Hello and welcome to the Circlet Press community on LiveJournal! We've already got a blog over at www.circlet.com, but if all goes right with our technical wizardry... posts that appear there will also appear here. Or something like that. Or maybe we'll just fake it...

Hello, my name is Peter Tupper. I'll be your author and guest blogger for the next three days.

Let me kick this off with yet another question about genre.

An erotica publisher recently turned down my story because there wasn't much sex in it, and because what sex was in the story wasn't very sexy. Now, that decision is the publisher's prerogative, but it got me wondering: Must sex in erotica always be good?

In my particular story, the sex wasn't meant to be good. It wasn't bad, in the sense of being rape or otherwise exploitative or coercive, or ugly. It just wasn't all that great. The emphasis was on two shy, anxious people getting over their fears and inhibitions, and that act alone is worthwhile, even if the resulting sex is not enough to break the bed and make the neighbors complain about the noise. In part, it was my attempt to have a sex scene that was realistic instead of idealized.

Setting aside the issue of whether this story worked, did the mediocre sex (that was not a prelude to better sex later in the plot) automatically disqualify it as erotica, as the publishing industry currently defines it? Obviously, you can have sex in a fictional work that is not arousing (or at least not intended to be so by the author), but must erotica have good sex? You can have a romance that doesn't have a happily-ever-after ending, as a counter-example (e.g. the film Casablanca)

Or was this just a case of sending the story to the wrong market?

Gavin Atlas is the author of the story “Slavery by Degree” found in Wired Hard 4.0 from Circlet Press. Gavin has been writing since fifth grade, but started writing erotica in 2004 and was first published in 2007. Some of his earlier work is loosely based on his experience with older men, but as editors began to request stories involving cowboys and construction workers, he’s had to rely more on imagination. Gavin is also the author of The Boy Can’t Help It (Lethe Press), a collection of erotic short stories and the vampire novella, Slave to Shadows (Excessica Publishing). He can be reached at www.GavinAtlas.com.

Mirrored from Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0.

Peter Tupper is a journalist and writer in Vancouver, BC. He blogs about the history of BDSM at www.historyofbdsm.com, and plans on publishing a book on the subject. He is also the co-founder of Metro Vancouver Kink. His first professional fiction sale was “Subjective Lens” in Circlet Press’s S/M Futures anthology.  His most recent publication with Circlet is the story “The Pretty Horsebreaker” in Like a Corset Undone.

Mirrored from Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0.

(Continuing the weekly serial of m/m high fantasy by Cecilia Tan…)

Part 28: Jorin

In the morning a commander came, and he and two other officers supervised our march from the camp. They hadn’t given us weapons yet, or orders, and I wondered how far we would be going. Not far on foot, it turned out, as they marched us down to the river and loaded us onto a barge. We were twenty four men in total, including the commander and his second, and two bowmen who took turns on top. From the way the other men eyed them I knew they were less there to protect us from the enemy than to shoot any of us that tried to flee.

We were on the barge all day, traveling on the river, and when night fell, the commander gathered us together to speak of our “mission” and of the pardon we would each be given for our crimes if we did this service to the crown.

If we survived, of course. He did not say that part, though I think every man there knew it well enough. I saw others casting their gazes about as if looking for escape, but there was none with the archers watching us from the barge roof. In the morning we would draw near Tiger’s Mouth, they told us, and we would be armed once we reached the encampment after sunrise.

We bedded down on the deck of the barge, and I found the motion of the boat and the rushing sound of the water enough to lull me to sleep.

I was wakened by the sound of a scream.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0.

Three Dollar Bill Reviews recently posted a nice review of “Up for Grabs.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0.

The Erotica Readers and Writers Association has a nice review of Wired Hard 4.

We now live in an era of ebooks and genetic engineering, instant messaging and cybersex, gender reassignment and gay marriage. The world has matured and many of the fantastic imaginings of Circlet’s authors have become familiar facts. In the second decade of the twenty first century, Circlet is still delivering some of the best speculative erotica available—appropriately in electronic form. Wired Hard 4 is a splendid example.

The eight stories in this collection are remarkably diverse. They are unified, first, by their raw sexual energy, and second, by the intimate mingling of human with other: machine, robot, animal, vampire, or god. Xan West’s lyrical introduction points out that most of these tales deal with transformations. Sex here is more than an avenue of pleasure. It is the gateway to new and different selves.

Mirrored from Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0.

Starting today, microfictions will be accepted at a new Gmail inbox: circlet.microfiction@gmail.com.

As before, micros will pay in a free ebook of your choice. They should be short erotic sf/fantasy stories roughly between 250 and 1250 words. All sexualities accepted, of course. Submit in email WITH the tagline/bio you would like to run with the story if accepted.

Microfictions run on Fridays. Looking forward to your submissions!

Mirrored from Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0.

Preditors & Editors 2009 Poll is going on now! Please consider voting for Circlet Press here:
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/ebookpublisher.shtml

It only takes a few seconds to click and type in the confirmation!

Like Tooth & Claw: Shapeshifter Erotica is now out! We basically decided it was time for a book about all the other shifters besides werewolves, so you'll find lions, seals, eagles, and more in this ebook anthology.

Read an excerpt from the book, a piece of Lee Harrington's "Tonight We Work In Silk," here: http://www.circlet.com/?p=686

That's right, our "erotic advent calendar" is back and the first gift will be dropped down the chimney during the night tonight! Check back at http://www.circlet.com every day between now and Christmas for a hot, erotic story! Each story only appears for a day so be sure to visit daily to see them all!

Microfictions will be suspended until advent is over but will resume on Fiction Fridays in January. The serialized fiction, The Prince's Boy, will continue to run every Wednesday through advent or lots of fans would go into withdrawal. And new book releases will continue on Mondays.

Robotica by Kal Cobalt
ISBN: 978-1-885865-72-4
Word Count: 20,345

List Price: $4.99 On sale this week for $3.99!

Available from:

• Circlet.com (PDF)
  
• Amazon Kindle Store
  
• Fictionwise (all formats)
  
• All Romance eBooks (epub, prc, pdf, HTML)
  
• Smashwords (mobi, LRF, epub, pdf, HTML)
  
• Scribd (PDF, epaper, read online)
  

For the next two weeks the title is on sale at up to 20% off from most partner sites, and right here at Circlet.com for only $3.99, so don't dawdle, download a copy today!

Five erotic stories of robot-human relations, exploring the future of humanity, sex, and desire. In Cobalt's futures, artificial intelligences can have very real emotions, and humans can be just as confused, turned on by, and obsessed with their robot lovers as they are by any others. The stories have a delicious homoerotic edge even as they question what gender means to a robot mind. Or heart.

Includes the stories:
Charlie
The Sex Drive
Agrathia's Freedom
Star Fucker
Survival-Compatible

Regular readers of circlet.com will remember Kal Cobalt as the author of the essay "10 Things You Always Wanted to Know About Robot Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)" and the one on Asimov's "Law's of Robotics vs. BDSM". K.C. also has stories in the recently released Wired Hard 4, as well as Best Fantastic Erotica, Boys In Heat, Best Gay Romance, Toward 2012, and elsewhere.

Continue on to read a hot excerpt: (Read More)

It's coming! Starting December 1st, Circlet 2.0 will feature our extremely popular "erotic advent calendar," in which a tasty erotic story will appear each day leading up to Christmas! But each story will only be available for 24 hours before it disappears! So you will want to check back every day for your gift.

For me, the winter holiday season is about celebrating people, love, and life, a time of joy and connecting with the people I love. When I was a kid, we would sometimes get an "advent calendar" that counted down the days until Santa's arrival with a piece of chocolate, a kind of small prelude to the feast of candy, gifts, and love that would come on the 24th. (My family always opened most gifts on Christmas eve, except for those "from Santa.")

So come back to circlet.com every day from December 1st through the 23rd for a little treat, and then on the 24th we will begin to post some special holiday-themed stories which will stay up for your enjoyment all year.

With joy and love,

Cecilia Tan
Editorial Director

With great exultation, gentlepersons, we present to you the final installment in The Ontological Engine by Vinnie Tesla! (aka vinnie_tesla) This four-part MP3 series comes to its apotheotic conclusion with this 35-minute extravaganza!

Click here to purchase just Part Four for 99 cents:

or purchase the previous parts a la carte:
Part Three
Part Two.
Part One, which is free of charge to listen to and enjoy.

Part One runs 12 minutes, Part Two some 22 minutes, Part 3 another 22 minutes, and the final piece, 35 minutes.

"This bawdy tale, which reads like The Pearl on acid... is so funny that it's worth the price of the book all by itself. ...a delirious marriage of Frankenstein and Thorne Smith."--Lisabet Sarai

The Ontological Engine originally appeared in the ebook anthology UP FOR GRABS.

Call for Submissions: Apocalypse Sex: Love at the End of the World

What would you do if you had only 24 hours to live?

Maybe aliens have taken over the planet and are massacring the human race; conversely, maybe humans have invaded an alien planet--but are losing. Perhaps you're contemplating ending your own world, or are convinced your life is going to end--whether through self-harm, a major lifestyle change, or something else. Maybe a fatal disease is exterminating your species, or nuclear war has broken out.

And maybe it's a false alarm, but how could you possibly know that in advance?

24 hours left to do everything you've wanted to: Would you make love to the person you've always secretly cared for? Have a rendezvous with a stranger on the street? Explore your wildest fantasies, or get back to the basics one last time?

The possibilities are limitless within this basic theme. Don't forget the sci-fi/fantasy aspect we always look for, but bring your sexiest ideas too. Come up with some original plots, keep 'em captivating and steamy, and have some fun!

Submission details: ( Read more... )

Part Three of vinnie_tesla's THE ONTOLOGICAL ENGINE is now available for your downloading pleasure! The Ontological Engine is a fevered romp into victorian erotica, melded with steampunk in a mad scientist's laboratory. Kind of like when chocolate meets peanut butter, except with more grammatical locutions and unexpected ejaculations! (We leave it to you, dear listener, to discern which kind.)

Click here to purchase for 99 cents: Part Three.

Did you need Part Two first? Click here, gentlepersons.

What? You missed Part One as well? Very well, for those who require it, we shall also provide the beginning of the adventure, which is free of charge to listen to and enjoy.

Part One runs 12 minutes, Part Two some 22 minutes, Part 3 another 22 minutes, and dare I say we shall reach the climax of the story next week with a 35 minute audiogasm in Part Four?

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.

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:

“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)

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. 

I mentioned the Erotica Readers and Writers Association earlier. Available on their website is a hot little e-volume called A Slip of the Lip. It’s edited by my friend and colleague Remittance Girl  and features 21 short, short stories, vignettes, and verses, all about kisses. I have a story in it called “Last Kiss” that is, perhaps, a ghost story.

You can get a free copy of A Slip of the Lip here.

And I hear RG may be working on a sequel!