Category Archives: erotica

How writing is like kissing (and repression is your friend)

Posted by Erin M. Leaf on

My first kiss involved a street corner, a dumb blonde (not me, the guy), and a lot of regret (on my part). I’d just gotten off the school bus (I think I was in tenth grade but I was a nerd so give me a break). There were  kids everywhere. Trash littered the sidewalk. My mother was just inside the building across the street and she normally stood near the window. The amount of humiliation possible with this particular kiss was EXTREME.

I was nervous. I’d been hinting to the guy for weeks that I was interested but he wasn’t the brightest fork in the drawer. When he finally made his move I was so relieved. . . except the kiss was TERRIBLE. Awful. Unbelievably bad in ways I won’t go into because of the risk of triggering a disturbing traumatic flashback.The guy was cute, but kind of a jerk. I was surprised by this for about three seconds (the time it took me to jerk my head AWAY) then I thought: “Oh yeah, that’s right. Never judge a book by its cover.”

First kisses: ah, what could be more godawful? Um. . . the first thing you ever write. It’s usually utter drivel. Dreck. LAME personified. The first thing I ever put down on paper involved bunnies. And rainbows. Or maybe unicorns. I am still busy repressing those memories.

The only thing that makes it all better is that if you keep at it, it gets better. Years later, the first kiss I shared with my husband was EPIC in its awesomeness. Happily writing works the same way. You keep at it and it gets better.

The very first novel I wrote was The First Time is the Sweetest. I’d written other things but never a full-length novel. To this day, the title makes me giggle a little bit. Virgin heroine and virgin novelist: what synergy! So appropriate! Hilarious! It’s on sale right now at BookStrand (50% off) because they’ve just Retro Released it. I’m really fond of this book. Unlike my first kiss, I have great memories of writing it and releasing it into the world.

Of course, I’ve moved on a bit since then. I’ve had FOUR other books published since then, most recently Love Storm which is still on multiple bestseller lists at BookStrand! Someone gave it a five star rating (thank you unknown reader). And I got to play with weather when I wrote it! The main characters kick ass!

I also have a brand-new novel coming out this Friday. I had a blast writing this one: Kiss Is A Four-Letter Word. There is a scene in this book at a charity kissing booth that makes me squee in hilarity every time I think about it (hot + funny = squee). There are so many first times in this book: first kisses, first realizations, first confessions. Oh and guess what? The heroine in this new novel is a tad inexperienced. She may even be a virgin. . .

Release date May 18, 2012 from Evernight Publishing.

Oh look! It’s a HUGE photo of Love Storm – release day!

Posted by Erin M. Leaf on

Love Storm is now available from Siren-BookStrand!

As you can tell from the ridiculously ginormous cover photo, I’m a little bit happy and a teeny tiny bit excited. Just because. ;-)

It’s on sale until May 15th.

 

Love Storm

Menage, Erotic Romance, MMF, paranormal

Word Count: 62,000

Heat Level: SEXTREME

 

Description:

Zoe found her life in art, trying to exist on her own terms. Sean found it in work, knowing  that money couldn’t provide what he truly desired. Charlie found his in study, never expecting more. With dreams their only guide, how will they find each other?

Zoe, Sean, and Charlie know they must bond to survive, but kidnappers are out for their blood. Sean knows he needs his bondmates, but even with his money and influence, he finds no trace. Zoe knows who Sean is, but fears how her life will change if she surrenders to a biological compulsion. Charlie risks everything to meet his lovers and almost loses his life.

How will they come together when Charlie is captured and Chicago is bombed? When they confront the couple behind it all, will they be able to control their power? Or will the storm they call destroy them?

Story Excerpt:

As if she could tell he was staring, she looked up, her gamine face confused. When she caught sight of him, she frowned. Clearly she knew who he was. Sean strode through the crowd, enjoying the sun-baked warmth of the dusty ground on his toes. Bare feet again? He didn’t let it bother him this time, not even grimacing at the sensation. This wasn’t the first time he’d dreamed of this faire. It wasn’t even the second time. When the dreams first started, he was quite disconcerted by the lack of shoes. After the third or fourth time, he had resigned himself to the fact that he was always barefoot. At least this time he was able to move closer to the woman without waking up. He needed to get closer still.

It was only when he found himself edging into the shade of her open tent that he allowed himself a small glimmer of triumph. He’d never yet made it this far. Always before, in every other one of these dreams, she’d fled before he could get to her. He stepped in closer. She was thin. Strong. Older than him, maybe forty years old but still beautiful. He liked the way she carried herself, as though the years had burned away any sense of foolishness. This was not a woman who would be easy to know. She would be a challenge. He stepped closer. For the first time in one of these dreams, she held her ground, gripping the edges of the rough wood table fiercely enough to make the tips of her fingers go white.

“Who are you?”

Sean watched her bite her lip as he pondered how to answer the question. He was sorely tempted to say “I am your destiny,” but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate the joke. “My name is Sean. Who are you?”

“Why are you stalking me?” The woman ignored his question, frowning at him, and Sean felt a pang of lust surge through him. The stern expression on her face didn’t detract at all from her luminous beauty. From the pale green of her eyes to the sharp blue streaks she’d had painted into her short, dark hair to her wiry build, Sean knew this woman was more than a match for him. His body approved, even if his mind hadn’t yet caught up to that realization. He felt his jeans tighten, and her eyes dropped to his groin then fled like startled birds back up to his face. Sean smiled.

“Why ever would you think I’m stalking you? This is just a dream,” he said quietly, hoping to dispel her fear.

She pressed her lips together, and Sean sensed her apprehension boil over. He didn’t need to touch her to know that her body would be taut with worry. He stepped closer, then stopped, looking beyond her thin shoulders. There was another person here, a man, dark as shadow in the depths of her tent. “Who is that?”

She frowned harder, searching his face, for what, he did not know.When she turned abruptly, Sean moved in right next to her. The noise of the crowd faded the closer he got. She gasped, and the shape behind her materialized into a young man with dusky skin and long, straight dark hair. Sean tried to make out his features but couldn’t. Strangely, he felt a kinship with the stranger, a deep pull on his senses that went beyond the surface. He wanted to touch this man, see if he felt real. The ground rumbled again but none of them paid any attention. Outside the tent the wind picked up, and Sean tasted the scent of water in the air.

“Where am I?” the man asked, his voice light and steady. He looked around. “This is a desert. That makes no sense.” He moved closer, and suddenly Sean could see the man’s face. He was young, maybe in his early twenties. He had dark eyes and possibly a bit of Native American blood in him, a sharp contrast to Sean’s pale skin and deep blue eyes. The woman clenched her hands together then rubbed at her arms as though she had an itch she couldn’t get to. Sean frowned. He’d seen that action before.

“I have no idea what the hell is going on,” the woman gritted out. The young man looked at her, his face so open and compassionate that Sean felt another pang of lust course through him, this time for the man. What the hell?

“My name is Charlie. Charlie Aponivi. I know I’m dreaming. I went out to the forest to see if I could complete a dream journey, like my ancestors, but I didn’t expect to end up in the desert. That’s just weird.” The man ran his hands through his hair. Sean watched the woman watch Charlie do this and recognized her sudden attraction in the way her body swayed towards the young man. Sean was fairly perplexed himself. He wanted to take his hands and run them through that dark waterfall of hair, too. He’d never before felt an attraction to a member of the same sex, but the throbbing in his jeans certainly convinced him of it now.

“I’m Sean,” he said, reaching out a hand unthinkingly. The other man took it reflexively. The moment they touched, Sean blinked at the torrent of emotion he could feel coming from Charlie. The ground rumbled, then lurched suddenly. The woman gasped and stumbled against them. Suddenly, she was touching both of them, trying to keep from falling. The bare skin of her palms scorched theirs.

“Zoe,” Sean breathed, trying to keep his feet while a torrent of emotion, much of it conflicting, poured into him from her. “Your name is Zoe Brooke.”

Love Storm coming soon!

Posted by Erin M. Leaf on

Coming May 8 from Siren Publishing! You’ll be able to pre-order in about a week. Meanwhile, would you like to read an excerpt? If so, CLICK HERE.

Also coming in May is Kiss Is A Four-Letter Word. It will be released May 18 and you’ll be able to buy it from Evernight Publishing, Amazon, ARe, BookStrand. I originally thought it would be released in June, but to my delight, the date was moved up. Would you like to read an excerpt? If so, CLICK HERE.

I’m also trying to figure out what to write next. I have tons of ideas, but which one to choose? If you’d like to help me out, I’ve put up a poll. To vote on what novel I write next, CLICK HERE.

cover for Appassionato!

Posted by Erin M. Leaf on

I just received the cover for my new erotic menage romance, Appassionato! This novel will be coming out in 2011 from Siren-BookStrand, so stay tuned for more information.

Emma doesn’t know why she’s dreaming about rockstar Duncan and his friend Jake. It never occurs to her they might be dreaming, too. About her. Everyone knows dreams aren’t real. What will happen when the trio’s shared visions develop into a passion that can’t be denied?

Erotica + mom, an awkward affair. . .

Posted by Erin M. Leaf on

My mother is awesome. I’ve been a writer for a long time, mostly poetry and technical manuals for the last couple decades. When I told her I decided to write a romance novel a few years ago all she said was: cool! When I mentioned that the novel had been accepted by Siren-BookStrand earlier this year, and oh, by the way, it’s an erotic romance, she said: congratulations! Whoa. Totally unfazed, my mom.

When The First Time is the Sweetest was published, she bought a copy and read it. On her computer in the living room. With my dad looking over her shoulder (I am so NOT talking about him right now). I was delighted! Then I remembered I’d written a menage romance. A really steamy menage with some serious guy on guy action as well as the usual threesome activity. Did I remember to warn her about that? Hmm, I thought I did. I remembered saying: this book is really naughty, mom, okay? Just so you know.

I felt somewhat disconcerted, not because I was embarrassed, but because I didn’t want her to be. When I called her up, she told me she “just skipped those parts.” And then she informed me that she told everyone she knew that her daughter wrote this great book, and oh, by the way, it’s erotica. She asked for some business cards to hand out.

My reaction to this? —> !!!!

Okay, I thought to myself. That was cool. I mean, I know I wrote a bit of plot for the novel, but the bulk of it revolves around the three main characters and their relationship. My mother grew up in a small town (and lives there still) with very little exposure to the larger, liberal society that I inhabit so unconsciously now. Not to say that she is sheltered, because the opposite is true; she’s a tough cookie. But aside from vicariously traveling through television or books, she just hasn’t been to a lot of places. She is not a feminist. I worried about this when I told her I was writing erotica until I remembered that she’s the one who lent me A. N. Roquelaure’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. Then I remembered that she was also the one who gave me Fanny Hill by John Cleland. Oh yeah, I thought to myself. That’s where I got started with erotica, all those years ago.

So, after I swallowed my surprise I said: Sure! Next time I see you I’ll give you some cards. Tell everyone you know! She laughed, then launched into a discussion about my niece’s daughter as though we hadn’t just had the most amazing conversation.

My mother is really cool.

I’m a lucky girl. And really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. These books are very popular, it just never occurred to me that the people who read them were women like my mother. Clearly I was wrong.

Has anyone else been surprised to find erotic romance on your mom’s bookshelf? Or stuffed in your best friend’s closet? Inquiring minds want to know.

Breaking the ceiling and letting the sky in . . .

Posted by Erin M. Leaf on

Breaking the ceiling and letting the sky in. . .

I was reading an article the other day about writing erotica, and one of the points the author mentioned is how much freedom there is in this genre.  In erotica, we can put things in our stories that you never find in other fiction novels. How many straight fiction novels deal with gay relationships? Or handle polyamorous romance with grace and humor instead of confusion? I’ve read some books where LGBT issues were touched upon, but usually in a tragic manner. What about interracial marriage? When was the last time you read a book where the heroine was a bit plump (and I’m not talking about a diet self-help book)?  In a way, even sci-fi and paranormal erotica do this, often by dealing with inter-species relationships and having characters that grow up feeling different from everyone else (because they’re werewolves, or witches!). This is a mirror of our own life and the issues we face with fitting in and learning when we need to be true to our inner selves, despite the pain it may cause.

Erotic novels get to play with these issues and show readers that there can be a happy ending for these relationships. It may be a strange happy ending, something you’ve never encountered before, but the ability to write about them means they’re in some way possible in reality. We can make what we imagine come true, metaphorically and emotionally. In some ways, despite the fantasy of love and fun that is so important to an erotic book, these novels are more realistic than traditional romances, because life is messy. We fall in love with the person (or people) our hearts want, not the person with the biggest paycheck or the most sedate background, or the one your family likes. These novels help push aside the barriers we as a society so often parrot because of peer pressure and fear.

A friend of mine finished my book the other day and emailed me with a note about gay marriage and how so much of what we think relies on what we know: “Just an odd thought that popped up as I read your book, that society deems what is acceptable relationships, and anything outside of that norm is immediately considered taboo. I like that your book explored a healthy relationship outside of the norm.” Unfamiliarity breeds terror, usually. The first time I ate guacamole I felt like I was eating snot! But I love it now, and I like to think that romantica authors are in the forefront of the movement to enrich our society and promote love instead of fear.

peace,
Erin M. Leaf

www.erinmleaf.com