Category Archives: Writing

Definitions: What is Erotica?

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[UPDATE: Please also see my reprise blog post “Definitions: Erotica, Erotic Romance, Steamy Romance”]

People frequently make broad assumptions about what it is I write. Friends, family, and acquaintances snicker about my “porn”. Romance writer colleagues imbued with the cadence of traditional romance often bandy about the term “erotica” as if to signal the ugly otherness of erotic romance.

So I will attempt to answer the provocative question What is erotica? and by doing so answer corollary questions about misunderstood erotic-like literary variations: Erotic romance, steamy romance, smut, porn, and Romantica®. Continue reading →

Vikings in Byzantium

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Hi everyone! I’m over at the blog for Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance today talking about my story in that anthology. I’ve posted it below, as well.
[UPDATE: “Protecting Her” has been re-issued in Imperial Warriors: Two Scorching Tales of the Roman Empire and Ancient Shorts: An Ancient World Romance Collection.]

Let’s just get this out of the way, but the History Channel’s production of Vikings has given a sexy cachet to the fiercest warriors of the Middle Ages. When Delilah put out a call for stories in a Viking erotic romance anthology, my heart just went pitter-pat with excitement.

And then the excitement sort of dissipated.

My knowledge of Vikings is limited given their era is out of my purview. My field of study is Late Roman into the early Byzantine (roughly 200-600 CE), and the Viking Age starts around 790 CE. I worried I would not have sufficient knowledge to pull off a believable story.

Except that Delilah mentioned in her call for submissions the “Rus who served in the Byzantine Varangian Guard”.

I could totally do that. Continue reading →

Keeping Sex Between the Covers

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It’s June 14th and in the United States we’re celebrating Flag Day! I have a special promotion for June (Flag Day month) and July (Independence Day month). See the end of this post!

I generally write historical erotic romance, although I have also written contemporary, mythological, and Steampunk. But my comfort zone is historicals because I’m a historian and, I suppose, I’ve internally fetishized history to a certain extent.

I’ve written stories that take place in ancient Roman and Victorian England. But my favorite book I’ve written takes place in New York state and is set in 1777 during the American Revolution. Continue reading →

My Bisexual Heroes: Extended Version

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Hi Everyone, I’m blogging over at AReCafe today about my bisexual heroes for LGBTQ Pride Month. But I had to keep it short and was only able to promote my books listed on AllRomanceeBooks. I got a lot more stories with bisexual heroes. Below is the extended version of my blog post.

Remember Torchwood? The Dr. Who spin-off show set in Cardiff? There’s definite sexual chemistry between Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper, and we the viewers so want something to happen, but we know Gwen already has a boyfriend who is a nice guy and she can’t just have an affair without consequences then suddenly…

OMG. Continue reading →

Write What You Know: Paranormal Edition

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Hi everyone! I’m over at The Naughty Literati blog today discussing “Hot as Hades”, my story in Naughty Flings. If you don’t want to go over there, the post is below!

Beginning writers are often advised to “write what you know,” that way words and stories and emotions will resound authentically. The general public has glommed on to this aphorism and often conflates “write what you know” with “write your actual lived experience”. Erotica and erotic romance writers especially fall victim to this definition. We get a lot of “heh, heh” “snicker, snicker” at parties and such, because of course we’ve all done every blessed thing our characters have done.

Sigh. Continue reading →

Spring Frolics! Spring Releases!

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I live in a summer vacation destination, so Memorial Day weekend is the opening of the tourist season. But really now, it’s still spring! And I’m going to take this opportunity to summarize my spring releases and news.
Continue reading →

Rewriting the Persephone Myth

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An excerpt from “Hot as Hades,” my story in Naughty Flings: Twelve Naughty Little Romps, is up today on our Naughty Literati blog.

When I was thinking about what to write for Naughty Flings, an anthology with the theme of springtime, the quintessential springtime myth came to mind, i.e., the story of Persephone. I decided to revisit this myth, but to put a new spin on it, which proved pretty easy.

Because I’d put a new spin on the story once before. Continue reading →

Cover Reveal: Where Destiny Plays

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‘Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

It’s here! The official cover reveal for Where Destiny Plays, Harwell Heirs Book 3: Continue reading →

Personal Reflection: In memoriam, Carl Degler

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I thought I’d end the year by starting at the beginning, and by doing so, I have to start with the end of a life. Carl Degler, professor emeritus of American history at Stanford University, died on Saturday, December 27, 2014, at the age of 93. It was an article by Degler that was influential on my embarking upon a career writing Victorian erotic romance. Continue reading →