PeSS&NoPuMo

Before you ask, no, I’m not doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). A variety of reasons, none terribly interesting. It’s just not the right time for me.

However, I started pondering various things, and have decided that November (well, starting when we get home from Reno, so as of Friday, November 4) for me is going to be PeSS&NoPuMo. (Say that three time fast, hah!) In other words, Personal Short Story and Novel Publishing Month.

Other than a few anthology deadlines and two copyediting jobs, I’m going to focus on Soul’s Road Press and getting more of my work available online. Why? Well, largely, I need the kick in the pants to learn In Design (I know how to do newsletters in it, but not books) and CreateSpace. But also, this Christmas is going to be huge for ereaders, which means by the afternoon of December 25, there’s going to be a huge jump in ebook sales…and I’d like my stuff out there. Finally, I need some POD (print-on-demand) paperbacks available for readings/signings, etc.

Already up in eformat are 43 items: 1 novella (short novel), 1 short-story collection (lesbian erotic romance), 2 romance stories, 5 fantasy stories; the rest are erotica stories.

Right now, I’ve got three novels pretty close to being ready for publication. One needs my review of the copyedits and they all need formatting, which I can do. I’m waiting on the cover for one, and the cover designer for the other is waiting for me to tell him the dimensions, which I won’t know until I format it for POD, which I can’t do until I suss out the In Design and CreateSpace stuff. Also, I have a fourth novel that I’ll probably send out for copyediting this month.

I have one novella (short novel), In Her Hands, that’s available as an ebook, and I want to get the POD up. (I also am jonesing to write the two companion novellas, and get them up, and then release them as one big book. Maybe December with be novella-writing month….)

I have three to four collections in some stage of completion. My first one collection, Kiss Me Hello: Lesbian Erotic Romance, went up as an ebook in September and has been selling well; now it’s time to get the POD going. I have three with enough stories, and one that’s awaiting one new story.

There are also more short stories than I’m currently prepared to count waiting in the queue, too! So far, I’ve been focusing on putting up stories that sold to print publications and to which I still own the electronic rights. (There are a couple of exceptions to that – two or three stories that I put up for specific reasons; e.g., I wanted to include in a collection one that hadn’t sold elsewhere.) Plus, once all those are up, I’m going to start with stories that have been to all the major markets but not quite hit at them – the “great, but not quite right for us” ones.

When I get home I’ll figure out an actual schedule for all of this and make specific goals. But basically, I’m looking at the following:

• 3 novels (ebook and POD)
• 1 novella (POD)
• 4 collections (some ebook, some POD), depending on stories
• as many short stories as I can prep (I may not put them up all at once, though)

Will you use your holiday money to buy them?  ;-)

The Wheel Turns

Tonight we went into LA to see Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer perform…Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer type things. I don’t think they were entirely clear when they planned this tour, and that was okay. While Amanda’s music is not my thing, there are gobs of things I admire about her, and I am an unabashed fangirl when it comes to Neil (see, e.g., the night I didn’t throw up on his shoes—made more poignant tonight by a story he told where he had such stage fright recently that he threw up). I also contributed to their Kickstarter campaign, which was to raise money to record all six nights of this tour.

There were readings by Neil, including one that he said we hadn’t heard before, and I turned to Ken and said “But didn’t we hear this when we saw him in Santa Barbara?” But it was different somehow; we think he read only the middle bit earlier. Still very spooky. Still made me wonder if people who hadn’t lived in the UK got the subtleties.

There was music by Amanda, some of which I knew, and while again her style doesn’t speak to me, I can still appreciate it and appreciate her talent and, for lack of a better word, energy. She wore the stunningly gorgeous vintage Deco dress from the Oscars, and I only wished I were closer (we were in about the 10^th row, but there were tons of empty seats scattered before us, which made me a wee bit grumpy) so I could see it better.

There were also things by both Neil and Amanda, including a Q&A from Qs left in a box at the merch table, and a song or two. Oh, and a costume contest partially judged by Margaret Cho (!).

The show made me lament the lack of a literary salon in my life. I really do yearn for that. A perhaps monthly get-together, with wine or tea, to discuss concepts and ideas and brainstorm and create. I can get it in snippets, with some friends…just not quite to the level I’m craving. The problem, in large part, is that the best friends for something like this are scattered across the world. Still waiting for that transporter technology, kthnxbai.

Anyway, after the utterly wonderful show, we went out to the parking lot (after deciding not to stand in the loooooong line to get something signed; all I had was the t-shirt I’d just bought, anyway) to discover the car battery was dead.

The irony was that earlier that day I’d commented that the car seemed to take a bit longer to start, something I’d noticed the previous Thursday…oh well! AAA actually came quickly and we were back on the road. But the car was still acting funny when we grabbed In-n-Out, and as we wound our way up Highway 1, the headlights grew dimmer and dimmer until almost exactly 10 miles from home, we coasted over onto the shoulder.

This time it took AAA longer to arrive. Ken actually dozed as we sat there in the silence and dark. We could see the faint glow of Oxnard ahead and the stars above, but other than that, no light.

Sitting there at the side of the road, the cliff looming above us on our right, the ocean down a cliff just across the road, in the dark, on the night when the veil between the worlds is thinnest…let’s just say my brain was in overdrive, busily trying to creep myself out.

And that’s when I heard the voices. Faint, murmuring voices. Not constant—in fact, every time I convinced myself I was just hearing the wind or the surf, the sounds would become more voicelike again.

Thankfully Ken was awake when people actually appeared on the other side of the road on bicycles, in the dark, with just a glow stick. It was like the fucking scary men from Buffy that glide around and steal voices, because I could not see the bicycles. Gah.

Eventually AAA arrived and took my poor car to my fabulous Swedish Car Guy, and we caught an expensive taxi home. I think we got there about 3 am?

I did a brief Samhain ritual, lighting a candle for the ancestors, burning a slip of paper on which was written something I want to give up to make room for something positive in my life, and pulling a Tarot card for the year. Six of Pentacles. I’m good with that.

The Wheel Turns. Thank you all for sharing this journey with me.

A couple scary--er, funny stories for you!

Happy Halloween!

In honor of the holiday, many authors are posting links to their scary stories. Me, I don’t write scary stories. I write funny stories. Still, I have a few that are Halloween-appropriate…so, if you’re so inclined, check ’em out! And let me know if you enjoyed them!

"Feline Design" by Dayle A. Dermatis

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.

“Feline Design” was originally published in The Ghostbreakers: New Horrors (Rage Machine Books, 2005).

Available in a variety of electronic formats
Amazon |  Barnes & Noble |  Smashwords

"Hell’s Belles" by Dayle A. Dermatis

Teaching etiquette to a spoiled debutante can be hell…literally.

“Hell’s Belles” originally appeared in Deathgrip: Exit Laughing (Hellbound Books, 2006).

Available in a variety of electronic formats
Amazon |  Barnes & Noble |  Smashwords

"In a Handbasket" by Andrea Dale

When the demons set their sights on underwear model Sam Hanes, demon hunter Delia Vance comes to his rescue. But the only thing burning hotter than hell is the attraction Delia and Sam feel for each other…. A scorchingly sexy, hellaciously humorous short story.

Available in a variety of electronic formats

Amazon |  Barnes & Noble |  Smashwords

This is your brain on zombie kittens

A writing friend and I were discussing the difficulties we’ve been having recently when it comes to focusing on writing. She and her husband are dealing with a friend’s estate; I’m dealing with Ken’s accident (among other things). I said something about getting a new brain, and she kindly said that she liked my current brain.

I said, “Most of the time I like my brain, too. Lately, though, she's really been pissing me off!” To which she responded, “My brain keeps shutting me down which is making me mad.”

And as I composed a response, I realized it was really more of a blog post. Have I told ya’ll about popcorn kittens?  ::checks blog::  Okay, not in any detail. This started at an OWN workshop when I said my brain was on popcorn kittens, based on this video. What I meant was sometimes you had so many projects you could potentially work on that your brain just bounced around like crazy. How do you decide what to do? In this new work of publishing, on top of writing duties, I’ve got manuscript design, cover design, uploading, and basic promo (blog, Facebook, Twitter, publisher website) to do. I could work on this novel, or that one, or even that one, or a sequel to that one...! Plus I’ve been doing freelance copyediting for other writers.

When Ken had his accident, all work considerations went out the window. Oh, once he was stable, I was coherent enough to design a few short-story covers and get the stories uploaded, that sort of thing. But it’s been a long haul to getting myself back up to speed, to actually working for 8 hours a day (which hasn't happened yet). Even bribing myself with writing something silly and fun and not-for-public consumption held no joy.

At one point, I researched getting a “real job” again. Considered giving this dream up and going back to employment with a regular paycheck and health care and walking away from my office at the end of the day.

Thankfully, that lowest-of-the-low points passed before I did anything rash. But it was scary.

As I said to my writer friend, “I had so much on my ‘to do’ list that I felt as though the popcorn kittens had turned into zombie kittens and were surrounding me and biting me, so I'd run away screaming.”

So, when my friend said her brain was shutting her off, this is how I responded….

My brain is actively thwarting me:

Me: Okay, time to go to work.

Brain: Ooh, let’s play Marple on your iPad!

Me: No, we have a copyediting job that needs to be finished before we leave for our niece’s wedding in Ohio.

Brain: Facebook! GoogleReader! Shiny!

Me: Dammit, can we at least write the short story that was due two days ago but the anthology editor kindly gave us an extension?

Brain: Niece’s wedding! You haven’t made a packing list! You haven’t bought a skirt for the rehearsal dinner!

Me: Goddammit!  ::manages to get copyediting done before fruitless searching for new skirt::  I fucking hate shopping.

Brain: Marple! And then TV watching with Ken!

Me: Shut. The. Fuck. Up.  ::goes to bed::

Brain: But I thought you wanted to work? Because here’s the first scene of that story….

Me: GODDAMMIT!

Question for my military friends

This is a question for my military friends:

When a single soldier (of any variety) is deployed, what happens to his/her pet(s)? Is there anything set up to take care of them, base/post-wide or military-wide? Or does the deployee rely on friends for help?

Related question: Is there a problem on/around bases/posts with pets being left behind/abandoned/turned in to shelters when people are deployed (or when they're being sent to a new duty station, I suppose)?

This is for a story; I'm not looking to fingerpoint or demean the fine members of our military!

Thanks!

Can sex and politics mix? Oh, yes they can!

"Stuffing the Ballot Box" by Andrea Dale

Successful politician Tabitha is in control in every area of her life—except the bedroom. That’s the only place she can allow herself to let go…and the only way she can let go is with the help of her exceedingly kinky husband. Paddles, clamps, butt plugs, and more give her the painful, orgasmic escape she needs in this short story by legendary erotica heavy-hitter Andrea Dale.

"Andrea Dale’s 'Stuffing the Ballot Box' explores the dichotomy of a woman in complete control in her career who willingly gives that control over to her husband in the bedroom. This lends a balance to the woman’s life and their scene together is highly erotic." (Rainbow Reviews)

“Stuffing the Ballot Box” originally appeared in Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories (Cleis Press, 2009).

Available in a variety of electronic formats
Amazon |  Barnes & Noble |  Smashwords

Lustful!

Wooh! I just got word that my story "Steadfast," based on "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," will appear in Cleis Press's Lustfully Ever After: Fairy Tale Erotica, edited by the inestimable Kristina Wright!

And, as always, I'm in excellent company. Here's the TOC:

Foreword, Sylvia Day

Introduction: They Lived Happily Ever After

Rosa Redford, Anya Richards

Gretel’s Lament, Jeanette Grey

Matches, Anna Meadows

The Beast Within, Emerald

Wolf Moon, Michelle Augello-Page

Mirror Mirror, Shanna Germain

The Last Dance, Kristina Lloyd

Name, A.D.R. Forte

Sensitive Artist, Donna George Storey

You, Charlotte Stein

Kit in Boots, Sacchi Green

The Long Night of Tanya McCray, Michael M. Jones

Shorn, Lisabet Sarai

Real Boy, Evan Mora

Garden Variety, Lynn Townsend

Steadfast, Andrea Dale <-- hey, that's me!

A Sea Change, Kristina Wright

I can't wait to see the cover…and get my comp copies so I can read all the delicious stories!

My first-ever short story collection!

I am beyond delighted to announce my very first short story collection!

Kiss Me Hello is the first collection from legendary erotica heavy-hitter Andrea Dale. Prepare to be both aroused and charmed by these ten tales of lesbian erotic romance, which appeared in such lauded anthologies as The Sweetest Kiss, Lesbian Cowboys, and Best Lesbian Romance. In Kiss Me Hello you’ll find out why Cleis Press calls Andrea Dale one of the best in the genre of lesbian erotica.

Includes the following stories:
• Queens Up
• Just Be
• Subtle
• After the Rain
• Devouring Heart
• From Bitter to Sweet
• I Need a Man
• Finding Perspective
• Your Gift to Me
• In Flight
• Frozen

Available in a variety of electronic formats
Amazon |  Barnes & Noble |  Smashwords

And soon to be in paperback—stay tuned!

Lusting for Steamlust

So, I mentioned earlier that I have a story in the forthcoming steampunk erotic romance anthology, Steamlust. I am so excited to have a story in this, I can barely contain myself. My story, "Lost Souls," is about a inventor who stages séances. But it's okay, she feels bad about it….

So far, RT Book Reviews has given it 4 stars, and Publishers Weekly said, "Wright’s anthology of sizzling steampunk romance is a sensual, passionate, and humorous collection of alternate histories, fantastical worlds, and time travel romps. The heroines are strong-willed, intelligent, technologically savvy, and elegant in their fashionable corsets." (Read the full review here.)

On top of that, there's a scrummy book video for it, with fun animation and a killer soundtrack:

Steamlust comes out next month but is already available for pre-order, just in time for the steampunk Hallowe'en party I'll be attending!

Great review of "Raven's Flight"!

Whipped Cream Reviews reviewed Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women, and they had nice things to say about my story "Raven's Flight":

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.

::beams::

That's the way I'm playin'

Wooh! On the heels of returning from the first annual Erotica Authors Association conference in Las Vegas (about which I will blog soon), I can announce a new sale!

"Winner Take All" (yes, Styx fans, it's named after the song—because a gajillion of my stories are titled with song titles) will appear in The Harder She Comes: Butch/Femme Erotica, edited by the fabulous DL King and published by Cleis Press.

Here's the delicious cover and TOC:

"Speakeasy" by Evan Mora

"Winner Take All" by Andrea Dale

"It's So Peaceful Out Here" by Elaine Miller

"Manchester, 2000" by Stella Sandberg

"Good Girl, Bad Girl" by Sinclair Sexsmith

"The Bucket List" by Charlotte Dare

"Happy Ending" by Rachel Kramer Bussel

"Tamales" by Kathleen Bradean

"Valentine" by River Light

"Birthday Butch" by Teresa Noelle Roberts

"Born to Ride" by Beth Wylde

"Channeling Charles Bukowski" by Aimee Herman

"Tits Down, Ass Up" by Crystal Barela

"Pound" by Shanna Germain

"Farmhand" by Miel Rose

"A Date With Sharon Tate" by Valerie Alexander

"Bienvenido" by Anna Watson

"This is What I Want" by C S Clark

And it's already available for pre-order….