy to sweet and mild, this book has something for everyone’s tastes.

2. Favourite line (or paragraph) from All You Can Eat?
Oh, that’s really hard. There are so many great lines and paragraphs in AYCE. But if I absolutely have to choose one, it’s this one from “Turn the Tables” by Yvonne Heidt:

“I wish to taste you, to worship you until your desire becomes so great, it will fill my mouth with the very essence of your spirit that I will swallow and take with me always.” Leonita pointed to her heart. “Here, I will carry you here.”

3. Last book that blew you away?
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters.

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
I would say that it’s a tie between Salma Hayek and Michele Rodriguez.

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
Another tie. Between “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin and “At Last” by Etta James.

6. What are you most proud of?
Making it through culinary school. That was tough. I was working full time and going to school part time. It was physically exhausting, but also mentally and emotionally exhausting in ways I hadn’t expected. There were times I thought I wouldn’t make it. But I did. Graduation day was bittersweet.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
I don’t watch a lot of TV but I have been catching up on “Orange Is the New Black” and I’ve been getting a real kick out of Nicky Nichols, played by Natasha Lyonne.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
Sarah Waters, definitely. She tells riveting stories in the most elegant way. She draws you in and captures you with her characters and storylines without skimping on quality. Her language is eloquent and intelligent, yet she can make your heart race as if you were watching a Hollywood movie.

You should also read Lee Lynch—she’s a staple and pioneer of lesbian fiction.

9. Anything else you want us to know?
Andi and I had a lot of fun working on AYCE together, and we’re planning to do others. Our first project co-editing was on Skulls & Crossbones: Tales of Women Pirates back in 2010 and we had such a good time on that one that we agreed we’d do another one. But life issues got in the way for both of us and it wasn’t until this year that we were able to get together again to work on a new project. But it certainly won’t be our last. We enjoy working with good, established writers, but we both also like to introduce the readership to new writers. I want to give new writers the opportunity to be discovered and have their work enjoyed by others—as long as they do good work!

10. What’s next for you?
Well, I have many projects on my plate. I will soon be releasing book one of my novella series and I have stories coming out in a few anthologies: Hunger: Stories of Desire, Discovery, and Dissatisfaction; Wicked Things; and Unwrap These Presents. I’m also co-editor for Unwrap These Present, and all the proceeds are going to the Ali Forney Center in New York and the Albert Kennedy Trust in the U.K., both of which provide housing to homeless LGBT youth. It’s a great project and I hope everyone supports it by buying a copy. Besides, there are some great stories in there, including Lee Lynch!

Thank you for stopping by, ladies. I know what I’ll be reading this weekend.

You can buy ‘All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance and Erotica’ on Amazon, Smashwords or All Romance.

Q&A: Tenille Brown on Can’t Get Enough

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Can't Get EnoughOne is not really an established erotica writer until one has a short story published in a Cleis Press anthology (no one’s rules, but my own), therefore I’m extremely thrilled that Tenille Brown accepted my story ‘Lovely Rita’ to grace the pages (amidst a slew of fellow established erotica authors) of her new book Can’t Get Enough. I feel as though I have arrived somewhere special. Thank you, Tenille! 😉 I’ve invited Tenille to answer my usual high-brow Q&A questions and tell us a bit more about her new anthology. (I’ll post an excerpt of my own story next week.) Take it away, Tenille!

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
Can’t Get Enough is a literary buffet of carnal delights.

2. Favourite line (or paragraph) from ‘Can’t Get Enough’.
Hands down, it’s from Tamsin Flowers’ story, and it’s:

It’s those damned cobbles. They get me everytime.

3. Last book that blew you away?
It had to be Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden, but… she blows me away every single time.

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
*coughs* Lenny Kravitz

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
Adore by Prince. I get all tingly every single time I hear it.

6. What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of achieving the current balance I have in my life, being there for my family, and following my life’s passion and purpose – writing.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
It’s a toss up between Lafayette from True Blood and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
Bernice L. McFadden, Alison Tyler, Fiona Zedde, Wally Lamb, Eric Jerome Dickey, Tiffany Reisz… I could go on and on, lol.

9. Anything else you want us to know?
I’m pleasantly surprised at how well Can’t Get Enough is doing. I can’t thank everyone for supporting me and my first collection.

10. What’s next for you?
I have a few stories coming out in a few collections. I am working on a full length project and working on pitches for more anthologies and the rest, I’ll leave to the universe.

* * *

Tenille Brown is a southern, shoe shopping, wine drinking writer who has been publishing her fiction and erotica for over a decade. She has edited her first anthology, Can’t Get Enough and her stories have appeared online on such webzines and in over fifty print anthologies including.

You can buy ‘Can’t Get Enough’ on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble and everywhere else on the internet and in the world.

Q&A: Alison Tyler on The Delicious Torment

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The Delicious TormentRemember when I had erotica royalty Alison Tyler over for a cup of black coffee and a guest blog on Dark Secret Love? The Delicious Torment, the sequel to the excellent Dark Secret Love is out now from Cleis Press and I’ve subjected Alison to my familiar Q&A. Here we go:

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
And Alex makes three.

2. Favourite line (or paragraph) from The Delicious Torment
Here’s my favorite line:

 

I believe you can fall in love six times before breakfast—that is, if you’re looking.

And damn, I couldn’t stop at a single favorite paragraph, so I hope you’ll let me run off at the page…:

“I need to know. Is this how you want me? Is this what I need to do to show you that I’m yours? Stay here, naked, every day, cuffed to the bed. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. Is that what you want?”

He shook his head. “Jesus, no.”

“Or in a cage? Do you want to lock me in a steel puppy cage before you go to work? Have Alex take me out and walk me at lunchtime, then find me waiting with my head down, for my Owner at the end of the day?”

“I’m not your—”

“What do you want, Jack? What do you need me to do? How can I show you? How else?”

He was closer to me, and I could see the conflict in his eyes. He wanted to believe me. He wanted to so badly. “I trust you,” he said.

3. Last book that blew you away?
I am a fiercely loyal person. The book that I carry with me, that I buy for all my friends, that I don’t lend out is Wrecking Crew by John Albert. Who knows why this book twisted me around its little finger. But I am 100% faithful.

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
I like kink with my coffee. I want to think that the person I’d choose would be willing to play a little rough, a little raw. That said, I’ve always been partial to James Remar.

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
To this day, I can’t pronounce this song right. But Led Zeppelin’s D’yer Mak’er is my #1 favorite song and Miss You by the Stones is (the close) #2.

6. What are you most proud of?
My relationship. 18 years. Going strong.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
Last year, Tony Soprano. This year, Eric Northman.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
I’ve read everything by Elmore Leonard—just check out my battered bookshelf. I adore City Primeval, The Switch, Cat Chaser, Unknown Man #89…

9. Anything else you want us to know?
Even after all these years, I blush like a fiend when I say dirty words. No joke.

10. What’s next for you?
Third in the series is on my hard drive right now. I’m also working on a few new novels that have me all kinds of excited. Let me know if you’d like a peek!

* * *

Alison Tyler is the author of more than 25 novels, most recently Dark Secret Love and The Delicious Torment (both from Cleis Press). Visit her at alisontyler.blogspot.com for posts about smut, coffee, and tequila, and follow her on twitter: @alisontyler

Q&A: Laila Blake on Driftwood Deeds

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Driftwood DeedsIt’s no secret that I have a serious soft spot for Laila Blake. As a consequence, it should come as no surprise that today, on the release day of Laila’s novella Driftwood Deeds, I am beaming with pride. Some authors just have that magic spark, that turn of the phrase, the right words to draw you in and Laila has it in spades. To have a hand in publishing her novella (via A Hotter State) is not just a source of pleasure, it’s a real honour. Because, to me, it’s so clear that Laila’s is going places, and quickly. (Check out any erotica anthology in the coming two years and you’ll spot her name in the table of contents!)

I fully realise most people visiting my blog are looking for F/F erotica, but if you happen to enjoy gorgeously written, thoughtful and realistic BDSM erotica, then Driftwood Deeds will not disappoint you.

Here’s the blurb followed by what Laila herself has to say about it:

When journalist Iris Ellis visits a sleepy seaside town to interview recluse screenwriter Paul Archer, he offers her insights into never acted upon fantasies of dominance and submission. Too curious to deny herself a taste of them, Iris gives herself up to Paul’s gentle guidance, but when she realizes that a taste can never be enough, she must find the courage to ask for what she needs or risk losing it all.

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
Driftwood Deeds is a story about longing and imperfections, about kindness and consent in bdsm – and about falling, falling in so deep.

2. Favourite line (or paragraph) from Driftwood Deeds
“He served tea, a weakness he admitted he hadn’t picked up until years in the
country, and while I took milk and sugar, he just squeezed some lemon into his mug. The fruit groaned under his touch, yielding its juice drop by drop and it smacked suggestively when he loosened his hold.”

3. Last book that blew you away?
Purple Hibiscus by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
I always have to keep two – the male list is more stable and has pretty much been revolving around John Krasinski for a year or two, and the female list is complicated, and fluctuates because the girls who have dominated for a long time, kind of faded downwards a little in recent months (Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy just isn’t the same without her red hair that she seems to have exchanged for her new Juice-Cleansy attitude, I’m sorry!) I also get confused with who I’d just desperately want to be friends with, but staying on theme, I’d probably say it comes down to Felicia Day and Karen Gillan – what, I’m a nerd and I like redheads!

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
I have somewhat odd ideas of sexiness when it comes to music, I guess. I find sadness and soul-striptease really sexy. Revealing, intricate lyrics that are a little bit like opening up a vein and bleeding into the song – super sexy, but it’s more the artist who is sexy in that case. Honestly I am not sure I have a favourite sexy song. Mary Lambert’s ‘She Keeps Me Warm’, is pretty sexy, though, right? A little bit? Or is that her again?

6. What are you most proud of?
Professionally, I think I still have a lot of work ahead of me until it can be something I am most proud of. At this point, I am proud of the fact that I am not giving up – not on me or my dreams, because there was a time when I was very close to both.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
This took a shameful amount of thought, but I will go with Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey. I just find her such a fascinating, versatile person and a real rarity for a female character on TV. Honorary mentions go to Abed from Community, Arya from Game of Thrones, the 10th Doctor, Emily Fitch from Skins and Kenzie from Lost Girl.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
You really like asking the tough questions, don’t you? I have a few favourites, but I also know that Murakami or Hornby just aren’t for everybody, and I wouldn’t want to force it on them. I do think that some classics are must-reads, though, books like 1984 or The Handmaid’s Tale, book that make us think. Also the children’s books by Michael Ende, but unfortunately the English translations are a nightmare.

9. Anything else you want us to know?
Driftwood Deeds is my second publication and it holds a special place in my heart. It’s a complete rewrite of a story I wrote when I was 19, my first erotic story and it felt terribly daring at the time (even if, compared to Driftwood Deeds, it was positively tame). It also opened up ideas in me – about myself, my sexuality, my ambitions. I changed almost everything about the story, maybe because in 10 years so much about me changed as as well, but the feeling remains and I couldn’t be more excited to be sharing it now.

10. What’s next for you?
Together with my best friend L.C. Spoering, I am about to dip my toes into self-publishing with our post-apocalypse love story After Life Lessons, coming in the spring of 2014, and apart from that I have a lot of editing ahead of me. I spent the last few months writing and assembling ideas and stories and I need to spend some time polishing and submitting them now. Apart from that, I have several short stories coming out in really awesome anthologies over the next months, and I’m definitely looking forward to that.

Driftwood Deeds is available from Amazon US, Amazon UK, All Romance, Smashwords and directly from A Hotter State (more retailers will follow soon.)

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