Happy Vesak Day (and a giveaway)

Two years ago today I was in Cambodia, exploring the sites that would eventually form the setting for my book Capturing the Moment.

In honor of that anniversary, which happens/happened to coincide with Vesak Day (Buddha’s birthday), I’m sharing some of my photos of Buddhist monks, taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia. (If you want a copy of a photo or want to use a photo, just ask.)

In honor of Vesak Day, there was a grand gathering and procession of monks around Siem Reap. It happened to start at my hotel, which was a great opportunity to take some photos. In honor of the gathering, though, I ran into monks everywhere–at the temples, on the street, teachers taking their students around, and so forth. You’ll notice a lot of children–Cambodia is still a very poor country. If your son becomes a monk, he’ll be fed, clothed, and educated. Many families choose this path for their sons.

This is just a small sampling of my photos.

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I’m also giving away ten copies of Capturing the Moment on kindle (US residents 18+ only, sorry). Enter the Amazon Giveaway here.

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I’m being interviewed by Lynn Townsend!

My Capturing the Moment virtual book tour has landed at Lynn Townsend’s blog. Lynn was one of my beta readers for the book. In the interview we talk about everything from who inspired me, to Literotica, acceptance letters, and more.

literotica

I’m Delilah. I spent the first 31 years of my life in the chilly Northeast before my partner’s work took us to Singapore six years ago. Although I grew up telling and imagining stories, writing them was at best a part-time hobby. I was first introduced to erotica when my ex-boyfriend showed me Literotica.com. I was a senior in college with a thesis due, so obviously the best use of my time was to start writing erotica and erotic fan fiction. Thanks to Literotica, I found my first writing community, and physical friends when I made the move to NYC for grad school.

I’ve heard a lot of about Literotica — oddly enough, I myself have never explored its archives, but several of the writers I know got their start there, or in the various fanfic universes, like AO3… Any interesting stories from that world you particularly remember? 

Lit is such a great resource for new writers. There’s so much support and love for new writers (and yes, there are trolls sometimes, but that’s the internet). I haven’t been involved in the website in over five years, but I just re-joined under Delilah_Night if anyone wants to connect there. A lot of my friends have moved on.

I wouldn’t have had a social life in NYC if it weren’t for Literorica. There was a Boston vs NYC thread, and through that I met most of my friends in NYC. We had “lit-togethers” where we’d meet up for dinner and hang out.

If you  mean actual stories, I couldn’t find it on lit anymore, but a writer I knew on the site wrote the best crossover fanfic “Harry Potter and the Eagle of Truthiness” which imagines that Steven Colbert (in his Colbert Report persona) was the Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher at Hogwart. HILARIOUS

Read the rest here and get to know me a little better.

BTW if you want to read Harry Potter and the Eagle of Truthiness, I found it! Click here to read Christine Morgan’s story.

Blurring the lines between reality and fiction: RJ edition

I hope you guys enjoyed my guest post with F dot Leonora about the ways in which Meg and I are similar and different. Today, Malin James is hosting the counter-part to that post–all the ways in which my husband and RJ are similar and different.

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I’ll give you a sneak peek of a similarity

They both have curly hair. When my husband’s hair is freshly washed and he hasn’t messed it up over the course of his day, it curls into these perfect ringlets I’m a little heartbroken neither of our daughters inherited.

Discover all the ways I blurred the lines at Malin’s blog, and enter her contest to win a copy of Capturing the Moment by leaving a comment telling me who your fictional crush is.

Blurring the Lines between Fiction and Reality

Meg

One of the most common questions that writers get is “How much do you resemble your characters?”

I’m over at F dot Leonora’s blog today to answer that question. How much do Meg and I have in common? Check it out and don’t forget to leave a comment on Leonora’s blog for a chance to win a free copy of Capturing the Moment.

 

Ways in which Meg and I are similar

  1. Meg is a teacher, and I also used to teach sixth grade math. There’s an anecdote that Meg shares during breakfast that I lifted from my own experiences.
  2. Meg is a photographer, and I’m a photographer. Almost every photo that Meg takes can be found on my hard drive. The photo above the excerpt is one of mine, and you can see how I worked it into the story. Alas, I did not have a naked photoshoot in Preah Khan—those are fictional photos.
  3. Meg is really frightened of being hurt, emotionally, again. When I first began dating my husband of ten years, I told him I wanted to be “just friends” after our first date because I was so frightened of being that vulnerable again.

 

Stop by Leonora’s blog to see the rest of the post!

I’m at Delilah Devlin today–writing POC characters

Although I titled the article “Writing Interracial Couples,” and do touch on why I write them (I’m one half of one), most of my article today is about my experience as a white author who writes non-white characters and the steps I take to try to create the best characters I can.

 

As a white woman, my representations of non-white characters are always going to be flawed. Despite being part of my husband’s family for a decade, a mother to two multiracial children, and a friend of persons of color, I have no live experience to inform my writing. I need to be very careful in my choices when writing non-white characters.

When writing Arjun, my male lead in Capturing the Moment, I made a deliberate choice to make him Indian-American. The experience of being Indian-American is very different than that of a person growing up in India (which is not to imply that there is a monolithic experience of growing up in India). Friends and family members have a wide variety of experience as to whether or not they speak any of the twenty-three official languages of India, eat Indian food, watch Bollywood films, like Indian clothes, and so forth. Arjun has an Indian first name and an Americanized nickname. He speak Punjabi. He has strong ties to his family, which is very important culturally. That said, by virtue of growing up in the US he has the same cultural touchstones as Meg, myself, my husband and friends, and so forth. In other words, I had more wiggle room to create an authentic character.

My beta reading team also includes several Indian Americans, and my primary beta reader is my husband. Whether on this story or others, they have helped me improve with each piece. A beta sent me an article  discussing why using food words like “chocolate-colored eyes” can be seen as offensive, and I have tried to ensure that I no longer do that (or fix it in edits). I once had a character speak in Hindi, and it was just awkward. In retrospect, a friend was right, and I was doing it to make them seem more “Indian.” They aren’t afraid to call me out and educate me, and I don’t give them white tears over it, although I have to sometimes make difficult choices because they have different opinions (for example, my husband has no issue with the food allegories, but I still chose to omit them). I even asked a friend to look over this blog post!

 

Read the rest, including my suggestions for authors of color you should be reading here. Don’t forget to leave a comment recommending your favorite authors of color!

**apologies in advance. There was something of a miscommunication regarding links, so the post is a bit ugly and missing embedded links.

Release Day!

Today is the day!

Capturing the Moment is now available everywhere!

Even better, I’ve received my first review!

Yes, I felt like that many exclamation marks were needed.

 

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To celebrate my general release, I’m guest posting at Tamsin Flower’s blog. Tamsin is not just a good friend, but was also one of my two beta readers for the book. I hope you read my interview with Meg, because today I’m interviewing RJ.

Delilah Night: What made you fall in love with Meg?

RJ : My friend Rachel introduced me to her sister, Megan. I used to be a player, but all that changed. Meg was an education major, and her eyes glowed with passion when she talked about how she wanted to help kids love learning. We were studying in the library one day, and I offered to help her find a book. We ended up making out in the stacks, and I was hooked. Her brains, her sense of humor, and our sexual connection ruined me for every other woman.

DN: Sounds intense. What happened?

RJ: It’s a long story. The short version is that we were together, we got engaged, and then we broke up. We were both to blame, and honestly,  I was kind of a jerk. We’re going to need to deal with our past to have a shot at moving forward. Unfortunately, once Meg agreed to spend the day with me in Siem Reap, Cambodia, one of her first rules was that she wouldn’t talk about our past. She wouldn’t even let me apologize for the ways I fucked things up.

DN: Yes, well, you weren’t exactly invited to join Meg on her vacation in Siem Reap.

Check out Superotica to read the rest of the interview, check out an exclusive excerpt, and enter a contest to get a free copy of Capturing the Moment.

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I’ve also received my very first book review!  Here’s part of Devi’s review over on Crushblush.

The pain of a broken heart is not fun, but sometimes the timing just isn’t right for two people to be together. In this case, time apart had a beneficial effect, and everyone but Meg realizes it.

Now, let’s talk sex.

Wow. The heat and chemistry between Meg and RJ sizzles.

I usually prefer a bit more kink in my erotica, a bit of spanking, dominance, and dirty talk. Given that the story takes place over the course of less than 24 hours, though, it’s a bit much to expect an author to reconnect ex-lovers, have them explore a bunch of ruins, fit in three meals, have sex, AND get kinky.

Having said that, there’s this one time RJ spanks Meg… And then there’s this amazing outdoor sexperience… And then there’s this sensual massage…

Ah, who am I kidding? While it didn’t venture too far outside vanilla, this couple sizzles together. And Ms. Night clearly understands photography and setting the scene (in more ways than one), plus she’s done her homework on the art, history, and culture of Siem Reap. The book can be read in a couple of hours, but Meg and RJ’s relationship will stick with you.

Now, we just need a sequel about what happens on the 8 hour plane ride…

read the rest of her review at CrushBlush (buy links below)

 

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You never forget your first love…

Meg and RJ were passionately in love. But that was six years and a broken engagement ago.

Meg has only one day in Siem Reap, Cambodia, before she must leave for her sister’s wedding in Bali. She fulfills her dream of taking a photograph of the sun rising behind Angkor Wat, one of the oldest temples in the world. But her joy is short-lived when she turns around to see RJ standing behind her.

RJ threw himself into work after Meg ended their relationship. He’s built a successful business, but it’s a hollow victory. He’s come to Siem Reap to win back the woman he’s never stopped loving. But first he has to convince her to spend the day with him.

Meg is as physically attracted to RJ as she ever was. Maybe the secret to finally getting over him is a one day only, no strings attached fling.

Can RJ win Meg back, or will she love him and leave him?

 

As of today, Capturing the Moment is on sale everywhere!

Book reviewers–My publisher will give you a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Drop me an email at delilahnight@gmail.com

An interview with Meg (main character from Capturing the Moment)

I’m being hosted by the wonderful R.A. Padmos for today’s stop on my virtual book tour for Capturing the Moment. I was inspired by Lisabet Sarai’s guest post where she interviewed one of her main characters.

 

Meg

Today I’m interviewing Meg, one of my two main characters in the novella over at R.A.’s blog. Here’s a short snippet of our talk..

Delilah Night: In the novella, you only have one day in Siem Reap. What’s up with that?

Meg: Ugh, what a nightmare! I was supposed to have four days in Siem Reap. First my flight in San Francisco had a mechanical failure, so I had to be rebooked. Then, when I finally get to Beijing, I had another flight cancellation. I think I’m cursed. But despite all that, I’ve always wanted to go to Siem Reap in Cambodia and I was determined to make the most of the one day I had.

DN: How did you feel when RJ showed up while you were photographing sunrise at the Angkor Wat temple?

Meg: I was horrified! RJ and I have a really complicated history. The short version is that we were in love, got engaged, and then I broke off the engagement. It’s been six years since I last saw him, and I was totally unprepared to deal with him. But there he was, gorgeous as ever, asking me to spend the day with him.

DN: Why did you decide to spend the day with him, given your history?

Meg: Siem Reap wasn’t just my dream. We’d planned to go there on our honeymoon. I guess I thought I could go by myself and it would prove I was over him. The truth is that I was thinking of him the whole time. When he showed up and asked me to spend the day with him, I couldn’t refuse him, even though it was probably a bad idea. Besides, have you seen the man’s dimples when he smiles? They’re lethal!

DN: You decided to indulge in a one day affair to get him out of your system. How did that work out for you?

Click here to read the rest of the interview. Don’t forget to leave a comment on R.A. Padmos’s blog to win a copy of Capturing the Moment.

(If you are a book reviewer, contact me and my publisher will send you a free reviewer’s copy of my novella)

I’m visiting Jade A Waters today!

14262884017_059d13690d_mStreet Scene in Siem Reap, Cambodia

The lovely Jade A. Waters is hosting me over at her blog today for the second stop on my virtual book tour. If you’ve read a lot of my stories, you’ll notice that my characters are often musicians, or that I use musical metaphors when describing sex. That’s because music is, and always has been a huge part of my life. In my guest post at Jade’s blog, I discuss the song lyric that unlocked Capturing the Moment for me.

Come visit Jade’s blog and enter for an exclusive sneak peek, and a chance to win a free copy of Capturing the Moment!

I’m visiting Lisabet Sarai today

Angkor Wat at Dawn

Many thanks go out to Lisabet Sarai, the first stop on my blog tour for Capturing the Moment. Visit her blog to read about how real life inspired Capturing the Moment, an exclusive sneak peek, and a chance to win a free copy of Capturing the Moment.

Capturing the Moment buy links

See below for the full set of buy/pre-order links for Capturing the Moment

Capturing the Moment

 

Meg and RJ were passionately in love. But that was six years and a broken engagement ago.

Read an excerpt  here

Totally Bound will publish the book for one month prior to wide release

Totally Bound exclusive publication date March 29, 2016

You can also pre-order Capturing the Moment from

Wide release publication date April 26, 2016

Capturing the Moment also has a page on Goodreads