Book Reading and Signing on October 6, 2011

I'll be doing a reading and signing with some of my fellow authors tomorrow night at Hustler Hollywood. Please come by if you can!

Day 14 of the Blog Tour for Carnal Machines

Welcome blog tourists! I'm delighted to host the final day of the Carnal Machines blog tour. I hope you've enjoyed following along as much as I have.

I'd love to share where the inspiration for "Mutiny on the Danika Blue" came from, but the story wasn't conceived that way. The truth is after reading a writing prompt I received the story, as I do most of my writing, in it's entirety via a "direct download". A gift from my muse. Once this sort of thing happens the story plays on a loop in my brain until I sit down in front of my computer and transcribe what I see and hear.

Image via Wikipedia

I remember furiously pounding my keyboard one Sunday afternoon trying to tell in writing what I was seeing in my head. Once it was written I sent it to my critique partner who asked when I had started writing steampunk.

"What's steampunk?" I said.

That's right little darlings, I confess I had never heard of steampunk until I had written some. Art is funny that way. Funny and strange and wonderful. And so when I read that D. L. King was editing a compilation of steampunk erotica for Cleis Press, I sent her "Mutiny on the Danika Blue."

Have yet to read "Mutiny on the Danika Blue"? Here's an excerpt to whet your palate:

“Hear me now, all of you,” Jael said stretching each syllable out. “The cartographer is mine. She is mine to observe, mine to command, and mine to … spend time with.” An undertone of sneers and lurid remarks rose from the men. “If any of you think otherwise, or behave towards her in a manner unacceptable to me, your children’s children will weep telling the tale of your slaughter.”

Jael, with his sword still pressed against the man’s neck, surveyed his crew. Most of them stood head down, their gaze averted from the captain’s. The rest of them edged away from Ziv, as he looked at each of them as though he may devour them one by one. The only sounds were those made by the Danika Blue as her beams and planks creaked in time with the pulsing hum of the atmosphere generator.

“Good,” Jael said, withdrawing his sword and cleaning the filth left behind with a delicate handkerchief pulled from his breast pocket.

The men pottered back to their stations as the captain and Ziv bent their heads together for a hushed exchange. Ailbhe knew they were discussing her long before she saw Ziv’s eyes dart in her direction. As Ziv strode back to the helm of the ship, Captain Jael turned his attention to Ailbhe. He slid his sword back into its ornate sheath and, maintaining his gaze, slowly bent at the waist. As he offered an angled arm, he said, “Ms. Ailbhe, join me in captain’s quarters.”

Ailbhe stared up at him, unmoving.

“Please,” he said.

She dropped her coal on the drawing table and threaded her slender forearm inside the crook of his elbow. As they walked across the deck of the ship, she gazed at the contrast of the ebony lace of her gown against the pale blue of his wool coat.

He closed the door behind them and slid the wooden latch in place, securing it from outsiders. He had waited many long years for this room to be his and in his mind, he had gone through these motions a thousand times before. Navigating his new quarters as though he had occupied the space since they left port two months ago, he quickly stowed his coat and poured her a glass of honeysuckle mead.

“Thank you,” she said, wrapping her willowy fingers around the glass and wetting her mouth with the sweet drink. As he watched her, she licked her bottom lip and deftly flipped her burgundy hair off her face. He loved her hair. The way it made her look as though she were constantly in motion. Like a shooting star. He loved everything about her.

Want to read the rest? You know what you've got to do.

Since having written this story Ailbhe (pronounced: AL-va), Jael and Ziv, the Danika Blue, her crew and the world in which they live have taken up residence in my consciousness. "Mutiny on the Danika Blue" is just the beginning of a long story I hope to write someday. But until that happens I'll settle for sharing pages with some of the most imaginative erotica authors I could ever hope for. And if you haven't been following along with the blog tour, here are the previous hosts:

Image via Wikipedia

May 1 D. L. King
May 2 Teresa Noelle Roberts
May 3 Kathleen Bradean
May 4 Jay Lawrence
May 5 Kannan Feng
May 6 Essemoh Teepee
May 7 Elizabeth Schechter
May 8 Delilah Devlin
May 9 Tracey Shellito
May 10 Renee Michaels
May 11 Elias St. James
May 12 Lisabet Sarai
May 13 Janine Ashbless
May 14 Poe Von Page

I hope you enjoy reading my contribution to Carnal Machines as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until next time.

Blog Tour for Carnal Machines Starts Today

Carnal Machines is out and receiving lots of great reviews. I'm truly honored to be a part of such a creative and expressive group of authors. The blog tour for Carnal Machines kicks off today with our illustrious editor, D. L. King, blowing the starting whistle. I'll have the honor of wrapping things up on the final day, May 14. For details and to start following the tour please check out D. L. King's blog.

Monday Confessional

Truss me Sir for I have sinned, it's been four months since my last confession.

I received my two contributor copies of Carnal Machines: Steampunk Erotica today. For an erotica author it's quite a thrill to hold tangible evidence that people get off on the things you write. As I held those two copies in my hands, the covers still shiny and devoid of finger smudges, the pages still completely flat and untouched, I couldn't help but feel connected to all the other copies that are going out into the world. Every one clean and new, full of erotic promises of the steampunk variety. Each of them destined for loving use of one sort or another, until the covers become dulled by the touch of their owners, the spines creased from being pressed open so long and the pages curled, marked with the tinter of time.

I realized that's a perfect analogy for how I feel if I go too long between stories or WIPs. Used. Lacking the grace of forward momentum. Stalled out and dried up with my spine creased from being pressed open so long. I nearly dropped the ball this time. I nearly turned a deaf ear to my muse, denying her and myself the satisfaction of our sacred communion. Thankfully, however, the skeleton of a story slid through a crack in the wall I had unknowingly built around myself. That story dropped anchor and began sending roots deep into my psyche. So I am pregnant again. Happily watching my belly expand as my characters take form and the world in which they live becomes manifest.

And I am grateful.

Carnal Machines: Steampunk Erotica

I'm excited to announce my story, Mutiny on the Danika Blue, will be included in Carnal Machines, a Cleis Press compilation edited by none other than D. L. King. This is an achievement I wouldn't have thought possible without the encouragement of my critique partner, KL Grady. So to you, KL, I say thank you, thank you, thank you and the coffee is on me next time we rub elbows.

Carnal Machines has a gorgeous cover that oozes sexy steampunkery. It brings to mind the blending of searing steam and cold steel, rigid gears and supple skin, tightly laced corsets and carnal lust both capped so taught that pressure and desire build exponentially until... well, you'll have to buy the book.

Publisher's Description:

The Victorians wrote some of the best and most enduring erotica. For such a tightly-laced age, people spent a lot of time thinking about things carnal. Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, H.G. Wells, et al enthralled us with their visions of new possibilities. The rich and slightly decadent visuals of the steam age lend themselves perfectly to the new carnality of post-punk era.


Carnal Machines is scheduled for release May 1, 2011 and Amazon.com is already taking pre-orders.

Interested in reading more about the steampunk movement?

• Picking up steam (boston.com)
• Steampunk (wikipedia.org)