Alchemy XII New Year’s Eve by Tamsin Flowers (Review)

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Delilah Night

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It’s no secret that I love Tamsin‘s writing.  (Click for my reviews of Zombie Erotocylse and Pow! Shibari Girl)

What is Alchemy XII?  Tamsin has come up with a unique concept.  Right now you can read New Years Eve (the series prologue) for free.  Starting January 1, 2015 a new chapter will be published each month, unfolding in parallel to the year Olivia will be trained by Harry.  You can subscribe and get each chapter monthly, an omnibus each quarter, or a single volume at the end of the year.  As a big fan of the Serial podcast, I think it’s a brilliant way to tell the story–even though I’m dying to know what happens next and I’m pouting that January first is still weeks away.

Harry is the reigning prince of Alchemy–an elite club that inhabits a Chicago sky scraper.  As December draws to a close, Harry must pick his fourth trainee for the upcoming year.  Olivia Roux catches his eye and stirs more than his cock.  Will she consent to a year under his tutelage?

“Listen, darlin’, if you’re going to give submission a try, there’s one thing we need to get straight. You submit. I command.”

Olivia’s eyes dropped to the floor.

“Give me a safe word.”

“Palindrome.”

“I intend to make you use it.”

“Good.”

Feisty worked for him. He’d never been one for totally subservient subs. It took all the fun out of it.

As a fan of BDSM erotica, I’ve run across a lot of Doms and Dommes. The only one who has ever made it onto my #fictionalcrushes list is Sandy from Those Girls and Those Boys (review here) by Alison Tyler.  Harry just joined the list.  Although I’ve only had 35 pages to get to know Harry, I’m ready to take Olivia’s place if she were to turn him down.

In Alchemy xii, I’ve tried to create a Dom who’s a person first and a Dom second. Harry’s mischievous and funny, irreverent and charming, and, when he’s in the mood, a skilled Dominant. Olivia, his sub, is an experienced woman who’s already seeking out the world of kink when Harry discovers her. But she’s not the least bit interested in submitting and has no intention of calling anybody “Sir”.

–Tamsin Flowers on her characters Harry and Olivia in an interview with Go Deeper Press.

What makes Harry compelling is that he’s not the ALL POWERFUL SERIOUS YET MAGICAL DOM WHO KNOWS ALL WITHOUT YOU SAYING A WORD that I find so tiresome.  He is a complex character with more going on in his life than just topping.

Harry has a good friend and mentor in Belladonna, who won’t hesitate to take him down a peg or two.  Their body language and snappy banter show that they have a history in bed and out of it.  I can’t wait to see more of Belladonna, especially once she takes Olivia’s measure.

His nemesis is Dick Glass, Alchemy’s pony play trainer and a member of their board. Tamsin uses one direct encounter and two further mentions of Glass to hint at the impending explosion betwixt the two men.  I want to know what happened between Dick and Raf to get the latter kicked out of the training program.  How Harry will handle Olivia going to pony camp one month?

When it comes to Olivia, Harry swings between confidence and uncertainty. Olivia isn’t like his other trainees who are described as “pretty little subby types who were simply gasping to get their asses whipped and their wrists bound by a hard man with a big, bad cock.”  They have an amazing night together, but will she sign on for the training program?  He has the arrogance to ask her to do so just hours before midnight, but isn’t sure that she’ll accept before the deadline.

One of his four trainees is male, which excites me–there aren’t nearly enough bisexual doms in quality erotica.  Sandy is the only other one to come to mind.

One of my favorite things about Tamsin’s writing is the way she finds just the right words to paint a picture in your mind, and New Year’s Eve is no exception.

“Wiping her eyes, she turned her attention back to the spanking scene like a vicar confronting a plate of oysters.”–pg 4

“Who wouldn’t want to be dominated by an Amazonian Domme with a waterfall of blonde curls and thighs that could crack your skull?”-pg 8

“Welts rose like the red tails of comets across a dawn sky.”-pg. 12

Give yourself a reward for getting through (most of) 2014–read Alchemy XII: New Year’s Eve and then subscribe.  I’d be shocked if you don’t agree with what I told Tamsin upon finishing it…

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My first book (part 2)

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Delilah Night

Yesterday I shared the first half of a book I wrote in third grade.  I was obscenely proud of this work, which I guess goes to prove why I still have it 28 years later.  Today I’ll share the second half.  All spelling and grammar errors are as written.

DSC_0646So one day the princess started to build a boat, a steamship, that was humongously huge that would hold billions and trillions of Unicorns to take them to Colorado and California and Florida.

DSC_0647Having that happy thought, the princess started on her merry way. The princess started to sing a little song that went like this:

Hi ho hi ho

It’s off to Unicorns I go,

And off we go to Colorado

And I sing hi ho hi ho hi ho.

Off we go hi ho hi ho,

Hi ho hi ho hi ho hi ho hi ho

Hi ho o o o o o o o o o.

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And finally after many long days and nights she found her people, the Unicorns, but this is not the end.  The Unicorns visited Colorado and they found nasty Pegasuses that thought only Pegasuses were the best.

DSC_0649They had a terribly bad war between the Unicorns and the Pegasuses.  One day something happened, a baby Pegasus and a baby Unicorn met each other and became friends and the grown-ups did too.

The End

*mic drop*

No I did not skip pages or switch in other stories.  That is it in all of its confused and inconsistent narrative glory.

Questions that I would love to ask my 8 year old self after reading this

  1. What were the special powers that the Queen/King/Prince have and how did the Magicians overpower them?
  2. Wait, how did the Princess find them when yesterday you told me that she never found them because they were on the Disappearing Island.  TELL ME MORE ABOUT DISAPPEARING ISLAND.
  3. If Colorado didn’t work out, what about California and Florida.
  4. And while we’re at it, how did they get a massive ship to the mountains of Colorado?
  5. Tell me about the war!
  6. How did two babies hammer out a peace agreement?
  7. Aren’t you scared that Disney will hit you with a copyright infringement suit?

I’ll be back later this week to rave to you about Tamsin Flower’s new project, Alchemy xii

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My first book (part 1)

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Delilah Night

We recently excavated our storage closet.  Among outgrown baby clothes and tax returns from four years ago I stumbled across the magnum opus of my primary school writing career-The Last Unicorn.

Here is the first half of the book I wrote, edited, illustrated and TYPED on an actual TYPEWRITER because I’m old.  I’ve decided to share it with you because it’s just so damn bad.

All spelling and grammar errors are as written.

DSC_0641Once upon a time there were millions and trillions of Unicorns.  There was a greedy king who wanted everything including every single Unicorn! Finally one day the king said “I Have It! I Know How To Get Those Unicorns To Work For Me, Me, Me!”

DSC_0642All his subjects asked, “What?”

He said, “I shall call my Magicians, Hingle, Mingle, Shingle, and Bingle to put a spell over Uniland. But there is one problem. The King, Queen, Prince and Princess Unicorns cannot be captured because of their special qualities.  But I want them never-the-less.  My Magicians can take their powers away ay.”

DSC_0643But in Uniland they were setting up a plan to move because of the king, but that meant going past the castle wall.

When they did, they all got captured, all but one, the princess.

DSC_0644The princess started to cry. “My Mama, oh my Papa, oh my poor brother, oh my dear Unicorns. Oh me, oh my, what am I going to do?”

After a long time she stopped crying and said, “I will find the exact place that the king has put all the Unicorns.”

DSC_0645One day the princess said, “I think I have found the place that all the Unicorns are hidden.”  But she was very very wrong. She looked everywhere but never found them because they were on Disappearing Island.

Tune in tomorrow to find out the stunning conclusion to The Last Unicorn…

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New Arrival

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Delilah Night

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I got back from Bali to find my contributor’s copies of Nine-to-Five Fantasies (ed. Alison Tyler) in my mailbox.  I’ve been so wrapped up in end of year insanity that I totally lost track of the calendar, and the package was a welcome surprise.

Since moving to Singapore in 2010 I’ve become a devotee of the e-book.  Prior to my conversion, I’d always been someone who carried around multiple books (because what if I finish my book before I get home?).  I am very bad at returning library books on time, and I like owning books, so over the years my home library began to overtake my apartment.  Marrying a fellow book nerd did not help the matter.  Nor did spawning two excuses to buy tons of kid’s books children.  Moving halfway around the world to where books are twice as expensive and I worry about how we will eventually transport all of our crap back to the US was the impetus for the switch.  Now I have over 100 books on my phone alone (over 1k in my digital library), and all I need to worry about is my battery dying mid-read.

That said, there is something so amazing about holding a physical book that you contributed to.  Seeing it on your bookcase.  Seeing it in a bookstore (I’ve not seen any in bookstore in Singapore, but I’ve seen Irresistible on the shelves in the US and in New Zealand).  I may buy digital, but my heart still belongs to the physical book.

I walked around with a stupid grin on my face for hours.

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In which I’m immature (NSFW image)

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Delilah Night

I got you a present from Bali….

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I stumbled across this in Monkey Forest, and as it’s not really appropriate for my more family friendly haunts on the internet, I’m sharing it with you.

 

You’re welcome.

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2014 in review

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Delilah Night

2014 was only the second year in which I have felt like I could legitimately call myself a professional author.  Inspired by Lynn’s far more impressive year in review post, I decided to do my own.

2014

This year I wrote four new short stories and edited a story from 2012 that’s been sitting on my hard drive.

Two stories that had been accepted in 2013 were published this year

I created my official Goodreads author page and added my books to it.

Ghost Novel Progress (aka That Damn Novel I STILL haven’t finished yet)

I’m pretty disappointed that in 2014 I only made it through chapters 3-6 (and I hope to update this at the end of December with several more chapters–7 is mostly written, and I have outlines for most of the novel’s chapters).

My goal had been to finish the entire first draft and it didn’t happen.  Part of this is that my time management sucks and I own that.  I’ve also been afraid to suck, which I talked about in this post.  I’m starting to work past that anxiety so I can make forward progress.  I’m also learning that it’s okay if the story doesn’t always get written in perfect order.  These may seem like obvious things, but they’ve become personal hang-ups.

The ghost novel was first written for a Literotica Halloween short story contest over a decade ago.  (Sidenote-Delilah Night wasn’t the name I used there, and I have since deleted that account and the related stories from Lit.)  The characters have been haunting me since–no pun intended.  This is the third or fourth time I’ve tried to write it as a novel in the past 10+ years.  I always seem to hit a point where I (a) am frustrated with my slow progress (b) freeze because I refuse to move on until I’m completely happy with the existing chapter or (c) I write myself into a corner and can’t figure my way out.  So I put down the metaphorical pen and move on with other projects both writing and otherwise.

I’ve wondered if this is the wrong first novel to try to write professionally–perhaps there’s too much baggage associated with it?  However, I’ve let some people read what I’ve written thus far in this attempt and they’ve encouraged me to keep going.  At this point, I’m my own biggest obstacle.  Part of me feels like finishing this book in particular—regardless of whether in the end the book is publishable, or ever sells a copy, or needs to be burned because it sucks—the act of successfully taking a novel from writing to publication once will allow me to do it again without needing a multi-year process.  Also, this book needs to get out of my head so I can focus on the other books I’m dreaming up.

When I see writers like Lynn, Alison, Sommer, etc doing as many projects in a year as they do I feel intimidated.  Just how do they do that?  I’m sure, though, that the answer is experience will bring improvement.

How do I think I did?

I had hoped to write more stories this year, but I am really happy with where my skills are today versus a year ago.  I’m learning to identify and short circuit some bad habits (ex.–characters begin to do things instead of just doing them).  My start to finish speed on short stories has improved.  I’ve made a number of friends online this year within the community.

Overall, I’m pleased with 2014.

2015

Goals for 2015

I said it before, but I’m saying it again–by the end of 2015, I want AT MINIMUM a full first draft of the Ghost Novel

I would like to write around 10 short stories.  I haven’t been good about writing stories without a specific call in mind, but I’m hoping to do so even when there’s no call out that speaks to me.

I want to look at where I am a year from now and to know viscerally that I am better at my craft then than I am today.

Filed under: acceptance, In Progress, novel, process, Published, Submitted, Writing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments »

A bunch of lovely authors…

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Delilah Night

lovely blog awardThe very lovely Lace Winter nominated me for the “One Lovely Blog Award.”  I’m going to accept-and use this opportunity to heed Alison’s call to arms

What if we promoted each other in little surprise ways like this—posting covers, pimping stories, sharing the wealth. Read a book you liked? Put up the cover and a link. Discover an author you think is fabulous—give an unexpected shout out, an unplanned review.–Alison Tyler

I’m going to tell you about 15 authors I love.  If I tag you, carry on the award or not as is right for you 🙂

The rules of the award state that I must thank Lace for nominating me.  Thank you, sweetie.  But more than that, thank you for becoming a friend over the past few months.  I’m so glad to have met you–and hopefully I’ll meet you in person one of these days.

The award also says I need to share 7 things about myself my readers don’t know.  I don’t often talk about my non-writing life here, so I thought that would be fun to do.

about me

1-I suffer from pinterest addiction.  I’ve yet to try something worthy of a Pinterest FAIL blog, but my ambitions almost got the better of me with Ms. 6’s birthday party earlier this month.

IMG_9445Pinterest Success!

2-I don’t speak Mandarin.  However, both of my girls are learning it, so I’ve picked up a few words here and there.  Today when my aircon repair guy was on the phone with my landlord I could make out the words I, you, can’t, this one/that one, and because.  Which is just enough knowledge to make me panic–hearing “can’t” over and over from a repair man when my air conditioning isn’t working and it’s in the 90’s was freaking me out.  Other words in my vocabularly include the words for “I don’t want to,” which my three year old whines ALL THE TIME.

3-For all that I’m an expat and have traveled all over the place now, the truth is that I never flew on an airplane before I was 20 years old.  I was TERRIFIED the first time.  Now it’s old hat.

4-I told my husband I was buying the new Taylor Swift album for Ms. 6’s birthday, but mostly I bought it for me.  He saw right through it.  Kind of the same way he saw through it when I  bought tickets “for her” to Taylor Swift concert earlier this year.

5-I spent my childhood wanting to be Kristy from The Baby-Sitter’s Club book series.

6-If I had a better voice and less stage fright I would love to be a Broadway star.

7-I picked a bad partner the first time I had sex.  He invited me to his room to WATCH ANIME and I was naive enough to think that’s what it meant.  When I realized he had other ideas I decided “eh, why not?” and we had sex.  After it was over, we realize that I’d bled.  My reaction was to sigh because I didn’t have a pad in my purse.  HIS response was to say “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to bleed--I could’ve put a trash bag down or something so you wouldn’t stain my sheets.”  Like I said–I did not pick a good partner.  But I did get a good story out of it, so there’s that?

Now we get to the good stuff–I’m going to tell you about some of my favorite authors.

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1–My very first story acceptance was from Rachel Kramer Bussel.  She has a new collection of essays out called Sex and Cupcakes.  It’s currently sitting on my Kindle waiting for me to get through this insane week so I can dive in.

2–The next editor to accept my work was Alison Tyler.  If you’ve read my blog you know I LOVE her work.  She has a number of recent releases–including a story in Filthy Housewives, edited by Violet Blue.  My favorite novellas from Alison are Those Girls and Those Boys–Sandy is one of my favorite fictional Doms.

3-I have to say that Sandy is ONE of my favorite fictional Doms because I just got a sneak peek at Tamsin Flowers‘ new project Alchemy xii, and given the chance, I don’t know if I could pick between Alison’s Sandy and Tamsin’s Harry.  I’ll post a review a little closer to the release date.  Tamsin also wrote Zombie Erotoclypse, which contains “Peeping Zom”-which contains the only Paul Revere reference I’ve ever seen in an erotica story.  I have a degree in History, so I think we should all take a page from Tamsin’s book and throw in clever lines like that one.  If you like your zombie erotica aurally, check out Rose Caraway reading “Red Hot Zombie Cock” on the Kiss Me Quick Podcast.

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4-Speaking of Rose Caraway, have you read The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica?  It’s my current pick for best erotica anthology this year.

5-Pillow Talk is a collaborative effort brought to us by Tamsin Flowers, Malin James and Jade A. Waters.  It’s so great to see a conversation between fellow erotica authors on topics like how their writing has evolved to be more selective about which details to include in a story and which to leave to a reader’s imagination.

6-Malin James‘ blog should be required reading for anyone interested in sex.  Her recent post “Ownership: On Sexuality & Feminine Relations” really resonated with me.

7-Jade A. Waters is a new author to me, but I’m looking forward to reading more of her work, including her story in the upcoming Lynn Townsend anthology Among the Stars.  I really enjoy hearing her opinions in Pillow Talk and on Twitter.

8-Lynn Townsend caught my attention with “Full Frontal Neighbor” in  The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica.  I subsequently read her novel Roll, which I loved.  I’m eagerly awaiting the publication of Blues in early 2015.  Lynn recently edited her first anthology and Among the Stars is going to be so awesome.

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9-I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Sommer Marsden.  I started reading Sommer’s work because she came so highly recommended by Alison.  I quickly became a huge fan of her clever twist endings.  Her new book is The Mighty Quinn, also on my kindle.  (Have I mentioned how crazy this week is? CRAZY busy).  I also loved her story “The New Girl” in Skirting the Issue  , “Appetizer” in The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica, and I’m looking forward to seeing her story in Coming Together: For the Holidays.

10-Janine Ashbless grabbed my attention with her story “Three Legs in the Evening” in The Sexy Librarian’s Big Book of Erotica because I’m a Greek Mythology fangirl.  One of my daughter has a middle name pulled from Greek Mythology.  I’m super excited to read her new release Cover Him with Darkness.

11-Delilah Devlin edits some seriously hot anthologies with alpha males.  I  loved her antho Cowboy Lust, .  I’m currently reading Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors .  If you prefer Firemen, she also just released Five Alarm Alphas .

12-I’m a sucker for erotic fairy tales, and Kristina Wright has edited A Princess Bound,  Fairy Tale Lust, and Lustfully Ever After.

13-Lace Winter (who tagged me for this post) is not yet a published author, but I’m certain she will be soon.  She’s been posting excerpts from her WIP, and I can’t wait to read the whole thing.

14-I know Sophia Valenti‘s work from Alison’s anthologies, and her story “A Lesson in Lust” in Skirting the Issue is one of my favorite F/F stories.

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I’m going to leave  #15 empty—tell me who I should be reading that I haven’t discovered yet.

Filed under: BDSM, book reviews, LGBT, Writing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

Why I write interracial romance

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Delilah Night

The next two stories that I have coming out have something in common–they both feature Indian/Caucasian interracial relationships.

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The reason I write Indian/Caucasian romance is fairly straightforward–that’s one of my wedding photos above.  When I write an interracial relationship, my preference is to write one that looks like my own (unless there’s reason to do otherwise, as in the ghost novel).

The few times I’ve seen an Indian/White romance (particularly an Indian man with a Caucasian woman) have primarily been historical pieces set in India during the British reign.  That’s the subcontinent equivalent to the Native American man/White woman bodice rippers I stole from my mom in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  Exotic male either kidnaps or serves as an antidote to the white female’s humdrum life.  James Cameron’s Titanic movie does this only within social class instead of color, as do many of the billionaire man/regular girl stories.  But in all of these scenarios, the man is exotic because of his skin color or his social class or whatever.

You almost never see an interracial couple where one partner is Indian and the other white treated matter of factly in media.  I loved Smash for many reasons (including because I’m a giant Broadway nerd), but one of them was that the Dev/Karen couple of season 1 existed.  Dev’s Indian-ness was not portrayed as exotic.  Yes, there was one Bollywood inspired number, but Raza Jaffrey’s Broadway claim to fame was that he was the male lead in Bombay Dreams, so I’m giving that a pass.  The Mindy/Danny relationship on the Mindy Project is another I’m aware of, although we haven’t gotten into the show as it’s not Netflix yet.

I want to read (and by extension write) relationships where my characters are in an interracial relationship, but where the story is about the couple instead of fetishizing the culture/skin color of one of the partners.  Obviously skin color and culture will impact that character;s day to day life, but there are ways to do so that round out a character’s personality without reducing them to stereotypes or constant racial cues. (I’m looking at you Ann M. Martin with the unending use of creamy skin or softy accented voice when referencing the Kishi family.)

I was inspired to write this because of the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseRomance, which I encourage you to go read.  Then let’s create a more diverse body of literature together.  Let’s have broad notions of what interracial looks like.  Let’s have older characters.  Let’s have characters who aren’t the image of perfection.  Let’s have characters with disabilities.  Let’s try to have the messy and complex reality of life reflected in our writing.

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Other Days

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Delilah Night

Other Days

I’m very proud to announce that Other Days has been published.  The story I excerpted the other day, “The Choices that Damn Us” is included in this anthology.  Available now on Amazon US/US in kindle form (book form in a week or so) and in paperback on createspace.  Kobo, smashwords and other formats in early 2015 (due to some Amazon rules).

Obviously I’m proud of my story, but I want to take a moment to tell you about my friend Jessica’s story “Lessons Learned.”  If you have ever wondered who the real Jack the Ripper was, you’ll want to read this one. I love the build of dramatic tension throughout and the ending gave me chills.

Here’s an excerpt of “Lesson Learned”

“Come on, Polly,” I overheard Ellen try to convince Mary Ann to go back to the lodging house, and remembered seeing the nickname in the files. Mary Ann was drunk and refused to go. I heard her tell Ellen she’d earned her doss money three times over already that night (and then spent it all at the Frying Pan) and was certain that with her new bonnet, she’d make it again.

Ellen gave up and walked away. I went cold. The bonnet. The new bonnet. Would she be out here at all if it weren’t for me and that bonnet? I felt dizzy, like the whole world was spinning around me. Leaning against a cool brick wall, I tried to catch my breath.

“Jules? Julie! You there?” A cacophony of voices shouting my name in my ear brought me back to my senses.

“Uh…yeah. Yes, I’m here.” I shook my head to wake myself out of the stupor.

“We’ve been trying to talk to you for over a minute already,” Tom’s worried voice crackled over the earpiece. “What’s going on?”

“Are you still trailing her?” Martin asked apprehensively.

I looked around for Mary Ann, but she must already have turned up Whitechapel High Street; I couldn’t see her anymore. I ran around the corner and trotted as quickly as I could in these damned heeled-boots up Whitechapel Street past Garden Street and St. Mary’s. Still no sign of her. I turned left in a panic up the short bit of road called Baker’s Row and then right onto Buck’s Row (as Durward was known then) and everything was still and empty.

“I see you, Jules,” came Martin’s voice in my ear, clearly relieved. “What happened?”

Out of breath and lungs stinging like fire, I just shook my head and threw my hands in the air in response, knowing Martin would be able to see everything through his goggles. I didn’t know what had happened. I hadn’t seen anything. Hadn’t heard anything. I turned in a full circle, looking everywhere. My chest and throat felt tight with fear and frustration. I just wanted to cry. Had I missed some clue as I’d dashed along Whitechapel Street? Or maybe Mary Ann had turned up Thomas or Court Street instead of Baker’s Row? Or perhaps Jack already had her before I’d gotten myself together, back when I realized about the bonnet. I didn’t know her, but she was a living, breathing person, and I no longer wanted to find her killer—I wanted her to live.

Here’s the full Table of contents

  • Habejari’s Break by Kimber Camacho
  • House Call by Brandon Nolta
  • Deja View by Tim Koch
  • Affaire de Coeur by Susanne Hülsmann
  • A Fair Trade by Johannes Svensson
  • Escape Velocity by Melissa Swanepoel
  • Fire in the Bones by Marguerite Croft
  • Lesson Learned by Jessica Augustsson
  • Glass and Mirrors by Sharon A. Brown
  • Man, and None by Brandon Nolta
  • The Grande Complication by Christopher Reynaga
  • Contraband by Susan Hülsmann
  • The Karelian Egg by Robert Young
  • The Choices that Damn Us by Delilah Night
  • The Mer-Bell by Kimber Camacho
  • A Bird in the Hand by Johannes Svensson
  • Crux of a Faded Soul by Jennifer Silverwood

Edited to Add…Buy it here

Filed under: book reviews, LGBT, novel, Published, Writing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

WIP-Choices

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Delilah Night

This week I submitted a story unlike anything I’ve ever written before.  It was the first non-erotic piece of fiction I’ve written since high school or my early college years, which pushed me pretty far outside of my comfort zone.  While my novel has two distinct stories happening in different time periods, there are clear time lines and what has happened in the past can’t be changed.  “Choices” has multiple timelines and the past can be changed…at least once.  It went through many iterations before my editor and I found a way to tell the story that worked, instead of being a bunch of random scenes, making it a story that went through a very different writing process than my work typically does.  Finally, it was a different experience for me in that it was the first time I’ve been asked to write a story for a specific anthology rather than submitting to an open call for submissions.

The story was inspired by a fairly unlikely source–the movie Kate and Leopold. It occurred to me that the only real difference between Leopold and someone diagnosed with mental health issues in the real world is unbearable hotness.  Why else would you believe his story?  What would happen if I started swearing that I was from the future?  I would most likely end up medicated and/or committed.  But what if that happened AND I was right?  What then? Thus “Choices” was born.

kate-and-leopoldI think we can all agree I wouldn’t get a commercial

You will hopefully be seeing “Choices” in print before the end of the year–more information as I have it.  Today, though, you’ll get a sneak peek

Temporal Authority Central Processing Center – Admiral David Smithson’s office

“Do you know why you’re here?” The admiral raised an eyebrow at Commander Jenna Robinson.

“Because my fourth request for a starship captaincy was the charm?” At least, she hoped that was why she’d been called in.

He glared at her. “Try again. You took Charlotte Donnelly into custody today, didn’t you?”

Uh oh. Should’ve known he’d find out.

“Yes. I removed her before she could splinter the timeline.”

“Commander. The guidelines clearly state you can’t interfere with your own lineage until you are at least 10 generations removed. You are four generations—”

“Five.”

“Commander!” She’d witnessed volcanic explosions with less heat than his eyes were emitting.

Jenna ground her teeth. “Sorry. Sir. But can the record state that if I hadn’t interfered, I wouldn’t be standing here to have this argument with you—”

Smithson cut her off. “Let’s go see your granny. Her records are now designated OEO.”

Our eyes only.

“Yes. Sir.”

 

I do want to state up front that I don’t mean to make light of mental health issues.  I have bipolar disorder and I know all too well that medication can be the thing that makes it possible to live instead of barely survive your day to day life.  However, one of my deepest fears is losing the line between fiction and reality; of one day needing more help than medication can give me.  So, in some way, taking someone who has been considered beyond help and validating that they were right and the world was wrong I’m also attempting to defang that fear.  Sort of.

At any rate, this has been an at times painful learning process, and I hope it won’t be the last time I publish something non-erotic.

Filed under: acceptance, In Progress, process, Submitted, Writing | Tagged: , , , , | 4 Comments »

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