Kiersten Hallie Krum – Come Play in the Shadows…

The Lady Smut Story: From Blog to Book

Published on June 3, 2014 by Madeline Iva2 Comments

LadySmutBanner1024 — LadySmut.com has over 10 thousand followers. We blog 7 days a week about romance, erotic romance, and anything sexy that’s going on in our culture.

Hi Readers!

Liz Everly posted today on LadySmut.com about our story–how we went from creating a successful romance blog to having our own anthology. Her post is HERE.

It’s really interesting how it all went down. We had originally started our blog with Elizabeth Shore, and it was going along swimmingly. We added C. Margery Kempe, and were headed towards the end of a triumphant first year. But how were we going to celebrate our anniversary?

Well. For about two years every now and then Liz Everly would mention this story she really wanted to write about a vampire and technology. I thought it was a great idea. So finally, we talked about putting together an anthology and that would be her part of it — her vampire story. I had an idea for a story too — about someone who had sexsomnia, and then the others had ideas for stories that all fit into this theme of paranormal steamy sexy stories with a hint of spooky.

photo taken from youbringthatsmarthaircut @tumblr.com — photo taken from youbringthatsmarthaircut @tumblr.co LADYSMUT’S BOOK OF DARK DESIRES is an anthology of sexy, steamy, paranormal stories with a hint of spooky.

Then about a month later it was May, and Elizabeth and I were saying to each other “Um, are we supposed to be writing these stories or just writing a pitch for a story or what?” when Liz emailed us both saying, “Okay, I finished my story, Margery has finished hers –so where are yours?” and we were like ‘doh’ and scrambled to catch up. [Just you so you know, folks, Liz Everly is one fast, prolific writer.]

Liz put together the proposal with me cheering her on and sent it off to her agent who was excited about the project and thought it would sell quickly.

Boy was she right. We had just gotten two new bloggers to join us (Alexa Day and Kiersten Hallie Krum) when we got the news–there was interest in the anthology. In fact, it was *exactly* when we were celebrating our one year anniversary–but we couldn’t tell anyone because it wasn’t official yet! It almost killed me to not share the news. I was extra excited because this is going to be my first romance publication.

Liz Everly’s agent Sharon Bowers has been a doll. With her incredibly generous, encouraging, and enthusiastic support our anthology LADY SMUT’S BOOK OF DARK DESIRES will be released by HarperImpulse in August. Meanwhile, our publisher is holding the first ever online romance festival on June 7th & June 8th Check it out HERE.

Saturday is an author day. Sunday is a reader day. They're having twitter chats and google+ hangouts, etc. — Saturday is an author day. Sunday is a reader day. They’re having twitter chats and google+ hangouts, etc.

And that’s our happy story.

The two best things about creating our own group blog is that we can take it in any direction we like. While right now we’re the Jezebel.com of erotic romance, who knows what the future will hold? The other great thing about our group blog is how much the other bloggers at LadySmut inspire me. They keep me in a whipped up froth of feeling confident and sexy. I’m never at a loss for what to write about because I just want to respond to the interesting things they all say and share.

Haven’t checked out the LADY SMUT blog yet? (Quelle horror!) You can find it HERE.

xo,

Madeline

Bad Girl

Published on May 6, 2014 by Madeline Iva2 Comments

Hi ladies!

So, Kiersten Hallie Krum posted yesterday about Kit Rocha’s Series. I read Kit Rocha’s first book BEYOND SHAME. It’s not totally my cup of tea, (reasons below) yet she hooked me in because she paints that to-some-degree-still-innocent heroine who has a strong/ secret/guilty/melty yen to be bad.

Now that is definitely a place where my own writing impulses come from as well. Sometimes we just wanna be bad.

But…but…but…it’s so interesting to consider this appealing urge and how romance, erotic romance, and erotica take this trope and spin it like a top.

Like it could be a genre all it’s own. And there’s such a wide spectrum to how this “I wanna be bad” trope plays out. Me, I write about the good girl who has i-wanna-be-bad impulses. But my heroine is always mighty conflicted about it.

Looking to the sweeter side of the spectrum Susan Elizabeth Phillips (SEP) works with conflicted bad girls too. SEP almost always puts it out there and then she almost takes it back again. One of her secondary heroines gets a spanking–that doesn’t hurt. SEP sex scenes can get pretty steamy, and yeah, in the latest book her heroine knocks boots with a biker. But even though she meant it to be a ‘let’s be dirty and then walk away’ kind of sex–the heroine’s encounter gets complexicated almost immediately. The event is the beginning of something more sweet and more sincere–because at heart SEP’s readers understand the impulse, but don’t really want their heroine’s to face the consequences that come with being very bad.

beyond-control — Kit Rocha’s books are the good girl’s version of dark erotica…

And way over on the other end of the scale you have erotica. In erotica girls are bad, very bad, and they don’t give a F*&%. Strippers, call girls, or women who’ve just been pushed to the limit and want to dive over the edge. Dark Erotica authors push things even further. Their heroines are so deep in the bad zone that the word loses all meaning. They lose their minds, and give it up to the darkness, until they are pure raw passion and emotion. At least I think that’s how it goes–I am hiding my eyes too much to really be sure. When it comes to Dark Erotica about all I can handle is reading the book blurb. My mind kind of shorts out pondering what might be in the book, and that’s enough for me.

Kit Rocha stays in that murky zone somewhere between erotic romance and erotica. However, Kit Rocha really goes there with the sex scenes. Rocha includes foursome-ish scenes, and public sex where the heroine goes down on the big leader. How does the heroine feel about some of these things?

Madonna drying her armpit at the Port Authority bus terminal in Desperately Seeking Susan was NOT a good girl.

How did I feel? I did not like the public B.J. But other women probably would, you know? It’s a fantasy. The heroine knows she’s exposing herself, putting herself in the hands of others, making herself vulnerable, and her heart seems to ache with the uncertainty of it all. It makes the reader’s heart ache as well…but I guess I’m a simple girl. I think there’s almost a kind of pack philosophy involved. I bet people who like shifter stories would love these.

Myself, I have a feeling that I’m going to wind up writing about the kind of heroine who wants to be bad–does something about it–then goes scrambling back to hide under her rock, convinced she never ever wants to be that bad ever-ever-ever again.

Yet that one moment will have consequences which won’t let her go back…and that’s where her story begins. We’re in a count down over at Lady Smut. The release of our anthology LADY SMUT’S BOOK OF DARK DESIRES is five months away. I can’t wait for you to get a chance to read my novella in the anthology. The heroine in SEXSOMNIA definitely makes a transformation from fairly naive to worldly.

What about you reader? What flavor of naughty do you like your heroine?

Dyson, Dyson, Dyson…Staying Satisfied Over the Holidays

Published on November 22, 2013November 22, 2013 by Madeline IvaLeave a comment

If it's not Dyson on the screen...then why am I watching? — If it’s not Dyson on the screen…then why am I watching?

Ladies, these days staying sane means daydreaming about Dyson and the TV show LOST GIRL. I mean, what are you going to do during that long span of time when there’s only football on TV and re-runs? Lost Girl is a great TV show to watch around the fall holidays. Those fae folk are just naturally festive and there’s a ye olde harvest-solstice-spirit-y vibe that just emanates from the show.

I first saw a glimpse of LOST GIRL on Hulu.com–but they only had clips, not a full episode. Then I was on holiday batting around the remote control and came across a scene where Dyson was “healing” Bo the succubus by having sex with her. Yes, yes, and more yes! Yet it seemed that was just a kind of one time-y thing. I frowned and moved on to other channels. Until Kiersten Hallie Krum joined Lady Smut, and she had this post about wolves.

Beach glass — Okay, maybe her eyes are really blue? I don’t know, but it’s a really cool look.

So I just had to take another look. I started watching the show and I was bitten–bitten hard. Yes, there’s a lot about Lost Girl that people love in terms of world building. And yes, Kenzie, the side kick is so fascinating and fun to watch with her eyes that look like green beach glass. But really, the alpha and omega of that show for me is Dyson.

There is Bo’s character arc, (yawn) and the arc of what’s going on in Fae land (meh), and then there is Dyson’s feelings for/being there for Bo (!).

He’s got a voice that’s like a black bear licking honey. He’s got a body that does not stop, despite being forced to wear dorky fae vests. He’s a long cool glass of water, and he makes me thirsty. His character and how the actor embodies the character is like the relaxing sensations of a vibrating…foot massager.

Why doesn't Bo go for Kenzi? I don't get it. Why doesn't Dyson go for her either? Really don't get it. — Why doesn’t Bo go for Kenzi? I don’t get it. Why doesn’t Dyson go for her either? Really don’t get it.

However, if you haven’t watched the show yet, you should brace yourself. At one point they pull the rug out from under you. I’m squinting with one hand in front of me while looking ahead for Season Two. Part of Lost Girl’s unique niche is that Bo is bi. I’m thinking season number two is all about giving her a lot more girl time…which is okay…I guess…It’s just that for me the only reason I’m watching the show is Dyson, so I’m hoping that whatever he’s doing while kicking his heels as Bo gets it on in Lady Land is as good as the stuff in Season One.

Meanwhile, here’s something for your Xmas wish list. I’ve been reading HARD AS IT GETS a romantic suspense book that’s coming out by Lauren Kaye. Sounds like an erotic romance with that title–but it’s a little more trad romance. Loving it — even if you’re not so into tattoos (and I’m not), Kaye will keep you zooming through the pages with her taut hero and his gritty world. It’s available for pre-order here.

I’m also squealing over the fact that I just got ONYX by Jennifer Armentrout in the mail — this is the follow up to OBSIDIAN — the first book in her Lux series. While the books are ostensibly Y.A.-ish, they are hawt.

They really sit on that line between Y.A. and New Adult. I whiffled through Obsidian. Now I am drooling over the amethyst cover and can’t wait until I can start reading it later tonight. In the meanwhile, back to some new chapters for me!

So go over-indulge with a big glop of romance on top of your pecan pie next week. I’ll see ya around the time we start to deck the halls.

Just say no to Xmas creep! — and follow my blog, plz.