RIP Black Lace and Nexus

Adam Nevill, who until very recently was the erotica editor over at Black Lace and Nexus, sent these with an invitation to the wake of both imprints:





The irony of getting my author copies (but, um, no check yet) for Sexy Little Numbers, which I have two stories in, and isn't out in the US until September, didn't escape me. I haven't read it yet but it looks gorgeous and has my name on the cover.

Some Black Lace books I'm eager to read:



by two wonderful authors, Megan Hart and Lauren Dane, and the release date is my birthday, November 10th! And I liked their first joint effort, Taking Care of Business.

Megan Hart book cover hotness: Switch

OMG, Megan Hart's Harlequin Spice novels have seriously the hottest covers. I'm drooling over this one:



Switch will be out in January 2010, here's what's on her site:

Switch
• Paperback: ? pages
• Publisher: Harlequin Spice, January 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-0-373-60539-2

Don't think.
Don't question.
Just do.

The anonymous note wasn't for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the habit of reading other people's mail, but it was just a piece of paper with a few lines scrawled on it, clearly meant for the apartment upstairs. It looked so innocent, but decidedly-- deliciously--it was not.

Before replacing the note--and the ones that followed --in its rightful slot, I devoured its contents: suggestions, instructions, summonses, commands. Each was more daring, more intricate and more arousing than the last... and I followed them all to the letter.

Before the notes, if a man had told me what to do, I'd have told him where to go. But submission is an art, and there's something oddly freeing about doing someone's bidding...especially when it feels so very, very good.

But I find that the more I surrender, the more powerful I feel--so it's time to switch up roles.

We play by my rules now.

Virgin Night rocked!

L to R (since there aren't really "rows"): Jenny Block, Gideon Levy, Nicolette Dixon, Sinclair Sexsmith, Megan Hart, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Sarah Wendell, Emily Farris
photo by Stacie Joy

Virgin Night at In The Flesh Reading Series was packed - standing room only! THANK YOU to everyone who came out, to our sponsors, Baked by Melissa (cupcakes!), Ravenous Romance (cookies), JimmyJane (massage candle!) and SexySlang (word games!). And to Megan Hart for the fun giveaways. (For those wondering, Kyria Abrahams couldn't make it.)

And as always, thank you to all the readers, everyone who came out, Stacie Joy for the photos, and the staff of Happy Ending Lounge, especially manager Gina and bartender Juan Carlos!

Please come back May 21st - full lineup and bios coming very soon.

See the full photo set from Virgin Night here.


Nicolette Dixon went into glowing detail about cleavage.


Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches Trashy Books had us roaring with tales of tentacles in orifices and other romance novel delights from her book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels.


Megan Hart read from her erotic novel Stranger, out from Harlequin Spice.


Sinclair Sexsmith reads hot poetry from the chapbook Sinclair Sexsmith.


Emily Farris read a true, amazing story of orgasms and real estate lust. She told me she was nervous beforehand but I told her the truth: that people actually relate way more to the true stories, because they've been there...or want to be.


Gideon Levy had many permutations on "ghetto-fab-i-diculous" (sp?)


Jenny Block read from her memoir Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage.

Megan Hart brought this "Bring Me My Hookah" t-shirt (the name of her awesome vlog with Lauren Dane):



We had cupcakes from Baked by Melissa - 100 of them and they were gone really fast:



And cookies courtesy of Ravenous Romance:



In addition to the giveaways, there was lots of free stuff (and fishnets):

Lusty Lady Q&A series #1

As I just posted, this is the first in hopefully 52 (or more...?) Q&As I'll be doing with authors I like on this blog this year, because, you know, why not put my voracious reading to good use? And who better to start with than Megan Hart, who has four novels out now from Harlequin Spice in addition to e-books and novellas and lots more on the way. My fingers are crossed that I can coax her out of Pennsylvania to come read at In The Flesh. Megan rocks for many reasons, including her fabulous writing, which I look forward to reading more of, getting these answers back to me lickety split, and being the first paid advertiser on this blog!

And I forgot to say that...Megan's inspired what I think would be a kick-ass article, if I tried to hire a male escort, a la Tracie Egan's piece I reprinted in Best Sex Writing 2009, just not off Craigslist.



How long have you been writing fiction? How did you get started and what made you specialize in erotic romance?

Hi, Rachel! Thanks so much for having me at Lusty Lady. Wahoo!

I've been writing fiction since I could, which means since I was able to write at all. I can recall writing Star Wars and E.T. fan fiction back in the day, in my little notebooks (which I still have) and then graduated to writing my own stories. By sixth or seventh grade I was writing horror stories and I moved to writing fantasy and science fiction after that. I started writing romance fuhserious in about oh, 1997 or so, because I wanted to make a real hard go at writing novels and I liked reading romance, plus hey, romance covers something like fifty percent of market sales. I've always enjoyed spicier stories as a reader (Johanna Lindsey's Warrior Woman, anyone?) so it seemed natural to try my hand at writing them when I turned to novels. And, frankly, getting stories published in Hustler Busty Beauty and Letters magazine provided quick cash, even if the credits weren't the sort I could showcase "professionally." When erotic romance began picking up popularity, it was a natural place for me to go.



What is your writing process like? Do you have a set schedule?

I have an unset schedule, I guess. I write about four days a week, edit and do promotion other times, but sometimes I switch it up. I don't usually write on the weekends, but I might do a little something here or there, if I have time. I write around my family obligations, but I'm fortunate enough to stay home during the day when they're all at work or school and so I try to get most of my stuff done then.

You had written many e-books prior to signing your first 3-book deal with Harlequin Spice. How did the book deal come about, and how were the two connected?

I'd had an idea for a novel called Dirty -- the basic concept was vague, but I knew I wanted to call it that. Then Harlequin announced their Spice guidelines soon after I started working on it, and I thought it felt right, it felt like a good fit, even though I had no idea what sorts of books they were looking for since none had been published at the time. I wrote Dirty and began a second erotic novel (which would become Broken) while also trying to sell a non-erotic, non-romance fantasy novel that had no magic in it. By the time Dirty sold, I was pretty sure they'd buy a second from me and had it about half-finished, but to be offered a three book contract blew me away.



This may be like asking you to pick a favorite child, but do you have a favorite book you've written?

When I was writing Dirty, with no deadline, no real idea that it would sell, I lived in that world. I loved that world and those characters. I could've written that world and those characters for a long, long time, and actually, I guess I have since Elle and Dan appear in several other works. Dirty will be my favorite for a really long time, for a lot of different reasons.

Let's talk about Stranger. How did you come up with the idea for Grace, especially her job as a funeral director, as well as her desire for sex with strangers over relationships?

Originally I'd had an idea for a woman who hired male escorts. I'm pretty sure the idea came about after a strip show I'd gone to, but really, I'm not exactly sure now where the idea came from. I'll bet on the strip show. Anyway, I had this idea about a woman who hired male escorts instead of dating. But then I had to ask myself...why? Why would she do that? And then I thought, and what sort of job would she have that would allow her that? Since I'd briefly considered becoming a funeral director in high school, one thing led to another. It all sort of fell together after awhile.

Why strangers she hires vs. strangers she randomly picks up?

I suppose strangers you hire are safer -- if you use a service, anyway. Real strangers are a risk. I mean, if you're paying for someone to fuck your brains out and make you come, you'd better get that. Take a stranger to bed you might end up with a two-second Johnny who balks at going down.

I have a book coming out soon about hotel sex called Do Not Disturb, so I found that part of the book especially interesting, not to mention hot, and hotels are perfect for hookups with strangers. Why do you think hotels are good settings for sex scenes?

Hotels don't bring baggage. They're clean (or should be, ew!) and someone cleans them. You can make a mess and leave it behind. The hot water never runs out. There are cable stations you don't get at home. Hotels are made for fantasy.

In Stranger, Grace hires men from a local service in her small town (Annville, PA), Mrs. Smith's Services for Ladies. Was that simply creative license, or are there companies such as this around? What kind of research did you do for the book?

Well, yes, there actually are services available though I believe they cater mostly to gay men (though the website disclaimer shouts LADIES! MEET OUR GUYS!). Annville didn't host a business like that, but Harrisburg had several places offering companion services. So does Philly, which isn't out of the realm of possibility for where the story's located. Also, there are numerous private individuals willing to accept cash for companionship, and again, while most of the male escorts I researched were gay, there were also a large number offering to provide services for women. I did all my research online, reading blogs, perusing websites, emailing with escorts, but in the end, as I always do, I took creative license. Because I wanted this to be real for me, the way it worked for me in order to write about a sexy encounter. It's about creating fantasy.

Why do you think Grace faced so much opposition, from her family, coworkers and lover, to the fact that she had hired men for sex? Do you think it's more acceptable for men to pay for sex?

I don't think anyone wants to know their sister, daughter or friend is paying for sex. Or their brother or son, either!



You and Lauren Dane collaborate on the awesomely named blog Bring Me My Hookah)and have co-authored two upcoming novels for Black Lace, Taking Care of Business and No Reservations. How does that process work and how did you two get started? What are the pros and cons or co-writing?

Haha...brrrrrrrrrrrring me my hoooookah! We got the idea for Taking Care of Business while standing in line at one of the many many parties held at the annual Romantic Times Convention in Texas a couple years ago. It became a giggly game of "What If" and we plotted out the story of two friends who meet their men at a conference. The story snowballed from there. We're working on No Reservations, a sequel, right now, and it's a bit different because we wrote TCOB as two novellas which were then combined. NRis being written simultaneously so we have a good excuse to instant message each other every day. The pros of co-writing is bouncing ideas back and forth -- fortunately we don't really have any cons. Maybe having to split the money, I guess. But then again, we split the work and the promo costs, too!

I've been very impressed with your promotions, from contests on your blogs to bookmarks, postcards, even tea bags imprinted with your book's covers. What is your strategy when it comes to promoting your work? What advice would you have for authors trying to make a name for themselves?

TEA BAGS! HAHA. Wow, those were from a long time ago. I guess I don't have a strategy beyond trying to use your time and money wisely. Figure out your market and who's going to be interested in your work. Look beyond the obvious avenues. Don't be obnoxious, either. Good promotion means people learn your name and what you write, it's not about making everyone want to puke every time you show up. Be courteous online. Don't be a jerk! It's not about promoting one book, it's about making a name for yourself. Make it a good one.

What do you do when you're not writing?

Watch movies! Play the Sims 2. Read. Take long hot showers and think about writing. Play Resident Evil 4 and House of the Dead on the Wii!

Trick question, kindof, because I've already asked you, but I want to make it all formal: Will you come read at my reading series In The Flesh?

Absolutely, I would looooove to! It's just a matter of making the arrangements to get there. Which I need to get on the ball doing!

Thanks so much for having me!


Megan didn't really talk much about Deeper, perhaps cause it's not out til July, but I love the cover so wanted to include it.

About my Q&A series: While most of the authors will be hand-selected, if you'd like me to consider interviewing you, write me at rachelravenous at gmail.com with info about your book(s) and I'll let you know if I'm interested. And as always, I welcome reading suggestions - there will be other genres of authors, hopefully YA, which is my new obsession, and general fiction and non-fiction and such.

Read this book: Stranger by Megan Hart

Before I tell you about this novel (which, yes, is being advertised on this site, but I wanted to read it well before the advertising started), I want to tell you how I discovered author Megan Hart. I tend to browse Amazon...oh, quite obsessively. I search memoir and erotica and other topics I'm interested in, and that's how I came across the upcoming release of Hart's first Harlequin Spice novel, Dirty. She was offering readers of her Amazon blog free stuff, so I sent in my address, and got everything from postcards to a bookmark to a teabag! I thought that was so awesome.

I went on to buy Dirty and Tempted but, as I told her, for some reason, didn't finish them. Mind you, I probably only finish about a quarter of the books I start, in part a hazard of getting tons of free books and buying many more of them, so unless something immediately captures my interest, there is usually something new waiting in the wings. I liked her premises, like her dirty-minded female characters who are bold and adventurous and far from "romance novel" types. But when I read the premise of Stranger, about a woman who hires men for sex, I had a feeling this one would be the one I'd devour, and I was right.

What I also like about Megan is that she blogs and vlogs, and also offers excerpts on her site and on Amazon. She's consistent, her site is very easy to navigate, she posts fun content as well as contests, she's also doing shorter fiction and just makes it easy to get information on her, which I think is key. Everything you might need to know about her and her books that she wants to share is right there; you don't have to hunt around to find out what kinds of books she writes or what they're about.

I think this is good business, and have taken a page from her and asked Cleis to start putting up the Tables of Contents for my books on Amazon. Megan is definitely doing everything you should do, in my opinion, to promote her books, and seems like she's having fun with it!



Anyway, onto Stranger, which Megan was cool enough to let me know was nestled against my book Spanked, which was under Lauren Dane's Undercover, which I'm reading now, on Amazon's erotica bestseller list:



There are some spoilers in this review. Stranger, is an action-packed, sexy, emotional romance that tears up the pages with heat while also telling a touching love story. Set in the unusual business of a family funeral home, protagonist Grace prefers men she pays for rather than ones she picks up randomly. When wires get crossed and she screws stranger Sam at a hotel, not realizing he's not the gentleman she's hired, she shrugs it off, until they meet again, when she's called to deal with Sam's father's death. Meanwhile, despite the lingering passion between them, she continues to see Jack, the man she was supposed to have hired, schooling him in the ways of doing his new job and making a new friend...who she happens to have sizzling sex with.

Yet Sam keeps calling, and calling and calling, and eventually she cannot resist. Grace's resistance to anything approximating a real relationship even as part of her longs for just that. She's a strong, proud businesswoman on the outside, trying to climb out from under her father's shadow, but she gets off (literally and figuratively) on being able to hire men at her whim. While it's clear to the reader that she yearns for something more, she isn't so sure. Hart puts plenty of explicit scenes here, and doesn't try to come up a generic happy ending; I like that she created a character who goes against everything women are "supposed" to do, and she certainly gets gossiped about, even by her own family.

She stands up for herself and her desires, both to her family, her employees, and her lover, and yet even the scenes with the rentboys, as she at one point calls them, aren't cold and clinical, as evidenced by the fact that she continues to be friends with the main man she's seen. That in a small town in Pennsylvania such a service would be available is a bit unrealistic, but still, wouldn't it be great if it were? Hart challenges those who'd think that only men pay for sex, yet also gives Grace enough of a heart to allow one special man to enter it, even if it's not always smooth sailing for them. Stranger has a unique, hot premise that Hart delivers on fully, with well-rounded characters, details about the funeral home industry, and enough passionate trysts (purchased and not) to warm up your winter nights.

Next up is my interview with Megan which inaugurates my hopefully weekly author Q&A series here on Lusty Lady! (I had originally planned to post this last week, but time got away from me, so here we are.)

And here's the book trailer for Stranger: