Sneak Peek: The Taste of a Soul

I promised hints to come of my story, "The Taste of a Soul," which Mofo Press is publishing in an anthology of religion-related erotica. So here is a good hint—the first few paragraphs:

He was your typical pride demon: leather-gloved fingers caressing the polished wheel of his Chevy Malibu as he drove, designer sunglasses, a weathered-faced smirk. His showpiece mortal posed for us in the passenger seat, giggling her life away as she sucked down one cigarette after another and tried not to drop ashes on her red silk party dress. Her loose, giddy laugh told a story of a soulless body, the high that comes in the wake of lost innocence and a distant conscience.

"Desiree?" he sneered. "That's what you're going by now?"

I took the bait and defended myself, sitting up straighter in the back seat so I could glare into his rear view mirror. "Most of them don't pick up the irony until far too late, if ever. Besides, you're not being very subtle yourself, Lord."

He clearly believed his answering expression to be boyish and charming, not insufferably smug. "I enjoy hearing them call me that. Especially her."

He dropped a hand onto the mortal's thigh, bunching the fabric of her skirt into his fist. "Lord," she breathed, her voice girlish to the point of obscenity. "My Lord."

I rolled my eyes, but the clichés of the scene didn't stop me from watching him work his hand altogether under the dress. She spread her legs to let him. Her lust smelled like sugared mandrake. I lifted an eyebrow and leaned to an angle that gave me a better look at her face.

Watch for more, and in the meantime, you can take a look at what Mofo's put out for you so far.

Announcing: The Taste of a Soul

I just signed a contract for a new short story, "The Taste of a Soul," which will be published in a forthcoming anthology of religion-related erotica by Mofo Press.

If you'd like a hint of what's to come, you can see the description of the submission call here.

Among other things, it says:

For this anthology, we are looking for erotic stories that explore the concept of religion. No other parameters apply other than that every story needs to be literary, erotic, and push the boundaries between the sacred and the profane.

We have a preference for Catholicism—the eroticism and hypocrisy are built right in—but stories involving other major world religions are fair game. We also have a soft spot for erotic explorations of world mythologies.

My story is about demons, inspired by Lana Del Rey.

This is a song I listened to lots while working on the story:

I'll give you more details when I've got them, and maybe a few sneak peeks along the way. :)

While you wait for this one, take a look at Mofo Press's Wanderlust anthology, which includes, among other things, a story by T.C. Mill, who is amazing.

Devout

I've signed a new contract with the fabulous Storm Moon Press, this time for a story that will come out in Devout, an anthology they're putting out centered on m/m priest stories. My story, "Never Not a Priest," explores what happens in a diocese grappling with new marriage-equality laws. Fr. Paul Lyman, a gay Anglican priest who has maintained a secret five-year relationship with a local adjunct professor, finds himself prompted by his conscience to give up his shadow existence and bring his lover into his real life in the parish. Many more details to come.

Odd side note: I seem to be developing a personal "religious erotica" subgenre. I've got several stories now where I include sincerely religious characters who are also sexual beings (and, as is my own experience of being a religious and sexual person, they're not very good at abstinence and have various feelings about whether they should try to be). If this interests you, Run for Your Love and One Flesh are out already. "Never Not a Priest" and "The Miracles of Dorothea of Andrine" are on the way.

The Miracles of Dorothea of Andrine

I've got another novella forthcoming from Forbidden Fiction, a fetish story set in a convent. Here's the blurb:

France, 1794

At Little Flowers Convent in a remote French village, the memory of the late Reverend Mother Dorothea of Andrine has inspired worshippers to great fervor amid reports of miracles of healing. Besieged with requests to beatify the holy woman who started this movement, the Church dispatches the Right Reverend Louis Montblanc, Bishop of Andrine, to investigate the cult of Dorothea. What the Bishop learns, however, causes him to raise the alarm with his superiors. The sisters at Little Flowers Convent have begun to teach about the ecstatic pleasure of the womb and claim to possess the power of the milk that fed the Savior. Bishop Montblanc vows to shut down their blasphemy and idolatry before their corruption can spread to the larger Church, but his journey to the convent plunges him into a world of temptation and religious rapture that shakes the foundations of his faith and threatens to leave him a broken man. (M/F, F/F, M/F/F)

More details when I've got them!

In the meantime, if you'd like to sample my dark erotica, you can check out my most recent title from Forbidden Fiction, Icarus Bleeds.