Brand spanking new book, and other miscellaneous news

Whoo! Just got my author’s copy of Across My Knee, the Mischief anthology that contains my story “Retro.” Its official release date is April 19. Birthday spankings for me! But you can pre-order it now and it will magically appear on your e-reader on April 19.

A teasing little excerpt (don’t ask me why I’m keeping the excerpt clean when the cover’s NSFW)

Can you imagine being disappointed that a sexy, smart guy who shared your interests wasn’t gay? I know it sounds odd, but a case of the hopeless hots for someone I could never get would be easier to handle than one for someone who was theoretically attainable, just a bad idea.

Darren was gorgeous but that was only the start of why I lusted after him. The way he could guide me about a dance floor, controlling my movements with the lightest, most sensitive touch, as if we shared one mind – or as if I’d surrendered my will over to him and all I had to do was follow his lead – was meltingly sexy and made me want to surrender myself to him, right there as we danced. I didn’t just want to fuck him, or even simply date him. I wanted to be his happy submissive, following his will in the bedroom and out as I did on the dance floor, getting spanked when I was bad and spanked with a different attitude when I was good. I was an old-fashioned girl at heart, albeit an old-fashioned girl with a few twists, and I wanted a man who’d be in charge in the relationship: not just kinky sex, but actual domination and submission and the occasional domestic discipline. As I’d gotten to know Darren better, I realised I wanted him to be that man.

The problem was, I suspected that if I made that particular offer, Darren would run in horror.

*

In other news, Bound by Lust releases tomorrow–but again, you can pre-order it now. I’ll be posting a bit more about this one tomorrow.

I just sent out the story I finished over the weekend–it needed remarkably little in the way of revision.

Also over the weekend, an editor requested a story for an anthology I’d planned to skip. But once she asked me, well of course I had to say yes! I started that one on the train today, but I’m thinking that my decision to write from the male character’s point of view may have been a mistake–not because I can’t write a male POV, but because one of his character traits is that he’s eccentric and a bit flaky. His voice, as it turns out, is one that’s prone to digressions and distractions and asides, which could be funny in a full-length piece, but isn’t working in a short story, especially one that’s supposed to be sexy-kinky and, while not deathly serious, certainly not comic.

And for a closing sigh that I’m sure many of you will find familiar, I want more time: more time for writing, more time for home projects, more time to garden, more time to get back in shape, more time for my friends. Since I get the same number of hours in the day as everyone else does, I guess that means I have to make better use of those hours.

I’d mutter something about wanting to give up sleep, but I know better. One of my friends, due to a medical problem, almost lost the ability to sleep for a while. It was not pretty at all. Did you know that prolonged sleep deprivation can eventually drive you insane or even kill you? Luckily it didn’t happen to him, but as a writer I already talk to imaginary people. I don’t want to start thinking they exist anywhere outside my brain and my stories.