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Be my friend on Goodreads

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Delilah Night

I used to have two Goodreads accounts. One was under my IRL name, where I reviewed most of what I read (when I remembered). The other was under Delilah Night, where I only reviewed erotica, because I thought my readers wouldn’t want to know what I thought of this urban fantasy or that YA book.

However, that got to be a giant hassle and I stopped reviewing on Goodreads completely.

This year, however, I have gotten back in the saddle and decided to only use the Delilah Night account for all my books. Further, I set myself a goal of reading 100 books this year, and have been faithfully documenting everything I’ve read, and I am on my fortieth book this year.

I’d like to invite you to be my friend on Goodreads. I do read and review erotic romance and erotica, but I’m also a fantasy, YA, memoir, and romance fan.

Top Books I’ve read (so far) this year are

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole, which is about a grad student named Naledi, who keeps getting bizarre emails telling her she’s the betrothed to a prince of an African country. Certain this is a scam, she emails them back to Fuck Off. Prince Thabiso is in search of the girl he was betrothed to as a child. When he goes to confront her, and she thinks he’s a waiter she was supposed to train, he doesn’t correct her. Great story, good pacing, hot sex scenes.
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, which is the story of Zacharias, a freed slave who has risen to the position of Sorcerer Royal in an alternate version of London. He’s trying to solve the question of where all the magic in England is going. Prunella is a woman with immense magical powers in a world where women aren’t supposed to have such powers. She is looking for a husband, and convinces Zacharias to help her. The first section of the book is slow, but once Prunella is introduced, it really takes off. The book doesn’t gloss over the racial prejudices both Zacharias and Prunella face, and that makes it a richer novel. I’m looking forward to the second book.
Hamilton’s Battalion by Alyssa Cole, Courtney Milan, and Rose Lerner. As a total Hamilfan, I had to read this anthology of three novellas. The framing device for the anthology is that soldiers are coming to Eliza Hamilton’s house to share the story of serving with her husband (something the real Eliza Hamilton actually did). The first story, my favorite, is called Promised Land–the story of Rachel who has disguised herself as “Ezra” to fight for the country she believes in. She thinks Jews will be more welcomed in a free/fair America, and her Judaism is a big part of the story. The second is The Pursuit of, which tells the story of a Black soldier and the white British deserter and how they fall in love—and lots of cheese. So much cheese. I mean literal cheese, not that it’s cheesy. The final story is That Could Be Enough, which is the story of Eliza’s secretary, and the dressmaker who worms her way into her heart.
A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena, which is a realistic fiction YA novel set in Saudi Arabia. The story is told from multiple viewpoints to create a complex portrayal of a girl who died in a car with a man she was unrelated to.
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. Noah’s memoir about being half white/half black in South Africa during and after Apartheid is incredibly eye opening. Seeing him on The Daily Show, you’d never imagine half of what he has done and experienced.

I’m currently reading the eleventh book in the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, which is great urban fantasy set in and around San Francisco (which, coincidentally is where I moved a year ago). I am a huge fan of McGuire (who also writes as Mira Grant). If you jump into the series, read it in order as McGuire is constantly world building, and things that happen in one book often have consequences in another book. Stay with the series until book three/book four. The first two are the weakest (but are still good), but for me the series really began to take off with book three. I’m a bit bereft as when I finish this I’ll have to wait until September for book twelve.

Upcoming books include

We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card
Touched by an Alien
Beneath the Sugar Sky

What are you reading? What do you think I should add to my to-read shelf? Add me as a friend on Goodreads if you use it.

Filed under: books (non-review posts) | Tagged: delilah night, Goodreads, What I'm Reading | Leave a comment »

Review: Bad for the Boss by Talia Hibbert

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Delilah Night

I first heard about Bad for the Boss on Alisha Rai’s Twitter feed. (Side note–Alisha Rai is an amazing author and you should read her books.) She was tweeting about how Bad for the Boss featured a plus-sized heroine and that it was well handled, and that there was an instance of sexual harassment that well handled. I was intrigued.

I bought bad for the boss from Amazon for my kindle app and couldn’t put it down.

Jennifer is a plus sized woman with a dark past. She’s working as a social media rep in an advertising company. The office sleaze is hitting on her, and she sends an email to her friend asking for help to get her out of this situation. But she didn’t send it to her friend–she sent it to one of the partners.

Theo is a work-obsessed man who is unprepared for the accidental email, and is intrigued. He replies, insisting that the work-place should be harassment free, and adds a more personal note. When she replies with a reassurance that she’s fine, but a snarky ps, he’s hooked. He needs to meet Jen.

The connection between the two is irresistible, and as a reader I totally bought in. Jen and Theo are three dimensional people, and you see a glimpse of their lives beyond the office. While Theo is Chinese and Jen is Black, race isn’t an issue beyond a few respectful gestures. Nor is Jen’s weight an obstacle–Theo is hooked on her curves and finds her gorgeous, full stop. As a fat woman myself, it was so refreshing to see a plus sized heroine who I liked and identified with.

When dark things happen, Theo wants to protect Jen, but I don’t want to spoil the ending.

The book is a fast, hot read (I was ready to jump my partner after some of the sex scenes, or failing that, find some other release). I was thrilled to find out there’s a sequel, and have already bought it.

I highly recommend Bad for the Boss. If all the erotica I read this year is this hot, I’ll burn out my vibrator.

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: Alisha Rai, Bad for the Boss, book reviews, delilah night, erotica, Talia Hibbert | Leave a comment »

2017: The Year in Review

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Delilah Night

It’s about that time of year again when we take stock of the year that has been and think towards the year that will be.

2017 was rough. I oversaw an international move from Singapore back to the US. I had fantasies of doing the full rewrite of Plunder during the two weeks my children were with my in-laws. That didn’t happen.

myths monsters mutations

Once I was ready to start writing again (aka my kids were in summer day camp for half of the summer/were both in school in the fall) I spent a great deal of time rewriting and expanding “For Love of Snow White.” from a few thousand words to over 10k. It was published earlier this month in Myths, Monsters, Mutations.

pirate 2

Now I’ve returned to working on Plunder, and I’m only at about the halfway mark. It’s expanded from 50k to nearly 60k, most of it written in the past month (or roughly 1/5 the amount in the NaNo challenge–such is life).

I’m learning to forgive myself for not writing as much as I think I should. I am not yet someone who can burn out 3-4k words a day, or even 2k. I need to learn that that is okay–that I have other commitments that will affect the ebb and flow of my writing.

That said, I am committed to finishing Plunder in 2018. I also aspire to write one to two reindeer stories as this is the first year in the last four where I didn’t write or publish one. I’m considering editing an anthology as well.

Filed under: Writing | Tagged: delilah night, For Love of Snow White, Myths Monsters Mutations, writing, Year in Review | 1 Comment »

Have you read Under the Mistletoe?

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Delilah Night

Last year I released my first anthology, Coming Together Under the Mistletoe.

Under the Mistletoe is a December themed anthology of poetry and prose featuring great stories by Ashe Barker, Malin James, Sonni de Soto, Sommer Marsden and more. The anthology opens on December first and a reindeer learning she’s joining Santa’s Team with only a few weeks of warning and ends with a couple reuniting on December 31st.

All proceeds go to Project Linus, a cause very dear to my heart–they give hand made blankets to children in crisis. My elder daughter, Athena, received one when she was in the Intensive Care Unit as an infant, and it was a kindness that was a bright moment in a time of darkness.

Winter themed smut plus a good cause? Who can resist? If you’ve read it, please leave an Amazon review, even if it’s just “great anthology.” Author and anthology visibility is highly dependent upon the number of (positive) reviews, so I can’t stress the importance of reviews enough.

Filed under: Published, Writing | Tagged: Ashe Barker, Blacksilk, Bob Buckley, CeCe Marsh, charity anthology, Coming Together, Coming Together Under the Mistletoe, Corbin Grace, delilah night, DJK, Jaylan Salah, M Marie, Malin James, Marcia Conover, Maria Duendi, Muffy Wilson, project linus, Ramona Thompson, Rob Rosen, Sheryl Collins, Smut for Good, sommer marsden, Sonni de Soto, Stacy Savage, Tamsin Flowers, Under the Mistletoe | Leave a comment »

Open Calls

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Delilah Night

My dear friend/editor has open calls for three anthologies (one erotica, two non-erotica). She’s such a great editor to work with. Jessica can help you take your work to the next level because she’s willing to work with you to build a stronger story rather than overwrite your voice.

Here are her open calls…

Wavelengths

Sometimes communication is not as straightforward as we might expect. From body language to Morse code, conveying messages comes in a wide variety of forms. How do we get our message across? Whether you’re talking with other species on this planet or another, we’re looking for your loquacious conversations! (not erotica–DN)

Sensory Perceptions

Loose your imagination’s libido in this very spec-fic collection of erotica tales. We want plot-focused stories with enrapturing storytelling where the erotica and romance enhance the story rather than being the main goal. Your level of explicitness may vary—the important part is the tale itself. We can’t wait to read your stories!

unrealpolitik

Some of the best speculative fiction stories today have derived from the tumultuous political times of the past from authors seeking to highlight injustice or simply work through their own frustration. We are indeed living in interesting times, locally and globally (and intergalactically?). Whether the subject is government or espionage or even something only tangentially related, we would love to read your stories!

Filed under: Submissions Calls, Writing | Tagged: delilah night, erotica, JayHenge Publishing, Jessica Augustsson, Open Submission Calls, political fiction, speculative fiction. | 1 Comment »

Seeing my photos (Wicked Wednesday 282)

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Delilah Night

It’s ironic that this week’s Wicked Wednesday prompt is Mirrors. Monday I posted a snippet of For Love of Snow White, which included a mirror scene. Today I’m going to talk about photos, both sexy and not.

I hate having my photo taken. I never like what I see. I hide behind the camera more often than not, preferring to take photos of others. So it was one of the most difficult experiences of my life to decide to do a boudoir photo shoot—it wouldn’t be just photos of me, but increasingly nude photos of me. Would I like some of them, or would my self esteem be shattered by photos that reflect the negatives and imperfections I see in the mirror after nearly 40 years of being subjected to a media barrage that my value lies in how fuckable I am (and at times in my late teens/early twenties I based my self-worth on whether people found me fuckable).

About a month ago, I posted about doing a boudoir photo shoot. I purposefully wrote that before I’d seen my photos because I was worried that my own insecurities in looking at photos of myself might taint my memory of the shoot.

Well, I’ve seen the photos and we selected 16 to keep. Here are two examples of photos I’m really happy with…

I can honestly say that the experience is very high on my list of things I was terrified of, but am so glad I tried. I have been very self conscious about my body for decades and to see photos where I actually feel like I look sexy is new and a little scary. It calls what I see in the mirror most days, and gives me a hint of what my husband sees that I can’t.

I’d definitely do this again, and not just because it gives me a glimpse of what’s on the other side of the looking glass.

Filed under: Body Image, Life Lessons, photography | Tagged: Body Image, boudoir photo shoot, celebrate your sexy, delilah night, photo shoot, Wicked Wednesday | Leave a comment »

My take on Snow White

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Delilah Night

Once upon a time,a long time ago in a kingdom far away from California, a young woman wrote a story about Snow White for literotica.

I started with two premises in mind—what if beauty was a curse, and what if the Evil Queen wasn’t evil? The result was a short story called “For Love of Snow White.” I wrote it in 2002 and barely thought of it for over a decade. But I saw a call for submissions that would fit the story, so I pulled it out of my archive, polished it up and sent it in. My editor asked me to expand it–which I did by about 10k words. The resulting story is still called “For Love of Snow White,” and while it is not erotica, it is a dark feminist take on the Snow White story.

Here’s a snippet

The carriage ride to the convent was long, and my book held little interest for me. Idly, I took my mirror from the pocket of my gown.

“Mirror, Mirror in my hand, who’s the fairest in the land?”

I received the answer I’d dreaded for five years. I was told “You, my queen, are lovely as a pearl, but your beauty cannot compare to the girl’s.”

The new god’s curse had struck in full.

“Mama!” Snow greeted me with a warm embrace.

“Snow! Let me look at how you’ve grown!”

No longer garbed like a novitiate, Snow White was breathtaking. She had hair as black as midnight cascading to her waist. Her skin was pale as the snow she was named for. Snow White’s eyes glowed bluer than any sapphire. Her lips formed a perfect red bow. She was dressed in a blue gown that accented her womanly curves and she moved with a grace that even I envied. Her voice was soft, yet carried a note of seduction that she seemed unaware of. She had reached her majority and her powers, although untrained, were at their full strength.

The king and priests had spoken—she was to leave, no matter what the head of the nun’s order thought of it. I took her home, too distracted by the mirror’s revelation and worried by Snow’s beauty to take advantage of the two hours alone in the carriage. She was silent, looking out a window rather than wanting to talk. Perhaps she was thinking of Charmaine. I should’ve taken her to the stone dance right away, bespelled the driver, anything. But how could I know what was to come?

You can read my almost novella in Myths, Monsters, Mutations edited by Jessica Augustsson, forthcoming from Jayhenge in 2017

Filed under: acceptance, editing, Editing, process, Writing | Tagged: dark fairy tales, delilah night, excerpt, For Love of Snow White, JayHenge Publishing, Jessica Augustsson, Literotica, Snow White, story snippet | 1 Comment »

I did a boudoir photo shoot

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Delilah Night

*This is not a sponsored post. I was not asked to write this post. I received zero discounts or perks.*

I’ve wanted to do a boudoir photo shoot for a long time now. As an amateur photographer I’m fascinated by sexual photography–naked or nearly so bodies, fetish photography, the whole nine yards. I longed to be a model in one of those photos, but the voices in my head that said I’m not pretty enough or thin enough drowned that desire in a bog of self doubt. I generally hate how I look in photos, with the exception of my wedding photos (which the voices remind me was twenty-five pounds ago). But beneath all of that was a sense of inevitability.

Several months ago I was introduced to Groupon (remember, I just moved back to the US–I’d heard of it but it wasn’t as big a deal as it is now when we left in 2010). One day I was idly scrolling through offers in my area and stumbled across a discount for a boudoir photography shoot with two photos for a steep discount.

My partner turned forty last year and I turn forty next year. No matter what the voices in my head said, he has always found me beautiful. decided to push my boundaries and do this shoot for him. Or at least I told myself it was for him.

I booked my date and because of childcare and travel issues had several months to dread and second/third/hundredth guess my decision. Initially I made up a bogus appointment to explain why he needed to take the kids one day while I went into San Francisco. I’m a terrible liar and my excuse fell apart, so I told him what was up. He was incredibly supportive and together we crafted the four looks I would shoot with.

The price of the shoot was just the beginning. I hadn’t thought about all the details.

In the months before the shoot…

I’ve had back surgery, and was told heels were off limits for me. But I wasn’t about to wear flats in a sexy shoot. I bought three pairs of heels and a pair of dominatrix boots.

I bought a new piece of lingerie.

I bought new lacy panties.

I bought a man’s white shirt as mine didn’t look so fresh, and I wanted a better fit.

Celebrate Your Sexy sent me an email to ask me questions, including how do I feel about photos of myself and what are my concerns. (Top concern–I’d hate the photos and it would wreck my fragile self esteem).

The week of the shoot….

I got my eyebrows, lower arms, under arms, and full legs waxed.

I got a pedicure and acrylic nails.

On the day of the photo shoot…

I couldn’t find one of my outfits and had to rethink an entire look. This totally freaked me out. (It was on top of my bureau so I wouldn’t lose it–which I discovered that night.)

I had my hair and makeup done.

When my stylist asked what I wanted done with my hair I said “make it look like I just had really good sex.” My straight hair was curled and teased. Since I was (mostly) going to keep my glasses on, we added fake lashes and just did some liner on my eyes. I did a blood red lip (fiery liquid lipstick from Stila–it is my go-to and the only red I’ve ever tried that didn’t look pink-y or orange-y).

All of this added up to way more than the photo shoot cost. A more secure/more cost conscious person could probably do without these extras, but this is my journey.

The experience…

I was ready about an hour before my shoot, and I sat in my car so as not to sweat my make-up off in the insane heat wave that gripped the Bay Area a few weeks ago. This gave me plenty of time to contemplate if I wanted to take anxiety medication.

I drove to the location of the photo shoot with a carry-on suitcase full of clothes/shoes/props and texted the photographer that I was downstairs.

The photographer immediately put me at ease. We talked through my outfits and shoes. She let me plug my phone in and put on a playlist (regret–should’ve had a better playlist as it wasn’t something I’d really thought about or planned for). We talked about my props and which outfit they went with, etc.

We set up my four outfits, and I changed into the first one–a sexy red dress with red heels with a matching black lace bra and panty under it. The photographer started me off on the bed, moving the lights and herself around me. She walked me through poses, and told me to tell her when something was just not okay for my back or any other reason. Some poses were indeed uncomfortable, and I gained a small appreciation for what it must take to create ads and layouts in magazines (apart from photoshop).

My second outfit was a turquoise bra and panty under a white men’s shirt and black heels. I posed with a copy of Capturing the Moment. I wished I’d brought my own laptop, but the photographer lent me hers. I’m hoping I like one of these photos so I can use it here on the site.

My third leaned hard into kink. A nightie with a vinyl/pleather breast bra top, black lacy panties, and dominatrix boots that on my five foot two/three inch frame went nearly into my vagina. I posed with a riding crop with a sparkly handle and one with a heart-shaped surface.

My fourth? Mesh with nothing under it and black heels. I should have felt self conscious or uncomfortable, but by that point I felt comfortable with the photographer, with my body, and most shockingly–with the camera.

The photos…

I’m seeing them on Friday. I wanted to write about the experience before I saw them, and then I’ll write another entry about that experience.

Final thoughts…

I had such a positive experience that I volunteered to model in a plus sized lingerie show next month. It was a safe space.

After the shoot they give you a pamphlet with next steps and it’s not until you reach that point that you learn the ridiculous per photo costs. However, this seems to be a standard thing in the world of boudoir photography. So the selection process will be brutal, or at least I hope I like enough of the photos for it to be a difficult decision.

I’d definitely recommend Celebrate Your Sexy if you go into it knowing the photos are really expensive. They shoot all over the US.

Here’s hoping that I’ll have an excellent Friday morning.

Filed under: BDSM, Body Image, Capturing the Moment, Clothes/Lingerie/Shoes/Accessories, Life Lessons, My books, photography | Tagged: Body Image, boudoir photography, Capturing the Moment, celebrate your sexy, Cuvy Girl Lingerie, delilah night, lingerie photos, photo shoot, photography, plus sized, sexy photos | 1 Comment »

I write sex books

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Delilah Night

My older daughter, Athena (not her real name) in her first week in an American school made a new friend. The friend’s mom was volunteering for playground duty, and upon meeting Athena asked her what myself and my husband did for work. My husband’s job is innocuous–he’s a programmer.

“My mom writes sex books,” Athena tells her.

Fast forward to last week. I meet the mom for coffee–it’s my first time hanging out with her and I’m hoping to make a good impression. The story comes out after I said I write romance novels.

I am mortified.

That afternoon I shared what I’d learned with my daughter, and asked why she’d said that. I wasn’t angry with her, I just wanted to know why.

“That man is naked on your cover. He’s not wearing a shirt.”

She means RJ.

I asked her what she thought sex was.

“I don’t know.”

Cue my buying Sex is a Funny Word from Amazon, and asking her to say I write books, or I write romance books instead of sex books.

My friends have found this whole story hilarious. I am moving from mortification to amusement as well.

Filed under: Capturing the Moment, Parenting, Talking to your kids about sex, Writing | Tagged: Capturing the Moment, delilah night, embarassing stories, parenting, sex, sex positive parenting, writing | Leave a comment »

On moving, and writing

Posted on July 28, 2017 by Delilah Night

I moved back to the US in February. It’s now nearly August–nearly six months of being “home.” Except it’s not home. Not my coast. Not my state. Not my city–definitely not this as I live in the burbs. My neighbors tell me it’s a city and that there are over 100k people, to which I reply that my last home crammed nearly 7m people into the same geography of 1/4 the size of Rhode Island. In fact, it’s a lot like moving to Singapore, only I like the food more and there’s Target.

Six months.

Six months of my children begging to move back to Singapore, their unhappiness mingling with my own until even retail therapy is no form of therapy at all. Six months of scolding myself for not adjusting better, even as I know that re-entry is often as or more painful than leaving. Six months of having my youngest home all the time because here she’s too little for Kindergarten and the pre-schools all have waiting lists. Six months of trying and failing to find a place in my house where I could write but be away from my children (especially the one who can read over my shoulder and who doesn’t need this thorough a sex education at her age) when my bedroom is half the size it was and can no longer fit my office. Six months of getting lost every time I leave the house (thank Google for Android Auto and Google Maps).

Plunder was supposed to be done nearly three months ago. After all, I rationalized to myself–it’s not like I’ll have friends there, I can just write. And write. And write. Hell, I might even finish it in the two weeks my kids are with my in-laws. I’ve barely begun to write the second draft.

When this entry publishes, I’ll be back in Boston for the first time in nearly four years. I’m frightened it will also be too unfamiliar, too alien and that nothing will feel like home again. I’m scared that I’ll forever be in-between. Not Boston. Not Singapore. Not the West Coast. Not at home anywhere.

That melancholy, right there. That’s where I’ve been for the past six months. Depressed. Frightened. Trying to reassure my children when I’m just as unhappy as they are. Looking for doctors, orthodontists, the good Target, the good grocery store, buying a car, talking to teachers, looking for a Chinese tutor, and sometimes just too depressed to even get out of bed.

I took the first really hard steps–I told my partner that I thought I was far past the normal amount of grieving. I’d even shut out my therapist (whom I have a skype relationship of 2+ years with). I got my mental health meds adjusted to help drag me out of the darkest parts of the depression.

I’ve started writing again. Who knows if any of it is any good, but I’m at least doing it. I’m sharing here because in writing erotica we lay ourselves bare–we share fantasies, we share desire, we share romance and sex and relationships. Sometimes, a relationship is difficult, even when it’s with ourselves.

Hold me accountable to write here again. Poke me on Twitter, leave a comment on the blog, email me at delilahnight at gmail dot com and say “hey, where are you?” Writing for me = mental health.

Filed under: Life Lessons, Parenting, Random | Tagged: delilah night, moving | 1 Comment »

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