Writing Year in Review

Xposted from my other blog.

Oh man, 2015. So many ups and downs and sideways things to this year. I wish it was ending on a more positive note overall, but I suppose that would be too much to ask, and thus we arrive at mixed bag as a summation for how this year went. This will be the writing post, life post to follow. So I set out to do some rebuilding and get some work published, which I think went reasonably well.

Writing

Published this year (as me):
"A Scandalous Calculation" in The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Moriarty
"Bluebeard's Wife" in The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories
"Creatures of the Night: A Short History of Queer Horror" in Queers Destroy Horror (special issue of Nightmare Magazine) (nonfiction).
"Aging in IT" in Model View Culture (nonfiction)

Published this year as Emily L. Byrne:
"Repossession" in First: Sensual Stories of New Beginnings, edited by Cheyenne Blue
"Summer Stock" in Summer Love, edited by Harper Bliss and Caroline Manchoulas
"The Old Spies Club" in Spy Games, edited by Jillian Boyd
"Wage Slave" in Bossier: More Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust, Ladylit Publishing
"Lovely Rita, Meter Maid" in The Mammoth Book of Uniform Erotica, edited by Barbara Cardy

Forthcoming next year (so far):
"The Cask and the Amontillado" in Tales of the Unanticipated, Vol. 31
"The Further Adventures of Miss Scarlet" in Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year 20th Anniversary Edition, edited by Sacchi Green
"Toads, Diamonds and the Occasional Pearl" in The Princess's Bride, edited by Sacchi Green

Cons and related events in 2015:
Had my first GOH appearance as Editor Guest of Honor at Arcana 45.
Did panels and readings at Marscon, AWP, the Nebula Awards Weekend, CONvergence, Diversicon and Sirens.
Did an author Koffee Klatch and the MinnSpec Local Author Showcase, both with the fine folks at the Minnspec Meetup

Miscellaneaous:

Served as a writing award judge
Added to and reformatted my Old(er) Women in SF/F Bibliography –

Part 1 and Part 2

My thoughts on “Tragic Queer Narratives,” “An Appreciation of Suzette Haden Elgin”  and “Tanith Lee: Where to Start Reading” got some attention.

Queen of Swords Press:
Things learned this year: everything takes more time than I hope/think it will, including this post.

I have an LLC and a spiffy logo so things are becoming official. Trademark app for the name is signed, contracts are getting drafted. Domain is purchased, website is planned, several projects are underway or under consideration and I’m interviewing a new business accountant today. All things which I thought would be done back in September/October. But, hey progress.


Upcoming for 2016, so far:

Joint presentation on “Aging and Accessibility in IT” at the GoogleDev Conference

Two workshops at The Loft Literary Center (if they carry)

A presentation at the U. of MN on older women in science fiction and fantasy (barring unforeseen class cancellations)

Cons: Arisia in Boston, Au Contraire in New Zealand (! NZ is a go, waiting to hear from the con), CONvergence (Mpls), Diversicon (Mpls), Midamerica Con II (Worldcon in Kansas City), Gaylaxicon (Mpls), Arcana (St. Paul) and TeslaCon (Middleton, WI).

Writing year in review overall: not too shabby. It has ended with a slew of rejections and getting very recently jerked around by a convention committee on a guest appearance, though, so that makes it feel more sour than it actually was. Oh well. Onward and upward and all that.  Here’s hoping that 2016 is a terrific writing and editing and related year for us all!

 

Another day, another book giveaway!

I've got a #bookgiveaway in today's Women and Words Hootenanny too! #lesfic http://womenwords.org/2015/12/23/hootenanny-2015-day-12/

And another book giveaway!

Comment at the Women and Words blog for a chance to win!
I've got a book in today's Hootenanny #lesfic #giveaway at Women and Words - womenwords.org/2015/12/22/hoo…

Book giveaway!

Other Me (Catherine Lundoff) is participating in the Women and Words Lesfic Hootenanny this year and I'm up today. Comment on the blog to be entered in the drawing.
http://womenwords.org/2015/12/18/hootenanny-2015-day-7/

Lovely shoutout from Violet Blue for "Spy Games"

@Hoeroticabooks's antho "Spy Games" (includes my story "The Old Spies Club") gets a nice shoutout from @tinynibbles
http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2015/11/kink-your-kindle-erotic-paris-lust-and-espionage-sci-fi-trysts-stepbrothers-and-bi-girls.html

Give to the Max!

#GTMD15 It's Give to the Max Day here in MN - help your favorite local nonprofits get matching funds! https://www.givemn.org

Notes from the Trenches: Award Judging Thinky Thoughts

I've edited a couple of anthologies and been an awards judge/juror for multiple awards, not to mention participating in many a group reading over the years. All of this has given me a ringside seat on some basic problems that I see over and over again. Here's a few, with some  thoughts on how to avoid them.

- Character and place names (mostly a fantasy/paranormal/science fiction problem). Think about the names you use. Do they seem familiar? I've seen a fair number of names from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, etc. Once a name is used for an iconic work, reusing even a slightly modified version of it suggests edited fan fic rather than homage. Watch out for names that sound too familiar. Google/search engines are your friends.

- Naming consistency. Place and character names are part of world building and if half your names sound like alien or fantastical languages and the other half are named "Burt" or "Sue," you need to explain that to your readers or it can pull them out of the story. Here's a decent primer on how to get started: Obsidian Bookshelf - Naming Fantasy Characters.
- Science and technology: do I have to worry about tech if I'm writing a romance? Yes. At least enough so that a reader isn't thinking "But we have X now. How come we don't have X 60 years down the road?" You don't need the same level of detail a science fiction reader expects, but at least explain why the planet/starship/base has no ground level or satellite level defense systems, if you've decided that it's all humans/all the time. They can malfunction, they can have proved ineffectual, they can be not germane to your plot, but do consider why something is or isn't there.
- Science fiction and relationships. Your sexual and romantic relationships should not be based on 1950s U.S. heterosexual standards without a good reason. Transfolks, genderqueer, LGBTQ, asexual and intersex people all exist now. Some are welcome in sundry armies, navies and so forth now. If they're not in your m/m or f/f or m/f, etc. military story set in the future, why not? This also goes for people of different cultural and racial backgrounds. You can't write believable aliens if you can't write believable humans, just saying
- Relationship development (most a romance/erotica problem). "I've spent three hours with you, been unconscious for an hour and a half of that, think you killed my best friend/parents/pet and yet I'm totally drawn to you and suspect I'm in love/lust." Really?  Alternately: "My spouse/lover/BFF just died horribly. I've known you for the narrative equivalent of 20 minutes. You must be my new soul mate!" Now compare that to any romance, erotic or otherwise, by an established author. There's trauma and recovery and doubt and a significant number of complicated emotions on the way to that happy ending, of whatever sort. Go now and do likewise.
- Word choice. "I do not think that word means what you think it means." I see this a lot. Look things up and double check. We all have words we consistently misspell/misuse. Watch for your patterns.
- Transgressive sex scenes. Consider who you want your audience to be. Rape, in the absence of a character dealing or not dealing with trauma and violence, is not "character building" nor is it "character development." Even more esoteric brands of consensual sex can have high squick factor. You may want to get that reaction but be sure that is what you want. Don't do it by accident- think about why your characters are having or not having sexual encounters and what impact you want those encounters to have on your story. They'll be much more effective and it will make you a better writer.
- You want to write? Read in the genre you want to write in. Read books and stories by people you don't know. Read authors from cultures and countries different from your own. Read stories written by authors from orientations different than your own. You don't ha e to love all of it or even finish things you don't like, but you will be a better writer if you know your field. Really.

Happy writing!

Happy Halloween!

Guest blog post - Author Xan West on "Where Matters: Writing Queer Public Sex"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Teaching update!

I'll be offering two classes at the Loft Literary Center in February, 2016. Both are one day workshops, 3-4 hours long.

The first is "Inflagranti Delicto: Writing  Good Sex Scenes," offered on 2/13 (just in time for Valentine's Day!). This class will focus on building blocks for good sex scenes, integrating them into your plot and determining what purpose they serve in your story.
https://www.loft.org/classes/detail/?loft_product_id=160549

I'll also be offering "Lavender Ink: Writing and Selling LGBTQ Fiction." (2/27/15) This is a class for working with different kinds of fiction with queer protagonists and options for publication as well as ways to reach your audience. 

https://www.loft.org/classes/detail/?loft_product_id=160548

RIP, photographer Honey Lee Cotrell

We've lost another pioneer of lesbian erotica this week. Photographer Honey Lee Cotrell was one of the founders of On Our Backs Magazine, as well as numerous other works about queer women and sexuality. On Our Backs was my first introduction to lesbian and queer women's erotica and I always loved her photographs. This is a great loss. She was a brilliant photographer and an activist for queer, feminist and work's rights causes. Honor her memory as you can.

Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, 20th Anniversary

My story made the cut! "The Further Adventures of Miss Scarlet" from Ladylit's "Forbidden Fruit" anthology will be appearing in "Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, 20th Anniversary Edition." This will make my 8th appearance in this series, now under both names! 😃

And you can preorder here.

"First" is out!

And includes my story, "Repossession."

V. pleased. It's heckuva lineup - check out this TOC. http://www.ladylit.com/books/first-sensual-lesbian-stories-of-new-beginnings-edited-by-cheyenne-blue/

Rest in Power, Candida Royalle

She was one of the trailblazers in feminist porn and erotica, as well as the design and development of sex toys designed for women. For 30 years, she educated and created and helped make feminist pornography possible. If you watch, write and read it, remember her fondly. 

http://candidaroyalle.com

First: Sensual Lesbian Stories of New Beginnings

Coming September 10th from Ladylit Publishing

Dive into these fifteen sizzling tales of lesbian love and romance and experience the wonder, the joy, and the magic of new beginnings.

A woman sees her lover for the first time after years of blindness. For the first time in her life, a top trusts her girlfriend enough to let her take control.  A connection forged in a bar in New Mexico encourages a breast cancer survivor to take a lover.  Stories of new love and first lesbian encounters intermingle with other emotional and physical firsts, and the excitement of new experiences: an around the world flight, the thrill of a carnival, and even the first time to see the sea.

With fantastic stories by favorite writers such as Sacchi Green, Harper Bliss, Annabeth Leong, Allison Wonderland, and Jeremy Edwards, the variety in this anthology means there is something for everyone.
 

Table of Contents

Roses and Thorns by Annabeth Leong

The Opposite of Darkness by Harper Bliss

The Talkies by Jeremy Edwards

Before the Bus Comes by Tamsin Flowers

Whole Again by Brenda Murphy

Pulling by Sacchi Green

The First Peonies by Ivy Newman

Repossession by Emily L. Byrne

That Summer by Vanessa de Sade

Amelia by Cheyenne Blue

The Ghost of She by Jillian Boyd

The Sum of Our Parts by Andi Marquette

Soar Spot by Allison Wonderland

Sea by Rosie Bower

Dissolving by Cela Winter

New CFS - Ylva Publishing

Ylva is doing another food-themed lesbian erotica/erotic romance anthology. guidelines are here:

http://andimarquette.com/2015/08/24/news-n-stuff-2/

Where to find my stories

Ladylit Publishing - http://www.ladylit.com/books/

"Summer Stock" in Summer Love, edited by Harper Bliss and Caroline Manchoulas

"Wage Slave" in Bossier: More Productive Tales of Lesbian Lust 

"The Further Adventures of Miss Scarlet"

In Forbidden Fruit: Stories of Unwise Lesbian Desire, edited by Cheyenne Blue

Forthcoming: "Reposession" in First: Sensual Stories of New Beginnings,  edited by Cheyenne Blue

Running Press/Constable and Robin:

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780762456192

"Lovely Rita, Meter Maid" in The Mammoth Book of Uniform Erotica, edited by Barbara Cardy

House of Erotica: 

http://www.houseoferoticabooks.com/our-books/new-releases/spy-games/

"The Old Spies Club" in Spy Games, edited by Jillian Boyd

Pending publisher approval:

Cleis Press - http://www.amazon.com/Best-Lesbian-Erotica-Year-Volume/dp/1627781544

"The Further Adventures of Miss Scarlet" in Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year (2016), edited by Sacchi Green

"Toads, Diamonds and the Occasional Pearl" in The Princess's Bride, edited by Sacchi Green 

"Polar Vortex" in untitled BDSM anthology edited by Alison Tyler

More as I hear back!

Older works were written as Catherine Lundoff and can be found listed at http://www.catherinelundoff.com

Rainbow Awards looking for more judges!

Help raise money for good LGBTQ nonprofits and get to read a bunch of new books!

Contact Elisa via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1402510406718587/

Survey results for readers and book buyers

Author Lisabet Sarai (who you should be reading if you like terrific erotica and/or erotic romance) conducted a survey on the reading and book buying preferences of readers at her Beyond Romance blog. 

First round of results is up here:

Beyond Romance: Reader Survey Results - Part 1 

Interesting stuff!

CFS - Girls on Campus

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Conferences and award winners, oh my!

Here are some recent write-ups that I thought might be of interest:

Suleikha Snyder on RWA 2015, a Tale of Two Conferences - http://www.suleikhasnyder.com/2015/07/rwa15-in-nyc-tale-of-two-conferences.html?m=1

Winners of the 2015 Golden Crown Literary Awards for Lesbian Fiction - https://marygriggs.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/2015-goldie-award-winners/

This is focused on YA reviews but is worth reading and noting. When you review erotica or erotic romance featuring PIC and/or LGBTQ, how do you write about those works? 

http://www.diversityinya.com/2015/02/perceptions-of-diversity-in-book-reviews/

"Summer Love" up at Women and Words!

Read all about the fabulousness that is the new Ladylit anthology "Summer Love" (includes my summer theater story "Summer Stock") at Women and Words. Enter to win a free copy! http://womenwords.org/2015/07/17/summer-love-with-harper-bliss-and-caroline-manchoulas/

Boosting an excellent essay by writer Tamsin Flowers...

On the state of writing and publishing literary erotica. Highly recommended! 

http://tamsinflowers.com/2015/07/14/has-e-l-james-broken-erotica/#.VaelWhOPQ0o.twitter

Review love!

In which reviewers say nice things about books I have stories in and mention my stories!

Erotica for All - Forbidden Fruit review, in which my story "The Further Adventures of Miss Scarlet" is mentioned as a particular favorite.

Erotica Revealed - Reviewer Kathleen Bradean "strongly recommends" Forbidden Fruit.

Forbidden Fruit is also a Goldie Award Finalist and has some lovely reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

Summer Love has several nice reviews so far. I particularly like this one which mentions my story, "Summer Stock."

Bossier has been getting nice reader reviews and is currently free for Kindle Unlimited!

Spy Games has its own book page on Facebook where you can keep up with the contributors and read snippets of the stories and get notified about new deals and reviews.

I should have some more good news soon. In the meantime, I'm working on novel edits!

Setting the Scene: Lights, Camera...and you know the rest

For me, establishing a setting for a story is as much about drawing the reader in as it is about building a picture of a specific time and geographic location. When I describe a setting well, I’m hoping to give my hypothetical reader a photo, or perhaps even a video of where I want them to go, what I want them to see.

That description is a multi-layered task, one that doesn’t stop at just one sense or one dimension. I want my readers to hear, smell, even touch what my characters are experiencing. Not that I want to overwhelm them with insignificant details, of course, but rather I want to fire their imaginations. I want them to want to be in that place and experience it for themselves.

I write my drafts much the same way I used to paint. First, I create an initial sketch, the bare bones of a city, a room, a specific place. In the story I’m excerpting below, that sketch begins with a hotel balcony overlooking a river. Not just any river, mind you, but the Arno flowing through the heart of Florence. My character sees the old merchant palaces glowing golden in the sun on the other bank. She thinks about going outside with her lover to explore the city below. They pause to flirt.

Then they do go out to see to see the wonders of Renaissance Italy. Michelangelo’s David is on their list as is the Uffizi Gallery. There they fall madly in lust with Titian’s painting “Venere da Urbino” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Urbino). The art becomes as much a part of my story’s setting as the architecture. I add more detail in the second draft and then there are street performers and the swirling noises of thousands of tourists. The air is hot and sticky and the atmosphere is charged. My characters are aroused, not only by each other, but by their surroundings as well.

Third draft and I’ve got almost all the colors filled in. The medieval architecture of the city takes hold of my characters, enhancing their flirtation.

From “A Room with a View” (Night’s Kiss): The crowds part and I remove my hand, using it instead to steer you away across the uneven cobbles. I wonder if I could pull you down a deserted sidestreet, press you up against a wall like a medieval lord with his mistress. I imagine pulling up your heavy skirts and sinking into your wet, welcoming warmth. My pants are hot and moist at the thought of thrusting my way inside you, your carmined lips parting in a torrent of Italian that begs me not to stop.

Looking at the ancient stones, I choose not to remember the religious wars that made these very same streets run with blood. Or Savoranola, the mad monk with his bonfires of the vanities that consumed so many books, so much art. No, instead I dream tourist dreams of beauty and sophistication, poetry and love and forget the ugliness of the past. And for now, since the crowds are unrelenting and there are no deserted streets, my medieval lord is a story for another time.

There is always the temptation to get lost in my own mental landscapes, to outline and paint every object, every tree. But the action has to move on through the setting, not pause to admire itself in the mirror. If I’ve done my job well, that’s the best possible outcome.

"Summer Love" is out from Ladylit Press

Available this very day on Kindle Direct; print and other formats coming soon. This lesbian romance anthology includes  my story "Summer Stock"

New CFS from Less Than Three Press

Check these out - bisexual fairytale romances and private eye romances -

http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/anthology-submissions/

Support Doctors Without Borders!

You can support Doctors Without Borders critical work in Nepal by buying an excellent collection of vampire erotica, edited by the amazing Lizabet Sarai!

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-to-help-nepal.html?m=1&zx=98d24161e81fef35

Writing updates

NOVEL REVISING DONE! FOR NOW! NOW IT'S MY EDITOR'S PROBLEM! *cue maniacal laughter, exhausted faceplant*

Which about sums up this month. This is my new erotic romance SFnal novel. Here's hoping my editor likes the gist of it!

National Give Out Day!

It's #NationalGiveOutDay - donate to support your favorite LGBTQ nonprofits and community organizations - https://www.giveoutday.org/c/GO/

New acceptance!

My story "Repossession" will be appearing in "First," a new anthology of lesbian erotica forthcoming from Ladylit Publishing. :-)))

New story acceptance!

My erotic romance "Summer Stock" will be appearing in Ladylit Publishing's new anthology "Summer Love" later on this year! Huzzah! :-)

"Bossier" is out today!

My story "Wage Slave" is out today in "Bossier," #lesbianerotica tales about work! New from @LadylitPub

Guest Blog - Author/Editor Cheyenne Blue "Same Same But Different"

“Same Same But Different”

Thank you, Emily, for once again hosting me on your blog.  I’m happy to be back here.

There’s a singer-songwriter much beloved in Australia, but little known of in the rest of the world.  Paul Kelly has been around since the 1980s, and has an enormous body of work spanning musical genres and styles.  Many of Paul’s tunes are some of my all-time favourite songs, so a couple of years back, when he released his memoir How to Make Gravy, I snapped it up.

The memoir was a fantastic read, but one thing leaped out at me.  Paul freely admits to borrowing ideas, patterns of notes, the occasional riff, even words from other songs.  He cites a long tradition of this in songwriters and authors.  However, Paul takes these words or notes and makes them uniquely his own, changes them subtly, moves the order around. 

Now very few authors would ever admit to stealing other people’s lines.  With good reason—plagiarism is a nasty thing, copyright infringement even nastier.  But here we all are, writing stories of love, of romance, of sex, of break ups and getting together, of long term lovers, and one-night stands. Sex and more sex.  The plots, when distilled to their elements, are all so very similar.  And of course, most people can tell you that there are only seven basic story plots and every book ever written slots into one of these metaplots.

But what keeps us writing, what keeps readers reading, is the slant we put on our stories of girl meets girl.  Our own words, our own style, different settings, different adversity, attraction, angst, conflict and resolution.  Oh yes, different resolutions.

I could read lesbian romance and erotica every day and still be amazed at the diversity and skill of writers in our genre.  Like Paul Kelly, writers of lesbian stories put their own individuality on a basic common theme and most stories come out new and fresh and arousing.

I have a new mini-anthology out, which I hope highlights some of my own diversity of writing.  Blue Woman Stories Volume III: collected lesbian erotica of Cheyenne Blue, like Volumes I and II, contains five of my previously published stories spanning the decade and a half that I’ve been published.  They are all lesbian, they are all erotic, they all have an element of romance, some more than others, but although they all fall into the simple girl-meets-girl category of storytelling, I think they are all very different from each other.

In A Story About Sarah, Melly tells the reader about her lover, the only other girl in a remote mining camp in outback Australia.  She tells the story of their life and their love. Two of the other four stories are more transient encounters. In Carrowkeel, a tourist meets a New Age hippie in a prehistoric tomb in Ireland, in the second, Irish Abroad, an Irish tourist alone in Las Vegas has the chance to reinvent herself to a tough biker dyke.  The remaining two stories catalog the start of relationships: an experienced nurse takes a student under her wing in Nurse Joan, and in Run, Jo, Run two women fall in love through their mutual passion of fell running.

I hope you enjoy this collection.

Leave a comment on this post (with your email address) and one random commenter will win their choice of Blue Woman Stories Volume I or Volume 2.  The winner will be drawn on 30 April 2015.

Finally, if you have your own lesbian story to tell, my latest Call For Submissions is open until 24 April 2015.  http://www.cheyenneblue.com/#/archives/894

Blue Woman Stories Volume III: collected lesbian erotica of Cheyenne Blue is available from the following places:

Direct from Ladylit  http://www.ladylit.com/books/blue-woman-stories-volume-three-by-cheyenne-blue/

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VMZOA7Q/

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VMZOA7Q/

Amazon CA http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00VMZOA7Q/

Amazon DE http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00VMZOA7Q/

Amazon AUS http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00VMZOA7Q/

All Romance https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-bluewomanstoriesvolume3collectedlesbianeroticaofcheyenneblue-1773357-362.html

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/532069

Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/blue-woman-stories-volume-3

ITunes US  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/blue-woman-stories-volume-3/id982228203?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

ITunes UK https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/blue-woman-stories-volume-3/id982228203?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Cheyenne Blue’s erotic fiction has been included in over 90 erotic anthologies since 2000, including Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Women’s Erotica, Sweat, Bossy, and Wild Girls, Wild Nights. She is the editor of Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire (Ladylit). Under her own name she has written travel books and articles, and edited anthologies of local writing in Ireland. She has lived in the U.K., Ireland, Colorado, and Switzerland, but now writes, runs, makes bread and cheese and drinks wine by the beach in Queensland, Australia. Check out her blog at www.cheyenneblue.com, on Twitter at IamCheyenneBlue and on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/CheyenneBlue

"Bossier" cover

Coming very soon from Ladylit Publishing!

New CFS - LadyLit Publishing "From Top to Bottom"

New from Ladylit:


From Top To Bottom: Lesbian Erotica Stories of Dominance and Submission (working title)

Editor: Harper Bliss

Publisher: Ladylit Publishing

Deadline: 1 September 2015 (earlier submissions preferred)

Payment: US$50.00 plus a free e-book of the anthology in each format (epub, mobi, pdf)
Rights: First worldwide digital and print rights
I am looking for sexy, well-written lesbian erotica stories with a clear power dynamic. Your story should feature kinky sex between two or more women, from bondage scenarios to power play to role play to sadism and masochism. I want characters with a range of age, race and sexual experience. I welcome both stories from the dominant and the submissive’s point of view. Dommes are not required to be perfect—show me their flaws and vulnerabilities!—and subs shouldn’t be pushovers. Show me what makes your characters tick. I’m not that interested in stories of extreme humiliation, but welcome stories where pain is pleasure and vice versa. Give me a good spanking. Handcuffs. A nicely cracking whip. A top who knows what she’s doing and a bottom who’s not afraid of some unexpected pain. Surprise me with your sadism, and with how your sub can only truly take it because of the deep emotional connection with the one she must surrender to.
Stories should have a unique voice, strong characters, tension, and rising action. All characters must be over 18.
Please note the usual no-nos apply: no incest / underage sex / rape / necrophilia / bestiality. No poetry please.
Preferred length: 3000 – 6000 words
Unpublished stories only.
US English. Please submit a double-spaced Microsoft Word document, using a 12-point serif font, such as Georgia or Times New Roman. One inch margins. If using a pen name, include both real and pen name on the manuscript.
Send your story as a .doc or .rtf file attachment to submissions at ladylit dot com. Please include ‘From Top To Bottom’ and your story title in the subject line.
In the body of the email please include your legal name, pen name (if applicable) and a short bio of no longer than 100 words written in 3rd person.
Established authors welcomed, newcomers encouraged. I look forward to reading your work.
All submissions acknowledged within 5 days and acceptances notified by 1 October 2015. The anthology will be released in November 2015.

Guest Post - Author Lisabet Sarai on "The Creative Power of Opposition"

The Creative Power of Opposition

By Lisabet Sarai

In the past few years, I’ve discovered a surprisingly effective method for kick-starting my imagination: look at what I’ve been doing, then do the opposite. Some of my best stories have grown out of frustration, a feeling that I’d gotten stuck writing the same sort of tales over and over.

For instance, I wrote “The Antidote”, which appeared in The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 11, as a reaction to a long spell penning nothing but erotic romance. I was tired of toning down my language and keeping a tight rein on my characters’ sexual attractions and activities, so that they only lusted after the person involved in their happy endings. “I need an antidote to all this romance stuff,” I told myself, then realized I had a great title. The story unfolds in a near-future in which an authoritarian government suppresses sexual desire in the interests of public order – but where a highly illegal antidote is available, for those willing to take the risk.

My multi-genre novel Rajasthani Moon began as a reaction to the current tendency to slot every story into a well-defined sub-genre. “Let’s see how many different genres I can include in a single book,” I thought. The resulting mash-up has elements of steampunk, suspense, shapeshifter, ménage, BDSM, Bollywood (a sub-genre only Totally Bound seems to recognize) and Rubenesque genres. Personally, I feel it’s one of my most successful works, at least from an entertainment perspective. As one reviewer wrote:  “At first you have a kidnapping fantasy with rip roaring sex that honestly left me breathless. Then you have a ménage with kinky toys that made me crunch ice. ( A lot). Then you add a paranormal twist and I couldn’t decide what I enjoyed more. It all worked. Every part of it.”

My recent release The Witches of Gloucester likewise started in a search for contrast. I was putting together a volume of my lesbian erotic short stories to submit to LadyLit. In the process, I noticed a lot of similarities among the tales. All but one were realistic stories with contemporary settings. Every one revolved around just two women, and most of the stories chronicled the characters’ first sexual encounter. I thought I needed something different, for balance. A paranormal fantasy, perhaps. And maybe I could work in a three-way lesbian ménage, perhaps with some moderately hard-core activities. Furthermore, perhaps I could create some characters who were lovers with a long history, women who knew one another extremely well.

I started writing about Marguerite and Beryl, the two resident witches of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and found I couldn’t stop. The floodgates opened. At the outset, I expected the tale to be in the 4-5K region. It turned out to be more than 12,000 words.

When I submitted the manuscript for the collection to LadyLit, they recommended that we pull out Witches and publish it as a standalone title. Of course, I’m happy to have two books rather than just one...but now I’m back in the situation of thinking the collection (entitled Her Own Devices) might not have sufficient variety!

Anyway, here’s the blurb for The Witches of Gloucester. The book is available now—you’ll find a full list of links at http://www.ladylit.com/books/the-witches-of-gloucester-by-lisabet-sarai/ and an excerpt on my website (as well as several others on my blog).

It’s not about power. It’s about love.

The historic port of Gloucester, Massachusetts has a special charm, due at least in part to its resident witches. For decades, raven-maned Marguerite and red-headed Beryl have lived among its hard-working inhabitants, making magic and mischief. Love and sex fuel their supernatural abilities, but duality limits their power. To reach their full potential, they need a third witch to complete their circle.

Rejected as a nymphomaniac by her puritanical boyfriend, Emmeline escapes to Gloucester to work on her PhD thesis. From the moment she arrives, Marguerite and Beryl sense her erotic vitality and unrecognized paranormal talent. The platinum-haired beauty may well be the enchantress they have been awaiting for so long. Now they need to show Em that her prodigious libido is a gift, not a liability, and to persuade her that her destiny lies in the sea-girt town they guard, and in their arms.

* * * *

I want to thank Emily for giving me the opportunity to come by and shout out about the book. Although I’ve been writing lesbian fiction for years, this is my first stand alone F/F title. I’m really hoping that people will enjoy it.

About Lisabet Sarai

LISABET SARAI writes in many genres, but F/F fiction is one of her favorites. Her lesbian erotica credits include contributions to Lambda Award winner Where the Girls Are, Ippie-winning Carnal Machines, Best Lesbian Romance 2012, Forbidden Fruit: Stories of Unwise Lesbian  Desire,  and Lammy-nominated Coming Together: Girl on Girl. Her story “The Late Show” appears in the recently released Best Lesbian Erotica 2015.

Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone would ever need, from prestigious educational institutions who would no doubt be deeply embarrassed by her explicit literary endeavors. She has traveled widely and currently lives in Southeast Asia, where she pursues an alternative career that is completely unrelated to her writing. For all the dirt on Lisabet, visit her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com).