In anticipation of the pending release of Changeling: Book Three of the Seeder Saga, I’ve decided to spend the week teasing the hell out of you with bits and pieces of the first two novels. Today, you get a tiny taste of Miri’s world in “Sky Woman.”
What happens when you land on a planet where you’re an extremely valued commodity? And what happens when three gorgeous men decide they’re going to win you? Steam. That’s what happens…
If any of you are followers of my fanfiction, you know that I pulled one of my fics and reworked it a few months back into the novel “Eight Nights At Sea.”
I thought to myself at the time, “Well, this will be a piece of cake. I just have to change some names and tweak it a little…”
Nope.
First of all, changing names is harder than you think. You can do a search in word and replace, but if you’ve got a name that carries the same letters as a common word, you’re really going to have fun. And don’t forget places where you may have bastardized the name – for instance, in one sentence I had the girl drunkenly singing the hero’s name, and therefore I hyphenated it to stretch it out for effect. Guess what I missed on the first upload and a reader caught for me. Yup!
Then there are things that are particular to your character that you might need to weed out – some because they’re just way too associated with a popular TV character (for instance, my novel pirate doesn’t have a hook replacing his hand, of course) and some you need to weed out because they don’t make a lot of sense outside the TV or Movie universe they were originally set in. Continue reading
When I first wrote “Sky Woman,” I had a really, really hard time pitching this book through traditional channels. Oh, don’t get me wrong – every editor I sent it to loved the damn book. They loved the characters, they loved the steam, they loved the science fiction, and most of all, they loved the way they were completely gobsmacked by one of the plot hooks.
And therein lies the rub…
That very plot hook is what makes my story “not your usual steamy sci-fi romance” material. By the same token, despite the interesting and adventurous direction the plot takes, this is very much a story about love and relationship and commitment within the romance.
I can’t really explain in detail why that is (so as not to spoil the book) but suffice it to say, after each editor waxed poetic about how amazing this book was, it was almost always followed by “I just really don’t know where I’m going to put it.”
So they wanted me to change it, make it more mainstream. Or they wanted me to add in some extra scenes, things that involved more swinging-type behaviors, group scenes, intense BDSM, etc.
I couldn’t do it.
And it’s not because I don’t like those things – they just weren’t this book. There’s more than enough going on here, and due to the nature of Miri and her situation, those things wouldn’t necessarily make sense within the framework of the story. All they’d do is give the publisher the page fodder they need to put the book more comfortably into their pre-arranged category.
So after turning down two different editors (one at a pretty big online erotica site), I decided to go it alone, and I’m glad I did. Sky Woman turned out to be a story that I’m fiercely proud of.
Now if I could just figure out how to talk about the story without giving too much away…
So buy my book. It’s got a really unique premise, lots of hot sex (and I mean LOTS), humor, science fiction, and fun.
It’s awesome, isn’t it? My cover artist, the amazing Colleen Kennedy of Mystique Book Designs has really hit it out of the park for me. This girl is Lizzie. And the cover tells you this girl is nobody’s fool. Unlike the other two stories in the series, Changeling will not be a one-world story, so we’re going to have one hell of an adventure, and of course, we’ll be checking in with our old friends, Miri and Rain, and the men that go with them.
I am so excited for this one. I promise, it’s worth the wait I put you through.
This holiday, give a gift that will keep someone warm (oh, sooooo warm) on a cold winter’s night. Give them Eight Nights At Sea!
Zephyr Jamieson is a devilishly handsome pirate captain, sailing the seas of a magical realm. He encounters a beauty named Rina, a woman with a body that sets him aflame and a secret that she cannot tell. Rina barters passage aboard Zephyr’s ship for herself and her secretive twin brother with the only thing the pirate captain appears to be interested in. Can eight nights at sea lead to more? Or will her secret tear them apart?
This book contains strong, detailed sexual content and is not suitable for readers under 17.
Not that I couldn’t be perfectly happy with an all-American dude, but I have a real thing for big, beefy Polynesian guys. I’m talking The Rock. Jason Momoa. Davyd Thomas. The entire Toa Samoa rugby team. So freaking hot. I hear a group of guys doing the haka, and I’m like a Pavlovian dog or something. Instant ladyboner.
And then, on the other side of the world, are the Irish boys. Colin O’Donoghue. Cillian Murphy. Liam Neeson. Celtic Thunder. Give me a lilting brogue, a man with a pint, a randy song, and a ready grin, and I am putty in his hands. I’d be happy just to sit on a chair and listen to him talk all night.
Of course, I’ve never dated anyone from either of the aforementioned groups. I have seriously considered starting a naughty webcam service to finance a trip to Samoa or Ireland, but ChicksWithC-SectionScars.com just isn’t pulling them in like I thought it would.
So I guess I’ll just stick to writing about them, and hope some of you share my fascination with fierce warriors and cunning lads with a sparkle in their eye – at least enough so that you can finance a trip to satisfy my ridiculous libido.
Then again – and I honestly do worry about this, you guys – if I end up getting all my…cravings….satisfied, maybe I won’t be able to write about them anymore. Like it’ll be exorcised from my system or something.
Food for thought, but in the meantime, I’ll keep on steaming up the laptop with my tantalizing tales.
Those of you who’ve been reading my fanfiction know that I am hard at work, finishing up book three of my Seeder Saga novels. It’s way overdue and I apologize for that, but I had a lot to get in here without it seeming crammed, and the story ended up taking me in some wild directions before it wound it’s way to done. I’m in final edits now, and it’s all going to be worth it, I promise you.
So here are some answers to some of the more frequent questions I’ve been asked about book three.
Is this book about Indar?
Yes! We met our Seeder friend near the end of book one, he figured prominently in book two, and we’ve established that he’s smoking hot and likes to indulge when visiting the locals. What you don’t know is the rest of his backstory, specifically about the Seeders and their history. In addition, we find out more about a sinister plot that’s effecting life on a multitude of planets, including those belonging to Miri and her boys, and Rain and Ajan. So, we’ll be catching up with Indar, and we’ll be meeting Lizzie, the mysterious woman who’s the key to it all.
Will we be spending time with Miri and the boys, and Rain and Ajan?
Oh, yes, definitely. All those characters are near and dear to me, but they also have very important roles to play in helping Indar solve his mystery. I know I wrote books one and two almost as though they could be stand-alones, but book three will bring it all together in a really wonderful way.
Will Miri meet Indar? What will her reaction be?
Ooooh….good question! Yes, she’ll meet him, and as you can expect, she’s got some very mixed feelings about the man who abducted her from her life on earth, even if she ended up living happily ever after because of it. There’s going to be a confrontation, and as you can imagine, her men aren’t too happy to see her unhappy, either. You’ll learn a lot about the Seeders in that chapter, and about the origins of the planet Miri landed on.
When will the book be out?
As I said before, I’m finishing up the last of the edits and formatting for e-book, and the amazing and talented Colleen from Mystique Book Designs is putting together the perfect cover. It’s going to be out right around the first of the new year. Next on the agenda after that – I’m toying with going contemporary, but I do have another fantasy story eating at my brain. We’ll just have to see who wins!
Since we’re on the run-up to launching book three, I’m offering my readers a special discount through the end of the year on the first two Seeder books, via Smashwords. Use these coupon codes, and get half off the cover price!
A reader PM’d me the other day to ask some writing advice, and one of her questions was “What’s the best way to write smut?”
My answer, of course, is “With your clothes off,” but I don’t think that’s what she was looking for. So here’s my thought on the topic:
Don’t try to write smut.
Seriously. I cannot stress this enough. Write a good story, instead. Give it characters that people can love or hate or laugh with or at or feel sorry for. Make them interact in fascinating, hilarious or heartbreaking ways. Build the story to several climaxes and have them resolve in a way that moves that story forward, then bring it all to a conclusion that makes the reader sorry to have to see it end.
And if, somewhere in there, two (or more) of your characters find themselves interacting in a way that would lead them to do something sexual to or with each other, then write it.
But for God’s sake, don’t just write a bunch of smut, paint a plot around it, and call it a story. That’s smut, all right. But it’s also probably crap. If you have to make your characters do the dirty deed, you’re not doing it right. They should be telling you how and where and when and for how long they’re doing it.
When I write a steamy scene, sometimes it’s incredibly detailed and played out, and sometimes, we’ll see lips meet, and a hand move down, and then they’re waking up the next morning next to each other. That’s not because I’m lazy or tired of writing about throbbing stuff and sliding tongues and trailing fingers – it’s because in that moment, that’s all we need. Maybe it’s more about the fact that one of them was still there when the morning light hit the windows.
And that’s because the story isn’t all about the smut. Smut, like humor, or tragedy, or obstacles thrown in a protagonist’s path, should be there to further the plot in some way. It’s okay to get really, really detailed (God knows I do often enough), but if you go overboard with it, it desensitizes the reader and subjugates your story.
As for your descriptive terms – well, I just say know your audience. I try not to get too purply in my prose (I’ve read entirely too much historical fiction referring to turgid manhood and heaving bosoms in my life) and I personally can’t stand people who write sex using clinical terms (oh, look – he’s manipulating her clitoris!) but that’s my personal preference. If your audience likes it, you’re doing something right.
And if your audience likes your story – even the chapters without the sexy stuff – you’re really, really doing it right.
Or at least he does in my books. Check out my latest adult novella, “Naughty or Nice” on Amazon or Smashwords!
And don’t forget to check out the Once Upon A Time Episode Recaps page I’ve added to the top menu. I started these with season 4, but I’m working on retro-reviewing over the holidays. I’d also like to give a shout-out to my favorite episode recaps, found on this awesome Tumblr blog!
In addition, I didn’t link it on the Fanfic page (I only link completed stories there) but my current Once Upon A Time fic, “Friendly Shores” is going strong. I usually update every couple of days, and sometimes daily, if I’m in the mood. This one is all about role reversals, and it’s turning into great fun!
See? I’ve got plenty to keep you warm when the weather turns cold…
Now available at Amazon.com or Smashwords.com for only 99¢!!! What a great way to keep warm – really, really warm this holiday season!
Olivia just finished working an eleven hour retail shift on Christmas Eve, and all she wants for Christmas is to get off her aching feet – and to get off. Being single at Christmas can lead a girl to desperate measures, and when Olivia makes her wish to the Santa at the Mall, she gets fulfilled like she’s never been before. Will Santa find her naughty? Or will her Christmas turn out oh-so-nice? This story contains detailed sexual content and is for mature readers only.
Britt DeLaney 