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As we draw near the end of my three days in the Circlet Press spotlight here, I wanted to talk a little bit about what I have in print, some of what’s upcoming, and what I’m working on now.

First and foremost, please buy the wonderful Circlet anthologies (and not just the ones that have my stories in them. If you are reading this blog, you probably already know what Circlet has available, but just in case...).  Circlet has a wonderfully unique approach to erotica, and our continued patronage of their works will help ensure future marvelous collections!

Like a Corset Undone is an anthology of steampunk erotica, including my tale “The Coming Age,” about a sexual visionary and his amazing discovery unveiled at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Available now.

Like a Mask Removed will be an anthology of sexy superhero stories, including “Lawman.” Coming soon from Circlet.

Like a Sacred Desire – an anthology of stories about erotic divinity – will contain my Krampus romp, “St. Nicholas' Eve.”

From other publishers:

Peep Show, edited by the delightful Rachel Kramer Bussel and published by Cleis, includes my short story “Calendar Girl.” Set in the late 1950s, “Calendar Girl” is about a young woman who discovers the power of exhibitionism. Check out the book trailer here. Available now.

Very soon, I will have a story in the modern pulp magazine Out of the Gutter #6, the sexploitation issue. The story is called “Life Model” and is a bit of a thematic companion to “Calendar Girl.” More hard-boiled than most of my work and huge fun to write.

My story “Timbre,” in Best Women's Erotica 2010, edited by the incomparable Violet Blue.

The e-book anthology Maiden, Mother, Crone, from Drollerie contains my story “Standing Stone,” which manages to be both fantasy and science fiction.

eXtasy Books just published my novella Green Flash, a darkly romantic story about a young woman half in love with death in the midst of a celebration of lively sexuality. Available now.

I have two stories in the wonderful Coming Together anthologies, edited by Alessia Brio. “Making Rain” in Coming Together: Al Fresco and “Under a Moving Star” in Coming Together: Against the Odds. I am especially proud of “Under a Moving Star” and was delighted to donate it to a good cause! Both available now.

Sadly, Virgin/Black Lace books have curtailed future erotica collections, but I’m delighted to have placed a story in one of the later ones. “Understudy” in Love at First Bite is a very different kind of vampire story about a man who is Bela Lugosi’s understudy for the 1929 Broadway production of Dracula. You can read a review of “Understudy” and an excerpt at Vampire Erotica, here. Lust at First Bite is still available.

“The Morning Trade” is a contemporary story of a young woman discovering her secret sexual self in the outstanding collection, Girls on Top, edited by Violet Blue. Available now.

Finally, I have three other books available from eXtasy Books. Inspiration, a story of the erotic power of art set in Renaissance Italy; The Passions of Pearl, an x-rated, satiric fairy tale; and my novel Woman of the Mountain, 2008 Eppie Award winner for Best Erotica.

On the horizon, I have a few more stories that will be appearing in collections in the new year and a short, comic space opera novel that I’m looking for a publisher for. One of the best stories I’ve written is a horror novella (with, surprise! erotic elements) called “Springs” that will be published by Drollerie in 2010, and I have other tales out seeking homes. When I’m not being distracted by irresistible calls for submission, I am working on the sequel to Woman of the Mountain. Called Woman of the Water, it’s going to be considerably darker than its predecessor…

I’ve enjoyed these three days at Circlet and I hope you have found some of what I’ve posted entertaining. I always like to hear from other writers and readers, either through e-mail (muse @ angelacaperton .com - remove spaces) or in the ever-expanding spectrum of social media, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. My blog, The Exotic Fair of a Wandering Muse, is by far the best way to keep up with me, my work, and the things I like.

Thank you so very much to Circlet for this opportunity to meet peers and make new friends, and I will see you all soon, in one world or another.

angela_caperton

My last excerpt is from “St. Nicholas Eve”, which will appear in the upcoming Circlet anthology Like a Sacred Desire.  

The story takes place on December 5, a couple of weeks into the holiday season. Our heroine is Holly, a disgruntled, seasonal, department store elf. On her bus trip home, she meets another of Santa’s helpers and they debark at the same stop. One thing leads to another and we come to this scene:

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“St. Nicholas’ Eve” plays with the old European legend of the Krampus, the dark, devilish spirit that accompanies Santa Claus, handing out coal and “punishing” wicked children with birch switches.  There is something deliciously sexual about the Krampus, and it was not a stretch to play with  BDSM themes in “St. Nicholas’ Eve.” 

With that in mind, for my last contest, tell me what mythical or legendary figure do you find sexy, and why?  I’ll pick a winner tomorrow!

The prize – Winner’s choice of one of the following:

Like a Corset Undone (contains “The Coming Age”)(eBook)

Woman of the Mountain eBook or Print

Print copy of Lust at First Bite (contains my story “Understudy”)

Maiden, Mother, Crone (contains my story “Standing Stone”)(eBook)

One of my eBooks from eXtasy Books (use Search by Author to pull up my titles)

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Besides “The Coming Age” and “Lawman,” the other story of mine that Circlet will be publishing is “St. Nicholas Eve,” a lighthearted Christmas tale of pagan deities and public birching.

The persistence of pagan beliefs is something that always fascinates me and Christmas, of course, has more layers of hidden culture than Schliemann’s Troy. “St. Nicholas Eve” deals with a manifestation of one of Santa Claus’ dark companions, known by many names including Black Peter, Perchten, or Krampus. These little shadows of pre-Christian tradition really know how to put switches in a stocking or how to apply them to tender flesh! Besides appearing in the anthology Like a Sacred Desire, “St. Nicholas’ Eve” will also be available as a free-for-one-day offering on the Circlet website on or about December 22^nd.  As Christmas approaches, check Circlet’s website for more details.

 Of all the stories I’ve sold, my favorite one that deals with pagan survivals is “Standing Stone” in the Drollerie Press anthology Maiden, Mother Crone.  “Standing Stone” is an explicitly erotic tale that spans three eras in a valley in northern Europe, each story about a different aspect of a primal goddess whose truth is timeless and merciless. The story includes elements of fantasy, historical romance, and science fiction, and – surprise! – probably falls well outside of all three genres. Drollerie published an extensive excerpt here (click the "excerpt" button near the bottom).

Although there was a certain amount of deliberate co-opting of pagan sites and customs by Christian missionaries, I honestly think that the transformation of Christmas (and the shrine of Lourdes for that matter) speaks more to deep human desires than to religious manipulation. Both “Standing Stone” and “St. Nicholas Eve” are my little efforts to talk about those desires. 

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by

Angela Caperton

Brennus smelled her perfume all the way down in the pit, the Empress up in her box, beside her toad of a husband. Ranging along the side of the throne, the Empress’ servants stood eclipsed by her glory, their beauty a reflection of their mistress, lush leaves to frame the empire’s flower. Together, they were the most beautiful women in all the world, but it was the Empress who watched him with shadowed eyes, her luxurious hair like rich, dark fur, now curled and braided in an attractive styling, where only a few hours earlier it had flowed wild down her back, over her shoulders, teasing her nipples. He could not read the Empress' expression, but Brennus trusted the scent that reminded him of her seductive words.

His arms and legs hung heavy as lead, the weight of the night's joy upon him in the bright Roman morning and the heat of the sun near the center of the sky took more strength than Brennus had to give.

The Empress sweated in the heat too, as she had in the night, and as sweet flowers reached down to Brennus and tickled his nose, her promises made in the darkness of the rude stall where he slept echoed in his memory.

"Please me," she whispered, "and you will not die."

The German might, of course, kill him in spite of the Empress' promise. There was little she could do if Brennus lost his head or his gut. The German was a master of the trident and he had half again Brennus' reach. Brennus knew his only hope would be to get inside the giant's reach, within the circle of the trident and strike true.

He hefted his sword, shrugged his arm guard into place and turned to meet the German, still drunk on the Empress' perfume.

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For this post, I thought I'd offer up an excerpt from my story "Lawman".  This story of a retired superhero on the hunt for a little excitement will appear in the upcoming Circlet anthology Like a Mask Removed.

Dean is the main character, and he really is something of a superhero!  He came to me practically fully formed in my head and, with his voice whispering in my brain, "Lawman" flowed onto the screen at nearly supersonic speed!

I hope you enjoy this short unedited snippet of "Lawman".

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What can I say? I’m a sucker for a hero.

This entry is about my story “Lawman” in the upcoming Circlet anthology, Like a Mask Removed. This is one of my favorite stories and, although, it’s not available yet, I’d like to tell you a little about how it came to be.

I have a strong affection for comics and graphic novels, and my partner Drake (see his Tumblr log at http://drakecaperton.tumblr.com/) is a fan and collector of 20^th century exploitation artifacts of all kinds – comics, men’s magazines, true detective publications, drive-in movies – and he often shows me things that become story ideas. This was one of those cases.

The call for submissions for Like a Mask Removed came out around the time The Watchmen opened in theaters, so the whole concept of realistic superheroes was getting a lot of discussion in the blogosphere and in the media generally. Plus, Craig Yoe’s wonderful book on the fetish art of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster had just hit the store shelves, so it seemed like sexy superheroes were everywhere.  As a frequent visitor and occasional commenter to the comic/horror blog The Groovy Age of Horror, at one point the blog’s author, knowing I write erotica, asked me if I’d ever written an erotic superhero story. I told him no, but maybe someday.

And during this time frame, Drake had been reading a lot of true crime magazines from the 30s, when (if you can believe the mags) America felt like it was under siege from a wave of super criminals – John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and others – who the police seemed powerless to stop. The crime waves of the prohibition and depression eras led to the establishment of the FBI and the rise of celebrity crime fighters like J. Edgar Hoover and Elliot Ness.

All the ingredients were there.  It didn’t take long for the story to start mixing in my brain.

The idea that came to me was – what if at this particular point in history the government had found a way to give its agents superhuman powers?  Happily, this is also the point in publishing history when superheroes first appeared, so it made an interesting parallel. With an army of superhuman agents guided by a man with the moral sensibilities of J. Edgar, serious crime would have come to an end pretty quickly, but then what would the super lawmen do? The answer seemed pretty obvious to me and forms the basis for the background of my story, the tale of a retired super agent looking for a simple, special, and illegal, thrill. I enjoyed writing the story and I think there may be room for another tale or two set in the same world. Time will tell…  

If you would like to read my interview at Groovy Age, go here.

If you would like to read some of Drake and my reviews of comics/graphic novels, enjoy the following:

Lost Girls

Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster

Madame Xanadu

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As I mentioned earlier, I have thoroughly enjoyed Circlet’s calls for submission, and writing “The Coming Age” for Like a Corset Undone was great fun!  Besides my love of the Columbian Expo, I also found myself influenced by the mad, often misguided, scientists of the ‘40s and ‘50s movies.  Okay…Maybe Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein fits in too, but you get the idea - a scientist totally committed to his vision of a “better life” - regardless of the cost.  Dr. Mason in “The Coming Age” fits that bill!

Here is a new excerpt from “The Coming Age”, and you’ll get a pretty good idea why Dr. Mason LOVES his job.  Robert is Elizabeth’s fiancée trying to convince her to return home, to  him and a decidedly less exciting future.  It’s pretty explicit, so click to read!