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Leta Blake

author. human. working hard to become stellar at life.

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Taking Stock of My Year: 2017 Accomplishments & 2018 Goals

December 30, 2017 by Leta

Once again it’s time to take stock of what I’ve accomplished in the last year and what I’d like to do in the next one. As I said last year, I live in a perpetual state of feeling like I’ve never accomplished enough. So sometimes it’s healthy for me to take a minute to say, “Look, you did these things. There’s actual proof!” Also, that’s one of my goals for 2018, to believe I am, and do, and have enough. Because I am, and do, and have enough. It’s true.

In 2017, I published the following new books:

 

Slow Heat Leta Blake

 

In 2017, I released the following audiobooks:


 

In 2017, I  released the following translations:

FRENCH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GERMAN

ITALIAN

In 2017, I also:

  1. wrote 90,000 words of a Christmas book that will be released in December 2018
  2. wrote 33,000 words of Alpha Heat, the sequel to Slow Heat to be released in 2018
  3. wrote 15,000 words of a new Blake Moreno book
  4. added almost 10,000 words to a m/f serial I poke at off and on every year
  5. edited or revised several other unfinished manuscripts, adding words, re-imagining them, or edging them closer to completion
  6. content edited 9 works by other authors ranging in length from 10,000 words to 140,000 words

IN ADDITION, in 2017, I began my Patreon account. This account has been the source of immense emotional, social, and financial support in the last year and I’m so grateful for each and every patron there. I can’t express how much they all mean to me and how they’ve made so much of the good things that happened this year possible. They funded the audiobooks. They held my hand through the realization that my Christmas book would not be ready for release this year. They’ve waited for promised books to have their turn. There’s something to be said for the constant knowledge that I have approximately 100 people out there who believe in me and the books so very much that they are my monthly patrons. My heart swells near to bursting and when writing gets hard, that knowledge is the reason I go on with it. Well, that and the fact that I can’t ever NOT go on with it.

 

Last year in my year end round-up post, I said, “It’s my belief that 2017 will be a building year for me. It will be a lot of work and expense with potentially little profit. It will probably feel a lot like the uphill part of the roller coaster…” and that was a fairly accurate prediction. As you can see, there have been many runs at increasing or creating word count on future book potentialities.

Which brings me to my 2018 Goals…

  1. Alpha Heat, Slow Birth, and Alpha Birth – these are my top priority books for 2018.
  2. Mr. Frosty-Pants – editing and fixing the 90,000 word rough draft in time for Christmas 2018 is my second priority.
  3. Don’t Get Me Wrong – 90’s Coming of Age Book 3 – editing and completing this book, of which I have a 90,000 word rough draft, is my third priority for 2018.
  4. If I manage to get all of the above completed, then I have a Blake Moreno book that I have a rough draft of and a Leta Blake book 40% completed, and I’d choose which of those to focus on.

I actually have several other books listed in my Official 2018 Publishing Plan, stretch goals so to speak. But I won’t mention them here because I feel like managing expectations is probably important, and, frankly, what I’ve listed above is a lot given the realities of my current life as mother of a tween.

I have a number of personal goals for 2018, too, including yoga and travel plans. 2017 was a dark year for me and I do believe that the current political atmosphere negatively impacted my output in a lot of ways. But I’m heading into 2018 with a new outlook regarding my work and myself: I am enough, I do enough, and I have enough. I will make what I can, as I can, and I won’t make myself depressed or sick trying to achieve more, more, more.

Now, to sign off for the year. THANK YOU to all of you amazing, wonderful, fantastic readers and fans out there. You’ve made my writing career a dream come true, and I’m grateful to each and every one of you. I know that when you read a book, you’re spending your precious time, something that can’t ever be gotten back, and I’m beyond grateful for the fact that so many of you choose to spend that sweet time with my characters and books. My joy and sincere wonder in that can’t be expressed in words. Instead, I’ll try to radiate it out to you like a shining sun.

May 2018 bring you all the knowledge that you, too, are enough, do enough, and have enough. May the darkness we’ve been swimming in be purified in the light generated by our love for each other and our determination to bring about a better tomorrow for all of our families, and for ourselves. Cheers!

Cross-posted to https://steemit.com/lgbt/@leta-blake/taking-stock-of-my-year-2017-accomplishments-and-2018-goals

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2017, books, ebooks, end of the year, new releases, releases, round up, taking stock, translations, year end

NOW AVAILABLE! Pictures of You by Leta Blake (90's Coming of Age, Book 1)

September 18, 2016 by Leta

pictures-of-you-promo-2
“Go ahead and start getting excited about this.” Katie, Back Porch Reader
“An amazing story that I couldn’t put down!” Jaime, Alpha Book Club
“Five freakin’ awesome stars. Wow, Leta, you have outdone yourself.” Jewel, My Fiction Nook
“I couldn’t put this book down. I absolutely loved it.” Tracy, Bayou Book Junkie
“What a book! It consumed me from start to finish.” Amy, Goodreads Librarian/Reader
***
pictures-of-you-high-res-3

Growing up gay isn’t easy. Growing up gay in Knoxville, Tennessee is even harder. 

Eighteen-year-old Peter Mandel, a private school senior—class of 1991—is passionate about photography. Peter doesn’t have many friends, preferring to shoot pictures from behind the scenes to keep his homosexuality secret.

Enter Adam Algedi, a charming, worldly new guy who doesn’t do labels, but does want to do Peter. Hardly able to believe gorgeous Adam would want geeky, skinny him of all people, Peter’s swept away on a journey of first love and sexual discovery. But as their mutual web of lies spins tighter and tighter, can Peter find the confidence he needs to make the right choices? And will his crush on Daniel, a college acquaintance, open a new path?

Join Peter in the first book of this four-part coming of age series as he struggles to love and be loved, and grow into a gay man worthy of his own respect.

This new series by Leta Blake is gay fiction with romantic elements.

Book 1 of 4.

These books contain aspects of: New Adult fiction, ‘90s gay life, small city homosexual experiences, Southern biases, sexual exploration, romance, homophobia, bisexuality, and twisted-up young love. Oh, and a guaranteed happy ending for the main character by the end of Book 4.

amazon-square-border1

 

Crossposted to Steemit.

Filed Under: ebook, ebooks, Gay, Gay Rights, How to be a better person, LGBT, Reading, writing Tagged With: 1990s, adam, bisexual, books, coming-of-age, daniel, gay, knoxville, leslie, new adult, peter, pictures of you, poy, reading

2015 – You were a year! And I did some things in you! #2015 #yearinreview

December 21, 2015 by Leta

Golden glitter

 

So tonight is the winter solstice. The longest night of the year. The true turn of the year. From this point until Summer Solstice, the days will slowly get longer and longer. Earlier tonight, a friend pointed out an article from a fellow writer suggesting that we stop beating ourselves up for all the things we didn’t get done this year and instead celebrate the things we did do. I thought that sounded like a stress-busting idea, so why not? I’ll divide my 2015 accomplishments into professional and personal.

 

Professional:

  1. Amazon USI don’t think it’s terrible to say that this one kicked my ass while writing it. Every release has challenges, but this one had extra challenges. The fact that I wrangled this into a book-shaped finished product is kinda amazing. No matter what, I give myself a high five for accomplishing it. (Let’s set aside whether or not I should have accomplished it, because the fact is that I did.) It was Rainbow Award runner-up in Erotic Romance.
  2. Amazon USIndra Vaughn and I co-wrote this book. We started in, hm, March, I think? And we had a finished product out in September. I think Indra deserves a lot more credit than I do because she wrote her parts while undergoing serious life-upheaval that might have undone anyone else. I’m incredibly proud of her and I’m proud of what we accomplished together. I think this is one of the most romantic books I’ve had the honor to write. In fact, I know I shouldn’t say this, but it might be my favorite book that I’ve had a hand in making. It wasn’t without difficulties. Co-writing–no, writing–never is, but, hey, look-it. It’s there. It’s just out there in the world being all romantic and lovely and I love it so much.
  3. www.GIFCreator.me_uJ2MqQYeah, that’s right. Three novella-length installments of a new serial, co-written with Alice Griffiths. Our goal is for each installment to be “worth it”, so each of them is at least 30,000 words, but most are closer to 35,000 words. I honestly have no idea what that translates into with pages. As a writer, I think in terms of words, but I know that it’s not easy to wrangle words into behaving, and I feel like the pacing and beats of the first three episodes of this serial are fun, funny, and ultimately romantic. I’m having a wonderful time with them. Also, look at Dar’s gorgeous covers! I am proud of what we’ve accomplished, but this one is harder for me, since there is still work to be done, and my main stress in life right now revolves around accomplishing miracles with the timing of the next three releases. BUT THIS IS ABOUT HOW AWESOME 2015 HAS BEEN SO…YAY WILL & PATRICK!
  4. Previously released as Love's Nest in 2013.  There’s no greater mystery in the kingdom than where Prince Mateo’s sisters disappear to each night. The king is determined to discover where they go and issues a challenge to all the nobles to help him learn their secret. Hoping to protect them, Mateo hides beneath a magic cloak and follows his sisters to an enchanted world of fairies and lusty delights.  Ópalo has waited years to finally meet his human lover. Fairies are bound by fate, and Ópalo is eager to embrace his, and plans a future with Mateo. But while Mateo soon succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh, he refuses to surrender his heart so easily.  As their worlds collide, Ópalo has to risk everything to win his man forever.Previously released in 2012 as Earthly Desires.I was able to re-release Levity (originally Earthly Desires) and Flight (originally Love’s Nest). Keira re-released Rise (originally Ascending Hearts). I didn’t really have to do much. I considered adding and expanding, but decided that the past is better left in the past, and it was better to move onward. So, these books are out with new covers and the names we’d originally planned.
  5. Le Retour de LeithI worked with Juno Publications to release a French translation of The River Leith (Le Retour de Leith).
  6. I worked with Monica Rivero to release a Spanish translation of Smoky Mountain Dreams.\
  7. 10649056_637038253093061_8696039872764541650_oI attended the Rainbow Book Fair in New York City and had an amazing time meeting readers and re-connecting with other authors and bloggers. It was a wonderful experience and I wish I was going to attend again in 2016, but I’ve got some intense writing goals for the year, so I’ll have to pass.
  8. 1496511_675580195905533_3921520308550706892_oI attended Rainbow Con in Tampa, Florida. Here I am with Eli Easton. I had an absolutely fantastic time with other authors and with the readers who showed up for the event. There’s nothing like bonding with other authors!
  9. beta-reader-superheroI beta read a bunch of books. Like a lot of them. And I think I did a good job at it. At least, I hope I did. I was, if nothing else, honest as hell. And sometimes that might feel like hell. But, hey, yay, I told you before the readers did, so WIN!!
  10. newsletter_1446671813I set up a newsletter! And I’ve sent out a message a month! I’ve enjoyed cultivating recommendations and letting readers know when I have a new release.
  11. I’m sure I accomplished other things, too. But this is good for now. I feel like less of an abject failure, at least. *high fives self*

Personal:

  1. I learned how to cook this year. More than that, I learned to enjoy it. That is huge, utterly massively huge. It’s something I’d never have expected and yet I managed it.
  2. I learned that parsnips are AMAZING and that my life was incomplete without them. Yes, this is related to #1, but PARSNIPS.
  3. My daughter is thriving.
  4. My husband is doing well. Though, honestly, I feel like I should set a goal for 2016 to improve the time we spend together.
  5. I got Christmas accomplished! Well, kind of. I mean, it’s not over yet and it’s possible I forgot something. We’ll see.
  6. I tried very hard not to suck as a friend. I guess my success at that should be determined by my actual friends’ opinion, but I did try not to suck. I feel like I failed sometimes and not because of my efforts, but because of life.
  7. Hmm, maybe I need to do better with personal goals. Like, say, exercise. And being present. And not obsessing about getting books out.

All in all, 2015 was a good year for me. There were some personal struggles because so many people I love dearly are going through hard times, but as far as my day-to-day life goes, it was pretty darn good. So here’s to 2015. You were kinda cool. I loved a lot about you. I wish that you’d been kinder to some of my pals, but I can’t control that. (Boundaries! That’s another thing I’m getting better at as I age, and 2015 was pretty good with boundaries. Most of the time.)

Thank you to all the readers out there! Being a writer wouldn’t be half as much fun without you!

wine_1423468c

 

Filed Under: fairy tales Tagged With: 2015, books, co-writing, co-written, ebooks, performance review, rainbow award, releases, runner-up, serial, year in review

Leta Blake Will Be Attending RainbowCon|July 16-19, 2015 – Celebrating Artistic Diversity!

June 22, 2015 by Leta

Screenshot 2015-06-22 at 4.02.37 PM

I’m going to be attending Rainbow Con this July! If you’re in the Tampa area, come out and see me!

I’ll be sitting and speaking on the following panels:

Collaborations in Writing, Thursday, July 16, 2pm
Taboos in Fiction and Fandom, Friday, July 17, 11am
Tropes: Subverting, Averting, and Inverting, Friday, July 17, 4pm
Author Signing, Saturday, July 18, 10am
#ItsGonnaBeFun #BeThere #LoveIt

“Take a walk on the wild side!

The Second Annual Rainbow Conference (RainbowCon) is coming up this July at the Holiday Inn Westshore by Tampa International Airport in Florida. It’s an exciting event centered around QUILTBAG (Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans*, Bisexual, Asexual, and Gay/Genderqueer) multimedia. This includes fiction, fanfiction, non-fiction, television, movies, stage, music, comics, fan art, and anything else involving QUILTBAG media. For 2015 and 2016, we’re being hosted by the lovely Holiday Inn Westshore in Tampa, Florida!”

via RainbowCon – Celebrating Artistic Diversity!.

Filed Under: Gay, LGBT, Trans* Tagged With: books, con, diversity, i'm a writer they say, lgbt, quiltbag, rainbow con, rainbowcon, tampa, writing

Paperback Cover Reveal! Training Complex by Leta Blake #paperback #mmromance

May 1, 2015 by Leta

trainingcomplexprintcover

 

trainingcomplexprintcover

training-complex-web-copy

 

I’m absolutely thrilled with the wrap cover for the paperback of Training Complex. It will be available soon after the ebook is released. Thanks to Dar Albert at Wicked Smart Designs for her amazing cover skills! The new book is coming soon, but in the meantime feel free to add it at Goodreads.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: books, covers, ebook, gay, gay romance, leta blake, paperback, training season

Price Confusion on Amazon UK- VAT issues or just effed up? #problems #pricing

January 6, 2015 by Leta

So I decided to make sure that the new VAT laws weren’t causing any problems with my titles at the various Amazon stores. I admit, I’ve rarely paid attention to the prices in other countries, so I have no idea if these discrepancies are new or not. But, honestly, they are maddening and I’ve yet to hear back from the Amazon peeps. (Though I admit I only just emailed them last night and so I’m being rather impatient.)

Anyway, check this out. As you can see below, Training Season and Smoky Mountain Dreams are both $5.99 at all US outlets.

SMD_TS_AmazonPrice_US
Amazon US

 

SMD_TS_ARePrice
All Romance Ebooks

 

SMD_TS_BN_US_Price
Barnes & Noble US (I only have The River Leith at Nook UK)

 

SMD_TS_SWPrice
Smashwords (SMD gets a bit cut off, but you can see that it is $5.99)

Which brings us to the pricing at Amazon UK:

SMDAmazonPrice_UK

SMDPoundtoDollar

TSAmazonPrice_UK

TSPoundtoDollar

So, what’s the deal there? Am I paying the 20% VAT from my royalties these prices? I believe I am, right? So I should want both of them to be more like the Smoky Mountain Dreams price…though that seems a bit steep. Math isn’t my best subject, but I’m pretty sure that price difference is more than 20%? And the Training Season price doesn’t even cover the 20% VAT, I’m pretty sure? So I’m losing money on one and making a bit than I should on the other? And where did they even get these prices? My understanding was that they would be automatically increasing the UK prices to add in the tax. And yet these two books, which are the same price everywhere else, even at Amazon.de, are pretty differently priced at Amazon.uk. What’s up, dudes?

Another weird example is Keira’s and my book via Ellora’s Cave, Love’s Nest. Now, in my opinion, that book is overpriced in the US, but the difference between the US prices and the UK prices make zero sense, to be honest. Check this out.

LovesNestAmazonPrice_US

LovesNestARePrice

LovesNestECPrice

WTF, dudes, this is the UK price.
LovesNestAmazonPrice_UK

LovesNestPoundtoDollar

Even if we claim price-matching is happening, that doesn’t make sense because the UK price doesn’t come anywhere close to even the lowest US price. No makey-sensey. Or does it and I’m just not seeing it?

Help? Anyone dealt with this before? Is it a VAT glitch or something else entirely?

ALSO? Argh. I don’t want to waste my time on this kind of thing. Very annoying.

Filed Under: ebook, ebooks Tagged With: amazon, amazon uk, book pricing, books, prices, something doesn't add up, taxes, VAT, wtf

Casting Smoky Mountain Dreams #bonusmaterial #gayromance

December 2, 2014 by Leta

I don’t always cast my books, though sometimes it does help me to get a handle on a character if I have a very clear view of what they look like. While I absolutely love and am entirely satisfied with the cover of Smoky Mountain Dreams, the guys don’t fit the image I had in my head for Christopher or Jesse, nor do they fit the almost-good-enough attempts I made at casting them with photographs. I thought it might be fun to show readers the closest, but not quite right, approximations I’ve got for a few of the characters in the book.

First, let’s talk about Christopher. The inspiration for Christopher was originally a real human being that I saw performing at Dollywood. He was handsome enough, but not stunning, thin enough but not cut, cute but not amazing, and his singing talent was well beyond my own but he’d never be famous. I have no idea what his name was, but I decided then and there to write a book about him. Well, eventually, I wanted to describe Christopher in more detail and I set about trying to find a photo that captured what I’d found so compelling about this performer at Dollywood. I finally settled on this picture of Jesse Spencer. Though I feel compelled to say that not every picture of Jesse Spencer works for Christopher, in fact, this may be the only one. But I returned to this one time and again to try to capture the feeling the character of Christopher gave to me.

chrstipoher

Now, Jesse was a lot harder. I had a couple of pictures I referred to for him, actually. One that mainly just captured the body confidence I thought Jesse had. But this one is probably the closest in terms of the face. Only, uh, without that full, messy beard .Jesse just had scruff, and the hair is shorter by a bit, and his eyes are tired here because of the burdens of his life (and maybe the sex he had with Christopher all night long), but, yes, this was the closest I could find…probably. It’s still not just right, but whatcha gonna do? 😀

434b08be96e781003a23f4590d2a6996

More pictures of that model (Maximilio Pantane) that I used as references for Jesse:

jesse2

Both of these were my references for Young Jesse:
Maximiliano_Patane youngjesse

 

Now, Gareth. Yes, he was pretty easy. I saw this picture one day and was like, “Holy crap, what is Gareth doing on Pinterest??” So, yes, this is what I think Gareth looks like.

gareth

Every reader obviously has their own idea of what the characters look like and I hope seeing my thoughts doesn’t taint your own. I also hope it was fun to see these! 😀 If you’ve got ideas of what Christopher and Jesse look like and pics to go along with that, please to be sharing in comments below!

IMG_7700

Smoky Mountain Dreams is available now at:

AMAZON
B&N
SMASHWORDS
iTUNES
SCRIBD
OYSTER

And now at KOBO.

ETA: I just saw this yesterday and he would make an acceptable Jesse too, I think.
IMG_7853.PNG

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bonus material, books, casting, christopher, gareth, jesse, jesse spencer, Maximilio Pantane, smoky mountain dreams, visuals, writing

Coming Soon! The River Leith by Leta Blake

April 8, 2014 by Leta

The-River-Leith-web-copy

Yes, that’s right! A new book coming soon-ish! Probably in May, if all goes according to plan. And, yep, Dar Albert has made another amazing cover for me! Thanks, Dar!

More information about the book will be coming before too long! I’m super excited, y’all!

Filed Under: Gay Tagged With: books, cover, cover reveal, dar albert, leith, leta blake, the river leith, writing

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews and teenage girl readers.

January 30, 2014 by Leta

“Like Blume’s Forever…—the other novel girls passed around in the 1980s, due to its semi-titillating-and-very-informative content about safe sex—the books we were supposed to be reading to help us cope with our various adolescent challenges delivered many reassurances that things would eventually be OK. By contrast, Flowers in the Attic indulged our fear that things were so deeply fucked up that they might never be OK.”

via Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews and teenage girl readers..

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 1980s, adolescent, books, flowers in the attic, judy blume, reading, salon, teenage girls, vc andrews

The Promise & At This Point In My Life: Training Season Extras! #tracychapman #music

January 4, 2014 by Leta

I almost always write with a soundtrack. Either music is playing as I write, or I have certain songs in my mind that capture the vibe of what I’m going for with a certain section of the book. Sometimes it’s the lyrics that speak to me and other times it’s the music. In this case, it was definitely both.

The last third of Training Season was stamped with these two songs. I had them on repeat as I worked out the end of the book. I wanted the tenderness and growth to be all over those words.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/wlCJKsyQXMo]
The words at 4:19 through the end of the song are what I wanted Matty to be expressing during that part of the book.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/cQ0kh3k0LKE]
Oh, this song. Is there anyone on earth who doesn’t have the feelings in them that this song expresses? Matty definitely had them and I wanted there to be that kind of longing and tenderness in the book. I hope I succeeded.

Filed Under: Music, writing Tagged With: at this point in my life, books, extras, gay romance, mmromance, music, reading, romance, the promise, tracy chapman, training season, writing while listening

Release Day! Wed, July 17!

July 12, 2013 by Leta

Here we go, babies! Everyone who is always coming to this blog looking for “sex with fairies” (yes, I see you in my stats! 14 to 20 of you a day!) are in for a treat! The next book is about…dun, dun, dun! Fairies! And, yes, sex is had with the fairies! Whoot! 🙂

Cover by Dar Albert.
Cover by Dar Albert.

The blurb:

Part of the Tempting Tales series
There’s no greater mystery in the kingdom than how Prince Mateo’s sisters wear out their shoes each night while locked away in their chambers. Using old magic, Mateo discovers their secret and follows them through a portal to an enchanted world of fairies and lusty delights. Ópalo has waited years for his male human, and he knows Mateo is his destiny. Mateo soon succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh, but as their worlds collide, Ópalo has to risk everything to win his man forever.

A Romantica® male/male erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

This story is based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, but has an entirely different feel, and not just because of the fact that it has two heroes. We have been notified that this upcoming Wednesday, July 17, will be the day, folks! So check back then to find out more!

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With: books, ellora's cave, erotica, fairies, fairy sex, fairy tale, fairy tales, fairytales, having sex with fairies, love's nest, m/m, mateo, opalo, reading, romance, romantica, sexy stories, summer reading, twelve dancing princesses, two princes in love, writing

Writer Wednesday: Painting Rain by Dev Bentham

July 3, 2013 by Leta

Today we have Dev Bentham’s latest Painting in the Rain! I want to acknowledge that I owe Dev an apology. This was supposed to go up last Wednesday, but I was traveling and despite assuring her it would indeed go up, I completely spaced on it and failed to do so. I’m sorry, Dev, and I hope that putting it up this week makes up for it a little bit.

PaintingRain

What are your names? And tell us a little about yourselves?
Mike Malone: “Hey, how’s it going? I’m a social worker, here in Bayport for a summer job working with at-risk kids. Until I met Gabe, I was having a hard time being here. I guess when I applied, I thought a small town on the Oregon coast would be more gay-friendly than the little Northern Wisconsin town where I grew up.”
Gabe Thompson: “I was born here so the small town attitudes don’t surprise me. As an artist, I guess I’m used to being an outcast. But it’s been hard on my son, Trevor. He’s still angry that a couple years ago I divorced his mother and came out.”

How did you meet?
Mike: “Like Gabe said, Trevor’s one pissed off kid. He’s been acting out enough to have his parents enroll him in my program.”
Gabe: “Right. Mike’s my son’s supervisor, which is a little awkward, to say the least. We met when Mike came over to talk about Trevor’s behavior—he’s turned into an adolescent Casanova, probably in reaction to me.”

Was it love at first sight?
Mike: “It was something at first sight. He took my breath away.”
Gabe: “There I was, talking with my son’s social worker and all I could focus on was Mike’s eyes. I couldn’t believe this gorgeous young man was interested in a middle aged guy like me.”
Mike: “Oh come on, I’m older than I look. There’s less than ten years between us. Besides, thirty-five isn’t exactly over the hill.”
Gabe: “It’s damned close. But I’m glad that doesn’t faze you.”

What do you believe is your worst or most frustrating quality? What about his?
Mike: “I think Gabe doesn’t give himself enough credit. He’s a very accomplished artist—you should see his work. He’s really good. I think my worst quality is that I’m overly cautious, or at least I was with Evan. The poor kid deserved better from me.”
Gabe: “You can’t blame yourself. What happened to Evan wasn’t your fault. The thing that frustrates me most about myself is that I’ve tried hard to be a good father and I think I’ve failed.”
Mike: “I don’t know about that—I think you’re a great dad. But I’ll agree with you that the thing that drives me most nuts about you is Trevor. The kid’s a terror.”
Gabe: “He used to be a fun to be around.”
Mike: “I’ll have to take your word on that.”

What is your best quality? What about his?
Gabe: “Mike’s a solidly good guy. He’s great with the kids, even Trevor, and he’s so very sane.”
Mike: “Thank you. That’s nice of you to say. But she also asked about your best quality. Are you trying to be modest?”
Gabe: “Hardly. But I like thinking about you more than about myself. I think my best quality might be persistence. I’ve stuck it out here for fifteen years in order to be a father to my son. That’s got to be worth something.”
Mike: “It is. And I think Trevor will appreciate it down the road. I’d have to say that your best quality is your imagination. I love your house because it’s like walking inside your brain—all those whimsical creatures everywhere. It’s enchanting. As for my best quality, I don’t know, maybe that I care. I really want life to be better for those kids. Not just the gay ones, but maybe especially them.”

If you could have one wish come true, what would it be and why?
Gabe: “That Mike would stay here on the coast.”
Mike: “Yeah. There’s a job opening up here. I’d like to get it and be able to stick around.”

***

Now let’s talk to Dev!

What makes your current offering a different and compelling read?
This is my first dual third person narrative story. In the past I’ve written from one character’s point of view—either in close third (Moving in Rhythm and August Ice) or in first (the Tarnished Souls series). While I love the more literary narrative styles that those points of view offer, I really enjoyed getting into the heads of both characters. This book is also more wildly romantic than any I’ve done before, perhaps because it’s in a more standard romance format or because it’s set on the Oregon coast, an area I find deeply romantic.
This is also the first story I’ve written that has a kid at the center and I’m delighted that came out on Fathers’ Day. I can’t imagine a more perfect timing for the release.

What is the most rewarding aspect of writing and/or publishing? The most terrifying/frustrating?
I love hearing from people who’ve enjoyed my books. One of my goals for publishing was to have people outside my circle of friends read my work. Now that that is happening, it’s both the most rewarding and the most terrifying aspect of writing—that people I’ve never met will either love or hate the stories I write.

What was your favorite thing about writing these characters?
I love how different these men are from each other. Mike’s a Midwestern kid, just out of graduate school and ready to start his real life. Gabe’s nine years older, an art school dropout who’s spent the past fifteen years compromising himself because of an experimental one-night stand that made him a father. Their experiences couldn’t be more different and yet they’re both aching for the same kind of whole-hearted relationship.

Lastly, provide us with covers, blurbs, buy links, and where you can be found on the web! 🙂

Amber Allure
Amazon
aRe

Find Dev on the web at www.devbentham.com or email her at devbentham@yahoo.com and follow her on twitter at @DevBentham.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: age difference, books, dev bentham, kid, one night stand, painting in the rain, reading, writer wednesday

Erotic Writing under Attack by Amazon?

May 1, 2013 by Leta

pinterestremoved
Pinterest is also in the morality game. They removed this pin from my account on the basis of “nudity”. I suppose it is the fringe of pubes and the side view of half a buttocks that flagged their inappropriate-o-meter? Because a man who looks as though he’s dancing, seems hardly inappropriate in a world that isn’t terrified of nudity. I wonder, if it was a painting, would it have received the same treatment?

Selena Kitts, a well-known writer of raunchy “pornography”, has written an interesting post called Survival Tips for the Pornocolypse (Erotica Writers Get Armed and Ready). It was of interest to me for two reasons. One, I write romantica under the pen name Leta Blake. You can find links to my books anywhere on this page, but to make it easy for you, here. Two, I write some really raunchy erotica under another Super Top Secret Pen Name. I do it mainly for fun and to blow off steam, and to feel like I’m giving the finger to some of the issues I have with traditional and e-publishing, but I wouldn’t say I’m doing it to make a ton of money. However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to make some money from the endeavor. Otherwise I’m just throwing away time and money on covers, etc.

There were many things I found interesting about Selena Kitt’s post. I almost don’t know where to start. I suppose I could break this down into a few posts to make it more digestible. Perhaps I will. Let me start at the beginning of her post and respond as I go.

First, off, kudos, Selena, on having such an attractive site for your porn. I know this sounds like I’m being facetious, but I’m serious. It’s very nice and it would definitely encourage me to click on something and possibly buy it. One day, when I’ve got more to offer, I want to have a site like yours!

The Pornocalypse has begun. Amazon continues filtering erotica out of their All Department Search in large numbers. Don’t stick your head in the sand and think it’s going to all go away. By then, it may be too late.

I’ve noticed the books I’ve published under Super Top Secret Pen Name do not show up under the All Department Search. I’ve never entirely decided how I feel about that. I suspect some of the roads my brain has taken on this issue are similar to the roads taken by Amazon itself while other thoughts diverge. I usually start out frustrated because if someone is searching for erotica books featuring a cheerleader losing her virginity to her step-brother (as a completely made up example, I didn’t write a book like that–yet), then they should be able to find one without having to jump through extra hoops. Right now, if I go to the Amazon home page and type “Cheerleader loses virginity to step-brother”, I get a result back that says, “No products match your search.” I know damn well that’s not true, but only because I know that damn well. If I was your Average Joe Internet User, I might think, “Oh, well, I guess there are no books for me to buy like that.” But, if I go to the Kindle Book Department and type in the same search, I end up with this small, but existing, selection of titles. No perfect match, but there are some dirty books there all the same. Hooray for dirty books!

I suspect that the next thought many of you are going to have is similar to mine and probably the main motivating thought of Amazon and those who encourage its policies. Won’t someone think of the children!?!?! In the days of books and mortar stores, the dirty books would be housed either in a separate room, away from children’s eyes, in a separate store altogether, or covered in dark plastic to keep them from looking. Amazon is likely trying to do the same thing. But even in the days of books and mortar stores, I always took the position that it is the parents’ job to police what their kids are reading, not the stores’ job to police what they kids have access to within the store. Does the internet make that a ton harder to accomplish? Hell yes, but it doesn’t shift the onus onto the stores necessarily.

I do recall not too long ago, I was looking up a children’s book recommended to me by a friend. My search on Amazon brought up two results. One was the book I wanted and the other was titled something very similar and looked like a possible sequel. I opened it up to read about the book, and it was, to my surprise and amusement, an utterly filthy rape erotica story and not a sequel at all. In that moment, I though, “Oh, there are going to be Christian crazies all over this shit before long.” I have no doubt that kind of thing played a role in what is happening at Amazon.

[ETA: Interestingly enough, if I search Amazon’s main search page for various raunchy dirty books while I am not logged in to my account, I find a much wider selection of offerings. And I find that curious under the Won’t Someone Think of the Children argument, since kids are much less likely to have their own accounts than bonafide grown-ups. So, why would the search be more liberal for people without accounts than those with accounts? Curious.]

Still, my next thought is, okay, fine, thinking of the children and all, what’s the harm in moving these books out of the line of sight? They’re still there and a user who really wants to read about cheerleaders sleeping with their step-brothers can still find those books if they work hard enough. It’s only two extra clicks to be able to find the books you want!

And yet it does seem to make a difference in sales. Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing? Are we reducing the number of sales to 14 year olds whose Mommy and Daddy don’t do spot checks of their e-book readers? Or are we reducing the number of sales to full-fledged adults who don’t know they have to make these two extra clicks to get what they want? I suspect it’s a bit of both, but more of the second. There’s no where on the Amazon site where they say, “Oh, psst, you can still find your dirty books! You just need to work harder at it!”

Uh, back to Selena’s post. I’m rambling and possibly getting ahead of myself here.

The fact remains—the dirty secret that drives technology? It’s “porn.” Erotica, as a genre, has been Amazon’s dirty little secret from the beginning, driving sales of the Kindle to astronomical numbers. Does Amazon really believe that it was all the free copies of “Huckleberry Finn” and “Moby Dick” (Moby Duck on Apple?) that drove readers to buy Kindle devices? Nope, sorry. It was erotica. It was “porn.”

Jeff Bezos may have put out the product, but I made the Kindle into what it is today. Me, and legions of other erotica writers who were already writing it, and those who came later, who saw how much readers were clamoring for it. Readers could suddenly read erotica without anyone seeing the cover. The Kindle device made that possible, Amazon made the Kindle available… but I provided the content readers were surreptitiously reading under their desks at work and on the subway home.

Erotica writers made the Kindle what it is today. Not mystery writers, not horror writers, not even romance writers. Certainly not big publishing, who have been brought kicking and screaming into the ebook world. It was erotica writers who provided readers with the titillating books that made this new device so convenient and advantageous. So you could carry 500 books at a time… big deal, who’s going to read 500 books while you’re at the doctor’s office? But women everywhere realized they could read sexual fantasies, stories about BDSM, about dubious consent, about sex toys and infidelity, all those fantasies that we know women have been having since Nancy Friday wrote Secret Garden, and they could do it without anyone knowing, at the doctor’s office or in line at the supermarket.

THAT is what sold Kindles. Porn. Face it, Jeff Bezos. You owe the success of Kindle to me, and to every erotica writer out there making a living writing “porn.”

And what thanks do we get? None. Other writers (ala Konrath and Crouch and Bella Andre—the latter whose books are just as “dirty” or “porny” as some that have been relegated to the ghetto behind the ADULT filter) get special treatment from Amazon. They get spotlights and highlights. They get mentioned in Amazon newsletters.

Erotica writers get stepped on. We get shoved into a corner, we get relegated to back rooms and top shelves. We get “filtered.” Now, before you say, “But come ON! This is ADULT material, shouldn’t it be targeted just to ADULTS?”—my answer to that is “yes!” I don’t expect Amazon to highlight erotica writers in mainstream newsletters or even to highlight us at all (although if they were smart, they would… we make them a lot of money. A LOT of money. They should target us to readers they know read us… it only makes sense!) but I DO expect them to treat us with transparency and good business ethics.

She’s right, you realize. I mean, to a degree, she’s right. My mother has purchased thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of Kindle books. What are most of them? Erotica and romantica. She’s admitted that she loves the dirtiest stuff she can find on Kindle because no one ever has to know she’s read it. My mother is sixty-six years old. Who is Amazon to try to make it harder for her to read her books? And did the two additional clicks make a difference to her? You bet it did. She didn’t even know she had to make some additional clicks. She’d stopped buying from Amazon and switched to Smashwords and other online sources because Amazon had stopped carrying her dirty books. Or so she thought. How many other perfectly legal grown-ups also faced this?

And Selena Kitts makes a really good point. If Amazon actually marketed filth to those who like to read filth, they could make good money doing so. Why is it their business model to fail to do so? I assume we could say that it’s stand-up morality. But I’m pretty sure it’s stand-up stupidity. Or possibly fear. What, I wonder, are they afraid of? (Hell, probably. Oh, hell, you shiny, dark stinkhole of fear.)

The filtering tool that Amazon previously only used to exclude nudity on covers is now being applied to books arbitrarily, but in very, very large numbers. We haven’t seen a purge this big on Amazon since they banned incest and bestiality in erotic work.

First of all, Amazon has now separated Erotica and Romance. I don’t know if erotic romance writers know this or have realized it yet, but Amazon has recently changed their policy (not that they’ve told anyone about it or anything!) and you can no longer put your book in BOTH Erotica and Romance categories. You have to choose one or the other. “Erotic Romance” as a category will now classify your book as “erotica.”

And be careful, because once you have labeled your book as “erotic,” they will not allow you to reclassify it as NOT erotic. The only exception to this rule I have seen so far is for traditionally published books (ala Fifty Shades). Self-published books don’t get this treatment.

Now this? This is problematic. And revealing. There is money here, more money than they care to lose. Because Fifty Shades, while terribly written in many ways (sorry!), is just as porny as a ton of the stuff they’ve filtered. Maybe more so.

How do you avoid being filtered?

Keep nudity off your cover. Also keep it out of the inside of your book.
Keep your titles and keywords free of the “Amazon Bad Words List” below. Amazon’s current policy could be summed up in this way—if you dress up pretty on the outside, you can be as much of a whore on the inside as you like.
The “Amazon Bad Word List”

(who else is thinking about George Carlin right now?)

(And if you know of more words or things that are being banned, please go ahead and add to the list in the comments, or better yet, post it over on Banned Erotic Books on Facebook!)

Nudity on covers (this rule changes a lot – thongs are ok so far. “Hand bras” are not ok, i.e. a nude woman with her or someone else’s hands covering her breasts).
Incest is banned altogether. But pseudo-incest will get you filtered. Anything with obvious titles, especially “Daddy” and “Mommy,” but also sister, brother, siblings, uncle, family, etc.
Gangbang, rape, reluctant, reluctance, nonconsent, dubious consent (dubcon), forced, or “rough” sex, strap-on – careful BDSM folks, keep an eye out, because they may come after that next.
Breeding, bred or impregnation stories
Any profanity or obscene language: pussy, cock, cum, tits, fuck, sex, clit, etc. (Now I really feel like George Carlin…)
Lactation, breastfeeding, lactating, milky
Tentacles and other mythological creatures (minotaurs, centaurs, bigfoot, etc.)

I’m not at all sure what Selena is suggesting here. Is she suggesting that these changes only be made to the cover, title, blurb, etc? Or is she suggesting that these changes be made to books themselves. I’m going too assume she means the former and not the later because otherwise the books would be censored.

I am not sure, though, I think doing as she suggests is a good idea? If authors of the raunchy erotica/porn follow these suggestions, then how will their books ever be found? Porn readers want to know what they’re buying before they buy it. In fact, up until now, the suggested way of doing the entire raunchy porn book thing was the exact opposite of these suggestions. The advice my Super Top Secret Pen Name received when she began was:

a) make the title very obvious so people can find what they are looking for. If it is about having sex with an alien from another world, then title it something like, “Alien Tentacle Sex” or “Bred by Aliens” or whatever.

b) make the cover very sexy/obvious so people know, yes, this is the porn I seek.

c) use tag words when uploading that make it easy for the person to find the porn they want to read.

d) use the blurb area to be descriptive of the contents so people are very aware of what they are buying. Describe the sex acts within and mark it as 18+.

Now, Selena is advising that we not do these things, and I understand why she’s saying that. At the same time, readers like to know what they are getting and I don’t think people who can’t figure out that they can find what they are looking for by clicking two more times into the Kindle store are going to be able to figure out that a book called “Professor’s New Suit”, in which the blurb reads, “In a dressing room of a high end department store, meeting with a tailor who happens to be a former student, the professor’s full measure is taken and he gets something unexpected in return” is, in fact, all about dirty gay sex in a dressing room between a professor and his former student. Well, maybe they would. Who knows? But it seems more likely that “Banging My Professor” will be what someone looking for erotica about Professor/Student is going to search for. Covering it up in order to avoid Amazon’s filter doesn’t seem any more likely to bring sales than just letting it sit with its original filthy name under the Adult filter. Thoughts on that?

I suppose what most bothers me about this entire situation is the fact that Amazon made/makes a ton of money from these kinds of stories, and clearly capitulates to the likes of 50 Shades of Grey, and yet screws over the little guy making a buck. I suppose my main question is why?

Weirdly enough, because I know that the majority of people buying these books are women, I feel the reins of misogyny pulling at me when I hear about this kind of thing. Women are reading things that men don’t want them reading, that society doesn’t want them reading, and as their minds are getting free, along comes a big company, run by a man, who wants to put the brakes on it at the very least, and maybe introduce the idea of some non-sexy shackles. Gotta control access to the vagina, y’all. Gotta keep the women from getting ideas about their vag and what they might do with it! It’s for their own good, of course.

Additional reading:

1. “As fellow author, Will Belegon, noted, if Amazon is going to start pulling books with incest in them: “I just re-read Genesis 19: 30-38 and realized that Lot’s daughters got him drunk, had sex with him and bore sons. I demand you follow your clear precedent and remove The Bible from Kindle.”

Or perhaps Amazon should create a new television ad after they follow their clear precedent and ban the book the woman is reading in the advertisement on her Kindle (“Sleepwalking” by Amy Bloom) which tells the story of a 19-year-old boy who has a sexual encounter with his stepmother, which, in some states, is legally incest.”

2. The Dirty Secret that Drives Technology

3. Kindlerotica: The strange but inevitable rise of e-reader pornography. — Proving Selena right that the Kindle was driven by written pornography sales.

4. Salacious Content Driving E-book Sales

Filed Under: Reading, Sex, Words Tagged With: adult filter, amazon, banning, books, erotica, how to market porn writing, incest, kindle, porn, pornography, pseudo-incest, selena kitts, sexism, two more clicks

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