Fly away with the Witch of Venice

A couple of days ago I posted about my Halloween-esque fantasy stories…completely forgetting that I do have a Halloween-set story: a lesbian erotica piece called “The Witch of Venice.”

It includes a drink recipe, because I wrote it for a drink-related anthology that never got off the ground. The idea was to write a story inspired by a drink. So I grabbed my Bartender’s Bible, opened to the index, closed my eyes, and poked my finger at the pages. I had no idea up until that point that there was a drink called the Witch of Venice.

Come to think of it, I should probably use that method to come up with more story titles and ideas!

“The Witch of Venice”

Sexy sparks fly when a pair of lesbian witches celebrate the Turning of the Wheel in Venice, California. Includes a drink recipe to help you celebrate Samhain in style!

Amazon/Kindle | Barnes & Noble/Nook | Smashwords

About Andrea Dale

Called a “legendary erotica heavy-hitter” (by the über-legendary Violet Blue), ANDREA DALE writes sizzling erotica with a generous dash of romance. Her work—which has been called “poignantly erotic,” “heartbreaking,” and “exceptional”—has appeared in 20 year’s best volumes as well as about 100 other anthologies from Soul’s Road Press, Harlequin Spice, and Cleis Press. She finds passion in rock music, clever words, piercing blue eyes, the wind in her hair, and the scent of the ocean. Visit AndreaDaleAuthor.com for more information.

Spooky(esque) stories for the Halloween season!

It’s October, and you know what that means? It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, it is if you turn into a crazy woman because of Halloween. I love me some Halloween, baby.

It surprises me that I don’t have any stories set at Halloween, something my creative brain is trying to rectify as I type. But I do have some fantasy stories with vampires and ghosts and Old Scratch himself, so if you’re looking for some holiday-themed reading, here are my suggestions!

(Note: None of these are super-spooky, and all of them have some level of humor. Because, well, it’s me we’re talking about.)

“Blood Relations”

The woman known as the "Vegan Martha Stewart" learns who her infamous father really is...and their relationship threatens to ruin their respective empires. A funny fantasy short story—with a bite!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip”

Angrrr Management were four talented guys. (They really were. I wasn't just some starry-eyed groupie; I knew decent music and I knew stage presence.) Talented, yes, and awfully pretty, all of them. And every last one of them was dumber than a post. Had they never HEARD of Robert Johnson?

"The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip" is a hilarious urban fantasy short story about 80s hair metal and selling your soul to Satan.

Includes bonus short story "Hell's Belles"!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Feline Design”

Even Satan needs a vacation once in awhile. But perhaps taking the form of a fuzzy kitten wasn't the smartest of ideas.... A Miranda Contreau paranormal short story.

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Hell’s Belles”

Teaching etiquette to a spoiled debutante can be hell...literally. A funny fantasy with a wicked Southern twang.

Includes bonus story "The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip"!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Some Old Lover’s Ghost”

Helena runs Paranormal Manifestation Services--PMS for short. When she's hired by Beth and Marguerite to find out why a ghost is bothering Marguerite, she doesn't expect to get a crush on Beth...which makes things especially awkward when she learns who the ghost is. Rainbow Reviews called this short story "unexpectedly romantic [and] heart-wrenching."

Includes a bonus interview with the author about the writing of the story, her own paranormal experiences, and more.

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

About Dayle (in case you're new here)

DAYLE A. DERMATIS’s short fantasy has been called “funny (and rather ingenious),” “something new and something fresh,” and “really, really good!” Under various pseudonyms (and sometimes with coauthors), she’s sold several novels and more than 100 short stories in multiple genres. She lives in southern California within scent of the ocean, and she and her husband spend their spare time following Styx around the country (and sometimes out of it), exploring the world via motorcycle, renovating their 1911 Craftsman home, and doing historic re-creation, all of which inspires her writing. She loves music, cats, Wales, TV, magic, laughter, and defying expectations. To find out where she is today, check out DayleDermatis.com.

New gothic romance novel available!

What Beck'ning Ghost by Dayle Ivy

Touch not the cat bot a glove…

The MacPherson family crest above the door gives Rachael de Young, genealogist and psychic, an unexpected chill. She doesn’t know that by crossing the threshold, her life will change forever. Because the MacPhersons are a family cursed by jealousy, betrayal, and fire….

Rachael grows closer to the truth even as she grows closer to the ghost of Jordan MacPherson, who died in the tragic fire…and could very well be the person sabotaging her research. But she must trust Jordan’s love in order to find the strength to face her own fears, break her one cardinal rule, and stop a madman before he can kill again.

What Beck’ning Ghost is an atmospheric gothic romance from new talent Dayle Ivy.

Available in print and in a variety of electronic formats:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Publications out the wazoo!

Soul's Road Press and Little Kisses Press have been so busy putting out new Andrea Dale and Sophie Mouette stories, I haven't been able to keep up! So here's one big blog post of all the yummy new erotica now available....

"Raven's Flight" by Andrea Dale

When I met my sexy new neighbor, all I wanted to do was trace every spiral and intricate knot and line of the tattoo on his back…with my tongue. And that was just for starters. “Raven’s Flight” is smoking hot erotic short story about tattoos, Celtic symbolism, and lust turning into love. A must-read! Includes BONUS story “End of Season.” Warning: Contains explicit sex.

"Forget the girl next door when you can have the sexy Celtic next door. Ciaran is the type of neighbor we all dream of; sexy, intelligent, and likes to walk around shirtless. I also enjoyed the link the tattoos played in Ciaran and the heroine's journey through life. I appreciate symbolism because I have always felt it adds a touch of depth to a story. The author effectively illustrated that with the use of the tattoos." –Whipped Cream Reviews

“Raven’s Flight” originally appeared in Obsessed: Erotica for Women (Cleis Press, 2011).

Available in a variety of electronic formats:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Kobo

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"End of Season" by Andrea Dale

The end of the summer season at the Stratton Hotel, and forty-something bartender Karla is feeling melancholy. A sexy encounter with a young bellhop proves to be just the way to cap off another successful year…with a twist. A steamy hot short story about a cougar who won’t quit, by a legendary erotica heavy-hitter.

“End of Season” originally appeared in Young Studs (Ravenous Romance, 2009).

Available in a variety of electronic formats:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Kobo

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"Sacred Places" by Sophie Mouette

Kathleen’s deepest, darkest sexual fantasies sprang from her Catholic upbringing, and they were too kinky to confess…until her husband Ted teases them out of her in the ruins of a Welsh monastery. How far will Ted go to bring Kathleen’s perverse needs from fantasy to orgasm-wrenching reality? Scorchingly hot short story “Sacred Places” is Sophie Mouette at her best!

"The concept is fantastically holy and fantastically wrong, which is why I found this one exciting." – Books a la Mode

“Sacred Places” originally appeared in Sweet Confessions: Erotic Fantasies for Couples (Cleis Press, 2011).

Available in a variety of electronic formats:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Kobo

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"Hidden Treasure" by Sophie Mouette

A museum in a Victorian castle. A sexy female curator and a gorgeous male security guard. A snowstorm trapping them both overnight. It would be a recipe for smoking-hot sex, if it weren’t for the bumbling thieves looking for hidden treasure. Never fear, for our heroine and hero won’t let the blackout, the thieves, or anything else stand in the way of their desire. “Hidden Treasure” is another feather in the cap of talented erotic romance author Sophie Mouette! Warning: Contains explicit sex.

“Hidden Treasure” originally appeared in Bedding Down (Avon Red, 2008).

Available in a variety of electronic formats:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Kobo

State of the projects, end of May edition

People seem amused by these, so here's another. Plus it helps keep me focused.

Here's what I'd like to get done by the end of May (or, since my Production Schedule starts on Mondays, by June 3):

Writing

• "Clap Your Hands" (dark mystery) due 5/31 to Fearful Symmetries
• untitled fantasy story for second Elemental Masters anthology due 7/1 – my proposal was accepted, so all that’s left is to write the story. I’d like to get it off my plate early; I know the editor would appreciate it!
• untitled SFF story for Penumbra – Revolution due 5/31 – if I have time—but I’m also waiting to hear if another story I’ve written will come free in time edit: The story came free, but I realized I'd be better off sending it to better-known, higher paying markets first. It would be nice if I had an idea for the anthology theme...!
• humorous SFF story for Unidentified Funny Objects 2 due 5/31 – they passed on the first story I sent but liked my writing, but at this point I have no ideas…
• direct-to-epub erotica – no due date; I’d just like to get more of these up
• two untitled erotica stories for anthology calls due 6/1 – I love the editors and would love to send them something, but these fall down the priority list for various reasons edit: Realized I could tweak an existing story for one of them, so that's tweaked and mailed!

Getting those written would mean I would have June for novels:

• Ghosted (urban fantasy as Dayle A. Dermatis) – This is a stalled, almost-finished project. It would be groovy to finish it in the first week of June. edit: in the process of printing it out.
• Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess (spicy romance as Sophie Mouette) – This one’s more than half finished; Teresa and I started it eons ago, before our lives both went insane with other projects. Ideally, I’d love to get this done in June, but I'm waiting to hear about Teresa's schedule. edit: We've scheduled a phone confab after she gets back from vacation, with a rough draft due date of mid-July.

Design

• added: "Under a Double Rainbow" (Sophie Mouette) – Teresa and I decided to get another long-ish (8K) short story out before we published Cat Scratch Fever. Edited, ebook designed, need to upload. Next month I'll put this and "Catalyst" out as cute little PODs as well.
• Cat Scratch Fever (Sophie Mouette) – Proof copy of the POD is in hand. I need to input all changes into the POD and ebook, publish the ebook, and then publish the ebook
• What Beck’ning Ghost – finish interior design, write the back cover blurb/finish designing the back cover, upload ebook, upload files for proof

Copyediting

• freelance job, fantasy – finishing it up today
• freelance job, mystery – received, would like to finish by first week of June edit: In progress and on track!

Editing

• Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess (see above) – I’ve got 4-5 more chapters to read through before Teresa and I can have a plotting/planning session.
• Blackwood House, gothic romance as Dayle Ivy – doing a final readthrough to add a small element throughout. It’s been copyedited, so after this, it’ll be ready for design.

Other

• Out of the Frying Pan – ping copyeditor re: schedule, contact the artist of the potential cover art
• A Little Night Music – ping cover designer with ideas and artwork; write letter for artwork permission
• A variety of fiddly website and online stuff

A project of my heart

I wear a lot of hats, professionally: writer, publisher, copyeditor, developmental editor, proofreader, designer. While the writing I do is pure joy (even when I'm tearing my hair out), it's not often I get to use my skills on a project that is as near and dear to my heart as this one.

Before my aunt passed away in 2005, she wrote a book about her son, my cousin Rick, who was in a terrible motorcycle accident when he was a teenager (I was only 4 at the time and wasn't aware of everything 'til later), and his amazing life as they dealt and triumphed over his traumatic brain injury. She was unable to find a publisher for the book before she died, and my cousin Pam, Rick's sister, took up the mantle.

I'm proud beyond belief to be able to say that my publishing company, Soul's Road Press, can now announce the publication of this book. I did the editing and design, and a dear colleague proofread the book for free, and she and a colleague of hers assisted me with some of the computer stuff. (I can't thank them enough, I really can't.)

This book…it's not something I would normally pick up and read, and so I feel truly fortunate that I was a part of the publishing process for it, because it's amazing. I didn't know about everything that happened, especially in the early years. (Plus, as a kid, I just accepted my cousin for who he was, and thus never really saw how hard it was for him. He was my cousin who taught me to shoot pool, who was a fantastic photographer. So what if he sometimes struggled to find the right words? We've got time.) It moved me to tears, and I think that wasn't just because I'm related to these phenomenal people.

Thus, this book is also one of my Recommended Reads.

Without further ado, may I present...

No Horns, No Trumpets:
A Memoir of Brain Injury and Recovery
Alice D. Clark & Richard W. Clark

Once a normal day is lost, will it ever return? A reckless driver runs a stop sign and plows into a motorcycle. On that beautiful October day, a young mother’s life shatters as doctors tell her that her 15-year-old son will never come out of the coma. But when he does, the doctors are at a loss. No treatment plans for traumatic brain injury exist in 1970. But Alice Clark refuses to take no for an answer – knowing her son is a fighter, she brings Rick home. As his greatest champion, she uses her head and heart to guide him from sitting in a wheelchair to downhill skiing, from being unable to speak to writing and editing a monthly newsletter. In No Horns, No Trumpets, Alice and Rick tell their story of setbacks and successes with humor, honesty, and pathos.

About the Authors

Alice Clark tackled the challenge of her son Rick’s brain injury in 1970 and became an early advocate for traumatic brain injury. Active in several TBI organizations in Florida and New York, she and Rick traveled across New York and gave speeches on behalf of Think First, a program aimed at educating teenagers about brain injuries. For nearly thirty years, Alice continued to learn about TBI from personal experience, trial and error, and from the many professionals she met before she began work on No Horns, No Trumpets. She enjoyed golf, horseback riding, scuba diving, and downhill skiing, and took classes in painting, photography, bartending, and flying. She became a stockbroker in her 50s. Her uncanny ability to always see light at the end of the darkest of tunnels was a gift she generously shared with others.

Traumatic brain injury survivor Rick Clark’s competitive drive and desire to succeed thrived even after his motorcycle accident. Under his mother’s guidance, he finally found his niche when he began writing stories about his experiences with brain injury, and writing became his career. As the founding and current editor of the North Country Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Center’s newsletter, Sudden Impact, Rick writes heartfelt stories focusing on the positive aspects of life with brain injury and always extolling the many virtues of positive thinking. He enjoys public speaking and one day hopes to compile an collection of his stories.

Available in print and in a variety of electronic formats:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords