Because no matter what he writes, there is truth at the core.

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them - words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear. —“The Body” (Different Seasons, 1982)

How is it possible that Jay has been home from deployment for two weeks already?  The time, it flies!!  It seems life has gotten busier since he got home, when I expected it to actually slow down a bit.  Hmm.

When I’m not checking the advance reviews of Fairy Tale Lust on Amazon, I’m busy doing any of a number of other things.  Such as:

--Checking my Dream Lover e-mail account for submissions to Dream Lover: Paranormal Erotic Romance.  The deadline is less than two months away!  Writers, I need your paranormal erotic romance stories!

--Moderating the Naked Reader Book Club Discussion at Eden Fantasys.  Last night was the first book club chat and Alison Tyler’s delicious Afternoon Delight was the book being discussed.  Please do join us next Tuesday, June 1, for a new discussion!

--Writing! Slowly, sporadically, but… writing!  I’ve had a couple of disappointing rejections lately (boo!) and one very nice sale, pending publisher approval (yay!).

--Co-hosting backyard cookouts. A small one on May 16; a bigger, wetter one on May 23 (and I don’t mean “wetter” in the good sense, stupid rain); and one to come on Memorial Day. Feel free to drop by, have a burger and play a wicked game of no-rules backyard badminton!

--Trying to decide if I really want to go to Orlando in July for the RWA national conference.  The change in location has me seriously waffling.  I’m thinking the conference money would be better spent on a couple of shorter vacation/book promo trips.  And the sad truth is, I don’t have a novel to pitch and that was my main reason for going this year. (Along with the literacy book signing.) Not to mention, many of the people I want to see won’t be in attendance this year.  What to do??

--And trying to decide where to go if I don’t go to Orlando.  Chicago, to visit Sheri.  Portland (Oregon), just because-- and if I can get my friend Shannon to go with me.  Where else?  I’d like to get in a little family vacation, too. I’m looking forward to traveling with Patrick.  I think.

--Adjusting to sharing parenting duties with Jay.  This is, for the most part, a very good thing.  But it is certainly an adjustment for all three of us!

What have you been up to?

Lovely and talented Rachel Kramer Bussel‘s sexy new anthology Please, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission is out this month and I’m delighted to be a stop on her virtual book tour!
Please, Sir is a delicious collection of 22 stories from some of the top names in erotic fiction, including Shanna Germain, Sommer Marsden, Heidi Champa, Emerald, Alison Tyler, Charlotte Stein and Donna George Storey.  In other words, half my blogroll is in this fabulous book!  As I read it, I felt like I was the guest of honor at a very dirty party hosted by some of my very dearest friends. 

Erotic female submission is one of my favorite themes to read and write.  Writing about it can be incredibly challenging, but reading it… whew… pure pleasure!  Power exchange is hot.  Giving control of one’s body and sexuality over to another person is the ultimate in trust, so it’s no surprise that many of the stories in Please, Sir are about committed couples.  Most of the scenarios have DIY potential-- a plus for those who not only enjoy reading BDSM, but also like to indulge their kinky side in real life.

I found myself nodding in agreement at Rachel’s take on female submission:

If you ask me, submission is an art form. It requires dedication, focus, commitment and desire and there’s no single way of doing it. It’s about unlocking something within yourself so you can reach beyond your normal limits, exposing your body and soul in order to go somewhere you cannot get to alone.

I had a lover who always told me that the key to life is “High risk, high reward.” The same is true about kink, and this is evident throughout the stories in Please, Sir, which explores female submission and male dominance from the sub’s point of view. When these characters take risks, they are rewarded…even when those rewards look like “punishment.”

Not everyone “gets” the pleasure/pain connection.  For those who do… Please, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission is a sensual feast for the erotic imagination.  (I will be reviewing Please, Sir for the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, so look for my review in a few weeks.)


Here is the delicious book trailer for Please, Sir.  I think Rachel has outdone herself on this one!

I invite you to continue on the Please, Sir virtual book tour tomorrow at Exploring Intimacy.  And here is the entire book tour lineup. There are some excellent excerpts, interviews and conversations to be found at the previous tour stops and the rest of the month promises to bring more of the same.  Enjoy!

May 1 Baser Instincts

May 2 Man Eater Book

May 3 Hard and Fast

May 4 Erobintica

May 5 Dangerous Lilly

May 6 Sugarbutch Chronicles

May 7 The Sex Carnival

May 8 My Kinky World

May 9 Lusty Literati

May 10 Prurient Interests

May 11 Pretty Dirty

May 12 Hello Saraid

May 13 That Toy Chick

May 14 Flavius Iulianus Blog

May 15 Kristina Wright

May 16 Exploring Intimacy

May 17 Erotica Electronica

May 18 Our Goings On

May 19 SpastikFantastik

May 20 Alpine Subdreams

May 21 Orlando Sex & Relationships Examiner

May 22 Beth Wylde

May 23 Heather Lin

May 24 Pieces of Jade

May 25 Heartbreak Nympho

May 26 Yolanda Shoshana

May 27 ¡Qué sinvergüenza!

May 28 Leather Yenta (Lolita Wolf)

May 29 Marilyn’s Room (Marilyn Jaye Lewis)

May 30 Wanton Lotus Reviews

May 31 Curvaceous Dee

(In the interest of full disclosure, I’m still kicking myself for not submitting (ha!) a story to this collection.  But pregnancy, baby and deployment issues sidelined my writing for several months and many deadlines came and went, including this one.  The writer me is disappointed, but the reader me is delighted to be reading, reviewing and promoting a book of stories on one of my favorite erotica themes by my absolute favorite editor!  Thanks, Rachel, for delivering such a sensual treat!)

After seven long months… Jay is home!