Your local library is the kind of place you expect to find an ageing gent flicking through a Charles Dickens or hunting for a Henry James.
But the explosion in popularity of erotic novels this year is set to give libraries a real boost when libraries up and down the country launch a month-long celebration of erotic literature.
From next Friday, the Between The Sheets festival will bring 30 of the top titillating titles to 33 libraries nationwide.
Read the entire article at the Mail Online.
The Initiation of Ms Holly a Top Titillater!
November’s off to an exciting start with lots going on. The news of the day is that The Initiation of Ms Holly is number five on the Stellar Libraries’ list of all time titillating novels! Waking up to that good news, published in the Mail Online’s Femail site definitely made my morning.
For those of you who don’t, libraries are turning up the heat this autumn. With the explosion in popularity of erotic novels this year libraries all over the UK are launching a month-long celebration of erotic literature.
From next Friday, the Between the Sheets festival will bring 30 of the top titillating titles to 33 libraries across the country. Watch out libraries, The Initiation is on, and with Holly sharing the shelves with some of my very favourite authors, Justine Elyot, Portia Da Costa and Madeline Moore, and others, you can expect some serious sizzle in the stacks.
Riding the Ether on Tour:
Also in the news, you may not have heard there’s a real heatwave in the Lake District this autumn, as I unleash Riding the Ether, the second novel of my paranormal erotic Lakeland Heatwave Series, now available in eBook and print. I’m very excited that I’ll be touring some truly fabulous blogs with Riding the Ether, starting Monday the 12th. Check out the links and dates below and join the fun and scary, sexy paranormal excitement.
Riding the Ether Blog Tour:
12th Nov: Catriana’s Muse: http://catrianasmuse.blogspot.com/
13th Nov: Nephylim: Out of the Box Fiction: http://nephylim-author.blogspot.co.uk/
14th Nov: Words of Wisdom from the Scarf Princess: http://wowfromthescarfprincess.blogspot.com/
15th Nov: The Tardis Scribbles: http://thetardisscribbles.blogspot.com/
16th Nov: Carly Fall: Where Fantasy Meets Romance: http://www.carlyfall.com
Blurb for Riding the Ether:
Cassandra Larkin keeps her ravenous and dangerous sexual appetite secret until she seduces Anderson in the mysterious void of the Ether. Anderson is the sexy, insatiable ghost who can give her exactly what she needs.
But sex is dangerous in a place like the Ether…
When the treacherous demon, Deacon, discovers the truth about the origin of Cassandra’s powerful lust, he plots to use her sex magic for revenge on Tara Stone and the Elemental Coven, who practice their own brand of sex magic.
Cassandra must embrace the lust and sexuality she fears and learn to use its power. Will she stand with Anderson, Tara, and the Elemental Coven against Deacon’s wrath or suffer the loss of friendship, magic and love?
A little Excerpt to heat up those crisp autumnal nights …
(Warning: not for the faint of heart)
And though Anderson did not remember casting the special enfleshment spell, the one he always cast for himself in the Ether, he was fully in the flesh, albeit flesh that only had substance in the Ether. He was completely naked, and fully, nay, outrageously aroused. The pressure in his groin was both agonizing and exquisite. He reached for his manhood, knowing full well he was in need of wit that he did not possess when his lust was so great. But before he could stroke himself to release, a voice spoke out from the Void. ‘That belongs to me.’
He was not startled that the woman appeared out of nowhere. After all this was the Ether, but he was very startled, if most pleasantly so, that she was as naked as he, and it was no hardship for him to look upon her. Before he could utter even a cry of surprise, she knelt next to him, slapped his hand away and took his member into her mouth.
‘My dear woman,’ he gasped as her tongue snaked up the underside of his manhood. ‘I do not believe we know each other.’
She stopped pleasuring only long enough to reply. ‘We will very soon.’ Then she returned her efforts to his great need.
‘I fear this shall end quickly if you do not stop what you are doing.’ He tried, though only half-heartedly, to push her away. After all what manner of man saw to his own release before the pleasure of his lover?
‘I know you.’ As she spoke, she continued to stimulate him with her hand. ‘It may be over quickly this time, but then,’ she lifted her head enough to brush a quick kiss against his lips, enough for him to catch the tiniest glimpse of dark cinnamon eyes. ‘When it’s over we’ll begin again, and then,’ she gave him a squeeze. ‘Then I’m sure I’ll be well compensated.’
She spoke no more, but took the length of him deep into her throat and tightened her grip until there was nothing for it. He shuddered the weightiness of his release into her throat, and she drank it back like fine brandy. And when she had drained him as surely as if he had been the glass containing her drink of choice, she slipped up next to him, her tight roseate nipples brushing against his ribs. And when she kissed him, he tasted himself on her lovely tongue. This time she kissed him with all of her mouth, nay, with all of her body if that were possible, and he felt lust already returning to his loins.
When she pulled away, he spoke in one breathless sentence, fearful that if he did not find his voice immediately, the lady’s own greed for the pleasures of the flesh might make him forget that he even possessed the power of speech, might make him forget why his voice would even be of importance. ‘My dear woman, might I at least enquire who it is that pleasures me so well and in such unusual circumstances?’
Check back for more November Heat coming soon!
Private Damien Stone is living in a nightmare. He’s out on exercise on Salisbury Plain with Lance Corporal Michael Scott—who also happens to be a huge pain in the arse. He’s a teacher’s pet who seems to delight in bossing Stone around. But that’s not the real reason Stone appears to dislike him so much. It’s because Stone—who’s bisexual—is seriously attracted to his superior, but he can’t do anything about it, because Scott is straight. Or is he?
Buy links: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/ditched/
*****
Excerpt:
“This can’t be fucking right!” said Lance Corporal Michael Scott, checking his map for the umpteenth time.
“I can assure you, Scott, that it fucking is,” responded his colleague, Private Damien Stone. He nudged the other man, pointed to a place on his own map, then raised his arm and indicated a rise in the ground in the near distance.
“See, that’s that long barrow, so we are in the right place.”
Looking at the barrow—one of the many on Salisbury Plain—then down at the map, and finally at his compass, Scott had to agree.
“So where the fuck are they, then?”
Stone had no answer for that one. He looked up into the lightening sky, which in the distance was being slowly tinged with pink, but saw no sign of their pick-up helicopter. Straining to hear even the faintest sound of rotor blades, Stone remained silent. Hearing nothing, he shrugged.
“Dunno. Perhaps we got the time wrong, or something?”
“I hope not, otherwise they’ve gone without us!”
“Nah. We’re early, if anything. The sun’s only just coming up.”
Sighing, Scott stuffed his map and compass into a pocket, and said, “Well, I guess we’d better find somewhere to shelter. I don’t like the look of that.”
The that he was talking about was an ominous-looking black cloud being buffeted in their direction by the wind, which was picking up rapidly.
“With you on that one.”
On an unspoken command, the two of them immediately split up and started to look around for somewhere they could keep out of the wind and imminent rain. It wasn’t long before Scott shouted out, and Stone immediately turned and headed in the direction of his colleague’s voice.
When Stone arrived, Scott had already removed his backpack and dropped it into the ditch he’d found and was striding down the slope to join it. Luckily, there’d been no rain over the past few days so the ground was dry. If the coming rainstorm ended up being heavy, it was entirely possible they’d get wet arses, but for now at least they’d be reasonably comfortable.
Following his colleague’s example, Stone shrugged off his pack. Turning, he saw that Scott was standing with his arms out, ready to catch it. Tossing it, he gave a curt nod of thanks before heading down into the ditch.
Once there, he saw that some scrub covered a couple of sizeable rocks, meaning that they would at least be able to sit down. It would have to rain pretty damn hard for the water level in the ditch to get as high as the top of the rocks, so they’d be all right until the chopper arrived.
He hoped.
*****
Lucy is a graduate of the University of Derby, where she studied Creative Writing. During her first year, she was dared to write an erotic story – so she did. It went down a storm and she’s never looked back. Lucy has had stories published by Cleis Press, Constable and Robinson, Decadent Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Evernight Publishing, House of Erotica, Ravenous Romance, Resplendence Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. She is also the editor of Uniform Behaviour, Seducing the Myth, Smut by the Sea and Smut in the City. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9
It’s my pleasure to welcome Avis Exley to Hopeful Romantic to talk about her novels, Love Notes and Lovers In Law.
When Kd Grace asked whether I’d like to talk about Love Notes on her Story Behind The Story guest spot, I didn’t hesitate. I love talking about romance almost as much as I enjoy writing romantic stories, so this was too good a chance to pass up. Thanks so much, Kd x
I began writing romances in my teens, not long after I started reading them. For me, they created a magical world of international locations, spellbinding stories and, of course, happy ever after.
Love Notes, was one of my first books and tells the story of Erika Fenn, a world famous singer-songwriter returning to England for the first time in five years. She’d run away to America to escape a disastrous relationship, pouring her broken heart and soul into her music, and creating songs that turned her into a global superstar. The last person she needs to see upon her return is Aiden Thirstan, the man who’d broken her heart in the first place, and who’s now saying her future’s under threat too. Can she trust him to help her and, more importantly, can she trust herself not to fall in love with him all over again?
The story had everything I thought the publishers wanted – an alpha hero, a beautiful heroine and a romance set inside the glamorous music industry. Full of excitement, I submitted it to a major romance publisher, only to be told that the characters weren’t deep enough and that the background story intruded on the romantic relationship. Undeterred, I started work on a second novel, Lovers In Law, only to be met with the same rejection, even though I rewrote and resubmitted both novels a couple of times more.
Completely disheartened, I abandoned all hope of becoming a published romance author but it didn’t stop me writing. By this time I had a young family and wrote whenever they were asleep, stockpiling over a dozen manuscripts in a drawer where they gathered dust and never made it as far as a publisher’s desk. Then stories began appearing about Print On Demand publishers and self-publishing but the high set up costs in the early days meant this wasn’t an option either.
Still I wrote, adding to the huge pile of paper, until along came Amazon with their Kindle and the easy upload of manuscripts to their e-book store. Taking my courage in both hands, I decided to give readers the chance to decide whether my work was good enough. First, I did lots of fun research, reading books from Siren and Ellora’s Cave, and realising that there was no magic formula any more. I could write exactly what I pleased in a style to suit myself, and even make up a brand new genre if I wanted to!
So, in early 2010, I dug out Love Notes and began rewriting. The manuscript was so old it had been written on a manual typewriter and before the invention of mobile phones, so it definitely needed bringing into the modern world! Inspired by the success of Fifty Shades of Grey and erotic romance publishers, I also updated the main love affair, making it far steamier than I’d originally intended. However, once I started writing, it felt exactly the right way to go. My characters are hot so why shouldn’t they have hot sex too?
Having done my market research, I knew I needed a unique selling point – a niche of my own. I began rewriting around the time of the Royal Wedding, with the whole world was going mad for Will and Kate, so I decided to make my books distinctly British. As I live in London, inspiration was all around me so it made perfect sense to use the city’s iconic locations as a backdrop and to write everything in a British accent.
I wanted to release two books together so rewrote Lovers In Law alongside Love Notes and uploaded them both to Kindle on the 1st August. Then I played the waiting game. A couple of my Facebook friends read them in the first week and posted five star reviews and, after that, the word began to spread. More five star reviews appeared on Amazon, followed by several on Goodreads and lots of positive comments on Facebook. Readers didn’t just like my books, they loved them, and couldn’t write a review without using the word “steamy”. They even made it into the Top 100 of Goodreads’ Best Dirty Talk booklist. http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/14805.Best_Dirty_Talk?format=html&page=1
But the best reviews of all were the ones that praised the quality of my writing. I didn’t want my books to be a succession of sex scenes strung together in a weak storyline. I also wanted a really strong plot, lots of sparky dialogue and believable characters that didn’t race inevitably to a happy ever after. One Goodreads reviewer even said the writing was so strong, I’d easily sit alongside the mainstream, bestselling writers and she saw no reason why I wouldn’t become one of the great romance writers of al time. My writing style hasn’t changed much since those very early rejections but now it’s the readers, not the publishers, making the decisions!
I’m currently working on my third novel, a brand new story set in an English stately home, that can only be summed up as Downton Abbey with a huge twist and lots of sexy scenes. After that, there are still another fifteen dusty stories in the drawer so I might be around for a little while longer! To whet your appetite, here’s a little snippet from Love Notes. Enjoy!
Extract
Aiden laced his fingers through Erika’s and pulled her hand close to his chest where she felt his heartbeat through his shirt. Her pulse picked up the rhythm of his heart and slowed, losing its turbulence.
“I’m not talking about going back to where we left off,” he said. “We can take it as slowly as you like. Start fresh and see where it goes.”
“Right back to heartbreak,” she thought out loud, indecision writ large across her face.
“Why? You can’t deny there’s still a connection between us. We can’t keep our hands off one another. Why else would you have kissed me?”
“That’s different. Of course there’s physical attraction, but you’re talking about a relationship. Love, commitment, trust and everything in between.”
“Then let’s start with the sex and work up from there.”
“What!” The suggestion came so unexpectedly Erika could barely gasp out a reply.
“You heard. And don’t pretend you’re shocked. You have a body made for sin and the other morning proved you’re still no angel. If this weekend is about sex and memories, why don’t we play to our strengths?”
Devilment sparked in his eyes as he waited to see whether she’d take the bait. The hook snagged somewhere close to Erika’s libido and embedded itself, releasing the dam burst of desire she’d held back since first seeing him that evening.
Where would be the harm, she asked herself? After all, Aiden took sexy to a whole new level and it would be a shame to waste it. Erika wasn’t the only one with a body made for sin and Aiden’s remembered wickedness had inspired every raunchy lyric she’d ever written, including a few too x-rated to record. Not to mention the delicious dreams that visited her most nights as she drifted off to sleep.
“I can see you’re thinking about it,” Aiden said after Erika’s silence had gone on too long. “We could have a lot of fun before you head up to London.”
Erika pretended he had nothing of interest to offer her. “You forget, I’ve already sampled the merchandise. Maybe that option won’t appeal to me either.”
“And perhaps you just need a little more convincing.” His eyes widened suggestively. “The other morning, you took what you wanted and left. I wasn’t allowed to join in.”
“Would it have made any difference?”
In reply, Aiden reached up and placed his fingertips on the side of her neck, just below her ear, allowing them to flutter against her skin like butterflies’ wings. “If I kissed you here right now I’d give you goosebumps along your arms.”
Erika half closed her eyes as a thrill of arousal trickled through her skin, just as Aiden had predicted.
His fingers then moved around under her hair and circled each one of her neck bones before caressing the sensitive nape. ”When I gave you a massage, I started here and, by the time I was half way down your spine, you’d be begging me to make love to you.”
He whispered the last, leaning so close his cheek brushed hers and the powerful, masculine scent of him engulfed her, goading her into touching him. Without warning, he dropped his hand and pinched the tender skin on the back of her knee, making Erika gasp. “After we’d showered, I’d dry you off and kiss you from ankle to thigh before letting my tongue…”
“Okay. Okay. You’ve made your point.” Erika jumped in before he could go any further, her skin temperature having leapt by ten degrees. “Leave something for the imagination.”
“Are you sure you don’t need reminding how I could make you come simply by touching your nipples? Or how I’d start at your navel and…”
“Enough!” Erika glared at him but found it impossible to cancel the image of his tongue travelling down across her belly, and her cheeks flushed. “People are staring.”
Aiden laughed at her embarrassment, the deep, rich sound setting off sensual vibrations in Erika’s bones. “So why don’t we escape to your room?”
*****
Lovers in Law US http://www.amazon.com/Lovers-In-Law-ebook/dp/B008S0LII2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345992300&sr=8-1&keywords=Avis+Exley
Love Notes US http://www.amazon.com/Love-Notes-ebook/dp/B008RXVZXS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_1
Blog http://avisexley.blogspot.co.uk/
Tumblr http://avisexley.tumblr.com/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AvisExley
Twitter @avisexley
Smut and Magic Rocks!
Partying with the Sh! Ladiez is always fun, and never more so than when it’s a launch party. A launch party at Sh! is always the best, and never better than when it’s a shared launch party! That means Smut and Magic pushed all my buttons for a fabulous evening in London.
I had the honour of sharing this launch party with very talented Smutters, Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse, who were launching their naughty new anthology, Smut in the City, co-edited by these two lovelies, and filled with stories about, well, smut in the city, any city, lots of cities, lots of sexy nastiness written by lots of the very best and hottest erotica authors. Wow, what an anthology! And one I was very excited to share the celebration with.
The party was perfectly timed for me as well. I was the ‘magic’ part of Smut and Magic – well not me per se, but my new novel, Riding the Ether, book two of the Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy and the continuation of the sexy battle of the Elemental Coven against a very nasty, very bad-ass demon, Deacon. And all this just four days before Halloween!
There was the usual combination of fun, filth and fizz. And might I add food, in the form of delectable sweet treats furnished by Lucy’s OH, Ian Hanes, and the Queen of Multi-tasking, Victoria Blisse! There was yumminess on every level!
Of course it wouldn’t be a party without some seriously cool giveaways, some by The House of Erotica, some by each of the authors. The Sh! Ladiez, led by the fabulous Jo, passed out balloons containing a raffle for one of Sh!’s much-coveted goodie baskets.
When Sh! closed, the party spilled out on the street and over to the basement of the local Byron, 
accompanied by three of my favourite stunning stars of erotica, Remittance Girl, Kay Jaybee, and Lexie Bay. You can probably guess the topic of discussion. It’s what you’d expect writers to talk about; what makes a good story, what captures the reader’s heart. Of course with the 50SoG phenomenon, these are questions everyone is asking. Times for erotica writers, and for all writers, are changing rapidly. Exciting stuff.
The conversation continued into the wee hours, and once again, I was reminded how lucky I am to be in the company of such a supportive, such an amazing writing community. A special thanks to Lucy and Victoria who made the evening thrice as fun. And that’s a whole lot of fun!
Velvet Tongue pre-Halloween Soiree
As most of you know, I’ve been very much looking forward to reading for Ernesto Serazele’s fabulous Velvet Tongue Erotic Literary Soiree. With it’s pre-Halloween theme it was the perfect setting for me to read about witches and ghosts and demons and sex magic. Shoreditch is such an exciting area of London, and only a few blocks away from Sh! Women’s Store, is the fabulous Bar Kick, where you can get a mean hamburger, play foosball, and once a quarter down in the basement, you can hear naughty poetry, prose, see sexy performances and if you’re lucky see someone get their kit off while they offer you the best in performance poetry.
It was London in the end of October, so naturally the night of the performance it was pouring down rain. We arrived early, wondering if the horrendous weather would put off any of the people planning to attend.
We needn’t have worried. By the time Ernesto got the evening under way, the place was packed out, some people dressed as devils and as naughty school girls, some people dressed for fast clothing removal. Me, I was disguised as a mild-mannered American tourist out with her hubby for a taste of London night life … You don’t believe me??? Well, neither did anyone else …
In addition to some amazing open mic participation, I was lucky enough to share the stage with Anthony Howell, Ernesto Sarezale , S. P. Howarth, and Rubyyy Jones, with a bawdy appearance by Ant Smith.
Ernesto and S.P Howarth both got their kit off while reading fabulous poetry. Of course I hardly noticed the removal of said kit because their poetry was so stunning … You don’t believe me??? Neither did anyone else … Seriously though! Wow! Stunning … poetry!
The best part of the whole evening was just being in a place with so many people who were celebrating sex and all things erotic. That’s definitely my kind of company. Thanks, Ernesto, for inviting me to read. It was truly a fantastic experience. (Thanks Ant Smith and Ernesto for the photos! )