delilah night |

Healing

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Delilah Night

I haven’t updated in a few months because I haven’t known what to say, which is difficult for someone who makes their living as a writer.

I got out of the hospital in late April and spent the next chunk of time just trying to cope with what had happened, and what the illness had done to my body. Weeks in a hospital bed had stolen away muscle tone. Medication that helped save my life also made me brutally ill with nausea and vomiting. Coming to terms with my own mortality left my psyche in tatters. I began to fall back into a pattern of disordered eating as a way to feel like I had some small bit of control over a life that felt wildly out of control.

Sex? What’s sex?

About a month ago I began writing again. Not erotica, but small things here and there. Some of it was very private; self therapy to go along with the counseling I’d sought out. Then I moved on to non-fiction freelancing that didn’t require the kind of emotional investment that fiction does.

Last week I stumbled across an itemized list with all the anthologies I was thinking of contributing to. For obvious reasons I’d missed every deadline between April first and July first, and I felt defeated. Going from 2014 during which I’d done a lot of writing and had some publication successes to 2015 which had started out so promisingly with the Siem Reap novella had ground to a dead end. There was one last anthology on the list, and I decided I had to submit something. Even if it were to get rejected, submitting would mean I’d gotten back on the proverbial horse.

I had a rough draft from several years ago–if you read my story “New on the Naughty List,” (published in Coming Together: For the Holidays) you’ll remember that it’s Blitzen who gives Lucy the Elf a ride to Boston. While we know what Lucy was doing (pun intended), I had always intended to write a story that showed what kept Blitzen occupied so late into the evening as well. I pulled out my rough draft and polished/tweaked it until I was as happy as I could be without fresh eyes (my husband and I having both read it countless times by then). A final draft will definitely be ready for the submission date.

I’m not better, exactly. The physical side of things is going to be measured in months. The emotional side of things will ebb and flow–we dealt with serious medical trauma with Ms 6 as a baby so I know that it’s easy to go months without thinking about what happened and then be blindsided by something and have all of the trauma come roaring back. I’m relieved to say that with the support of my husband, some close friends, and my therapists I’m no longer engaging in dangerous behavior surrounding food. The rest is a work in progress.

As I’ve been coping with this, I’ve stayed away from Twitter. On one hand, this was not exactly a rational choice–I’m very lucky to have a community of friends/fellow writers who have reached out to me to check how things have been going. On the other hand, given that my creative side was a blank page, being Delilah Night publicly felt fraudulent. Yesterday, given that I was ready to share the story with beta readers and thanks to the gentle nudge from a few friends I started posting again.

After such a long absence, I’ve the lost the habit of tweeting and blogging, so please do continue to poke me if you think I’ve been too quiet. I’m not up to date of who’s had what published, so please share your triumphs with me in comments (and let me know if I can review something for you).

To celebrate returning to writing, I’m briefly sharing “New on the Naughty List,” which served as the inspiration for my new story “A Reindeer By Any Other Name,” here.

Filed under: Body Image, In Progress, Random, Writing | Tagged: Coming Together: For the Holidays, delilah night, New On the Naughty List | 9 Comments »

I almost lost everything

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Delilah Night

I wish that this update would be a breezy account of the next rewrite of Siem Reap. It’s not. Warning, medical stuff ahead, some of it scary but nothing graphic.

The weekend of Easter, I ended up in the hospital with a nasty kidney infection. The next morning I had surgery, but contracted sepsis (when your blood becomes infection) and within 24 hours had gone into septic shock. I spent several days in the Intensive Care Unit, during which I slipped in and out of lucidity. I hallucinated. It was hellish, but once I was stabilized I was moved back to a regular room to have further tests and to get a course of IV antibiotics.

There have been many terrifying things about this experience, and it would take me hours to unpack all of the physical and emotional consequences for me and our family.

When I was finally stabilized, the first thing I wanted to do was write. But my coordination was so off that this was all I could write…

Kujw na=—==U;cw ffh sick beofel evfgoe osel o ehn I cane wigh seupiscffeated by uti,

You can make out a few words, but it’s mostly gibberish. At the time, I started sobbing because I didn’t know if I would get better and write again, or if this condition would rob me of that. My elder daughter had a bout of septic shock at a very young age and she lost a kidney among other complications, so my fear was not unfounded.

As my health improved, so did my coordination, and I can now type/write again. When I made my first successful text, I almost wept. Any writer can tell you that there’s not much money to be made in erotica, but that we write not for the money but because we can’t not write. Writing is as critical as breathing for me, and the time I’ve spent without writing feels empty.

Today is day 12 in the hospital and I’m a bit stir crazy. I have a private room, but I spend easily 23 hours a day here. I leave to go on walks, but the farthest I can walk is a lap around the floor. I tried to go down to the first floor drug store, and was shaking and nauseous by the time I paid; I needed a wheelchair to get back to my room.

I’m lucky–I’m poised to make a complete recovery, although I’m quite weak now. It will take time to gain stamina back (the gym is definitely a no-no for now), but I’ll be okay. I’m in the process of seeking out a mental health professional to deal with the other side effect of septic shock–I have a bit of PTSD and will break down randomly. That’s improving each day, too, as I move further from the event, but both my husband and I will carry the scars of this event. I’m glad my littles are too young to really understand or remember almost losing their mom.

I could have lost everything.

I figure I have two options–be terrified of everything and wrap myself in bubble wrap or take away the lesson that life can be cut short without warning by something as simple as a kidney stone and to live it without worrying so much.

I worry about everything. I want to make a good impression, I want people to like me. I dress and wear my hair in a respectable mom style. But I’d rather streak my hair blue and wear a Harry Potter or something shirt. To embrace my geeky side without fear.

I’m going to take a page from RuPaul’s book and make this my new mantra

What other people think about me is none of my business—RuPaul

Filed under: Random | Tagged: delilah night, sick, writing | 4 Comments »

Siem Reap: Let the Edits Begin

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Delilah Night

When I first started writing erotica, my writing process went like this—

I would sit down and write a story. I would re-read it and do some light editing. I would spell-check it. Then I would submit it for publication on literotica. Within a few days, the story would be published. Email feedback would roll in. I would bask in my awesomeness. Fin

The thing about writing for literotica or any of the fan fiction hubs is that there is an audience for everyone. As a new writer, that sort of positive community support and feedback can be so valuable for building confidence, especially if you have a fragile ego.

My most productive period on literotica was when I was a graduate student in New York City. The program was a terrible fit for me. I came to the realization that I didn’t want the career I’d been focused on for years. I was new to the city, shy, broke, and miserable. There were weeks when getting a positive review email from a literotica reader was the only good thing that happened to me.

Looking back at that work, while there are stories that show promise—a scene, a character, an idea—the reality is that they are largely crap. The first reason for that is that I was a baby erotica author–those first steps were full of falls and bruises. I was new to the genre and rusty as a fiction author and it showed. The second reason–and if I’m honest–the bigger reason that those stories suck is that they lacked editing.

After I finished the first draft of Siem Reap, I went over my story page by page, line by line and I worked on it until my eyes were ready to bleed. I tweaked it until I thought I had the best piece of writing I could come up with. Then I sent it out to beta readers, and steeled myself to have those readers point out all the faults I’d become blind to.

The difference between amateur Delilah and professional Delilah is that (a) I believe in editing and (b) I know that “my best” is a starting point far from the finish line.

My”best work” is full of flaws that I can’t see because I live in my character’s heads. I write with an ear for English instead of an in-depth knowledge of grammar, which means my writing suffers from grammar errors I don’t know I’m making. Something I think of as clever may be clever, or it may miss the mark entirely.

I’ve been very lucky to get feedback from several readers. Some of it has been positive, other bits have been critical. All of it is useful.

I took a break from Siem Reap largely because of health issues. If you follow me on twitter, you probably know that I was hospitalized twice in March due to back and pain management issues. It’s why I’ve been so absent from the blog–it’s hard to write when the painkillers have you seeing double.

Now that I’m no longer in the hospital, and I’ve begun to rehabilitate my back, I’m ready to dive back into Siem Reap. I’m trying to look at the forced absence as a positive. The story is not so fresh in my mind, so I have a bit of emotional distance from my characters. I have valuable feedback to help me revise the story and make it stronger. I’m not so sick of the story that I want to burn it (a real hazard at times). I’m eager to revisit Meg and RJ and begin the next phase of editing.

Literotica Delilah would likely have hit publish back in February after the first draft was done. Today’s Delilah is hoping that I will be ready to submit the story by mid-April. Siem Reap is an okay story today. Thanks to my beta team’s feedback, I think the editing I’m about to do has the potential to make it a great one.

Filed under: In Progress, process, Writing | Tagged: Capturing the Moment, delilah night, editing process, Siem Reap, writing process | Leave a comment »

Troublesome words

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Delilah Night

I’ve begun the edits on the Siem Reap Story.

Every author falls prey to words and phrases that pop up a little too frequently in their work. You may have noticed one of mine in my excerpt posted on Jan 18.

“And you decided to just gate crash my dream vacation as a way to catch up? If you wanted to get in touch with me to warn me you’d be at the wedding, you could’ve just used Facebook like a normal person.”

I utilized the find tool and found 69 uses of the word “just” in my first draft.

Here’s the edited version of the same paragraph. You’ll notice that “just” has been omitted.

Exasperated, she threw the soda into the trash and turned to face him. “If you wanted to warn me you’d be at the wedding, you could’ve used Facebook or email like a normal person. Or Rachel could’ve told me that you would be there. What made you think crashing my dream vacation would be fun?”

“Just” is a word that becomes far to easy to rely upon, and is most often unnecessary filler. Other words that fall into that category are “actually” (5x) , “very” (45x), “really” (21x), trying (12x), “some” (63x) and “almost” (10x). I’ve learned about some of these weaknesses on my own, others were pointed out by beta readers.

The other thing I do a find search on before I begin to edit a piece in earnest is “began” (53x).

RJ took possession of her mouth. The taste of him, the feel of him was overwhelming and another orgasm began to build. His tongue seduced hers as he began to move within her. Her hands fisted in his hair, keeping their mouths fused. She needed him more than oxygen. The kisses grew hungrier as if they could make up for every missed kiss over the past six years. RJ’s hips caught the same frenzied pace as their kisses.

Everything began to spin out of control, and the orgasm hit her like a monsoon

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten was from Lynn Townsend, who told me that characters should only begin to do something if the action is about to be interrupted “He began to walk across the room, but tripped over his cat.”

He took possession of her mouth. The taste of him, the feel of him, was overwhelming. His tongue seduced hers. Her hands fisted in his hair, keeping their mouths fused. The kisses grew hungrier, as if they could make up for every missed opportunity over the past six years. RJ’s hips caught the same frenzied pace as their mating tongues.

The orgasm was a monsoon.

Dropping “began” makes for a stronger story. In the example above, you’ll find I didn’t replace began with a different word. If there is a “began,” (or any of the other go-to words) it’s a hint that the entire sentence should probably get an edit.

Now that I’ve shared some of my most troublesome words–what are yours?

Filed under: In Progress, process, Writing | Tagged: Capturing the Moment, delilah night, editing, overused words, Siem Reap | 6 Comments »

Writing and Monkeys

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Delilah Night

Today I’m over at Lynn Townsend’s blog, talking about writing, Among the Stars, and monkeys. Head over to Paid by the Weird to read my interview.

Photo credit: me

Filed under: In Progress, Interviews, Parenting, process, Writing | Tagged: Among the Stars, Capturing the Moment, Coming Together: Among the Stars, delilah night, irresistible, Lynn Townsend, Siem Reap | Leave a comment »

Review: Get At Me AND Gina’s Do-Over by K. A. Smith

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Delilah Night

One of my favorite parts of erotica is that the community is so supportive of one another. We find our community online. I met K. A. Smith sometime last year when she commented on my blog, and I checked out hers. K.A. writes books that feature women of color. Her blog regularly features reviews for books written by authors of color/ that feature characters of color.

Recently I had the opportunity to read two of her stories; Get At Me and Gina’s Do-Over. I’m sad it’s taken me so long to get around to reading her stories, because I’m now definitely a fan of hers.

There are lots of people on my #fictionalcrush list. C.J. from K.A.’s novella Get At Me has joined them. In my pre-parent days I was a teacher, so characters who work with kids and genuinely adore them charm me. (See also my #fictionalcrush on Ann-Marie, the aspiring teacher in the Rainbow Connections series by Lynn Townsend.) C.J. works at a Community Center before/after school program. Her willing be goofy and pal around with the kids, and she’s very protective of the kids and the program.

The combination of C.J.’s bravado (and my god, the bravado is sexy) and her softer side are so well done. I couldn’t help but be drawn in by her.

“You see that man? She was checking me out. Hard.”

“Butch, please. She was trying to figure you out. As in, what is this little boy chattin’ to me about.” Ricco rolled his eyes.

“Don’t hate. Just cos I got the skin of a newborn baby, yo. I’m too smooth and too good. All the ladies go for this.” She but out into some funky dance moves, twisting and shaking her rump. Her dance made Ricco laugh until he was wheezing and out of breath.

Fatima is a beautiful but remote local artist who’s been hired to paint murals at the community center. When Fatima drops her sketchbook, C.J. finds an erotic drawing that gives her a glimpse behind the cool façade.

Fatima was hurt before, but even she can help but be drawn in by C.J.

She shook her head, more at herself than at C.J. Turns out she liked the attention she was throwing her way. But it didn’t change the fact that she had four murals to knock out in three days. Fatima told herself to concentrate as she climbed a run higher on the ladder. She took her eyes off her work for just another second to watch C.J. walk away.

I won’t spoil the story for you, but will tell you that Get At Me was the sexiest story without explicit sex that I’ve read in a long time. I was far more invested in C.J. and Fatima than I’ve been in most mainstream romances in a long time.

Buy Get At Me on Amazon

Gina’s Do Over is a short story that takes place at the wedding of a friend/one time lover.

Standing there with Shonda and and the ghosts of orgasms past, I realised how amazing my life was.

I was going to tease the super hot sex, but I love the images that “ghosts of orgasms” brings to mind.

Told in a flashback, we see Gina’s relationship with the bride, and her moment of clarity that she’s a lesbian. The story is at turns erotic and wistful, spicy and bittersweet.

Buy Gina’s Do-Over on Amazon

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: delilah night, erotica book reviews, Get at Me, Gina's Do-Over, K. A. Smith | 4 Comments »

WIP: RJ and Megan’s Story

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Delilah Night

Here’s what you need to know about my work in progress.

Six years ago Arjun (RJ) and Megan each broke the other’s heart. Even with the passage of time, they’re still not over each other.

RJ crashes Megan’s vacation in Siem Reap, Cambodia with the assistance of her sister. Due to delayed canceled flights, Megan is there for only one day instead of her planned four. He’s got 24 hours to show her that he’s grown up and is worthy of a second chance. Megan decides that what she needs is one last fling with RJ so she can get him out her system once and for all.

Will he win her back, or is she too scared that he’ll just break her heart again?

Photo credit: me

When I saw a call for stories set in different cities throughout the world, I immediately thought of Siem Reap, Cambodia. I fulfilled my dream of seeing Angkor Wat in May of 2014, and fell in love with the city in the process. I drew heavily on my experiences there when writing this novella.

I finished the first draft late last week and will be editing it over the course of the next few at which point I’ll be asking friends to beta read (friends–poke me if you think you might want to) while I send off the pitch and first 5k words to the call.

In the excerpt below, Megan is reeling from the surprise of seeing RJ. She’s just arrived in Siem Reap, and has rushed to Angkor Wat to shoot the temple at dawn (see my photo above). She’s taken refuge in the tent stalls next to the lake. (See below) The wedding mentioned is Rachel’s–her sister, and one of his closest friends from college–the person who introduced them in the first place.

photo credit: me

I can’t believe he’s here. This is almost as bad as if he were at the wedding.

“Oh. My. God. The wedding.” The bottle froze halfway to her lips. “Where is he?”

Meg scanned the crowd of tourists that were now crawling over Angkor Wat. Where had he gone? Was he invited to the wedding? She pulled out her cell phone to ask Rachel the question she’d never thought to ask before now. There was no signal.

Rachel, did you invite Arjun to your wedding? How could you?

Picking the bottle back up, and suddenly wishing it was a beer, Meg took a swig of the soda.

“Want to share that?”

She choked on the liquid, coughing and gasping. RJ’s hand pounded rhythmically on her back.

“Stop that! I’m—” Meg fought her way through another coughing fit. “Fine!” She tried to pull it together. Panting a bit, she took another cautious sip. What had been blissfully cool relief was now cloying sweetness. Disgusted, she put the bottle down.

“Why are you here? Don’t feed me any of your charming bullshit.”

He gave her a lazy smile. “Rachel told me you’d be here.”

Traitor!

“And you decided to just gate crash my dream vacation as a way to catch up? If you wanted to get in touch with me to warn me you’d be at the wedding, you could’ve just used Facebook like a normal person.”

“This wasn’t just your dream vacation, remember?”

RJ and Meg curled on his bed, daydreaming about where they would travel. They had always ended up in Asia—scuba diving in Indonesia, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, the Golden Temple of Amritsar in India, the elephant sanctuary in Chang Mai, Thailand, and more.

Junior year he’d given her a poster of Angkor Wat at dawn as an end of term gift. It had lived on walls in dorm rooms and apartments ever since. Angkor Wat had come to symbolize all their dreams for the future. When they’d talked of getting married, spending their Honeymoon in Cambodia had been a given.

After the break-up she’d burned the poster.

“You’re unreal.” Meg shook her head in disbelief.

“Spend the day with me.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll always wonder what it would have been like. I’m not going to pester you during Rachel’s wedding. Besides you’d be too busy to flirt with me if I’m a welcome surprise. And too much of a lady to curse me out in front of everyone if I’m not.” He flashed her an impudent smile. A dimple winked at her from both cheeks.

He knew her too well.

You know you would’ve been picturing him here with you even before you knew he was here. Now that he is, can you really walk away? Have you ever had much willpower when it came to those dimples?

“Just because I agree to hang out with you today and let you try to sweet talk your way into my panties doesn’t mean you’re going to succeed, RJ.”

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Just remember that I’m not the one who brought up the idea of me getting into your panties. You are.”

I hope you’re curious to know what happens next…

Filed under: In Progress, Writing | Tagged: cambodia, Capturing the Moment, delilah night, Erotic Romance, Novella, Siem Reap | 5 Comments »

Review: Alchemy xii January

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Delilah Night

For my review of Alchemy xii: New Years Eve, go here.

The January chapter of Alchemy xii begins the series proper. While New Year’s Eve was written from Harry’s point of view, January and the rest of the series will be told from Olivia’s. While it marks a shifts in tone, the reader in no way loses Harry’s perspective while gaining Olivia’s.

While Olivia is hungry for the man and the sexual pleasure he brings her, submission doesn’t come easily to her.

“Rules,” said Harry.

“More rules?”

“What d’you mean? We haven’t even started with rules.” He frowned at me.

“Like, already I can’t orgasm. I can’t choose my own food. I have to call you Sir, Sir.”

“Holy fuck! Do you know anything at all about submission or domination?”

“Not a lot,” I said.

“But you agreed to launch yourself headlong into it?”

“You didn’t exactly give me much time to decide, Harry.”

At least he had the decency to look contrite when I said this.

“We need to start with basics. You first weekend’s training will have to be Subbing for Dummies.”

When I’ve talked about Alchemy xii as opposed to other BDSM works, I’ve discussed why I prefer Olivia to other heroines. She is a fully formed woman with an existing interest in BDSM. She was always going to explore kink, the question was with whom. But the sexual desire to participate in kink does not mean that one is a natural all-knowing submissive (or dominant).

The reality of kink is that it is a set of skills, and no one can go from zero to suspension play without a lot of training. I really like that Tamsin includes a scene in the library (which makes for an excellent read-aloud, for the record) where, among other things, Harry loads Olivia up with books about BDSM. Subbing for Dummies, indeed.

Olivia is a strong and independent woman who doesn’t come across as particularly submissive. Partially this is set up for her to train as a switch, but it is also an honest reflection of what is like to enter into submission as a woman who came of age in the age of third wave feminism. If you were to meet me in person, you would never guess that I enjoy submission as my personality is anything but. I submit to whom I choose and when I choose. Which doesn’t mean that it always flows naturally–and in my situation that means there are weeks, even months when I don’t play. Olivia is in a contractual relationship (by her own consent) she is trying to enter submissive headspace and behavior on a set schedule. Whether she is struggling with submission or rejoicing in that, she feels familiar.

However, this is also erotica, and thus fantasy, so her struggles and experiences are far sexier than mine ever were. I appreciate the balancing act necessary to add the realism while maintaining the fantasy.

I looked around any my mouth fell open. Opposite the elevator bank, illuminated in pools of soft golden light, a row of beautiful, naked girls, stood, cuffed and collared, attached to a burnished chrome latticework on the walk behind them. As they saw Harry, they all broke out in smiles. One blew kisses, a couple of them writhed against their restraints, one called out his name. Harry returned their smiles with a wide grin.

“Evening, girls,” he said.

“Evening, Harry,” they trilled in reply.

Harry turned back to where I stood, stock still and staring.

“These are my wall-flowers.”

Some of the things I mentioned anticipating in the New Year’s Eve review did come true. We don’t see Dick Glass directly, but his presence is felt. We do get Belladonna and Olivia’s first encounter. It…doesn’t go well.

This is a great opening chapter for what promises to be a year of sexual adventure. Read New Year’s Eve, and then get ready for January. Each chapter will release on the first day of the month. January is available for pre-order on Amazon, or you can subscribe from Tamsin directly.

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: Alchemy xii, alchemy xii January, book review, delilah night, Tamsin Flowers | 5 Comments »

Book Review: Chemical [se]x, edited by Oleander Plume

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Delilah Night

When I first heard about Chemical [se]X, I was intrigued. An entire book of erotica with the common theme of chocolate? Yummy. I bought it, but had not gotten around to reading it. Then, a few weeks ago, I listened to Rose Caraway interview Oleander Plume and Tamsin Flowers about the book. Once I heard the podcast, Chemical [se]X moved up to the #1 spot in my to-read queue.

I’m so glad I read this book.

During the podcast, Oleander talks about how she wrote a story about aphrodisiac chocolates and posted it on her website for free. Then she thought about writing a sequel. The idea then evolved into an anthology with the erotic chocolates as a common theme.

Much like Tamsin’s Alchemy xii erotic serial, Oleander’s idea is something I haven’t seen before in erotica. While anthologies have a common theme, there’s nothing tying the individual stories together. With Chemical [se]X, while each story works as a stand-alone, the connecting thread took the collection as a whole to a new level. I want more anthologies like this.

My husband and I often read different erotic books as we have different turn-ons (with a few exceptions, like Alison Tyler), but our shared kindle account means that we can see and read the books that the other has bought. When I was reading Chemical [se]X, my kindle account would tell me that I was last at a different page because I learned that my husband was reading it at the same time I was. Much like the way we eat chocolate in real life, I devoured Chemical [se]X and my husband is slowly savoring it.

I’ve mentioned before that I read a LOT of erotica. With some exceptions (basically anything I review on this blog or authors I squeal about on a regular basis) this means I have zero issue reading erotica in public because I’m a bit desensitized. I read using my kindle app on my phone which means I’m likely to read anywhere and everywhere.

I started reading Chemical [se]X in a very long line of Christmas shoppers waiting to be checked out, beginning with the story that started it all; “Chemical [se]X” by Oleander Plume.

“You really don’t find it hot in here?”

“No, the air conditioning is really cranked up today. If you’re too warm, blame yourself for wearing those dopey socks.”

Despite his protests about the temperature, he shrugged out of his lab coat, then stood up to sharpen his pencil. I checked out his butt, it was cute, taut, and round enough to fill out the back of his faded jeans quite nicely. Another fantasy filled my head, this one of Wyatt’s naked ass bent over my knee, slightly pink after a paddling by my hand.

I was feeling a little flushed by the time I was checked out. I knew I should stop reading Oleander’s story in public. But it was so good I couldn’t NOT read it and I had to hit the grocery store in the basement of the mall I was in before I could go home. I’ve never been so turned on while riding an escalator before in my life. I don’t expect to ever have that singular experience again, either. Gold star for you, Oleander!
Oleander also contributed one of my other favorite stories–“Coffee Break”

My brain screamed at my mouth “Spit that out, some weird shit is happening,” but I literally could not stop, the chocolate had a hypnotic effect on me. Once I finished the entire piece, I stared at Zak while I licked the melted bits off my fingers. That’s when I noticed his skin was the exact same color as the chocolate, and I had the overwhelming urge to lick him, too. All. Over.

Zak and Ryan have the best banter in the book. They are an odd couple of co-workers with Ryan just NOT GETTING half of what Zak means when he uses words like “pansexual.” But by the end of the story there is an electric m/m/m threesome. Bonus point for an interracial coupling–there aren’t enough of them.

Jade A. Waters’ story “The Connection” was the story that resonated the most for me.

“The Connection” is about a couple who have lost their way from one another. Aubrey buys the aphrodisiac chocolates, hoping that they might help her and Terrance find that old spark.

Aubrey wanted to wait for Terence, but she ached to know what these chocolates could do. Lifting the lid, she admired the six candies inside, each piece waiting for her in a black and white polka-dotted foil cup. The store clerk had explained this decorative packaging as specific to the premium box, “guaranteed to satisfy” or her money back tomorrow.

How could she resist?

I’ve been married for almost nine years, and I’m the mom of two children. One of the realities of a long term relationship like this is that there is a lot of ebb and flow to the sexual connection, especially post children. Jade nails how frustrating the isolation is, and how scary it is to reach out.

When I read this story, all I could think about was reading it out loud to my partner with some chocolate truffles nearby.

“Bittersweet” by Malin James is the most lyrical story in the anthology. Malin has a talent for paring a story down to its most essential elements that is almost poetic.

I study Iain’s strong, broad back and wonder if I should stay for one last fuck. My head is all for leaving, but my cunt…my cunt wants a final go. Absentmindedly, I pop a truffle in my mouth. It’s smooth and dark with a spikey, citrus finish. Not at all what I’d expected—more bitter than sweet. Not really to my taste. And yet…each receptor in my mouth shivers.

I loved the flow of the story from the narrator’s ambivalence to the way that her sexuality is taken in a new direction with the chocolate stimulus.

“The Stranger” by Tamsin Flowers is special for many reasons. I knew to expect hot sex–that’s a given with Tamsin. What I hadn’t expected was a story set in the deep South with such a pitch perfect voice. A Southern voice is easy to screw up and hard to get right. She nailed it.

I didn’t know how to say it to him. He was a stranger and eating the chocolate had made me desire him. I was suddenly overcome by a longing more intense than I had experienced in years. I put my hand to his groin to see if he was hard. Of course he was, and through his pants I could feel that he’d fill me up and then some.

Tamsin leaves ambiguity in the story that made my imagination run wild–why was he there? where did he go from there? Did McGrindle’s carry the special chocolates or were the women the stranger left behind praying for lightning to strike twice?

Honorable mentions go to

“Dinner for Three” by L Maretta for a really hot f/m/m threesome.

“Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer” by Ella Dawson for writing the finals week hookup I wish I’d had as an undergrad

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I should confess that when I finished the anthology I had a craving to write a story with Oleander’s aphrodisiac chocolate. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that she decides to do a sequel so I can write and submit one.

Filed under: book reviews, LGBT | Tagged: Bittersweet, book review, Chemical [se]X, Coffee Break, delilah night, Dinner for Three, Ella Dawson, erotica anthology, Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer, Jade A. Waters, L. Maretta, Malin James, Oleander Plume, Tamsin Flowers, The Connection, The Stranger | 12 Comments »

Book Review: The Mighty Quinn by Sommer Marsden

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Delilah Night

I’ll be honest. I didn’t read a lot of erotic novels in the past because I found it really hard to sustain interest. Even the ones I’ve liked–like The Ninety Days of Genevieve or The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty–don’t generally merit a full re-read. I’ll go back to the sex scenes I liked best and generally skip the rest. I feel like a lot of what I read in the late 90’s and early 2000’s was wall to wall sex with only a thin narrative thread and that turned me off. I switched to anthologies because they gave me sex and a more fleshed out narrative (or at least the ones I’ve been drawn to have).

What I learned earlier this year from Alison Tyler’s book Dark Secret Love (review here) and Lynn Townsend’s book Roll (review here) was that erotic novels have changed a lot in the past 5-10 years. I’m so happy to find books that have a strong narrative thread and well written sex scenes. Or maybe there wasn’t a shift and it’s that I’ve finally found the right authors and publishers? Regardless, I am now slowly starting to dip my toe back into the world of erotic novels.

When Alison shared an excerpt from The Mighty Quinn, I immediately downloaded it to my kindle app. I have adored every short story that I’ve read by Sommer Marsden, so I was eager to read her novel.

I have always loved chick lit, but one of my biggest issues was that the sex scenes were poorly written or fade to black/lights up on the next morning. Sommer has managed to write something that could fit into the chick lit, romance, or erotica shelves.

The book opens with Quinn getting dumped. As she attempts to crawl out of her post breakup funk, her neighbor/former burlesque queen Frenchy gives her a talking-to.

“I see you with your men,” she said lowly. “You’re all poofy and swishy and like-me-like-me-like-me.” She waved a wrinkled hand as if shooing a fly. “That’s crap. You need to figure out who Quinn is. Embrace yourself. Figure out what you want. What makes you happy? In life, in a job, in a man, hell, darling, in bed. Id’ say that’s number one. Because when you’ve had a good lay with a good man who wants you…” she grinned in the dark as if savoring a particularly delicious memory, “everything else just falls into place.”

Quinn enlists Frenchy’s aid to revamp her wardrobe, her walk, and her attitude. After only a few days, she finds herself out to dinner with her best friend and her best friend’s drop dead gorgeous cousin Keaton. She’s floored to discover that he likes her.

Frenchy is a brilliant character who has a low tolerance for bullshit and a high regard for high heels and hot sex. Picturing an elderly burlesque dancer rasping out her lines never failed to give me a smile. I wish I had a Frenchy in my life–someone who would give me a talking to when I needed that, and lessons in how to twirl a tassle when called for.

I relate to Quinn. I have fallen prey to the same personality flaws in the past–I’ll be whatever you want me to be/like whatever you like without any regard for whether I am those things/like those things. She goes through the kind of transformation that I always imagined going through. That Hollywood-esque take off the glasses and everyone sees all along that she was hot shit transformation. It’s better than any movie though, because Sommer ensures that we see Quinn struggle with it. Fail at it. Still babble when nervous.

The chemistry between Quinn and Keaton sizzles. He’s an alpha male, but not in a mansplaining let-me-fix-you way that I find so grating. We get to peek under the alpha male and see that he is just as uncertain as she is. Does she like him for real, or will she break his heart?

The sex scenes made me squirm in my seat—in the best possible way. But unlike those early erotic novels, I want to read the whole book again. I want to go through the journey that gets me to those sex scenes because they’re not just hot, I’m emotionally invested in the relationship.

The Mighty Quinn is funny, compelling, and erotic. Sommer gets an A+++

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: delilah night, sommer marsden, The Mighty Quinn | 3 Comments »

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