Ravaged Author Heather Whittington Talks Encantado

Ravaged author Heather Whittington shared a few insights about her contribution to the anthology. Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book (and include your e-mail address so we can contact you if you win)!

What is your story in Ravaged about?

“Encantado” is about a young man who meets a mysterious woman at a party. Derek sees
her hooking up the with host during the shindig. When the host's body is recovered from the ocean, Derek wonders if the woman had anything to do with it, despite his intense attraction to her.

Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

I was looking for a different sort of shapeshifter, one that hasn't been done many times over. I came across the legend of encantado during my research. Meaning “enchanted one,” the encantado are usually dolphins who shift into human form. They are particularly attracted to parties and sex.

Favorite line?

Hard to pick one. Guess I'd have to go for this bit: "It's my day off, Chris. My only day off this week. You think I'm gonna waste it by getting up early and accomplishing
something?"

Now for a little about yourself. How long have you been writing, and how did you become a writer?

I've been a published writer for about a year and a half now. I've been writing since high school at least. When I met a friend at the theatre a few years ago (I was auditioning for a musical), she saw I had the Nanowrimo banner on my blog and invited me to join her writing group.

Have you got anything else out/due out?

I have stories printed in anthologies by Pill Hill Press, Wicked East Press, Bards and Sages Quarterly, and SNM Horror Magazine. Several stories are available in several of SNM Horror's online magazine. I also have a stand-alone story with Breathless Press called “Bordello Secrets.”

Top tip for writing/publishing?

I always thought Nike had the best advice: Just do it.

And a few questions just for fun. If you were a shifter what animal would you change into?

A cheetah. Though any feline animal would do.

Favorite food and drink?

I love fresh strawberries in vanilla yogurt, and I love chocolate milk.

Favorite movie?

Way too many of these. But the tippy-top of the list would have to be “Serenity.”

Boxers or Briefs?

Boxer-briefs.

Finish this sentence: I have never...

been drunk in my life. Though there are a lot of people who would buy tickets to that epic event.

Find more about Heather Whittington here.

Can't wait to be Ravaged? Buy the book here.

Want more from Ravaged authors? Check out the full set of interviews at the links below, and don't forget to comment for a chance to win (include your e-mail address so we can contact the winners)!

Ravaged Author Mickey J. Corrigan Talks Internal Savagery

Ravaged author Mickey J. Corrigan shared a few insights about his contribution to the anthology. Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book (and include your e-mail address so we can contact you if you win)!

What is your story in Ravaged about?

"Internal Savagery" is the story of the frightening yet alluring transformation of Bradley's lover, Melissa.

Bradley is a graduate student who studies the socialization behavior of gorillas. His story begins in the office of a therapist, where Melissa cries and rages while Bradley attempts to defend himself against her charges of infidelity and neglect. He can't understand why she refuses to acknowledge their wild passion, their hot lovemaking. He also wonders why she has changed. Melissa does not seem to understand her own transformation. She's angry and confused.

Melissa is full of a new deep rage. She hits Bradley, pounds the couch between them. She even looks different: her body is bigger, thicker, her forehead wider, her jaw more prominent. She is very unhappy with her appearance, but Bradley is strangely turned on. He loves Melissa, her fiery nature, her animalistic behaviors. Now he has to find a way to prove it to her.

With humor and pathos—and some hot sex scenes—"Internal Savagery" explores how
much we are willing to change to fulfill our lover's desires. Melissa wants Bradley to love her, so she becomes what he loves. Isn't this what real love requires?

Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

Hey, I've been in therapy. And, well, it wasn't fun. It was hard. Painful. But transformation did occur.

Couples therapy can be helpful and insightful. But it is also a torturous process. You need to reveal parts of yourself you would rather not look at or share. And you need to be willing to strip down your ego to its most naked self. Sometimes a therapist can suggest a way to see yourself that is very revealing. In Internal Savagery, the annoying couples counselor does just that.

I set the first half of the story in the therapist's office to see where the stress and anxiety would take the two lovers. I knew what was happening to Melissa, but Bradley didn't. I wanted to hang out with him while he found out what it would be like if his girlfriend became exactly the kind of lover he craved.

Since Bradley was passionate about gorillas, the direction of the story unfolded in some interesting ways. I used modern technology to help Bradley and his girlfriend discover just what was happening for her. And exactly what was going on between them.

I especially enjoyed revealing Bradley's thoughts as he was being emotionally scoured by the therapist. It is a lot of fun to tell a love story from the man's point of view, and to share what guys really think when women are asking them what they really think.

Favorite line?

"The truth shall set you free. But only if somebody else believes it. There was more to share about their sex life, but Bradley didn't want to go there. The doctor would question his sanity."

Now for a little about yourself. How long have you been writing, and how did you become a writer?

I'm new to the genre, although I've been publishing for a long time under another name.

Have you got anything else out/due out?

Dream Job, a cyber-romance novella, was released by Breathless Press a few months
ago. Professional Grievers, a quirky romance featuring a couple who attend strangers'
funerals, is currently in press. And a novel about college girls who work as professional girlfriends is due out in January. I also have two novels with a literary agent, which means my fingers are stiff from remaining crossed all the time.

Top tip for writing/publishing?

My top tip for writing is simple but not easy: Go lock yourself in a room and write. Stay there for as long as it takes: days, weeks, months, years. Like Rapunzel, let your hair down occasionally to allow your lover to visit. Otherwise, hide yourself away and get it done. The successful writers are the ones who stay locked in the tower until the darn thing's written.

As for publishing, it's a world of options. Once you come out of your tower with a
manuscript in hand, you should be able to find a willing publisher. Ebooks are fast and fun. The New York publishing houses take longer, and they can be brutal. You will have less input on the final product. Personally, I'm enjoying the world of ebooks. When I'm not locked in my tower.

Find more about Mickey J. Corrigan here.

Can't wait to be Ravaged? Buy the book here.

Want more from Ravaged authors? Check out the full set of interviews at the links below, and don't forget to comment for a chance to win (include your e-mail address so we can contact the winners)!

Ravaged Promo Blog Hop

The Ravaged Promo Blog Hop starts now!

To celebrate the release of Ravaged this weekend, the authors featured in the anthology have put together Q&As for your reading pleasure. Friday, August 3, through Monday, August 6, hop through the five blogs below to learn the stories behind the stories in Ravaged, and a few details about each author.

Each of the five hosting sites will post two interviews. If you comment, you have a chance to win one of 10 PDF copies of Ravaged that the authors have on offer.

Be sure to check out these participating blogs this weekend:



Can't wait to be Ravaged? Buy the book here.

Sex Marks You

This passage from Geoff Nicholson's Sex Collectors shocked me:

Sex and travel: in one model, what they might be considered to have in common is a kind of invisibility. You emerge from sex with, at most, a few scratches and bite marks. You return from your travels with a suntan. Sooner or later they all fade away. But not everyone wants this kind of invisibility. When sex and travel are over, you may still wish to have a keepsake -- a ring, a locket, a tattoo in the case of a sex partner; a model of the Eiffel Tower or a pack of lewd playing cards bought at the Musée de l'Érotisme as a souvenir of your travels. And very likely you will have photographs: pictures of the loved one, pictures of what you did on your holidays. These are ways of preserving the traces of a potentially all-too-traceless experience.

Overcome, I wrote in the margin, "Only a man could write this paragraph."

I generally enjoy Geoff Nicholson's writing, but for me this really underscored a key difference between male and female sexual experience. As a woman, unless I'm having lesbian sex, the idea of pregnancy is always looming. The sentence, "You emerge from sex with, at most, a few scratches and bite marks" seems absurd to me, because, at most, you emerge with a baby nine months later. Now, I spent my teen years in the South, and there were probably a lot of good conservative dollars put into educating me about the dangers of being a slut and the permanent life consequences thereof.

Let's also not forget about STDs, because you could emerge from sex with a life-threatening illness, too -- and that's something that also affects men.

To be fair, I understand where Nicholson is coming from. I've had the urge to mark someone, to claim that person, or to be marked by them. I've been aware of how only air held us together, some series of choices that could easily be revoked. I know what he's talking about.

But for me, this experience has always been fraught with tension, because on the other hand I'm aware of what a high-stakes game sex can be. How many times after a one-night stand did I simultaneously wish I could hang onto the person and worry that I'd collected some permanent and unwanted souvenir of the event.

I've never had a child, but I'm aware of the sexual allure of the idea of producing a life from a sex act -- in fact, a key part of the heterosexual sexual experience. It's stunning to me that Nicholson could forget that.

Sex Is Not Just Fun

Geoff Nicholson in Sex Collectors, writing about The Sexual Life of Catherine M.:

What I like best about the book is that at no point does it ever suggest that sex is fun. Sex is far, far more serious and important than that.

As an erotica writer, I can attest to how much work it can be to make sex fun, especially when I'm going for just fun. Some of the best-paying erotica publishers talk about wanting work that tells a story and has something at stake for the main character, while at the same time emphasizing pleasure.

This is indeed a tricky proposition. Leaving aside the issue of poor writing, which just makes sex feel fake, sex can often become heavy, sad, angry, regretful, uncertain, or poignant. I'm interested in sex in all its forms, so I like writing about it of all types. I like reading a fun sex story, but I also like reading a dark exploration.

Nicholson's assertion becomes particularly interesting to me when I think about what sex is like for me personally. I know how much art it takes to make sex sound fun when I write about it. How often is it fun in practice?

I would say that the times that are really fun are special, but there's also usually a lot of other emotion swirling around on the side. I remember once getting on top of my partner and riding him for a long time in a wild, sweaty way, using my full strength and stamina. It was incredibly fun. I came a lot, and I think he was really into the idea of my being so unstoppably turned on by him. It's a fun memory, but when I think back to it, I also think about the role of shame. I was really worried he would think I was weird, because of the faces or noises I was making, or because of what I was doing. He didn't, and so along with the idea of fun, the memory feels liberating and poignant to me.

I think this is the sort of thing Nicholson is talking about. Feeling liberated from deep personal shame is serious and important, not just fun. Erotica often has this subtext, and I love it for that. Holding out the promise of pleasurable fun is also really important, because to make it work and feel real, you have to be able to write characters who are truly capable of enjoyment, which often means characters who have moved beyond deep personal shame.

(Incidentally, I had already planned to read The Sexual Life of Catherine M. after I finish Sex Collectors. I will likely post a few things about it, too).

Ravaged Authors on the Prowl Starting Friday

Five blogs, 10 authors, and 10 copies to be won!

To celebrate the release of Ravaged this weekend, the authors featured in the anthology have put together Q&As for your reading pleasure. Friday, August 3, through Monday, August 6, hop through the five blogs below to learn the stories behind the stories in Ravaged, and a few details about each author.

Each of the five hosting sites will post two interviews. If you comment, you have a chance to win one of 10 PDF copies of Ravaged that the authors have on offer.

Be sure to check out these participating blogs this weekend:

SJ Thomas
Erin O'Riordan
D.F. Krieger
Silvia Violet
And, of course, right here.

And if you can't wait to win a copy of the book that inspired the hot cover above, you can preorder one here.

Originality is Overrated

I've worried about repetition, or things growing stale, in a lot of ways. As a writer, I don't want to be seen as writing the same kind of story all the time. As a partner, I don't want to use the same turn-ons and techniques every time. And sometimes I worry about whether I'm stunting myself horribly by using the same go-to masturbation fantasies for, like, my entire life.

Here are some reassuring words from Geoff Nicholson's Sex Collectors:

A moment's consideration suggests that a sex life consisting of never-repeated wonders would be as bizarre as it would be exasperating, to say nothing of impossible. The whole point of sex, surely, is that it's all about repetition. We know what we like, what gives us pleasure, and so we repeat those things. There'll be variations and novelties, there'll be inventiveness within the form, there'll probably be a few surprises, but the idea that every sex act might be some previously unexperienced and then unrepeatable form of escstasy is just plain silly. If it's any good, why wouldn't you want to repeat it?

It's a good point, and well worth remembering. Let's not underestimate the classics, or forget the pleasure they hold.