Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween

 

To Blog or Not to Blog by KevaD

Tags

a dance with bogie and bacall, blog post, charlaine Harris, erotic romance, erotic romance authors, Kevad, romance author, silken sheets and seduction

 

That question is asked a lot. And the answers are as varied as snowflakes.

 

Here’s my perspective: It is not “what” you blog, but the words you type that make the difference between a viewed and visited blog and one that sits gathering virtual dust… and the owner/host’s frustration.

If all a person wants to do is idly share thoughts and daily activity, then blog “hits” really aren’t important. However, writers and reviewers want a means to draw visitors to their blogs and web sites. How can a writer or reviewer do that? Word choices, word combinations, and name dropping. Yes – name dropping.

 

We’re discussing how to increase traffic to your blog, and mentioning a famous name is an effective tool. In the blogosphere, name dropping isn’t about trying to impress people with the fact you know or saw or whatever “X” personality. It’s about garnering web surfers’ attention from the midst of millions of blog posts. Our blogs need to stand out.

 

At this point in this article, we haven’t done anything that would draw a crowd here, other than some advertising on chat loops. Now we will.

 

Should I have a blog – Are blogs effective – How to make my blog better – Designing a blog

 

Those word choices appear frequently on search engines. By including those words and their combinations, we just moved this post up in search engine rankings. Just how far up will now depend on how many people stop by. But we opened the door. Now let’s throw the door wide open.

 

Charlaine Harris, Lisa Jackson, Robert J. Sawyer, James Lee Burke, to name a few consistently popular names. (I took the liberty of using these particular names as examples because they are all writers and genuinely nice people I have interviewed) Now this article and blog will appear any time those names are typed in to a search engine. Am I promoting randomly throwing out names? Absolutely not. Not in any way shape or form. Viewers and readers aren’t stupid. They know a cheap trick to snag a few moments of their attention when they see it.

 

However, if you have an interesting tale to share regarding a convention, book signing, or chance meeting, how much you enjoyed (or not) their latest book, or how you saw Brad Pitt scarfing down tacos smothered in sour cream and hot sauce, blog visitors will appreciate the story/information and might check in with your blog again sometime, just to see what you’ve been up to. If you’re a writer, the visitor might take a look at your books. If you are a reviewer, again, the visitor may well read a review or two. You’re on your own to impress them, to make them want to return after that.

 

Richelle Mead is a deservedly famous author in her own right. She’s also an avid Tim Gunn fan and blogs and Tweets about him and her fanship. Google “Tim Gunn,” and you will find references to Richelle Mead. Did she create this Internet search engine link on purpose? Probably not, at least I don’t believe so. Richelle really is a warm and real person, and likes to share who she is and what she enjoys in life. Still, a tie-in between fashion and her books can’t hurt. Fashionistas buy books, too.

 

So, back to how can a writer or reviewer increase traffic? Discuss current topics and/or trends in whatever interests and affects you. If your only interest is writing and reading, then stick to that, but don’t be afraid to post an article such as the one you’re reading right now. Don’t be shy about discussing hobbies and interests, be they SCUBA diving, archery, quilting, home schooling, or trading cake recipes.

 

An author I interviewed is the only romance and erotic author I’m aware of to have her work spotlighted on a Mixed Martial Arts web site. The owners of the site were impressed by her loyalty to the sport and responded by showing their appreciation of her appreciation. That happened because she mentioned her enjoyment of the sport in the interview.

 

Get the point yet? Expand your topic horizons. Utilize words and word combinations designed specifically to target search engine searches. Blogs and web sites are a marketing tool that we can and should take full advantage of.

 

To quote Internet marketing guru Neal Schaffer, “…I believe that blogging is the single most important thing a person or business can do to promote themselves…” “The other additional benefit of blogging is the search engine optimization (SEO) benefits that naturally come with publishing new content on your website. The more content you have the more ways search engines will display your company’s website for a given keyword search query.”

 

And just where did self-made, multi-millionaire Neal Schaffer make these remarks?

Why, on my DA Kentner blog of course: http://dakentner.blogspot.com/

 

Ready for the test? Go back and see how many words, word combinations, names, and activities you can find that are now indelibly linked to this Silken Sheets & Seduction blog.

 

I’m KevaD, and thank you so very much for spending some time with me.

http://www.kevad.net/

A Dance with Bogie and Bacall

 

 Radio DJ Scott Kincaid’s first caller of the night is a lady who died forty-nine years ago. The second wants to knock his head off. And he thought falling in love would be easy.

Maureen and Frank Johnson shared the kind of romance most people believe only exists in movies. Until a ballroom fire took Maureen’s life.

Franci Johnson grew up hearing her grandparents’ love story a thousand times, and wishes to find the kind of undying love Frank and Maureen did.

Radio DJ, Scott Kincaid, just wants the ghost following him to go away. But Maureen thinks the hunky DJ just might be the answer to her granddaughter’s dreams . . . .

Sex or Seduction

Tags

erotic romance, erotic romance authors, erotica, Lillian Grant, love, seduction, Sexy, silken sheets and seduction

I have only started reading on the erotic side in the last couple of years and I am surprised at the differences in the way authors write about relationships and sex.

People often assume that it’s all about writing sex, and for some stories it is.  I’ve read books where the sex starts almost on page one.  The characters jump into bed for a myriad of reasons but it’s clearly all about the sex.  The plot is just an excuse to get your characters naked.

Other writers build the tension, teasing the reader with banter, verbal foreplay and innuendo.  I have to admit I prefer to read the latter. If I haven’t bonded with the characters and bought into the story then I don’t find the sex in the least bit titillating, it’s just insert knob A into hole B.

I love to be squirming in my seat as the characters dance around each other until I get to the point where I want to scream at the author to get them into bed already.  If the final consummation of the relationship leaves me feeling in need of a shower, stiff drink and a lie down the author has totally hooked me and I’ll be back for more.

It does make me wonder if the romances we enjoy reading, and writing, reflect how we enjoy sexual relationships in real life. I do admit I am a sucker for a guy who plays the long game. When I was a teenager boyfriends who waited a date or two before even attempting to kiss me had me melting with desire. Guys who declared their undying love on date one and then followed it up with, “wanna have sex?” not only missed out on sex but missed out on another date.

So, what do you prefer, a slow burn with an explosive sexual culmination or a book that jumps straight into bed?

Guest Blog-Cynthia Sax

Tags

Author Interviews, Cynthia Sax, Ellora's Cave, erotic romance, erotic romance authors, Guest blog

It is my pleasure to welcome Cynthia Sax to the blog. I love interviewing fellow erotic romance/erotica authors. I love being able to pick their brains. *evil grin*

I’ve known Cynthia for a while now. Though I call her by her real identity. Muwahaha. Bet you’re all dying to know. Muwahaha. Anyways, she’s just had her first release with Ellora’s Cave. Welcome, Cynthia.

Tell us about your FIRST release from Ellora’s Cave.

Lust by Moonbeam is a spicy sci fi erotic romance set in the small Northern town of Moonbeam. Cathy, our brave yet clumsy heroine, is sent to Moonbeam to investigate their dead tree circles (similar to crop circles). What she finds is a sexy alien with forever on his mind.

Oooh, me like sexy aliens. What gave you the idea to write Lust By Moonbeam?

Growing up close to Moonbeam, the Roswell of the North, I KNEW I’d someday write a story set there. There are dead tree circles! Unexplainable lights! A silver spaceship! What writer can resist that setting? Not me. And when Ellora’s Cave asked for stories set in Canada, I decided the time had come to share the uniqueness of Moonbeam with romance readers and alien lovers everywhere.

Very cool and of course being Canadian I love that it’s set in Canada. Is there a sequel planned?

Ohhh…you know that fierce warrior alien in Lust by Moonbeam? The total bad ass? Yep, he’ll get his own story, and love sure isn’t a gentle, peaceful thing for this alien!

Excellent! Out of all of your published books, who is your favourite hero and why?

This is like asking a mom who is her favorite child! All of my heroes are special, but I always have a soft spot for the newest. Rellec, from Lust by Moonbeam, is a fixer. My wonderful hubby calls him ‘a mechanic from another planet’ except he fixes everything and everyone. He has left his family and friends and everything he knows to travel to a different planet where he isn’t familiar with the customs or the language. He has one shot to woo and win his human mate. Yeah, this hunky alien male is feeling the pressure.

I sympathize with his loneliness and with the stress he is under. And haven’t we all felt like aliens at some time in our lives?

Very true. Out of all of your published books, who is your favourite heroine and why?

Oh, now I have to choose amongst my girls? I’ll play it safe and go with Cathy from Lust by Moonbeam. Cathy has never felt she fit in. Who hasn’t had that feeling? She’s clever and brave and has a great sense of humor. She’s also a bit of a walking disaster. I’d love to have Cathy as a friend.

You recently had your first release with Ellora’s Cave. Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication with them?

You mean my epic journey to publication? I could write a book. Oh wait, I did!After getting caught in the spam filter for a couple of years (note to new authors: if you don’t receive an autoreply, Ellora’s Cave didn’t receive your manuscript), one of my stories (Lust by Moonbeam) finally made it through.

I received a revise and resubmit email asking me to change elements of the story. I brainstormed with my buddies (Amy Ruttan, Christine d’Abo, Wylie Kinson, and J.K. Coi) and then revised and resubmitted. I received another revise and resubmit email. I revised and resubmitted.

By this time, I had worn down my editor, and I received a contract (and more revisions).

You’re also published with Loose Id and see that you had a recent release with them. What gave you the idea for Barb & The Barbarians?

As a kid, I was a Bermuda Triangle FREAK! (although Barb & The Barbarians is technically set in the Caribbean, the premise is Bermuda Triangle) I also like taking cruises, and I’d sometimes hear wild stories of (drunk) people falling overboard.

Barb is swept overboard and ends up on a tropical island inhabited by 5 cavemen (barbarians, yum!). There’s also a hungry saber-toothed tiger ‘cause who doesn’t like saber-toothed tigers?

Anything new in the works you want to share?

Fangs in Frosting, a short, humorous, and sexy vampire romance, will be releasing in November from Changeling.

Also releasing in November is Mission Menage, a sci fi erotic romance, from Ellora’s Cave. If you’ve ever had a wild fantasy about Data from Star Trek (and who hasn’t?), Mission Menage is the story for you!

 OH! That’s awesome. I’ve had tons of fantasies about Data … cough cough. So where can we find out more about you?

Check out my website

http://cynthiasax.com/

 Now for the fun stuff!

What is your favourite colour?

Black, the color of my soul. Nah, just joking.I love blue, the color of the sky and the ocean and Almond Joy wrappers.

(I always feel like a nut)

 What is your favourite drink?

I love ice cold water, or as the hubby calls it ‘sky juice.’ Yep, I’m SUCH a cheap date.

What is your favourite food?

This writer is Nutella-powered. One of my dreams is to have Nutella sponsor me on a world-wide book tour.

Wouldn’t that be absolutely wild?!

You’d tour with me, right?Of course! You know I have penchant for Nutella too. I’m your Nutella tease of course.

Trapped on a desert island what three movies would you take with you? What three books and what three fantasy men?

 The three movies I’d take are

-          The Fifth Element (BIG bada boom)

-          Chronicles of Riddick (It’s an animal thing)

and

-          Pride & Prejudice, BBC version (Colin Firth, yeah, no other explanation needed)

 The three books I’d take are

(dang it, this is difficult, can’t I take them ALL?)

-          Loretta Chase’s Lord Of Scoundrels (Bad boy titled dudes!!!!)

-          Mina Carter’s Sunlight & Slavery (Bad boy gargoyles!!!!)

and

-          Amanda Quick’s Ravished (MORE bad boys!!!!)

Hmmm…I see a trend here.

 The three men I’d take (in more ways than one) are

-          The hubby (he makes me laugh and laughter is always needed)

-          Colin Firth (dressed as Mr. Darcy)

and

-          Hugh Jackman (Wolverine!!!!!)

 Awesome. Thanks for joining us here Cynthia. Here’s a blurb of Lust by Moobeam to whet your appetites.

Blurb:

Cathy arrives at Moonbeam, the Roswell of the North, with one goal—to prove the mysterious dead tree circles are not caused by UFOs. Meeting a devastatingly handsome lumberjack with unusual blue and green eyes is a bonus. He thinks he’s an alien, but that doesn’t bother Cathy. She can tolerate a little crazy in a one-night stand, especially since Rellec claims her body as no sane man ever has—with the hungry touch of forever.

Rellec arrives at Moonbeam with one goal—to retrieve his assigned mate, ensuring the continuation of his species. Having trained long and hard for his erotic mission, he is determined to satisfy his tiny human female and overcome her objections with out-of-this-world passion.

Failure is not an option.

 

Wednesday Ramble ~ Sweet Erotic

Tags

Sweet Erotic, Wednesday Ramble, Xakara

Greetings, Kittens!

When it comes to books, I’ve always been a genre browser,
happily wandering the aisles of whatever had drawn me to the store that day. I
worried about losing that experience when moving to ebooks, but much to my
delight I could do the same kind of endless browsing, flittering from cover to
cover, title to title and blurb to blurb. Every site gave endless categories
where I can spend an entire day or weekend finding exactly what I wanted. As a
reader I was thrilled. As a writer…a little less so.

Once the time came for my work to go on virtual shelves, I was automatically listed as erotic. I write open-door sex, so that was to be expected, but what surprised me was the tendency to place my work at the highest/hottest level of erotic romance. That’s not what I write. My love scenes are neither graphic, nor frequent enough to warrant the classification. My work is placed under “scorching” or its equivalent, solely based on the number of the people involved, rather than the quality and quantity of the sexual expression.

I don’t fault the sites that place my work. There’s no standardization as the industry itself is in its infancy when it comes to recognizing the spectrum of sexuality and sexual expression. Each site is left to decide how best to reflect the variations in erotic romance and work to meet reader expectation. As a writer, I embrace the association with all elements of healthy sexuality and erotic romance and very broad categories work for me. It’s when those shelves become specialized and I’m left side-by-side with incredibly different stories, that I grow concerned about reader satisfaction.

Most readers are savvy shoppers and have learned to navigate their favorite sites in their sleep. They know that ménage, by virtue of being ménage, is often shelved with the most graphic books, regardless of other content. But there are readers who are new to erotic romance that avoid those highest levels like the plague, because it feels like a minefield. They don’t know when they’ll run into something that completely turns them off, or more likely scares them off.

When they describe the type of stories they’re looking for, I fit in that category, but they’ll never find me. On the same page, those who are looking for hardcore threesomes, fulfilling every fantasy in the most down and dirty ways…I’m not the person for them. I write love stories with three or more people, but love stories just the same.  An extra lover doesn’t automatically make a scene graphic, just more involved.

Four years ago, I proposed the idea of “Sweet Erotic”, that is non-graphic, erotic content built upon the emotional integrity of the participants. Wonderfully enough, I’ve actually seen that concept come to pass at different publishers. Unfortunately, it has yet to include ménage/poly romance. I think that can change. I think it will change. The question comes down to whether or not I’m the only one that wants it to.

What say you all? Do you feel the erotic categories serve you well, or do you want even more variety to let you know what you’re getting and to let your readers know what you’re writing?

This Ramble is Done, Kittens!

Happy Wednesday,

~X

Sensuality

Tags

sensual, sensuality, Voirey Linger

Sensuality. There is a word which can hold different meanings for everyone. What is sensual? Its proper definition is something that stimulates the senses but really, there is so much more to it than simply that.

For me, sensuality is what makes me sink into an experience. It goes past what feels good and into a deeper level of bliss. it’s like another layer of pleasure layered over the basic tactile sensation.

Sensuality comes in many forms, from innocent enjoyment to pure carnality. Some of my favorite innocent pleasures include snuggling under my blanket in the morning, holding on to those last few minutes of sleep before the day begins. The blankets are warm, my pillow soft and the moment is pure bliss. Another pleasure is cuddling my cat. She’s very soft, warm, and sometimes affectionate. Her gentle purr sooth the soul and we spend moments just being together.

Food is sensual to me. The explosive flavor of a perfectly grilled steak and the silky texture of fine chocolate make me slow down, sink in and simply savor the moment. Good food cannot be rushed. If it is, the moment is lost and it simply becomes sustenance.

The sensuality of sex is all about sinking into that moment, that sensation for me, too. Some of the sexiest moments for me are some of the simplest. I love the touch of a man’s hands.  Their hands are sure, confident and steady. When a man touches his woman that contact becomes possessive, it conveys the bond between them, not in an intrusive or jealous way, but in a way that simply says, “I’m here for you.” I love a man’s hands on my bare shoulders or back. Somehow, having the touch happen out of my line of sight makes it feel even more intimate, more sensual.

Small, sensual pleasures. They are some of my favorite things.

What are some of your favorite sensual moments?

New Releases

Tags

erotic romance, erotica, Lillian Grant, new release, romance

Mergers & Acquisitions
By Lillian Grant
Now Available from Siren-Bookstrand

Accountant, Emily Armitage is stuck in Sydney for the weekend, working on the numbers for a hotel sale while fighting off the unwanted attention of her boss.  However, things begin to look up when she steps on her balcony and meets the man of her dreams. When her new neighbor delivers room service, along with a shoulder massage, delicious foot rubs, and easy charm, she succumbs to their obvious attraction.

Having spent a passionate weekend together, Monday morning brings an unwanted revelation.  Randy’s been keeping secrets that could change her life. Suddenly uncertain, she is forced to make a choice between her career and a man who adds up to perfection. Should she stick with the hotel acquisition or take a chance on their passionate new merger?

Fill up my Erotica TBR

Tags

Amy Ruttan, Ellora's Cave, erotic romance, erotic romance authors, erotica, rambling, TBR Pile

I am sick as a dog. I know that’s not remotely erotic, but I could not think of anything to say that’s sexy when one has bronchitis and a sinus infection. Yuck!

It means I’m pretty laid up and need some great reading material. I thought I would share a couple of books on the e-reader right now and perhaps you can share some great erotic reads. Persuade me to add to my TBR pile. I know with this illness I’ve been making quite a dent in my erotica/erotic romance pile.

This week I’ve read Slade & Valiant Laurann Dohner’s second and third in her New Species series from Ellora’s Cave. Both were just as good as the first, Fury which I had read when it first came out because I was frankly curious. Good, hot, alpha cross-species sex. I’m really looking forward to reading Justice’s story and yes at Romanticon I stalked Laurann and begged for Justice’s book. We have the same editor as well, so I mentioned it to my editor too! LOL! I quite like Alpha’s and I’m finding penchant towards Alpha’s who are shifters or genetically altered and are very ME TARZAN, YOU JANE.

I also just finished Cara McKenna’s Curio again from Ellora’s Cave which OH MY GOD is like a beautiful poetic piece of erotica. The heroine is close to thirty and a virgin. She decides she’s going to lose her virginity with the handsome male prostitute Didier. WOW. This one has to be on your to be bought list. Super hot. Sorry I can’t say a whole lot more I don’t want to ruin anything for you.

Right now I just started Quarterback Blitz by Frances Stockton and I’m really enjoying it. After Quarterback Blitz will be her newest release a BDSM titled Ink Master. Again all from Ellora’s Cave.

After Ink Master though I’ll be scrounging for more erotica/erotic romance reads. Do you have any recommendations for some one laid up and horribly sick? What do you like in erotic romance? What are some of your favorite sub genres?

I promise my next post will be more interesting and not so rambly, by then I hope to have shaken this horrid double whammy of infections and feel like my old self again. Thanks for letting me ramble.

BDSM in the Victorian Era

I have been pretty quiet lately on Twitter and whatnot because I have been busy editing. So, so busy. In the natural course of editing I of course suddenly needed to do some research. I am working on a historical romance with some BDSM elements in it.

Here’s the thing, BDSM as we know it didn’t exist in the Victorian era.

But, by all accounts BDSM has strong roots in the Victorian period. From what I read, it is in large part due to the repression of all things sexual. Women were not expected to find satisfaction let alone pleasure from sex. The only acceptable reason to have sex was for procreation by married people. Of course men were not permitted to masturbate either, so in the overall ranking of sin it was less sinful to have sex with a prostitute than to take things into one’s own hands.

As a result of all this repression, certain practices surfaced in the underground

Flagellation scene, illustration to Fanny Hill by Édouard-Henri Avril.

world of sex and ultimately developed into the more defined practices of BDSM. Keeping in mind that I am glossing over a huge amount of information, there are texts that mention various practices that have become part of BDSM: the Kama Sutra, the writings of the Marquise de Sade, and those of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.

Needless to say, by Victorian times some of the practices mentioned in these writings were being practiced. As well as other new ideas that were being tried out. Now,  I will point out that the idea of safe, sane, and consensual was not part of the conversation going on. What was part of the conversation was flogging, birching, figging, restraints, and even domination/submission (though not exactly with those labels).

There is evidence that brothels engaged in servicing their customers in terms of flogging and birching. Considering that many of the customers would be high ranking officials and Lords of the Realm, there was a natural domination/submission conversation that accompanied these practices. In addition, “dungeons” could be found where there were implements used for restraining those that were to be whipped. One article describes:

Mary Jeffries ran the most exclusive brothel in the “Victorian Era.”  Her chief assistant was a Mrs. Travers. She kidnapped children by offering to watch them while the parents went to gather luggage or buy tickets. Jeifries catered to nobility. “There was no form of sexual vice for which this murderess did not cater” (Terrot, 1960, p.91). Stead (Tenot, 1960, p.54), writing for the Pall Mall Gazette, described one of her houses,

“Flogging or birching goes on in brothels to a much greater degree than is generally believed. One of Mrs. Jeffrles’ rooms was fitted up like a torture chamber… There were rings in the ceiling for hanging women and children up by the wrists, ladders for strapping them down at any angle, as well as the ordinary stretcher to which the victim is fastened so as to be unable to move. The instruments of flagellation included the ordinary birch, whips, holly branches and wire-thonged cat-o’-nine-tails.”

Terrot, C. (1960), Traffic in Innocents: The Shocking story of white slavery in England, New York E. P. Dutton & Co,. Inc taken from Bestslavetraining.com

In addition to all of this, there is a practice called figging that dates back to the Victorians. Essentially you carve a finger of ginger into a butt plug and insert it in the rectum. It is supposed to burn for a while. Google will provide you all kinds of information. I promise. *grins*

So, as you can see what I discovered was quite helpful in fine tuning my edits and answering some of my own questions about the accuracy of what I wrote. I will include some links at the bottom here for the more curious.

Links:
The Psychology of BDSM: http://www.scribd.com/doc/26957509/BDSM-Definition-and-History
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM
BestSlaveTraining.com: http://bestslavetraining.com/BDSMbrothels.htm

Guest Interview-Anya Richards/Delvay

Tags

Anya Richards/Delvay, Ellora's Cave, erotic romance, erotic romance authors, erotica, Guest blog, Interview

I’m thrilled to have my critique partner Anya Richards/Delvay here today. Yes, she writes under two names, but everything she writes is HOT! *grin*

Tell us about your upcoming release.

What the Mistress Did is a short, Georgian-set novel, about the adventures of a widow who finds herself caught between her ex-lover and his wife. It is a story of love, deceit, lust, revenge and passion, with the very real possibility of heartbreak hovering over all concerned.

Sounds fantastic. This is one I didn’t get to read, you had a very itchy trigger fingers and sent it off when you finished it. I need to know more. What gave you the idea to write What the Mistress Did?

Well, I approached the project with the intention of writing a historical ménage-a-trois, taking some influence from the story of the fifth Duke of Devonshire and his infamous wife, Georgiana, whose life was portrayed in the movie The Duchess. Their situation, where the duke moved his mistress and her children into his family home, was, in my opinion, the perfect set-up for three people being able to live together, without too much scandal. Originally this book was to have a happy ending, but Lady Marianne Gillingham, my heroine, took over, and insisted having things her own way! Because of that (and just maybe the preponderance of sex of all flavours, types and conditions LOL!) this book is erotica, NOT erotic romance.

Is there a sequel planned?

Dammit, have you been talking to my editor?? (One of your editors, yes we’re conspiring!) Actually, I don’t think Lady Gillingham is finished having adventures of the erotic and emotional kind. She’s the kind of woman who, no matter how she may try to stay out of trouble, will always find herself entangled in some drama or the other. J

I already know who my favourite hero is *Jonathan* so out of all of your published books, who is your favourite hero and why?

This is a very difficult question, because I have a tendency to fall in love with each of my heroes as I’m writing their stories. And each one has their own characteristics that make them special—Alejandro in Night of the Cereus was just over all Latin hotness and a cop to boot, Roake from Pearl at the Gate was just so dominant and flawed, Xavier from Breaking Free was sweet, shy and passionate…I think you get the idea! But I would have to say my favourite, just now, is still William from Beyond Prudence. He’s a genius, but clueless about matters of the heart, absolutely protective, passionate and sometimes a little contrary. Will becomes completely befuddled by the emotion he feels for Prudence, but is willing, in the end to do whatever it takes to make her happy, even if that means letting her go. *sigh* What else could a woman ask for?

 Out of all of your published books, who is your favourite heroine and why?

Darn it, will you stop asking me questions like this?? (No ever, that’s why you love me I ask the difficult questions) It’s akin to asking a parent which is their favourite child! Again, each of my heroines is special in her own way, each with a characteristic I think I’d like to have, but right at this point, I think Lady Marianne Gillingham from What the Mistress Did is the front runner. She’s supremely flawed, but strong, determined and passionate. When she makes a decision she goes for it, but she’s not too stubborn to admit, at least to herself, when she’s made a mistake. I really love her for her sexiness, sheer bad-assed-ness and the tenderness she tries to hide beneath a veneer of distain and unconcern.

You recently had your first release with Ellora’s Cave. Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication with them?

I’d tried early in my career to sell to EC, but although I got “good” rejections, hadn’t tried submitted to them in a long time. SOMEONE (I’m looking at you, Ms. Interviewer) *grin* who knew I was trying to break into a variety of publishers dared me to enter a pitch contest where the judge was Ellora’s Cave editor Grace Bradley. It was nerve-wracking, because I was literally pitching an idea. The book consisted at that point of a blurb-ish few paragraphs and the bones of a first chapter. To my surprise, I got selected to move to the next round and had to get that first chapter polished. Worse was getting picked as a finalist, since then I needed to submit three chapters AND a synopsis! But it all worked out in the end. Although I didn’t win the contest, Grace asked to see the finished book, liked it enough to acquire it and it was released in September!

What gave you the idea for Beyond Prudence?

I’m not completely sure. It was one of those ideas that come to me, usually while I’m in the middle of writing something else, and insist that I drop what I’m doing, NOW, and deal with it. When that happens I try to make some notes, just get the basics down, so I can continue on with what I was doing before. All I knew was it was going to be a very sexy romp, with an inventor who was creating naughty machines and a woman who needed his help with another matter. She’d be willing to test his machines, if he’d help her figure out what the mysterious box her uncle left her was. That was it…

Anything new in the works you want to share?

Oh, my…I have a list here, somewhere! I’ve planned another book set in the world I created for Beyond Prudence, along with the next instalment of Lady Marianne’s adventures to follow up on What the Mistress Did. I also have a couple of shorts I’m already working on and two subs out for consideration (fingers crossed!) and one short story that was just accepted by Cleis Press for inclusion in their Lustfully Ever After anthology.

 Where can we find out more about you?

My website, Anya Richards is a good place to start where you’ll find all my books listed, both under my Anya Delvay and my Anya Richards pennames.

What is your favourite colour?

Red! It’s the kind of colour that can mean so much. It can be brazen, bold, cheerful, powerful.

What is your favourite drink?

Non-alcoholic? Tea, hands down. Alcoholic? Most anything with rum! (I can vouch for the fact she makes a very addictive and VERY strong Jamaican rum punch.)

What is your favourite food?

That’s an unfair question! I LOVE food, so picking is impossible. I’ll just say I’m a carnivore and leave it at that.

Trapped on a desert island what three movies would you take with you? What three books and what three fantasy men?

I’d take It’s a Wonderful Life, Shawshank Redemption and Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth!). Books…er…The Hobbit, Lady in Waiting (a historical novel about the courtship and marriage of Sir Walter Raleigh and his wife, Bess), and The Complete Works of Jane Austin (cheating, I know, but I don’t care! J). I’d be waited on by Wolverine, Dermot Mulroney (in his gigolo character from The Wedding Date) and Vin Diesel in whatever role he wants, as long as he has lots of lines!

Thanks for playing with me, Anya. Of course you’re used to my nonsense. *evil grin*

What the Mistress Did

Oh, the delicious peril of deception…

Blurb:

Lady Marianne Gillingham has no intention of ending her affair with David Dunscombe, Earl Harrington, despite his pending nuptials. She craves his attentions, and he satisfies her deepest yearnings.

Yet, when his fiancée, the sweet, innocent and oh-so-very young Annabelle Frazier, appears on her doorstep to demand the end of the association, Marianne realizes she does not wish to be second in David’s affections. She also cannot resist issuing a warning. The earl will bed his wife with tedious regularity, but never reveal his more unusual desires.

To Marianne’s amusement, her prediction comes true, with a surprising twist. The countess is back with a new demand: repair the problem her prophetic words created. Taking pleasure in imagining the other woman’s fear and horror, Marianne rekindles the affair to demonstrate exactly how to fulfill David’s lascivious desires—while Annabelle secretly watches from the shadows.

She never expected Annabelle to prove so resilient and surprisingly easy—not to mention delicious—to corrupt. Or that the ensuing erotic tangle would be impossible to put right without heartbreak.

Buy link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/what-mistress-p-6496.html