#Thursday13 Things #MFRWauthor @CeciliaTan Learned Writing #BDSM Romance

13 Things I Learned While Writing BDSM Romance

By MFRW Author Cecilia Tan 

Cecilia is "simply one of the most important writers, editors, and innovators in contemporary American erotic literature," according to Susie Bright. Her BDSM romance novel Slow Surrender (Hachette/Forever, 2013) won the RT Reviewers Choice Award in Erotic Romance. In a career that spans 23 years, Tan is the author of over a dozen novels including The Hot Streak, The Prince's Boy, and Daron's Guitar Chronicles, as well as the founder of Circlet Press. Her short stories have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Nerve, Best American Erotica, Asimov's Science Fiction, and tons of other places. Connect with Cecilia on her blog, facebook, and goodreads.

1. My reality is other people's fantasy. 
I was first swept off my feet by a brassy male dominant, put in bondage and mercilessly pleasured when I was 24 years old. It's every bit as passionate and rapturous as it sounds, and as a good romance novel should be.

2. Sometimes research is fun.
Even with firsthand experience, I haven't tried everything. I get to read the most interesting how-to books and blogs in the name of research!

3. Sometimes research is really REALLY fun!
The BDSM community has plenty of obliging folks in it, too. For the books SLOW SURRENDER and SLOW SEDUCTION I went and tried out a few things, including a little rope bondage and glass sex toys!

4. No one likes reading instruction manuals.
It was important to me that my BDSM scenes be sexy and seductive and sweep the reader away. I didn't want them getting stuck trying to figure out what kind of knots were being tied or what kind of rope was being used. Fortunately my heroine, Karina, didn't know a lot of the details, so it was very easy to leave them out of her point of view!

5. Teasing is a kink for readers, too.
James, the dom in SLOW SATISFACTION, has a delayed gratification kink. Fortunately that means the readers who love the way he brings Karina to the brink and then leaves her begging for release tend to be the ones with the patience to wait between books! (Fortunately all three books are out now, though!)

6. Balance the exotic with the familiar.
Just like in a BDSM scene, when you want to introduce a new kink, you rely on other familiar elements to keep the bottom or sub grounded, it's important in a book where you're pushing the characters to exotic, erotic extremes to have familiar ground for readers to tread, too.

7. Variety is the spice of life.
One of the great things about having BDSM in a book is that no two sex scenes are ever alike, even when they are plentiful and frequent, as they are in SLOW SURRENDER, SLOW SEDUCTION, and SLOW SATISFACTION.

8. Use all the senses.
They say good writing evokes all the senses, including scent and sound and touch and taste. In a BDSM scene there is no shortage of sensory hooks, from the scent and creak of leather, the feel of sting or tickle or burn, the taste of the glove or the whip when kissed...

9. BDSM is bonding.
A great romance shows how the bond between two characters grows and strengthens. BDSM gives the characters not only a lot of ways to interact, but lots of bonding material, everything from intense shared experiences to the private language or names they might share.

10. No pain, no gain.
Spanking, anyone?

11. Fear without fear. 
One of the great elements of BDSM role play is you get to include thrills, chills, and ""threats"" to the heroine without having to introduce actual jeopardy or threat of rape. The heroine and the reader get to experience a rollercoaster ride, not a plane crash.

12. Doms are bedroom alphas.
Sometimes I just can't read another ""alpha"" male who just comes across as a stalkerish, self-centered asshole. Doms put their power to the best use, in the bedroom (or dungeon), and don't abuse it elsewhere.

13. It never gets old. 
My next book series is going to have BDSM in it also, but there are so many combinations and kinks and roles to explore, no twosome will ever be exactly like another. I can't wait to get started on my next one!

MFRW Author Cecilia Tan released Slow Satisfaction (Struck by Lightning Series, Book 3), an Erotic Contemporary BDSM Romance, with Hachette/Forever in August 2014.


James has finally pushed Karina beyond her limit--not her limit for kinky sex play, but for his extreme secrecy. She has had enough and breaks things off. But James won't give up on Karina and will do whatever it takes to get her back. He's ready to share his deepest, darkest secrets, but is Karina ready to hear them? 

James offers Karina not only the truth but a place at his side... onstage. He wants Karina to star in his final musical production and enter his life and his world fully and completely. As the two work together, they rekindle the trust and love they'd lost. But James's world is full of deceit. When he is blackmailed by an unscrupulous music industry executive, James must give in to unreasonable demands or risk exposure of his and Karina's secret sex life. 

Will Karina and James's love be strong enough to withstand the many obstacles being thrown their way?

Unlimited pleasure. But passion has a price. The thrilling conclusion to the award-winning Struck by Lightning trilogy.

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Scarlet Ties: Taste BOOK SPOTLIGHT @SamaraKing #MFRWauthor

MFRW Author Samara King released Scarlet Ties: Taste, an Erotic Interracial Paranormal Romance, with Totally Bound Publishing.

A recluse vampire hotelier meets his match with a sexy reporter.

Reporter Ashlyn Douglas always gets what she wants. Her target—an interview with the elusive Rayven brother Cyrus, and to get the goods on the notoriously erotic-themed hotel that only a chosen few are able to visit. Ashlyn won’t admit to anyone the instant connection she feels towards Cyrus during her research on him and his twin brother, Coye. She has no intention of starting an affair. She plans to stick to the business at hand and get the truth behind the history of Rayven clan. But is Ashlyn ready for what Cyrus requests of her in return?

Cyrus Rayven isn’t a man of many words. His need for communication with the outside world left him the moment his mate, Jordana, died years ago. Though he has his choice of lovers, no woman has moved him since. That is until Ashley’s shapely curves and wicked tongue make everything within his cold vampire heart run scalding hot. He’ll grant the exclusive interview she seeks, but not before she spends five nights in his bed. Will Cyrus accept the newfound love between them?

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EXCERPT

The Manor made no distinction when it came to how a client chose to execute their

fantasies. They offered their services to an exclusive few, and the amenities afforded to those lucky enough to be chosen would keep the brothers in business for a long time to come. All clients were required to sign a waiver that forbade them to talk about their encounters with members of the media, and, as an extra precaution, patrons were driven to the facility blindfolded. So far, they had managed to avoid any major lawsuits or television coverage, not that the press and several magazines hadn’t tried every game in the book to gain access to the infamous Rayven brothers. If his brother, Coye, would be more discreet about his own affairs, their chances of keeping their secrets hidden would be even greater.
Cyrus scowled as he thought of his brother. Coye was never denied an opportunity to indulge. Sleeping with the mayor’s daughter had almost cost them their business a year ago. His sibling’s lack of restraint was merely one difference between them. Coye believed in utilizing his heritage as a Deiwalker to the hilt, while Cyrus saw it as a handicap.

ABOUT Samara King
Samara is the author of eighteen multi-genre works within romance fiction in novel and novella lengths as well as poetry. Writing romance has been a part of Samara’s world since her days of sneaking to the back of the library in grade school with a love story in tow; soon after, she wrote her own.

She was a Poet of the Year nominee in 2011 by African Americans on the Move Book Club and is a current member of The Romance Writers of America, several sister RWA chapters, and Sisters In Crime. Samara has penned stories for Totally Bound, Cobblestone Press, Loose Id, sexy mobile reads for Ether Books, and also writes under her imprint, Blush Novellas.

Samara previously co-hosted SoundNOff, a poetic format for poets and spoken word artists and hosted InCharacterN10, a former showcase for authors on Blogtalkradio.com/samaraking. Samara’s first poetry collection, The Ebony Kryptonite, was well received and was followed with Stripped Barefoot, a sultry mix of poetry and spoken word, which went on to reach #20 in Chicago’s Top 40 on Reverbnation in September 2013. Her next poetic endeavor, The Naked The Bare is slotted for 2015. To find out more about Samara’s poetry visit: http://reverbnation.com/samaraking or listeners may also find her on Spotify.

Currently, Samara is hard at work on her next romance series.

Cooking Up A Storm with #MFRWauthor @AshleyLadd

MFRW Author Ashley Ladd released Cooking Up A Storm, an Erotic GLBT Contemporary Romance with Totally Bound in July 2014.

Brooks and Rique desperately want to win the head chef’s position offered by an eccentric millionaire Jonah Verleun on his beautiful, private but peculiar island that includes a zoo full of exotic animals, an amusement park and a monster shark tank beneath Jonah’s bedroom floor. While Brooks wants the job to escape his heartache and the lover who thwarted him, Rique is hiding from the mob, hoping to live long enough to pay them off with the prize winnings. Fierce competitors, they cook up a storm in a series of cooking challenges while trying to turn down the heat on their intense attraction. When a hurricane strikes the island, the storm Rique has been cooking up explodes, and no heart—or body—is safe. Brooks and Rique desperately want to win a coveted chef’s job offered by an eccentric millionaire in paradise. Even more, Rique desperately wants to stay alive.

BUY LINK

EXCERPT

They ran, hunched over, zigging and zagging as bullets flew around them. Rique damned himself for putting Brooks in this mess. He wondered if the mob held the others prisoner and that’s why they didn’t answer the door.
He turned the first corner they came upon and then the next. He stopped dead and the air left his lungs. A moment later Brooks ran into his back almost knocking him over. He swayed dangerously but managed to stay upright and spread his arms wide to keep Brooks from stumbling forward.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. One of Jonah’s tigers lay in their path crouching low, baring his teeth, and eying them as if they were dinner.
He tried to quell the jitters attacking his stomach so the animal wouldn’t smell his fear then whispered to Brooks through clenched teeth, “What do we do now? Freeze or run?”
“Run. But where?” Brooks whispered back, a frown trembling on his lips.
“To the closest protection.” He prayed their hunters had lost them, that they wouldn’t run back into a barrage of bullets. As Rique bunched his muscles to run, already feeling the animal’s fangs ripping into him, he noted how the tiger’s thick muscles corded in his shoulders, and how saliva ran down his snarling lips.
“Dear God, we’re going to die.” Panic laced Brooks’ voice. “If we get out of here alive, let’s both turn down the job and move in together.”
Swallowing hard, Rique couldn’t reply so he nodded. Besides, as much as he wanted to live with Brooks, he couldn’t do it as long as he was indebted to the mob. However, the point was moot. He couldn’t see a scenario in which one of them didn’t die in the next five minutes.
Feeling responsible, Rique couldn’t let anything happen to Brooks as long as he was alive. He would take on the tiger giving Brooks time to reach safety. “On the count of three, run!”
As Rique whispered, “One,” hisses, then a blood-curdling growl wrenched the air. It was a different sound than the tiger was making. Then a crocodile bellowed and jumped out of the bushes and snatched the tiger by its belly. As it dragged the struggling creature back to the bushes, the tiger howled in surprise and pain. It clawed the air in vain as the reptile’s powerful jaws clamped tighter biting through flesh and bone.

ABOUT Ashley Ladd
Ashley lives in South Florida with her husband, five children, and beloved pets. She loves the water, animals (especially cats), and playing on the computer. She's been told she has a wicked sense of humor and often incorporates humor and adventure into her books. She also adores very spicy romance, which she weaves into her stories.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW
If money were not an object, where would you most like to live?
Cincinnati, Ohio. I miss my hometown. It’s the most beautiful place on earth and I’m homesick. I made a wish when I was sixteen that I wanted to live in sunny Florida—and guess what? I’ve been living in my dream land for the past twenty-five years. Be careful for what you wish. Now I’m ready to go home.

If you were a tool, what would people use you to do?
A jigsaw. So they could build beautiful furniture.

What song would best describe your life?
This is a toughie. “Fuckin’ Perfect” by Pink

Picture yourself as a store. Considering your personality and lifestyle, what type of products would be sold there?
Cat and kittens and products to make them happy and healthy. I’m the original cat lady. 

What is your secret guilty pleasure?
Milk duds when I’m at the movie theater.

If you were stranded on a tropical island, who would it be with? You can choose any living, deceased or mythical figure.
Indiana Jones

Can you describe the funniest thing that ever happened to you?
I was one of our newscasters in high school, and I had to read a newscast to the entire school off a roll of toilet paper while sitting on a toilet. My cousin, who is also one of my classmates, will never let me forget it.

Tell us about the scariest thing that ever happened to you.
When I was six, I was learning how to ride my bicycle in my front yard with my parents and several of my friends watching. I was doing quite well until the phone rang and both my parents ran inside to answer it. Then I made a wrong turn and went down the steep hill on the side of our house—straight into our woods. I couldn’t stop. I rode straight into a three-pronged tree, broke my nose, and knocked loose a lot of teeth.

What’s your most embarrassing moment?
Besides sitting on a toilet reading a newscast off a roll of toilet paper in front of the entire school? I think that was also my most embarrassing moment. Nothing else comes to mind.

If you were on a reality show, what one would it be?
What Not To Wear (at least that’s the one my daughter wants to send me to)

City life or country life?
I used to think I’d love to live in the country, but I’m too spoiled by city living now so I’ll have to say city. I love the conveniences too much.

Ebook or paperback?
Ebook! I love e-readers. They feel so Star Trek and I’m such a Trekkie. Plus I’m far-sighted and even with glasses it helps that I can adjust the font large with ebook readers.

Zebras or elephants?
Zebras—because I love horses and they’re similar to horses.