Five Years on Kiva!

I got an email notification this week telling me that I've been on Kiva for five years!

Kiva is a nonprofit organization that aims to help people around the world get small, low-interest loans that help them start businesses, attend school, make needed renovations, etc. You can see explanations on Kiva's website.

I first joined Kiva in conjunction with the publication of my novella, The Six Swans, through Coming Together. All books that Coming Together publishes go toward some sort of charity project. In this case, proceeds from novellas that come out through the Coming Together: Neat line go into Kiva accounts.

You can see my Kiva lender profile here. Over the years I've used royalties from The Six Swans, along with other money I've added to it at times to make 61 loans!

If you'd like to get involved, it's easy to make your own account on Kiva. Or you can pick up The Six Swans, Giselle Renarde's Tangled Roots, or any other book in the Coming Together: Neat line.

Deadline Extended: Coming Together: Positively Sexy

I've extended the deadline for Coming Together: Positively Sexy until October 1st! If you were thinking of writing a story for this, I hope this gives you the time you need.

Here's the full information about the call.

As always, please feel free to get in touch with questions.

Guest Post: First Time Editor

I invited Delilah Night to post here about her upcoming anthology, Coming Together: Under the Mistletoe, which just opened for submissions, and will benefit Project Linus. I love Coming Together projects in general, I'm excited about Delilah's book in particular, and I'm also excited to see a writer taking on the editing mantle for the first time. I asked Delilah to write about what drew her to edit an anthology, and she's responded with a moving personal story, as well as some great insights into both the writing and editing processes.

Without further ado, here she is:

by Delilah Night

Hi Annabeth, thank you for hosting me!

I am editing my first anthology, Coming Together: Under the Mistletoe, this year with a projected publication date of December 1. It’s scary to make the leap from contributor to editor, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while.

Alison Tyler organized Summer Loving, with proceeds going to fellow author Sommer Marsden’s family as they dealt with a medical crisis in 2014. It was the first time I’d heard of a charity erotica anthology. A few months later, I saw my first Coming Together call—Coming Together is a charity press, and each anthology benefits a charity picked by the editor. I am proud to have contributed to four of the Coming Together anthologies—For the Holidays, Among the Stars, Strange Shifters, and Keeping Warm.

I grew up quite poor. We needed welfare to help keep food in our home, and to help clothe me. There were times when teachers paid for me to go on field trips so that I wouldn’t miss out. I sacrificed a lot to go to college and grad school to get a master’s degree in teaching. I thought I had my career planned out when I had my daughter, Turtle (obviously not her real name).

To make a very long story short, Turtle nearly died from a bacterial infection at a week old. Then she had a stroke. It remains the worst thing that has ever happened to me/our family. In the middle of that darkness, our nurse gave us a hand-made hat and blanket from Project Linus. Receiving that gift from a stranger was like a ray of light in the darkest point in our lives.

We are a success story. Thanks to an amazing team of doctors, nurses, early intervention staff, physical therapists, occupational therapists and other specialists, plus a heaping dose of luck, Turtle is now a healthy, happy seven year old.

I want to give back, and I’ve decided that Coming Together is one of the ways to do so. As an erotica author, it is a unique opportunity to give back by writing (and editing).

As a novice editor, my biggest fears are that I will let everyone down—my contributors, Coming Together, and Project Linus. However, I’m lucky to have several close friends who have edited anthologies for various presses to serve as mentors and advisors.

Going into the anthology, my plan is to put together an anthology of the best stories and poetry that come my way. One of my favorite anthologies is Rose Caraway’s The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica. The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica skips from genre to genre with the grand unifying theme of being the best examples of erotica that Rose could put together. I want Under the Mistletoe to emulate that example.

I hope to put together an anthology with the unifying theme of winter. Not every story should be about Christmas—there’s Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve, and random days in December as well. I don’t want every couple to be heterosexual. I don’t want every pairing to be two people. I don’t want every couple to be white. Variety—and above all, quality— is what will grab my attention.

On an organizational level, I’ve set out my calendar of when the deadline is, when replies will happen, and so forth. Ensuring that I stick to that calendar will require discipline. As an author, I’ve worked with great editors and bad editors, and one of the biggest differences is that the best editors are hyper organized and I want to live up to that standard.

But, just as you can’t actually anticipate what having a child is like until you have one, I expect that there will be a number of bumps along the road. My goal is to handle them professionally such that my contributors are never inconvenienced.

I expect that my second anthology will be better than my first and that my fifth will be better than my second, and so forth. But just as I remain proud of my first story, I hope that I will always be proud of this anthology.

That said, any advice you can provide is welcome, Annabeth.

Coming Together: Under the Mistletoe
Submission Call

Deadline is September 1, 2016

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow because we’ll be heating up this sexy December anthology.

I am looking for your best winter stories. Are your characters cuddled up inside while a blizzard rages, or are they snowbirds spending Christmas Day on the beach in the tropics? Who belongs on Santa’s Naughty List? Is your billionaire a Scrooge? Is this the year they come out to their family? Do they have a special someone to kiss when the ball drops?

While the theme is winter, you may also add in your favorite December holiday, but this is not mandatory. I’m looking for compelling stories with compelling characters and a rich plot as well as beautiful poetry.

Guidelines

* Your story should be set between December 1 and December 31 whether explicitly or implicitly.

* All orientations, ethnicities, pairings, and interpretations of “winter” are encouraged.

* All sub-genres and time periods welcome (contemporary, historical, paranormal, sci-fi, steampunk, you name it).

* All heat levels from sweet and romantic to down and dirty—as long as it is plot driven.

* HEA/HFN preferred, but not required.

* Stories up to 7,500 words

* Poetry is welcomed and encouraged

* No underage, no scat, no non-consent, no incest

Coming Together is a charity organization. You retain all rights to your stories, and previously published stories and poetry are welcomed (as long as you hold the rights).

Please use Times New Roman font, size 12, and double spaced with one inch margins. No extra lines between paragraphs. Set indentations to .5 – do not use tabs or spaces to indent. Use .docx, .doc .rtf formats only.

Only submit your final, best version of the story to delilahnight@gmail.com with the subject line “Under the Mistletoe insert your title insert your name”

Do not send multiple versions of the same story. Up to two stories/three poems will be considered from each author. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable and be clear which one is which), mailing address, and up to 250 word bio. Do not paste your story into the body of your message.

You will be notified as to the status of your story by no later than October 1, 2016.

Coming Together is a non-profit organization, and all Coming Together authors and editors have generously donated their talents to various causes. Compensation for inclusion in this work is a PDF contributor copy of the finished product and your name on Santa’s Nice List (or Naughty, if that’s your preference). You retain all rights to your story. All proceeds go to Project Linus, which provides home-made blankets and hats to children in crisis.

Questions? Email me at delilahnight@gmail.com

(My thanks again to Delilah for sharing this with us here. I'm not sure I'm at the stage of editing experience where I have a lot of advice to give. What does stand out to me is that I was surprised at how it felt to select stories. I loved them as a fan. I've had editors say things like that to me when they selected my work, but I didn't realize how it really feels to get to put together a book full of stories you truly believe in and love to read. I hope you enjoy that!

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I'm also currently taking submissions for a Coming Together book. The details are here, and I've written a guest post for Delilah's blog. Watch for it!)

Announcing: Coming Together: Positively Sexy

I'm editing another book!

It's going to be called Coming Together: Positively Sexy, and it's an anthology of erotica focused on characters living and loving while STI-positive. All proceeds will benefit the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, a sexuality education and training organization that works to reduce sexual shame, challenge misinformation, and advance the field of sexuality.

For so many reasons, I'm thrilled that this project is happening.

I love the CSPH deeply as an organization—it is not an exaggeration to say it has changed my life and given me much-needed sanctuary.

And I think this is a subject that needs to be explored. I have read so much erotica, and I can't recall ever seeing a character who was STI-positive. (If you have run across this, I am really interested to know where. Leave a comment or email me!)

Once I realized this lack, it became incredibly glaring to me. I got into writing erotica because I wanted to speak about the unspoken. There is so much revealed in people's sex lives. I am fascinated by the vulnerability and exposure. And yet, in the years I've been writing erotica, I've become disheartened by what I tend to hide. By typically presenting a fantasyland in which STIs don't exist, I have missed out on a huge part of what I think it is our calling as erotica writers to explore.

I want and have always wanted to write about sex, in all its strangeness and beauty and difficulty. I enjoy fantasies, and I am also interested in realities. By picking up on unspoken "rules," and shying away from portraying STIs, I have turned away from writing about the world I actually know.

I remember being diagnosed with HPV when I was in my early 20s and plunging into a morass of shame and confusion. I honestly didn't really know what HPV was or meant—and it felt like I couldn't get the information I needed, no matter how many questions I asked or how many things I looked up. I had such a poor understanding of STIs that I truly believed for a while that being diagnosed with it meant I would have to be celibate for the rest of my life. It is only in the past few years that I have become able to talk about parts of my history like this in a matter-of-fact way, informed by medically accurate information, not overshadowed by crushing shame and a sense of dirtiness.

I got pretty spotty education about STIs in the first place—and I recognize I was lucky to have avoided the abstinence-only approach that passes for "education" in many American schools. I remember most vividly the scare tactics that were used in my health class—the giant pictures of warts and lesions that made them look like dangerous space anomalies. I remember being told to use condoms, but not being told anything about what one might do if one ended up getting an STI or wanting to sleep with someone who had one.

I have cried with shame while disclosing my sexual history with a new partner. I have cringed at the sight of the capital letters HPV highlighted in pink on a form at the doctor's office.

When I was younger (before my HPV diagnosis), I had partners ask (while trying to convince me not to use a condom), "You're a clean girl, aren't you?" As if that was due diligence for STI prevention. As if there was any way to answer that question well or honestly. As if I hadn't already asked to use a condom.

There are also stories that aren't mine to tell, about people I've known who have lived with shame and judgement when I don't think they should have to.

The point of all this is that I'm a person who has lived and loved after an STI diagnosis, and I know plenty of other people who have, too. And I've never seen myself represented in the genre I have worked in since 2008. I have never represented myself in my own genre.

I say that knowing that HPV is common, an STI that is sometimes dismissed as something "everybody" has. What does it say that I've felt so much shame and hesitation about something so common? What does it say that I've never felt safe writing about it?

I came up with the idea for this book late last year, in the midst of some feelings of burnout. For several years, I had been writing as hard and fast as I could, pouring my soul into my stories and also constantly producing them. There were things going on in the erotica industry that were messing with my livelihood and breaking my heart. I found that a lot of my work seemed to be too weird or too queer or too dark or too something. Untouched had come out, and I never anticipated how naked and exposed that book would make me feel.

When I began writing, I believed I had things to say that were important, things that only I could say. Increasingly, though, I found myself abandoning stories, questioning whether they mattered at all.

I took a step back and began to ask myself if I had anything still to say, if I thought I still could do things in this field that needed to be done. After a period of soul searching, the idea for this book came to me. I couldn't convince myself that the world cared about or needed a lot of things I could choose to work on—this, though, was different. I believe that Coming Together: Positively Sexy could make a real difference to its readers, to its writers, and to me, as editor.

Any time my will as an artist has flagged, the answer has always been to go harder, go deeper, expose more. That is all that feels true to me, the only thing I have in the end.

I need and want this book to exist. But I can't make it happen on my own. I need more perspectives than the one I've got. I need a lot of different stories. Maybe what I need is your voice.

You can find the full call for submissions here.

If you have any questions, please email me at positivelybook@outlook.com.

(Also, many thanks to Melanie at the CSPH, who helped me come up with the name for this book!)

Out Today: Through the Storm

Look what's here, my dears!

Through the Storm is now available, proceeds going to benefit Mercy Corps. Here's the beginning of my story, Sinkhole:

"Those clouds came out of nowhere," Nadine said. She stopped and gazed upward. The sky had been flat, blue, and limitless when we left my mother's house to go for a sanity-preserving walk, but now ominous gray and black lines made it look like stained, wrinkled fabric.

"Florida does that sometimes," I said. "It can change all of a sudden."

She leaned forward to adjust her shoe. As usual, it was made of glittery scraps of uncomfortable plastic and impractically high heels. "I think I'm getting a blister. I don't know if I can make it back to your mom's before the rain hits."

I sighed. It had been a tense trip. Much as I'd tried to prepare my mother for the experience of meeting my girlfriend, the reality of Nadine was apparently even more disturbing to my socially conservative mother than the idea of her had been. Nadine had responded to the stress by transcending her usual standards of femme perfection, achieving a cold, brittle, architectural beauty that required perfect hair, clothes, and makeup and meant I was rarely allowed to touch or kiss her. I had responded by getting horny. That combination meant that when I wasn't fielding hissed comments from my mother in the family kitchen, Nadine and I were mixing it up in our hotel room by arguing, not fucking.

I was tired and unhappy, and I didn't have a whole lot of patience left for Nadine's shoes. "Can you take them off, baby? It's only a few blocks back to the house."

She pouted. "The sidewalk would rip my stockings."

Hope springs eternal, I guess, because I couldn't resist a pointed look up and down the length of her shapely dark legs. "You could take those off, too," I pointed out. The mere thought of the bare skin of her thigh made my clit pulse.

You can find it from various vendors here.

Risk Rider and Dare Take the Con

This weekend, Coming Together: For Equality released, edited by the fabulous Beth Wylde. Like all of Coming Together's books, it supports a good cause—in this case, Planting Peace—Equality House. Every story is also written to an anti-bullying theme.

This book is so hot and so important, people. I talk often about how erotica saved my life, and this is a great example. Erotica is how I've claimed who I am, how I've come to terms with myself in a true, brave way, and many of these stories are on a similar theme.

My story is called "Risk Rider and Dare Take the Con," and as I was working on it I realized how much I needed to write it.

I've been a geek girl all my life, and I've dealt with a lot of nonsense from other geeks. For all that the geek community prides itself on being accepting, I've found that this often translates to expecting everyone to put up with bad behavior from jerks (who are excused with whispered explanations about how "he's just socially awkward"). In the past year or so, there's been a lot of discussion of harassment at cons, and that's the thing that came to mind when I saw the call for Coming Together: For Equality. I'm not a cosplayer—I'm afraid I don't have the skills—but I have borrowed friends' costumes a few times and I admire the work and devotion that cosplayers put in.

Here's an excerpt of my story. It's about how two characters' embrace of their erotic selves gives them the strength to deal with harassment at a comic convention.

When Jamie-Lyn complained about convention harassment with her friends at home, they could never understand why she put herself through it at all. She'd struggled to explain herself, trying to describe how good it felt to wear a costume so well-made that she could believe she actually was the motorcycle-riding hero of her dreams, how it changed the way she walked and talked and felt about herself. She was funnier when she dressed as Risk Rider, she told her friends, because she adopted the character's sardonic humor. She didn't take shit from people—after all, she'd actually shoved that guy just now, instead of looking down and skulking away the way Jamie-Lyn at home would have done. And she did feel sexy, though that didn't mean she wanted to be harassed by every single douchebag at the con.

That last part usually made friends wrinkle their brows in concern. Some people tried to gently inform her that dressing in full-body leather and going out in public might sort of be seen as inviting attention from the douchebags. If she didn't want the attention, why did she wear the costume?

Jamie-Lyn couldn't hold back a little growl of anger. She shrugged off Risk Rider's motorcycle jacket, embellished with exuberant streaks of blood-red stars, and folded it over one arm. She would go back to her room, change into jeans and a con T-shirt, and try to enjoy the event by blending into the crowd for once. She would do this and it would be a relief, and the tears currently threatening to pour down her cheeks were not telling her otherwise. They were not.

"I dare you to dress like a girl," someone said from a few feet away, using that taunting, scornful voice that had become all too familiar. In the mood she was in, she wanted to just keep walking to the elevator bank as quickly as possible, but something about the way the sentence was delivered made her pause. The guy speaking had emphasized the word "dare," almost as if...

Jamie-Lyn looked up, and sure enough the jerk was in the process of tormenting a cosplayer dressed as Dare, Risk Rider's wife and crime-fighting partner. The first thing Jamie-Lyn noticed was how nicely the leather was stitched. A home sewing machine could handle light leather, but not always well, and this costume showed none of the telltale bunching that appeared when a machine too weak for the job began to seize up. The person who made this costume either had an industrial machine or the patience of a saint. Also, this was Jamie-Lyn's favorite version of Dare, replicating the costume the heroine wore after a redesign intended to make her look more realistically badass. It was tight and tailored, but would actually provide protection if Dare fell off her bike.

The cosplayer was a man, and Jamie-Lyn felt a little respect rise in her chest. Female cosplayers took all kinds of nonsense for daring to go around dressed up in public, and the only people who had to deal with as much crap—and sometimes even more—were men who dared to put on female characters' costumes non-ironically. She wanted to talk to this guy, maybe trade leather-working tips, and maybe even take a picture together. Jamie-Lyn had been photographed a few times at cons standing next to a Dare, but she liked the symmetry she'd get next to a man in a Dare costume.

Also, this man looked good. He was slim enough that Dare's skintight leather pants looked great hugging his ass and thighs. Big, dark eyes, high cheekbones, and a chin that came to a sharp point made for a slightly feminine face that made Jamie-Lyn think all the more about how its owner was a man. He wore Dare's leathers exactly the way that Jamie-Lyn had always imagined the heroine would—with a lot of energy, a little sass, and just the right amount of negligence. Dare was a tech expert as well as a biker, and often went out still half-involved in her latest project. This guy had left his hair uncombed and wore a soldering iron strapped to his waist. It was a great effort, and Jamie-Lyn couldn't wait to introduce herself.

She took a step closer, then frowned when she remembered what had drawn her attention in the first place. The guy harassing Dare hadn't backed off, and in fact, judging by the way he glanced around for support, he was in the process of showing off for a group of his friends. The bully noticed Jamie-Lyn approaching, and an ugly smile spread over his face.

"I see your husband's coming to pick you up, little girl." The guy got in Dare's face and shoved him once in the chest, hard enough to make the costumed man step back. The cosplayer's hands fisted at his sides, and Jamie-Lyn got the idea that he knew how to defend himself if pushed too far. Still, she didn't want him to feel as alone as she had all morning.

Jamie-Lyn sighed. This attacker got points for actually knowing the comic, then lost them all for being a towering jerk.

"Are you going to cry like a girl?"

The guy also seemed to think that all he had to do to win the insult game was say the word "girl" repeatedly. Jamie-Lyn steeled herself for confrontation and went to stand beside Dare. "Our friend already went to get con security," she told the guy in a low voice. "How about you leave us alone? They've got a zero-tolerance policy here, and you'll forfeit your admission fee." She hoped the guy didn't call her bluff. The con security volunteers she'd met so far were well-meaning but overworked. They did their best to enforce policies, but there weren't enough of them. Jamie-Lyn had yet to encounter one that day, despite the many harassers she'd found instead.

The attacker muttered something, and Jamie-Lyn held her breath, uncertain of which way this situation would go. Then someone else walked up to them, and Jamie-Lyn dared to hope that for once this would be a decent person. "Risk Rider and Dare! You guys look awesome!"

You can read the rest of the story in Coming Together: For Equality and support a great cause in the process.

Risk Rider and Dare Take the Con

This awesome anthology, edited by Beth Wylde stands up to bullying in one of the coolest ways imaginable: with hot sex. Packed with stories written to an anti-bullying theme, proceeds will benefit Planting Peace - Equality House, which brings bully prevention programs into K-12 schools and raises awareness about LGBTQ discrimination.

I'm beyond stoked to have a story in it. It's called "Risk Rider and Dare Take the Con," and I wrote it about the bullying that can go in at geek conventions (see fake geek girls and stories of harassment of cosplayers, for starters). I often turn myself on while writing, but I don't often get myself mad. When I wrote this story, I did both. I'm incredibly proud of it, and so pleased to be part of another excellent Coming Together publication.

"I Never Apologize, and I Never Explain"

Notice the quotation marks above. Much as I wish I'd been the one to say that, I certainly wasn't. I'll never forget the moment I heard it, though. I was at a poetry reading, and the guy running the event introduced a woman, a poet friend from out of town. As soon as he finished the introduction, she said, "I never apologize for my work, and I never explain it." She said it with a smile, as if she knew that demands for apologies and explanations would be coming very shortly. Then she launched into her poem. I don't remember any of the specific lines (I went to this reading more than fifteen years ago), but for the rest of my life I'll remember how intensely uncomfortable it made me. Those things people say about squirming in your seat were literally true for me. Her poem was angry and dark and sexual and as unashamed as her introduction to it had been. I remember my face heating, the desire for nervous laughter bubbling up within me, and, underneath all that, the most intense admiration and envy of her confidence.

It's been many years, but I can still hear her voice as clearly as if she sat beside me. That's still what I wish I could say about what I do, though all too often I wind up apologizing or trying to explain myself anyway. But there's an important way that, sometimes, she gives me permission.

From here on out in this post, trigger warning for rape and incest.
For this moment, I'll eschew further introduction and explanation, and share the link, blurb, and intro for my latest release, "The Good Brother."


Blurb:

In the second book of Samuel, the tragedies of the children of King David unfold. Tamar is raped by her brother Amnon. "The Good Brother" imagines Tamar, Amnon, and Absalom in a modern-day setting, and tells the story of Tamar's halting, stunted attempts at recovery after Amnon's attack, including her troubled & sexually charged relationship with Absalom.

+++

Coming Together: By the Book is a collection of stories which depicts relationships as they are portrayed in the Bible. Slavery, stoning, virgin daughters... it's all fair game. This anthology was inspired by the vehement ranting of anti-gay preachers who profess to know how their Lord wants us all to behave by citing a couple isolated lines of Leviticus from the Christian Bible.

Sales proceeds will benefit Darkness to Light, which works to end child sexual abuse.

Here's the opening to the story:

I. Dress

Tamar wore a salmon-colored dress the day her brother raped her. She had decided to buy it at the mall the weekend before, as she stood in the dressing room at the store, pleased to see she did not have to suck in her belly to make the dress's lines appear smooth and sleek on her body. The garment had made her feel delicate and lovely. Because of its crinoline lining, the skirt puffed out and floated around her as if she were a ballerina fairy princess.

She had worn this dress to her brother's house that day because it reminded her of childhood. In that color, in that skirt that made her want to spin around, she remembered playing in the yard with Amnon when they were little, tackling each other and giggling, too young to worry about grass stains, or to even know about them. Maybe she had worn it for him.

Had she worn it for him?

In the days afterward, the thought made her shudder.

After Amnon raped her, Tamar managed to drive, very slowly and carefully, to her other brother Absalom's house. She knocked on the door and went inside, and the first thing she did was shut herself up in Absalom's bathroom and take off the dress. Her mind burned with clinical precision. She noted every tiny tear in the crinoline, and each of the little bloodstains that had leaked out of her and onto the skirt because she had been on her period when Amnon forced her. She felt nothing, and she knew this was bad because, until that moment, she had loved the dress with innocent passion that now seemed to belong to a completely different woman.

The worst thing, perhaps, was that she thought she could repair the dress. Peroxide could wipe away the blood. A little needlework could fix the tears. Then no mark would be left proclaiming what Amnon had done to her.

Tamar did not fix the dress. Instead, she bunched it into a very tiny ball, then squeezed it until it grew tinier still, then ground it even smaller with so much effort that she had to clench her teeth. She took the trash bag out of Absalom's bathroom wastebasket and wrapped it around the dress, keeping everything tight and neat. With grim satisfaction, she watched through the clear plastic as his discarded razorblades pressed against the dress.

She stepped out of the bathroom naked, holding the bag, ignoring Absalom's cry of alarm. When he came toward her to wrap her in a robe, she went still for a moment, wondering if Absalom, too, wanted to fuck her, and wondering if she would like it with him more or less than with Amnon.

Tamar went limp and curious in Absalom's arms, just as she had with Amnon. It would have been nice if her mind was blank, but really it roiled with guilt, disgust, arousal, and fear. She let Absalom take her into the guest bedroom and put her on the bed. She spread her legs once she got there, and did not recognize what flashed through Absalom's eyes before he turned away. "Who did this to you?" Absalom whispered, and the ache in his voice broke Tamar's heart.

Now she sobbed. He held her. He must have thought she cried for herself. Absalom repeated his question.

Amnon's name now felt too private to say.

Absalom waited. When she remained silent, he kissed her on the forehead, took the bag containing the dress, thrust it into the closet at the very bottom of the laundry basket, and promised, "I'll kill him."

***

The rest of the story is available here.

***

I don't think I'll be able to resist doing some explaining eventually, because I do have things to say about this story, and the Bible story it's based on, and the line of stories it's part of, and the issues it raises. I'll let it stand alone for now, however, at least for today.

Plenty of Opportunities to Do Good While Being Bad

The erotic altruists at Coming Together have got three interesting anthologies coming up, all open to submissions.

Coming Together: For Equality has had its deadline extended to August 15.

Coming Together: For Equality is a collection of diverse erotic fiction with an anti-bullying theme edited by Beth Wylde. Proceeds benefit the Planting Peace - Equality House.

We're seeking erotic fiction of up to 10,000 words which deals with bullying in some form. While we expect to receive many stories featuring LGBT characters, all sexual pairings are welcome. Bullying takes many forms, not all of which are due to gender expression or sexual orientation. Surprise us!

Stories should be attached to an email in DOC or RTF format and sent to submissions at the-erotic-cocktail dot com with the subject: FOR EQUALITY SUBMISSION. In the body of the email, please include a brief author bio (with links to site/blog) and a promo blurb for the story. Reprints are welcome, provided the author holds the rights.

Contributing authors will receive complementary digital copies of the book. Additional compensation in karma.


Coming Together: In the Trenches is open until August 31.

Coming Together: In the Trenches is a military-themed collection of erotica and erotic romance edited by Lady Grey. All proceeds will benefit Protect Our Defenders.

We're seeking erotic fiction of up to 10,000 words with a military theme. All sexual pairings are welcome.

Stories should be attached to an email in DOC or RTF format and sent to submissions at the-erotic-cocktail dot com with the subject IN THE TRENCHES SUBMISSION. In the body of the email, please include a brief author bio (with links to site/blog) and a promo blurb for the story. Reprints are welcome, provided the author holds the rights.

Contributing authors will receive complementary digital copies of the book. Additional compensation in karma.


Coming Together: By the Book is open until August 31.

Coming Together: By the Book is a collection of erotica edited by Alessia Brio which depicts relationships as they are portrayed in the Bible. Slavery, stoning, virgin daughters... it's all fair game. This anthology was inspired by the vehement ranting of anti-gay preachers who profess to know how their Lord wants us all to behave by citing a couple isolated lines of Leviticus from the Christian Bible.

Sales proceeds will benefit Darkness to Light, which works to end child sexual abuse.

Stories of up to 10,000 words should be attached to an email in DOC or RTF format and sent to submissions at the-erotic-cocktail dot com with the subject BY THE BOOK SUBMISSION. In the body of the email, please include a brief author bio (with links to site/blog) and a promo blurb for the story that includes the Biblical relationship upon which the story is based. Reprints are welcome, provided the author holds the rights.

Please note, stories are not required to be set in Biblical times or couched in Biblical language. Modern adaptations are preferred.

Contributing authors will receive complementary digital copies of the book. Additional compensation in karma.

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Publishing with Coming Together has been one of the great joys of my life as an erotic writer. That's why I've kept coming back for more! It's a great group of people, and naughty charity is my favorite kind! I highly recommend it.

Call for Submissions: Girl on Girl

Leigh Ellwood is looking for sexy F/F shorts (2,500-10,000 words) for an anthology she's editing for Coming Together. As with all Coming Together titles, proceeds will go to charity -- in this case, the National Center for Lesbian Rights. For full details about what she's looking for, check out her guest post at Beyond Romance.

Neat Collection

I've just found out that Coming Together has collected the first five titles in the Coming Together: Neat series into an omnibus edition. This includes my novella, The Six Swans, as well as work by Jenna Byrnes, Wendy Stone, Giselle Renarde, and Rachel Green.

The omnibus is available in paperback or as an e-book. The five titles together come out to a hefty 324 pages, so it's a solid read for the money.

As with all Coming Together: Neat titles, all proceeds go to support entrepreneurs around the world on Kiva. If you'd like to see where mine have gone, check out my Kiva lending page here.

More Erotic Altruism On the Way!

The inestimable Sommer Marsden is editing the latest anthology from Coming Together, and it'll be hot and good for the braaaaiiin. That's right, Hungry For Love is a charity anthology of zombie erotica (set to benefit the American Diabetes Association), and I've got a story in it!

"Screen Siren" is a zombie romance set in Hollywood. The main character, Sam, has patched together a career as a second-rate director, using resources real directors wouldn't touch. This includes zombie actors. When the woman of Sam's dreams shows up undead, he has to live by the one rule he's learned in his punishing film career: You can't have what you want, so you have to take what you can get.

Keep an eye out for this and the rest of Ms. Marsden's chosen stories -- Hungry For Love is set to release on Halloween.

In the meantime, take a look at some of my other charity writing, featured in Coming Together: Arm in Arm in Arm (tentacle erotica, benefits Oceana), Coming Together: As One (menage stories, benefits ONE: the campaign to end global poverty), and The Six Swans from Coming Together: Neat (fairy tale erotica (benefits Kiva).

Thank you!

Freedom for a Small Part

Tentacle stories get me excited, so I'm totally stoked to have signed a contract to appear in Coming Together: Arm in Arm in Arm, edited by Nobilis Reed.

Reed is, amazingly enough, an experienced editor of tentacle porn -- he edited a previous book, Tentacle Dreams. And I'm expecting Arm in Arm in Arm to be pretty awesome. Here's a clip from how he described what he wanted:

Tentacle sex celebrates helplessness in the face of ravenous, remorseless, undeniable lust. I want to see stories with characters, settings, and plots. People change. The world is revealed. Things happen. They don't have to be deep, but they have to be there.

I want to see stories that stretch the boundaries of what defines tentacle porn. "Demon appears out of nowhere and rapes unsuspecting victim" is boring. Even hentai anime isn't doing that anymore. Give me more than that.

That line about ravenous, remorseless, undeniable lust stuck with me. In my story, "Freedom for a Small Part," I wanted to play with that idea. My tentacle creature starts out representing that stuff, lurking, threatening. But the main character eventually starts to wonder what it really wants. Might it be playing a role that helps it to stay alive?

Like all Coming Together books, this one's for charity. Proceeds benefit Oceana, an organization that works to protect the world's oceans. (I always wish I could see the look on someone's face at an organization like this when they figure out where the latest donation check came from).

I think you're going to want to pick this book up when it comes out, but if you want to indulge in a little erotic charity now, may I remind you of my two other titles with Coming Together? The Six Swans is a sexy retelling of the fairy tale, and it benefits Kiva, an organization that provides microloans to entrepreneurs all over the world. Coming Together: As ONE is a collection of menage erotica that benefits ONE, the campaign to end global poverty. My story is about the follower of Artemis who serves as a bridge between the goddess and a favorite male hunter.

Doing Good While Being Bad

When I decided to publish The Six Swans with Coming Together: Neat, I agreed to a pretty unusual payment plan. All proceeds for books from that particular line go to Kiva, a website that distributes microloans to entrepreneurs around the world. Think Kickstarter, except that the recipients have to pay the money back and you don't get stickers and tchotchkes for contributing.

Royalties from The Six Swans show up as Kiva gift cards, and I can lend them as I choose, along with other members of the Coming Together: Neat lending team.

The book came out in early April, so I'm just getting the chance to get in on this. I've written before that my participation in Coming Together has often surprised me -- I tend to show up for the erotica and the chance to work with the awesome people, and then later I realize I'm really happy about the "altruism" in the "erotic altruism" that Coming Together espouses.

This was definitely the case here. Only when I went to actually make my Kiva account did I realize how exciting this is.

Here's the deal: Writing is a dream come true for me. How cool is it that I get to help other people achieve their dreams as a byproduct of pursuing my own?

Kiva also allows a really cool sort of transparency. If you want to see where royalties for The Six Swans are going, you can check out my lender page and see who I'm supporting. I probably spent two hours picking out my first loan recipient, Leala. I picked her because I wanted to help a fellow Pacific Islander female.

I plan to periodically update this blog with information about what's going on with Kiva. And, as always, a big thank you to the folks at Coming Together, for helping me learn to do good while being bad.

If you'd like to contribute to this (and read hot stories in the process), you can pick up The Six Swans, or any of the other books in the Coming Together: Neat line.

Write for Coming Together!

Coming Together's Alessia Brio recently sent out a note about upcoming anthology calls -- a lot of neat stuff here!

Coming Together: Arm in Arm in Arm... (tentacle theme, benefits Oceana)
http://www.eroticanthology.com/tentacle.htm
Nobilis Reed, editor
Closes 6/30/12; Releases 9/xx/12

Coming Together: In Vein (vampire theme, benefits Doctors Without Borders)
http://www.eroticanthology.com/invein.htm
Lisabet Sarai, editor
Closes 8/1/12; Releases 12/25/12

Coming Together: Hungry for Love (zombies theme, benefits American Diabetes Assoc)
http://www.eroticanthology.com/zombies.htm
Sommer Marsden, editor
Closes 7/31/12; Releases 10/31/12

Coming Together: Triumphantly (healing/recovery theme, benefits Nat'l Women's Health Network)
http://www.eroticanthology.com/triumphantly.htm
Dorla Moorehouse, editor (Dorla is new to Coming Together, so she'll have a co-editor this time)
Closes 11/30/12; Releases 2/14/13

The Submissions page is here: http://www.eroticanthology.com/submissions.htm

A Wedding Without a Bride

My e-book, The Six Swans, was released this weekend by Coming Together. Here's an excerpt from early in the book:

Just that morning, he'd collided with an attendant in a castle hallway outside his mother's chambers. Cream-colored paper scattered on the stone floor. Never too proud, Evan had dropped to his knees to assist, only to discover his own seal on the unfamiliar documents.

Attendants in the castle respected him so little that the servant dared to protest when Evan broke the seal. And what could the young king do? Until he married or attained his 21st birthday, the law afforded the queen dowager as much power as it did him. He could throw the churl in the dungeon, but the gesture would be futile. His mother would laughingly order another disloyal attendant to release him, and the result would be a servant with a grudge and a public example of his political impotence. Face burning, Evan held his mother's creature away with an outstretched arm so that he could read the words attributed to him.

"A wedding?" Evan roared, so loudly that the Lady Anthes herself appeared in the hall. The king advanced on her. "Mother, when would I have found out about my own wedding? Who, pray tell, is the bride?"

His mother didn't have the grace to look frightened. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "I've asked you repeatedly to select a bride from among the many suitable ladies I have suggested."

"There can't be a wedding without a bride!"

"My point exactly. As you can see, you have two months' time to choose one."

"Cancel the blasted event! I've not agreed to marry anyone!"

"State weddings can't simply be halted in such a scandalous fashion. Royalty from the world over are already making preparations to attend. They may even be en route to this kingdom. You will have to set aside personal preference and do what is best for the state."

Evan tore the paper in half, then in half again, and threw it at her feet.

"Childish," Lady Anthes murmured, gesturing for a servant to take the torn paper away.

Evan glared at her. "How could my sudden marriage be best for the state? Surely, the woman would need time herself to prepare?"

"Any woman you choose will jump at the chance to be your queen. I've explained to everyone that, for security reasons, you can't allow the woman to be known until she's come to live in the castle."

Evan stepped in close, pitching his voice so only his mother could hear him. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Lady Anthes' face softened. She reached up and stroked a lock of Evan's hair. "You will turn 21 in a few months, my son, and the law will no longer allow me to rule by your side. I worry for you."

Evan gaped. He'd been a fool to hope for the freedom his birthday promised. His mother's machinations would force him to live with a viper in his bed—one groomed, no doubt, to report to Lady Anthes and no other. The law forbade a common bride, who might be grateful enough at the elevation of marrying a king to refrain from betraying him. Among noble ladies, his mother's influence extended even to the farthest kingdoms. Speechless with rage, Evan tore away from her.

He turned the old king's signet ring around and around on his finger. His mother had been distant until his father's death. In five short years, her presence had grown to crush Evan utterly. He called for his hunting party.

The Six Swans is available from Smashwords, 1PlaceForRomance, and Amazon. All proceeds go to Kiva, which offers microloans to entrepreneurs worldwide.

Announcing The Six Swans

My novella, The Six Swans, came out this weekend from Coming Together. Here's a description of the book:

The young King Evan struggles to become a man and ruler amid the choking influence of his mother’s spies and machinations. When he meets a silent, beautiful woman in the woods, he can’t resist the pure, honest sensuality of her touch. Bringing her to the castle as his wife and queen is Evan’s declaration of independence. The king’s hard-won happiness falls apart, however, when his mother accuses his new wife of murdering their first-born child. Evan believes that the private, physical language he shares with his queen tells him everything he needs to know, but as tragedy strikes again and again, his love and faith are tested to the breaking point.

"The Six Swans" retells an old fairy tale of a princess who must take a vow of silence to save her brothers from a curse, the king who falls in love with her despite the seeming insanity of the curse conditions, and the sexual connection that’s strong enough to overcome the isolating power of the princess’ vow.

I've written a lot about this publisher. The tagline is "Doing Good While Being Bad." All proceeds from sales of The Six Swans go to Kiva, an organization that gives microloans. The book is on sale for $1.99 from online retailers including 1PlaceForRomance, Smashwords, and Amazon.

The Accidental Erotic Altruist

I've taken my turn at bat for the Coming Together Share the Love Blog Bash today, over at Beyond Romance. From my post:

A long-standing fantasy of mine served as the foundation for this story. I called it “the bridge fantasy.” I imagined being the conduit through which two others expressed their love for each other. My body would be the canvas, but the sex act would stretch beyond me.

In “The Hunt,” the main character, Nikia, lives this fantasy, offering herself to the goddess Artemis and Theron, a hero who worships her. Artemis will suffer the touch of no man, but she wishes to reward Theron for his devotion. The resulting encounter, excerpted below, is a threesome in which Nikia serves as bridge between man and woman, mortal and immortal.

She’s a real erotic altruist, a messenger you would kiss and kiss again. But, like me, maybe it’s a little by accident. Nikia has plenty of selfish reasons for what she does, and plenty of reasons to think her efforts won’t matter in the end. And now I’m thinking this is how it looks whenever we reach beyond ourselves--we will always appear small and inadequate beside the greater glory of a good cause.

This is followed by an excerpt from "The Hunt," which is my story from Coming Together: As ONE. I'd give you a taste here, but an excerpt of an excerpt is just too meta for me.

Read the rest here, and leave a comment--I'm buying someone a copy of... Spankalicious!

Share the Love Blog Bash Schedule

A bunch of Coming Together authors are blogging about erotic charity this month at Beyond Romance, including a few heroes of mine (Remittance Girl, Sacchi Green, M. Christian, and more!).

Amazing giveaways, as well, including a Kindle Fire... So, check it out, and keep an eye out of February 24, when I'll be heading over there myself!

Share the Love Schedule
1st - Alessia Brio
2nd - Lisabet Sarai
3rd - Remittance Girl
4th - Heather Lin
5th - Ann Regentin
6th - Victoria Blisse
7th - Lisabet Sarai
8th - Sacchi Green
9th - Gia Blue
10th - Xan West
11th - Erobintica
12th - Andrea Dale
13th - Jean Roberta
14th - Nobilis Reed
15th - Robert Buckley
16th - Brenna Lyons
17th - C. Sanchez-Garcia
18th - Amelia June
19th - M. Christian
20th - Teresa Lamai
21st - Tilly Greene
22nd - Giselle Renarde
23rd - Aliyah Burke
24th - Annabeth Leong
25th - Raziel Moore
26th - Allison Wonderland
27th - Gayle C. Straun
28th - Daniel Burnell
29th - Lee Benoit

Erotic Charity

The Share the Love Blog Bash continues at Beyond Romance this month. People involved with Coming Together are writing about erotic charity -- and posting hot excerpts.

Here's a snip from Coming Together Presents editor Lisabet Sarai's post today:

For a long time now, I've wanted to volunteer my time to some worthy endeavor, but actually, with my work schedule, I don't have a lot of time available. Furthermore, I'd like to use my specialized skills for the benefit of others. Working in a soup kitchen or entertaining orphans doesn't really take advantage of my years of education and experience.

Then I found Coming Together - the perfect way for me to volunteer something uniquely mine and help make the world a better place.

Read the rest here.

Don't forget--there are awesome giveaways, including a Kindle Fire!