Over the summer, my college-aged, production-savvy daughter helped me assemble an exciting DVD/CD promotional package, specifically geared to the erotic romance/erotica reader. It’s a DVD/CD package that has book trailers, author commentaries, and book excerpts of all my novels.

My novels are exceptionally kinky and probably not for the faint-of-heart. But if you’re an adventurous, open-minded reader and game for interesting twists of erotic extremes, then you might enjoy my work.

If you’d like one of these babies, simply email me at debrawriting at cox dot net, provide your snail mail address, and I’ll send you a DVD/CD combo at no cost to you. (Adults only, please.)

I absolutely promise to regard your snail mail address as sacrosanct. I will not share it and if I have future offerings, I will contact you first via email.

I hope you’ll check out this freebie of mine. We had such fun putting it together and I’d like to pass our enthusiasm to you!

But What’s Hot isn’t all about me. I share the spotlight with fellow authors Earl Sewell and Kat Martin. Somehow, All Romance eBooks rounded us up during Book Expo America, a HUGE cattle drive of a publishing industry event. Talk about expert wrangling!

If you can’t make the actual 9:30 show, not to worry. You can download the podcast and enjoy it at your leisure. Be sure to check out their previous shows as well!

I’m also pleased to share word with you that erotic author Louisa Burton, known for her Hidden Grotto books, kindly hailed my book for evoking

“a world of sacred sensuality and dark intrigue that’s sure to appeal to those with a taste for erotic fantasy.”

Louisa’s books are wonderful reads and I’m grateful to earn her nod.

training-desire
Enjoy the video and, if it leaves you so inclined, check out Training Desire!

Think Jacqueline Cary (Kushiel’s Dart) meets George R.R. Martin (Song of Fire and Ice series) meets Anne Rice (Beauty series).

Mira’s world is an omni-sexual landscape where pleasure is ordained by the great goddess, Rangtha, and the people of her kith house cater to her worshipers in every way imaginable — without prejudice towards orientation or taste.

Which means there’s plenty of het, m/m, and f/f couplings. And that’s before Mira loses here virginity. Imagine the possibilities in future editions! Wonders await us all.

Born into the pleasure world of Kith House, Rangtha in the fading city of Nameda, Mira is poised to enter the ranks of the revered pleasure-giver. Her only goal is to serve her goddess, Rangtha, by giving her virginity to a worthy recipient.

Yet she’s an innocent, unaware of the strife that surrounds her. Rival mentors pit themselves one against the other. Rapacious citizens exuberantly bid for hers virginity. And shadowy factions — for good or for ill — see Mira as the symbol of the future.

Rarely has one so innocent had to stand up to dangers so blatant. But rarely has Nameda seen the likes of Mira, a celebrant determined to fulfill her goal according to the ways of her goddess.

Training Desires. Spinning Mira’s world into existence has been one of the most exhuberant writing experiences of my life and I hope you’ll help me make Training Desires a Ravenous Romance bestseller so I can continue to sping her world, and other equally exciting realms, into existence.

Because we all deserve pleasure.

It’s deeply rewarding to see ideas imagined and put to prose see publication, and I’m happy to be in the new media mix that’s the e-book world. (This, despite a home filled with printed books and the collector’s habits that go with it.)

For quite some time, I felt like my novels would never see the light of day. I couldn’t find a print publisher to save my life that was interested in any romantic erotic that stepped beyond light bondage and role-playing and into authentic BDSM storytelling. (This, despite the 20-plus year popularity of Anne Rice’s Beauty books.) But Carnal Desire Publishing and, later, Ravenous Romance, changed all that for me, for which I’m deeply grateful.

I’m also grateful to Lori Perkins at RR’s blog where she acknowledged me as a “prominent short story and e-book author who really knows the BDSM territory. In this novel, she’s written an amazingly romantic tale of a couple’s visit to an S&M retreat as an anniversary present.”

To top it all off, Ravenous Romance has bought my four-book fantasy series that follows a devotee to a goddess of sexual pleasure as she journeys from initiate to captive to outcast, only to return to avenge her goddess against a usurper. Lori calls it a cross between “Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series and Anne Rice’s Beauty books.” I’d add “with a dash of George R. R. Martin” for those of you who like multiple characters rotating through each chapter. Regardless, it’ll be exciting to see my Kith series into publication.

Before this entry threatens to turn this blog into a gratitude journal, let me wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. And you can guess what my one resolution will be — BLOG MORE!

I’m happy to report that Ravenous Romance launched today, bringing its cache of provocative erotic romance to avid readers everywhere. You’ll find a handful of initial novels and short stories there in ebook and audio formats — with more to coming daily mid-month.

My first novel with Ravenous Romance, Blind Seduction, will drop December 20th. And I couldn’t be happier. The editors I’ve worked with appreciate solid, exciting story-telling, dedicate the resources to copy editing necessary to make a strong book exceptional, and are remarkably, enthusiastically open to most any erotic variation you can think of.

I’ve also contributed to what will be a Twelve Days of Christmas selection of short stories, scheduled to debut during the holiday season. Ambitious me, but I ran with Ten Lords A’Leaping, making it a hot, M/M tale of guys getting it on. Yum.

And I’ve almost completed my second novel for RR as well, a fantasy tale called Desire’s Pursuit that I hope will become a multi-novel series. More on that as it develops.

FYI, fellas: Yes, Ravenous Romance is primarily geared for women and, yes, you will find romantic elements in its offerings, but I can guarantee you that if you like the erotic word, you’ll enjoy this publisher’s titles. Personally, I haven’t had to scale back any of my erotic writing with Ravenous Romance; I’ve only had to expand the connectedness of my principal characters, an element that existed in most of my previous erotica, just to a lesser degree.

Hope you’ll check out the site and buy a couple of ebooks. Hey, it keeps us lusty writers working!

The single-most reason I didn’t enter the e-book realm sooner was a lack of attractive covers. I simply didn’t like what I saw publishers putting out and found them so lacking that I didn’t want my own work associated with them. Yes, I’d been spoiled by the beautiful covers that graced the anthologies in which my short stories appeared, but I also found many e-book covers so off-putting that I seldom bought an e-book.

When I finally stuck my toe in the waters of e-book publishing, I was lucky that Carnal Desires Publishing allowed me a lot of leeway in cover art. (I’m forever thankful they were so wonderfully collaborative in the process.) Giving up that collaboration when Ravenous Romance came along was difficult for me.

Their first batch of covers began to allay my fears. Their design was crisp and energetic. I especially loved those like Playgirl and Cybill In Between. Granted, I’m given to fetish/BDSM imagery, but it remained important because it revealed Ravenous Romance’s approach to subject matter.

When I saw Blind Seduction’s cover, I was flattered and flabbergasted. The designer symbolically caught key elements of the novel’s pinnacle scene (and, no, I’m not going to tell you what they are). The title treatment echoes the prominent blindfold — deliciously so! — and I’m impressed to find a statute representing the book’s key protagonist in what I interpret to be symbolic of the subtle objectification she experiences throughout the tale.

So, wow. Impressive. I’m one happy author in waiting.

But you know what? That’s all part-and-parcel of being a novelist. Through all my years as a short story writer, I worked on novels. I finished two, had three in various stages, and more story ideas than I knew what to do with. (Oh, for a forty-hour day and endless energy!) However, until I had publishers to work with, I didn’t feel like a working novelist. A working writer? Yes. But not a working novelist.

I tell you, having a contract and deadlines make all the difference in the world. Each day, the workload before me is part of the avenue each book must travel to see publication. And like an avenue on a map, there’s starting place and a finishing line to the process. Before now, writing a novel was like a scenic hike done during one’s leisure time. It was enjoyable, rewarding, and worth the undertaking. But it had no real end point; the process had an intangible feel to it.

All that evaporated when Ravenous Romance signed me on for two books. And boy, does that feel nice.

BTW, Ravenous Romance has a new free short story, Hot Fling, on its site. Download and enjoy, please!

If I’m lucky, you’ve been asking that question about me, wondering if I’ve been partying like a dumb Persian cat. Well, sort of. I just haven’t gotten to the lampshade extreme yet. I’m too busy working for that.

In July, literary agent Lori Perkins emailed me about a new e-publishing venture, Ravenous Romance, and asked whether I had any unpublished novels and short stories. Boy, did I. So we corresponded.

The outcome? I’m now working with her agency, which will guide my works into publication with Ravenous Romance.

Lori and I had touched base awhile back, but nothing came of it at the time. At the time, a fellow author told me, “You probably didn’t have anything she could use.” I guess she was right because Lori didn’t forget me. I’m deeply thankful for that. But I’m also happy that Ravenous Romance appears to be a good fit for me. According to a press release, “Ravenous Romance™ will be a destination site for women, with erotica that celebrates female sexuality, and strong Web 2.0 community-building features.”

Which gets a big pumping-fist Yes! from me.

Ravenous Romance has set an ambitious goal of publishing a short story and a novel every day, starting in December. It seeks “erotic romance stories with strong plots and character development, but with steamy sex scenes and explicit descriptions of sexual encounters. The stories must feature strong, passionate characters and plots that express a broad range of fantasies.”

Which earns more happy dancing from me. (Probably look there like Snoopy from Peanuts, not the Dumb Lampshade Cat.)

Why? Because it feels like the sex-positive school of erotica — the platform that formed my writing perspective — has finally merged with erotic romance in a way that’s meaningful to me.

Feels good to me.

But the reason I’m not lampshade crazy with euphoria? Because I have to part ways with Carnal Desires Publishing to some degree and it’s bittersweet for me. We’ve shared a strong collaborative spirit, one that I value and appreciate. I still intend to keep them on my website as a source of erotic fiction and I’ll still point you to their titles. They’re doing good things at CDP, much of it in the same sex-positive vein I’ve needed as a writer.

I’m busy at work, finishing up my first title for Ravenous Romance, an effort that’ll keep me busy through much of this month, but it’s time to get back to blogging as well. I’ve stories to tell, thoughts to contemplate, and points to make. Time to blog.

Carnal Desires Publishing takes a broad view of what constitutes erotic romantic. It doesn’t matter whether a novel features vanilla sex or the kinkiest of the kink, if it has likable characters, is well written, and has a satisfying ending, it counts. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that creative freedom.

So why am I waxing so ebullient yet again? Two reasons. My editor, Alexandra Adams, has been hard at work bringing several new novels on-line at Carnal Desires Publishing. They deserve notice — and Alexandra deserves heaps of praise; I know firsthand how hard she works to make CDP titles clean and tight reads. Head publisher Deron Douglas has expanded the number of formats available for purchase, staying on top of the evolving e-book market and consumers’ needs.

Working with Alexandra and Deron is wonderfully collaborative and I see nothing more beautiful scenery as I walk this rewarding path with them. That’s why I’m exhuberant this morning.