Things to read! And some are free!

I’m traveling again (or is it still?) and will be traveling for most of the month (now it’s GA, visiting my sister; then it’s 11 days in Oregon for a workshop; then the IBR finish and Labyrinth of Jareth)…so I apologize for my not being here much. And for the fact that this is kind of turning into a writing/publications blog.

I will do better, I promise. I have lots of things I want to write about, when I can scrape together the time! (The fiction has to come first.)

In the meantime, some groovy publishing news:

First, Sweet Confessions: Erotic Fantasies for Couples is now available for pre-order! Alison Tyler is giving away a copy, if you want to mosey on over to her blog and make a bid for it.

Sweet Confessions contains my story “New Day, New Life,” about a woman recovering from an illness and wanting to experience life to the fullest. It also has a Sophie Mouette story, “Sacred Places,” about a couple discovering a shared dark fantasy.

It’s edited by the venerable Violet Blue, and may be spotlighted on an OWN network show (!!), and has a slew of wonderful authors, so…. It comes out next month, but you can preorder it now.

Next, I wanted to let all you Kindle users know about two free short stories I have up on Amazon for your enjoyment.

“What Dragons Prefer” is a humorous fantasy story, written as Dayle A. Dermatis:

A dragon slayer arrives to rescue a threatened town, but the real threat and the dragon’s true desires are not necessarily one and the same.

The story first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Fall 1994; and republished in Dragons: A Celebration of the Greatest of Mythical Creatures, January 1996.

“From Bitter to Sweet” is a literary erotica story (nothing terribly explicit in it), written as Andrea Dale:

An erotic lesbian short-short story about breakups, new love, and chocolate. Go ahead—savor it. Let it melt on your tongue…. The story
originally appeared in Got a Minute? 60 Second Erotica (Cleis Press, 2007)

Both of these are short-shorts, and really too short for me to charge for them—but the downside is, even though they’re labeled as such, reviewers are complaining that they’re, you guessed it, too short! So, y’know, if you like them, it would please me greatly if you posted a nice review. That’s always better payment to me than money!

(My mom and my sister are both still asleep, so I’m gonna get back to work now!)

Sweetly confessing two new story sales!

I’m thrilled to announce two new sales—well, a sale and a half, really—to the über-legendary Violet Blue!

“New Day, New Life” (as Andrea Dale) and “Sacred Places” (as Sophie Mouette, written with Teresa Noelle Roberts) will both appear in Sweet Confessions: Erotic Fantasies for Couples in July 2011!

Interestingly, both stories involve travel, couples out of their natural environment and being more adventurous than they would be at home.

“New Day, New Life,” opens on the Charles Bridge in Prague, with the protagonists watching a mostly naked go-go dancer in the window of a nightclub. That part of the story is taken from real life…!

“Sacred Places” takes place in Britain, mostly in a ruined monastery. I don’t remember if Teresa and discussed exactly where, but in my mind it’s a combination of Tintern Abbey and Llanthony Priory, both sites we’ve been to together. (At this rate, I should be able to write my entire time in Britain off on taxes, given how many stories I’ve set there!)

Sweet Confessions: Erotic Fantasies for Couples is available for preorder. Enjoy!

Sales! Two of 'em!

Even though they’re still pending publisher approval, amazing editor Violet Blue says we can announce sales to Sweet Confessions: Erotic Fantasies for Couples, so here I go!

“New Day, New Life” by Andrea Dale and “Sacred Places” by Sophie Mouette (Teresa and I) will both appear in the anthology!

*\o/*

Thank you, Violet!

(This totally makes up for the four rejections I received whilst on vacation.)

Now, back to catching up on the e-mail, filing, etc., that piled up while I was away, so I can get back to writing! (Yes, I’ll post about the vacation and the workshop(s) and visiting friends and everything very soon.)

Legen—wait for it—dary

On her blog, talking about Sweet Love: Erotica for Couples, Violet Blue said,

"The book includes legendary erotica heavy-hitters such as…Andrea Dale…"

The rest of the names on the list are, in my opinion, a bunch of legendary erotica heavy-hitters. Which is why there's a roaring in my ears and I can't really process it, because I can't seem to fathom how my name got into that list.

The Violet Blue said that about me.

I think I need to go lie down.