Fierce Dolan's Blog: Writing Utopia, One Word at a Time, page 20

My confession:  I've known Kerry for ages, and when I say "ages" I mean further back than is polite to ask.  She was a brilliant writer and editor back in the day, so when I learned she had a new release out, I knew introductions were in order.  Kerry's not just a writer,  she's an artist you want to know.  As for her confessions, you'll have to keep reading.

Kerry lives in North Carolina though she pretends she lives in NYC or Rome, depending on the day. She writes sfr and fantasy and loves editing—especially other writers' stuff. She's also a professional costumer and artist and teaches fiction writing classes at the college level. She's an Associate Editor for Entangled Publishing. One day she'll own a cave with electricity, Internet access, and a stream.

Without the cave, though, she's doing pretty well. Her new release Senator, Mine, from Decadent Publishing comes out 6 April, under the name Kerry Adrienne.  Her first publication in the 1Night Stand matchmaking series, the story brings two unlikely lovers together across time.  Similarly, just before Summer Solstice, the second in her 1Ns shorts, All Mine, Kerry releases Druid, Mine.  This fall her first novel, Double Eclipse is due from MuseItUp Publishing.

According to Kerry, her love for writing sexy scifi was born of a general drive to write about human relationships.  "Sex is a part of how we interact on both the physical and emotional level," she says, "so it was a natural progression." As far as her style, what sets it apart is "humor and attention to setting detail."

As a teacher of creative writing, Kerry says that she learns from her students, ongoing.  "Every single night I teach, I come away with something new and exciting. Whether it is a new perspective on POV, or a new take on how to people watch—the classes are always motivational and informative. Being around creative people is always enlightening."

Her approach to teaching has a 'no rules' tactic.  "We don't focus on grammar or format or anything. We work on freeing the creativity that everyone has inside. Then we work on setting up a plan to write a little each day so that writing becomes a habit."

The woman has no spare time, I tell you.  I asked her about keeping up with her own writing, as well as editing for Entangled (as Kerry Vail).  "The jobs are complementary—each has truly strengthened the other. Being an editor made me appreciate how much work goes into editing a manuscript—and also made me know for a fact that the editor is not trying to find things wrong just to say "ha, ha", but to really push you to make the work the very best it can be. "

What does she look for in a manuscript?  Well, hopeful authors should know she has a major turn-off:  "A mass email that includes 'Dear Editor,' and/or a manuscript that isn't what I acquire…  In other words, things that clearly show that the guidelines were not followed."

She's talented, classy, and eager to help others grow as writers–this much has not changed from our early years. When it comes to guilty pleasures, though, it's anybody's guess.  "Fabric, expensive art supplies, and cats. That is all I am fessing up to." Keep up with this busy lady on:

From Senator, Mine…

Eleanor's dream of a romantic tour of Italy shatters when her long-time boyfriend breaks up with her in Pompeii. Determined to enjoy the once in a lifetime vacation, she enlists the 1NS service. She continues her trip, stopping to buy a small golden signet in a mysterious antiquities shop in Rome. Darius, a hard-working Senator in Ancient Rome, is puzzled by the Sibyl's words: You will not find love in your lifetime. Hoping to find a measure of happiness, he agrees to the Sibyl's quest. In the olive grove, he spots Eleanor, a barbarian wearing his stolen senator's ring. A night spent together may be just what they both need to break down the columns of time that stand between them.

“I’m told she writes erotica.”

They watched elegant hourglass hips sway across the lawn, short, sleek, black hem hugging their strength, restraining their power.

“Yes, she does,” the other replied. “With every step.”

~*~*~*~

Gigolo Seduction available 4 May…

"I'm told she writes erotica."

They watched elegant hourglass hips sway across the lawn, short, sleek, black hem hugging their strength, restraining their power.

"Yes, she does," the other replied. "With every step."

~*~*~*~

Gigolo Seduction available 4 May…

Prior to becoming a writer of romantic fiction, Casea Major worked in the legal field for a non-profit dispute resolution company for ten years.  Now a full-time mom to three preschool children with whom she and her husband live happily, she's got a few other things on her mind–namely her new book from Decadent Publishing, Night with a Dom.

When I ask her what inspired her to write the BDSM short, Major surprises me. "AMC's Mad Men. I love Don Draper.  [My main character] Melody Manning is a market analyst at an ad agency, and my Dom is based on [the lead actor,] Jon Hamm."

Despite her love of the show and the intense themes in Night with a Dom, Major says, "This is my first BDSM story…  I'm actually a Bible scholar."

Authors she enjoys include Karen Marie Moning, Lisa Kleypas, and Deborah Smith.

Major's upcoming projects include a chick lit paranormal series she refers to as "a paranormal Guys and Dolls meets Kindergarten Cop. A playboy alpha heir wagers he can find and claim his mate before the next full moon, but the prim and proper object of his desire–a Kindergarten teacher–might not be so easy to woo."

Lovely men aren't just inspirational eye candy for Major, they're motivation. When I ask her to reveal her best rejection letter coping strategy, she says, "The Ugly Guy Approach–I ignore them."

She's not shy on following her bliss, though.  Of guilty pleasures she says, "The Bible says, 'Every good and perfect gift comes from above., If you have a guilty pleasure, it's probably an imitation of something even better. Find the original and you"ll find even greater pleasure."

Speaking of pleasure, Major left our time together describing Night with a Dom:

Melody Manning's workaholic ambition, coupled with a slave-driving former boss, has made her the youngest market analyst in her firm. It's also killed her personal life, including losing her fiancé. When she receives a message from him on New Year's Eve announcing his engagement to another woman, Mel loses it. Her new, more compassionate boss has the perfect solution for her—get laid. Good and laid.

At his suggestion, she signs up with the 1Night Stand service, listing her deepest sexual desires on the application.  A speedy response from Madame Eve has Melody on her way to Sonoma Valley wine country and a one-night stand with a mysterious Dom.

The sexy, masked Master promises to get to the bottom of her guilt and provide ultimate satisfaction under the safety of his stern hand. After an emotional night of submission and uninhibited passion, will her lover's unmasking lead to the end of their encounter or give Mel another chance at love?

Keep up with Casea and her upcoming projects on Facebook or @caseamajor.

First off, Thank you, Carrie Ann Ryan for putting this St. Patrick’s Day blog hop together!  Loads of sites are participating, and I hope you will take time to hop about and check out some great blogs.  There are two grand prizes on this hop  as well as a prize that I am offering to anyone over 18, for which all you have to do is comment to enter.  Read on for details…

I want to say I loathe St. Patrick’s Day because I’m an Irish-descended contemporary Druid and neopagan, and the one-day annual leprechaunization of the west grates on my culturally sympathetic nerves.   I don’t loathe it, though, because  I know it’s no longer cool to dwell on one more holiday conscripted by a late-blooming religion that claims the day as a long-held authentic tradition.  I also know it’s not cool to point fingers at the culturally appropriated when I’m at best a reasonable modern facsimile of a broken path long-strewn with confusion and misinformation–oh, and bloodshed and tears at the hands of that other religion.  You may remember from ninth grade World Cultures class the Roman and Christian destruction of druidic groves and sacred texts, the near-obliteration of an entire culture.  That stuff.    Or that in all seriousness–I simply don’t find celebrating the memory of a saint with green beer and colcannon while professing love for a country far-removed from most of our schemas very…  spiritual.

Far be it from me.

While relevant annoyances on the topic, those aren’t my reasons for ambivalence about St. Patrick’s Day.  I’m nonplussed about it because St. Patrick didn’t convert Ireland.  If you read Reconstructionist historical accounts, he wasn’t the first Christian missionary on the isle, and Pagan culture thrived another hundred years after him.  That’s not exactly a smashing success, let alone criteria for a bloody “conversion.”

What I do feel passionate about is how willing we are to take any misguided information and plug it into a holiday (holy day), without considering if it’s accurate.  Frankly, we do that with more than St. Patrick’s Day.  It annoys me that we’re comfortable with letting the history that we want to believe outweigh the history that was, especially if that chosen belief allows us a jab at a different life perspective.  I say this to those who cling to the conquering missionary image of St. P., and to modern Pagans who perpetuate the idea that he brought about a blood bath to wipe out our predecessors.  Neither is true.

The thing is: the history we choose to believe doesn’t change the history that was.  Civilizations–really wonderful, glorious ones–turn over all the time, all through time. However gradually, gently, forcefully, or willingly they shift, it’s just a fact that they do and eventually all will. Ours will.  When civilizations fall, cultures uproot and new traditions move in. One deity is traded for another, or several, or none. Religions and rulers scurry.

On 17 March some Pagans celebrate Celtic Culture Appreciation Day.  I don’t celebrate anything in particular then, as my personal spiritual practice encompasses many Celtic influences that I honor on a daily basis.   However you observe the holiday,  thanks for joining me on this hop.  Comment on my site and others on the hop to enter the Grand Prize drawing. The 1st Grand Prize Winner gets to choose between a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, and the 2nd Grand Prize Winner chooses between a $90 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card! Commenters (18 or over–please be willing to provide a statement of age)) on my site will be entered to win an ebook of Belle de Nuit, featuring my steamy story “Party Favour.”  I will randomly select one commenter as the winner.

I tip my etheric shamrock in your general direction, wish you a peaceful Equinox,  and wish everyone better than the luck of the Irish.

**Gigolo Seduction comes out 5 May!!**

First off, Thank you, Carrie Ann Ryan for putting this St. Patrick's Day blog hop together!  Loads of sites are participating, and I hope you will take time to hop about and check out some great blogs.  There are two grand prizes on this hop  as well as a prize that I am offering, for which all you have to do is comment to enter.  Read on for details…

I want to say I loathe St. Patrick's Day because I'm an Irish-descended contemporary Druid and neopagan, and the one-day annual leprechaunization of the west grates on my culturally sympathetic nerves.   I don't loathe it, though, because  I know it's no longer cool to dwell on one more holiday conscripted by a late-blooming religion that claims the day as a long-held authentic tradition.  I also know it's not cool to point fingers at the culturally appropriated when I'm at best a reasonable modern facsimile of a broken path long-strewn with confusion and misinformation–oh, and bloodshed and tears at the hands of that other religion.  You may remember from ninth grade World Cultures class the Roman and Christian destruction of druidic groves and sacred texts, the near-obliteration of an entire culture.  That stuff.    Or that in all seriousness–I simply don't find celebrating the memory of a saint with green beer and colcannon while professing love for a country far-removed from most of our schemas very…  spiritual.

Far be it from me.

While relevant annoyances on the topic, those aren't my reasons for ambivalence about St. Patrick's Day.  I'm nonplussed about it because St. Patrick didn't convert Ireland.  If you read Reconstructionist historical accounts, he wasn't the first Christian missionary on the isle, and Pagan culture thrived another hundred years after him.  That's not exactly a smashing success, let alone criteria for a bloody "conversion."

What I do feel passionate about is how willing we are to take any misguided information and plug it into a holiday (holy day), without considering if it's accurate.  Frankly, we do that with more than St. Patrick's Day.  It annoys me that we're comfortable with letting the history that we want to believe outweigh the history that was, especially if that chosen belief allows us a jab at a different life perspective.  I say this to those who cling to the conquering missionary image of St. P., and to modern Pagans who perpetuate the idea that he brought about a blood bath to wipe out our predecessors.  Neither is true.

The thing is: the history we choose to believe doesn't change the history that was.  Civilizations–really wonderful, glorious ones–turn over all the time, all through time. However gradually, gently, forcefully, or willingly they shift, it's just a fact that they do and eventually all will. Ours will.  When civilizations fall, cultures uproot and new traditions move in. One deity is traded for another, or several, or none. Religions and rulers scurry.

On 17 March some Pagans celebrate Celtic Culture Appreciation Day.  I don't celebrate anything in particular then, as my personal spiritual practice encompasses many Celtic influences that I honor on a daily basis.   However you observe the holiday,  thanks for joining me on this hop.  Comment on my site and others on the hop to enter the Grand Prize drawing. The 1st Grand Prize Winner gets to choose between a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, and the 2nd Grand Prize Winner chooses between a $90 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card! Commenters on my site will be entered to win an ebook of Belle de Nuit, featuring my steamy story "Party Favour."  I will randomly select one commenter as the winner.

I tip my etheric shamrock in your general direction, wish you a peaceful Equinox,  and wish everyone better than the luck of the Irish.

Encyclopedia Britannica is going out of print, moving to an entirely digital platform.  Few are likely broken up about the transition, though I confess:   [image error]

I lived in encyclopedias as a kid, when I wasn't nose-first in National Geographic (when it was just a magazine, not myriad TV channels).  To be specific, my encyclopedia of choice was The World Book Encyclopedia, a 22-volume set purchased by my parents  in the 60s (the 1960s, that is), cos that's how information rolled back then–on foot, door-to-door, from some worldly sage salesman to the bottom shelf of my sister's book case.  World Book went digital in the 90s .

I remember in high school my cousin and I discussed the limitations of our encyclopedias, that life was going on and it wasn't within our frame of reference.  We dreamed of a hotline we could call and ask any question under the sun, and some wise soul would answer it with page-crisp specificity.  We dreamed of a living encyclopedia.  Little did we know.

In college encyclopedias became baby resources.  Their itty bitty way of breaking concepts down into manageable knowledge got no respect.  Professors made them off-limits, as if referencing one oversimplified academic greatness.  "Secondary sources," they were.  Dated, stale, too general, not cutting edge, with my ultra cool literary brothers and sisters I abandoned them, post-haste.

Secretly I grieved the loss of my factoid fetish. There was no Internet as we know it today.  All I had was a fledgling World Wide Web, shy of information, heavy with personal web pages perpetually "Under Construction."

By my mid-20s I saw the practical futility of such printed reams.  Of their academic absurdity, a friend casually pointed out the obvious.  "Encyclopedias are useless.  An anaconda is always an anaconda. You don't need to keep looking that up."  I couldn't argue the point, though it didn't sit well with me.

Then sprang up thousands of geek UPG (Unverified Personal Gnosis) web sites, random experts spewing everything anyone ever wanted to know about X , with no fact-checking in sight.   From them emerged wikis and endless online possibilities to stew in debatable trivia.

I'm sad to see Britannica leave the playing field of printed reference materials.  Yes, the winner writes history.  But we're not talking about history books.  And sure, language evolves, though we're not discussing dictionaries (Hail Mother of Morphemes, full of semantic grace, printed OED, gods rest your soul).   It's nice to have real-time resources to track dynamic truths, though what about good old-fashioned facts?  I love nonsensical surfing as much as anyone, but to reference web sources as fact is elusive, slippery, mutable one screen refresh to the next without an ounce of accountability. Digital references never bring me the satisfaction, the security of reading in a credible text that what is said has been proven empirically true.

What makes digital information so challenging is the shortness of our memories.  We hope we know what an anaconda is, because if a glitch changes its details on some website, how far would the bad intel propagate before a genus was theoretically altered in our digital libraries? The worth of encyclopedias isn't measured by the immutable details of what constitutes an anaconda. It's in our ability to go back and consistently verify that we recorded its details properly, so that at some subsequent point, someone who doesn't know what an anaconda is can stand on the credibility that a long time ago some researcher got it right–the first time.

You may have read in the last week that PayPal is making policy changes geared toward eradicating questionable material from their transactions.   The literature in question contains incest, pseudo-incest, rape, bestiality, or underage sex.  This targeted campaign has resulted in several erotica epublishers and distributors being forced to take down content–censorship, potentially drop authors, draw up petitions, and have their accounts–thus assets–frozen byPayPal. Some even plan to move to other front end currency handlers, in hopes of escaping the grips of PayPal.

Clearly there's a more compelling, more pervasive business impetus driving this change,  more along the lines of ill-gotten gains and killing indie publishing than controlling sexual morality or protecting pure minds. For instance, consider 1979 New York Best Seller, V. C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic, published by Pocket Star (Simon & Schuster). I first read this book when I was about twelve years old (I know, I know–wrecked from the start.), which makes this snazzy new snuggly cover its what, gazillionth edition?  The story's premise is an underage brother and sister falling in love, then banging like bunnies, through a few sequels, even. I'm sure that Simon & Schuster isn't using PayPal to sell their books, though I can't help but wonder how big publishers are connected to PayPal's corporate holdings.

If the execs behind PayPal were that against  the aforementioned sexual acts, wouldn't they attack the big guns peddling smut, the publishers with jinglier funds and way bigger distribution reaching much bigger audiences?  Better yet, instead of changing policy based on imagined injustices, wouldn't they take a stance against real threat by, say, possibly bringing down the numbers of those hurt in violent acts through public donations to the Not For Sale campaign to stop human trafficking, or by providing support to those who are survivors of rape by openly allying with RAINN?

As an artist, for a third party to attempt to legislate what is acceptable art really annoys me.   PayPal isn't making this policy change because they're concerned about protecting purity or shaping the morality of an industry. They've found a vulnerability in the indie publishing community and they're exploiting it for all they can, financially. This ploy is about driving readers and authors back to the big publishers–like Simon & Schuster–by legislating indie sales and transactions.

As a survivor of real human atrocity, it gripes my ass for an entity to pretend it's doing humanity a favor by making art criminal instead of focusing efforts on prevention of harm or supporting survivors.  Imagine how many lives could be positively impacted if PayPal put its money where its greed is and actually contributed to helping people.  Because if there is real harm driving the publication or consumption of these sexual themes–and that's a BIG if, by taking them out of the monitored public eye all PayPal did was drive them further underground where they will be untraceable.  People will still be hurt.  Dimes will still be exchanged.  No life was saved by this policy change.

So thank you, PayPal, for helping me with nothing, for taking money out of peoples' pockets to line your own, and for contributing fuck-all to the prevention of real crimes and hurts in the world.  That's just ace of you.

It's so exciting to see character in my head take form for others to play with!  Here is the cover of my upcoming novella from Decadent Publishing, Gigolo Seduction, coming to you so very soon…

When Jennifer Roberts' new anthology, Some Like it Bi: Erotic tales of bisexual ménage fell into my greedy little hands I knew it would be so hot it would burn.  I was right, so I licked my wounds and tore through it, beginning to end in one read.

From seasoned play enthusiasts, scene-curious introverts, surprise rendezvous mischief-makers, to romantically bound triads, this collection of stories covers all the myriad configurations of the love triangle, with promises to entice and ensnare.  If you want a glimpse into the world of threesomes, queue up to this little peep hole:

While some of the stories don't read as polished as others, the spirit of menage prevails throughout. Particularly worth noting is "Surprise" by Laura B. Cooper. It's hot, well-written, and has a strong voice. This story stands out from the others, as its jaded, swinging narrator thinks she's done it all and is a bit bored with her wild sexual pursuits.  She walks away from her overly sex-slaked life only to stumble onto a new fondness–with her husband, no less–right in her own backyard.  Sort of.

The collection's editor, Roberts', contribution is "Seducing Sunshine," a sweet, personable story of  an unsuspecting trio finding abandon together.  The backbone of the collection, it provides a hint of genderqueer that the other stories don't embody, and really taps into the vibe of young poly relationships.

Apart from being the only paranormal piece in the anthology, "Y'Know, They Come In Threes," by Anthony Beal sets itself apart as a beautifully written, haunting, and engaging story. Beal builds a world in a mere few pages that is dark and enthralling, as well as a relationship that I really cared about.  That it's steamy is a bonus. I really fell for its art in lines like, "Eden, in turn, regularly spent them like found money, capriciously, as if each moment of pleasure with them were her last…"  Despite that it ended exactly as needed, I wasn't ready to stop reading it.

Some Like it Bi features the work of Mistress Rae, Daisy Dunn, Laura B. Cooper, Jennifer Roberts, T.S. Addison, K. Rowe, Anthony Beal, and Dani Brown.  Read more about the contributors and the anthology at the League of Extraordinary Indie Authors' Facebook page.