Release Day AND Launch Day!

Well, technically release day for my new BDSM novella, Master Class, is this Sunday, but it is available for download now directly at Riptide Publishing, along with seven other of our brand new titles, and I am so excited I could spit. (Or pass out; I haven't really slept much this week.)

I wanted to take this time to offer a quick thanks and congratulations to my partners at Riptide: Aleksandr Voinov, Chris Hawkins, and Tal Valante. This is it, guys--we did it :D

And I most especially want to offer my thanks to all of you readers and fans and blog tour partners out there who've made Riptide's launch such a success. I hope we can entertain you for many years to come.

Now if I may . . . our now-available shiny, let me show u it:

Free BDSM Drabble

Master Class releases this Friday for those who've pre-ordered (it's not too late!), and this Sunday for those who haven't. At the same time, of course, comes Riptide Publishing's official opening (OMG!), and I'm nervous and excited and terrified and thrilled all at once about both these things. Anyway, I thought, what better way to celebrate the upcoming release of my BDSM novella and seven other fantastic titles at my publishing house than to give away a little free fic?

So, beneath the jump for (very brief) mention of naughty bits, please find a little drabble featuring Devon and Nicky, the protagonists from both Master Class and SUBlime: Collected Shorts.

A Milestone Week!

Happy Monday, all! Two pretty awesome things happened to me since last we spoke:

1. I just wrapped up edits on Crescendo about ten minutes ago. (Click to embiggen the pretty.) It's all over now but for the copyedit pass. I feel, oh, about fifty pounds lighter than I did last night :D

2. OMGOMGOMGOMG RIPTIDE! :O :O :O Hang on, I'll try to stop squeeing long enough to de-cat-macro . . . *deep breath* Okay, yeah, so, on October 1, Riptide Publishing unveiled its new web store and opened for pre-orders. (Every book you pre-order gets you entered into a contest for free books for a year, yay!) We also began our official Grand Opening Celebration, also known as "the 300-stop, multi-author blog tour with thousands and thousands of dollars in prizes."

It's been quite the wild ride already. We're hearing lots of great feedback about our site, and particularly about our innovative warning and tagging system for every book. It'd take a while to explain, so let me just point you at my shiny Master Class book page and tell you to check out all those fancy tabs and toggles at the bottom, especially the "additional details" one. Go on, I'll wait.

Welcome back! (Did you buy stuff? ;-p) Seriously, how neat is that site feature? Isn't that awesome? I'd love to see that everywhere I shop.

So, couple quick tour links for you:

On Saturday, I was at Amara's Place with partners Aleks and Chris for the official ribbon cutting, and there's a loooooooooooooong interview there that I think will be interesting to anyone who's ever wondered what's involved in launching a business.

Also on Saturday, Brief Encounters did a lovely review of Master Class (4.5 stars, yay!), and on Sunday I did a guest blog about the psychological aspects of BDSM there. There are some interesting conversations going on in the comments; I hope you'll come join us!

In the not-all-about-me tour news, Storm Grant had an interview at Literary Nymphs on Saturday, where she was her usual hilarious self. And on Sunday, Peter Hansen was at Loves Books and More discussing the conceits of youth and how WWF chair-bashing fits into your standard writing workshop curriculum :D Today, Brita Addams kicks off an entire week at Amara's Place with a great interview; and Aleks Voinov is over at Erotica For All, dishing on his latest crush, among other things.

Tomorrow I'll be at Erotica For All, too, but I can't for the life of me remember what Lucy interviewed me about. Whatever it was? It was probably awesome. And hey, even if it wasn't, remember that every comment you leave on the tour enters you for a chance to win about a bazillion prizes, so even if I bore you to death, you should still stop on by and throw your hat in for that iPad ;-)

New Cover Art, and AAD Bound

Morning folks! I promised you on Monday that I'd tell you a little about Master Class, my new BDSM novella releasing with my new business venture, Riptide Publishing, this fall. I'm still waiting on the official blurb, but here's a rough rundown:

Nicky Avery is starring in the Broadway revival of Godspell, but he lacks the confidence and self-respect to look beyond a string of heartless one-night stands to fill his needs. A quick flogging, a rough fuck, he blows off steam and seeks a new whip-hand to manipulate next. He finds challenge but no satisfaction in such pseudo-domination and pain. Nobody's managed to master him, and he thinks that's just fine. But he simply doesn't know what he's missing.  

Devon Turner is a self-possessed film star and expert Dom who knows what he wants the moment he sees it, and what he wants is Nicky Avery. Nicky's clearly a broken boy, but Devon knows exactly how to put his new sub back together again. 

Yes, those are the boys from Sublime: Collected Shorts, finally getting their full-length story. Well, novella length :-)

Also, my gorgeous cover art by L.C. Chase, let me show you it. (Click to embiggen.)

The book is complete, so expect a blurb and some excerpts soon!

In the meanwhile, I'm heading off to Authors After Dark tomorrow morning, and I'll be there through Sunday. If you're hunting for an invitation to submit to Riptide, I'm amenable to being pitched. I'll be hosting a hospitality suite at 9am on Friday with the lovely Cat Grant, so that's a good time to find me.

Friday will be hot men picspam, and I'll be back on Monday with tales (and blackmail photos) from the con.

Master Class: BDSM Sneak Peek

Happy Monday, all! I'm totally bouncy today because I've just finished edits on Master Class, a contemporary M/M BDSM novella(ette) I wrote a while back and subbed to Carina Press. Master Class is the story of how Devon ("Sir") and Nicky--the stars of Sublime: Collected Shorts--first meet and start to fall for each other. And it is smokin' hot.

The headless torsos of Sir (back) and Nicky (front).

Alas, Carina was looking for romance with erotic elements, and Master Class is very much erotica with romantic elements, so in the end, despite their brilliant editorial feedback, they just weren't the right fit for this story. When I realized that, I put Master Class away for a while to focus on Crescendo, figuring I'd decide what to do with it later, but the BDSM bug bit me earlier this week and demanded I decide what to do with it right now. And when the muse calls, you damn well better listen.


So . . . I just wrapped up edits tonight, and I think I've decided where I'll be submitting it. The story is definitely better than it was last week, and it's also about a thousand words longer, though still just a quick tasty bite at 16,400 words (about 50 pages). Hopefully I'll have good news for you all soon. In the meanwhile, here's a sneak peek of Master Class, beneath the jump. It is definitely on the NSFW side. And don't be too alarmed by Devon's, er, vigor--Nicky is the sluttiest of pain sluts I've ever met :-)

Sir/Nicky Update, and Snowpocalypse Part XVI

I heard today from the lovely folks over at Carina Press about my Sir/Nicky origin story, Master Class. Sir (or Devon, to you) and Nicky are the boys in Sublime, and Master Class is the story of how they met. I've been asked to revise and resubmit, which is definitely a happy thing, and I was blown away by the attention to detail and the editorial care taken with the suggestions sent my way. They'll make Master Class a much stronger story.

Unfortunately, that also means it's going to be a little while before Master Class will reach the figurative bookshelves. I don't know if I'll have time to work on heavy-duty revisions for that and still hit the deadline for Crescendo. Since Crescendo is under contract, it has to take first priority. It may therefore be a few months before I get Master Class resubmitted, and then of course it has to go through the review process all over again with Carina's acquisition editors.

Regardless of how it goes, I'll be sure to keep you all updated. I still have a great deal of love and excitement for that story, and for Devon and Nicky in general, and I'm as anxious to share it with you all as some of you are to read it.

Now, onto Snowpocalypse Part Bazillion. After last week's 16" of snow (and the two feet the week before that), we're all pretty damn sick of shoveling out. But apparently, Mother Nature's as sadistic a bitch as I am, for more is coming tonight, and it's gonna be a whopper. They say the storm will last about 36 hours, and in my region, they're expecting it to dump a lot of ice. Since our power lines are aboveground, this makes for a very high likelihood of losing power. Which means no heat in the single-digit weather, and even worse, no internet. I don't even have a smartphone, so if I disappear for a while, odds are good I'm just without power, and I'll catch you on the other side.

Oh also, here's the link to the Other Worlds of Romance podcast I did last night. I read the first two chapters of Anchored (zomg so embarassing!) and answered some questions about Anchored.