So, in talking with a friend recently, the question kind of came up…why do I write erotic fiction? I mean something like 50 stories have been published under my name in the crime, western and horror genres. (That sounds like a lot, but more than a handful of those were on e-zines and a good deal more in various anthologies) I think that I have 16 stories available through Amazon or Smashwords (and its affiliates?) That’s a good question and maybe I just want to see if I can do it? But the honest answer is…it’s a different animal altogether, erotica. Writing crime (or horror or westerns for that matter) involve a crime of some sort or at the very least, a struggle and desperation. We all know when the story starts that someone is very likely to die before we turn the final page, right? Writing erotic fiction allows me to get away from the death for a time and clear my mind if you will. If you’ve read Pandora’s Box or read the soon to be released (sequel) Deviant, you’ll see that in those two stories, I haven’t strayed far from my crime writer roots. In both, Lucy Owen takes to walking the streets, posing as a prostitute in the hope of finding the killer of a friend in the first. In Deviant, she does pretty much the same, but a year later when the news begins to report on the killings of the women who walk the streets for a living. An Innocent Act and Mrs. Bryson’s Dirty Secret do not involve a crime of any sort, but are more of the steamy—erotic type of thing—that I believe folks are reading. So, with all of that said, it’s refreshing to step out of the box for a few minutes and try something different. I don’t know that TJ will ever have a stable full of stories. So far Solstice Publishing had put two of them out (An Innocent Act & Pandora’s Box). Mrs. Bryson’s Dirty Secret, Deviant and a short story All About Emily will be self-published using Kindle or Smashwords. For the time, I have a pair of novels going through editing under my name, but I am already thinking of a full length novel for Lucy Owen and her late night persona, Pandora. I'd love to hear what's behind your writing. TJ #eroticfiction #indiefiction #supportindieauthors
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Twenty-three year old Jeffery Thompson has recently finished with his schooling. Accepting a job from Ellis Bryson will change him forever, as it turns out to be more than he bargained for. The young man discovers at a company Christmas party, Bryson’s wife—Jill—who shows up, dressed to the nines during a seductively, beautiful winter night.
Mrs. Bryson’s Dirty Secret is a face paced, tender novella detailing the hidden love of an affair with the bosses wife. Employed as a draftsman, Thompson worries that the affair will come to light and he will be looking for a job in a downturned economy, when the old man, simply offers him the keys. Thompson puts Mrs. Bryson through the paces, along with the hot company secretary, Vicky Lansdale. This morning I turn things over to Nicole Luttrell who has offered a guest post.
You can follow the link here to Nicole's Broken Patterns Hi, my name's Nicole. I'm a writer. I kind of make a big deal out of that. Specifically, I'm a speculative fiction writer. That means I write horror, science fiction and fantasy. I wrote a book called Broken Patterns, and I sort of think it's the best fantasy book since Dragonriders of Pern. Am I a little full of myself? Yeah, I'll admit it. Calling myself a speculative fiction writer a hell of a mouthful. I also happen to be a professional author. I love the hilarity of that sentence, you know? A professional author? I can't think of anything less professional, you know? I mean, think about it. We make up stories and tell them to people for a living. We have imaginary friends and they talk to us. Lots of writers, like myself, write in our pajamas, on our couches, with a cup of coffee. We are the last people you'd think of as professional. We're really just big kids, playing with our imaginary toys. Well, except that we don't just write in our pjs. We also write in waiting rooms, at red lights, during our lunch breaks. We write before our kids get up and after they go to bed. We write while other people go to the movies and go to bars and, you know, sleep. We have to write in all of these times because most of us, including me, have day jobs. I have a full time day job, in fact. We write around jobs, school and families. In fact, a lot of us write around all three of those things at the same time. (Not me, though. I just have a full time job and two kids. Oh, and also a husband and too many pets.) We weep over our writing, did you know that? We kill of your favorite characters, yes. But they were our favorite characters long before you ever heard of them. Characters don't just exist for us, they live inside our minds. Killing one is gut wrenching. Of course, the rough draft is only half of it. Once it's done we start in editing. We edit, edit and edit some more. We edit our work until it glows. Until we could repeat the stories from memory. And sometimes we feel like we do that. Usually, that whole repeating it from memory comes when we start promoting our work to everyone. Have you ever worked in sales? Imagine that, but all the time. The thing that makes it better and worse at the same time is that you feel like you're selling a part of yourself. So you really believe that everyone needs what you're selling, but you're also taking every rejection hugely personally. Finally, when we're done with a book, we start all over again. Because writing's an obsession, one that we cannot escape. So professional writer is kind of a ridiculous thing to call us. It's better to call us what we really are. Addicts. Nicole, thank you so much for stopping by. So things are kind of heating up around here—although we’re trapped in the cold, dark days of winter for a while yet.
I plan to release three new stories over the first few months of 2017 as an experiment in writing of sorts, to follow An Innocent Act and Pandora’s Box. Unlike my entrance into the genre in 2016, I plan to self-publish these. I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out, okay? Working with a publisher is great—don’t get me wrong—but, I’d like to try having a little more control with a few stories. You know stories that I can give away if I feel like it or change the price, if needed. The short novella, Mrs. Bryson’s Dirty Secret will be first up and available through Amazon. I like the idea of being able to give the story away for a few days—here and there—to generate interest and possibly a review? Another novella—in the erotic / crime style of Pandora’s Box—will follow. Deviant will be the sequel—if you will—to last year’s erotic / crime novella Pandora’s Box and will be published through Smashwords. I’ve had some luck using the format with a self-published crime novella under my name and look forward to trying it with erotica. A third—short story--All About Emily, will be published through Smashwords also, as I can keep the price at $0.00, due to its short length. All About Emily will be an offshoot of both last year’s Pandora’s Box and this year’s Deviant. Stay tuned, I should have a cover reveal for Mrs. Bryson’s Dirty Secret up shortly. OK...So, I know that I haven't been around here much lately. My apologies. It's been a busy summer with stories coming out under my name.
My entrance into the world of erotic fiction was quite by accident with the first short story. A much longer erotic / crime novella followed Pandora's Box. Although the story is under the Solstice Publishing umbrella and I haven't seen sales numbers for the story thus far...from the up and down (no pun intended) Amazon rankings, the story appears to be selling? There are still no reviews and I have no idea if those that purchase it are actually reading it, but the numbers are encouraging. With that in mind, I've started off into another erotic / crime novella as a follow up to the Lucy Owen / Pandora story. For the time, I haven't settled on a tittle, but I have found the cover that I hope to use and plan to release this one myself as a self-pubbed story. I know...I risk that lack of editors behind me, but I think that I can do a fair job of it with what I have learned and by self-publishing, I can have a little more control as to pricing and free days and such. I've tried this recently with another crime novella Crossfire and may have shot myself in the foot by running it through Smashwords and not just Amazon. With the Smashwords listing, I can not take advantage of Amazon's 5 days each quarter. Look for this one to be out there in the world in the next few weeks / months. I'll keep you as things progress. Author, Christopher Davis
Christopher Davis is a central California native and grandfather of three rambunctious little ones. When not tending the herd, he’ll try his hand at writing fiction. Chris lives with his wife and a little dog that has nearly lost his mind. His work has been published in both the U.S. and England. What genre or genres do you find yourself writing? I’ll write just about anything, Crime, Westerns and horror under my name and erotica under the penname of TJ Adams. It depends on the mood? For me, crime is the easiest to place. My first erotic short story was an accident that was followed up with an erotic / crime novella Pandora’s Box. Pandora has been my best selling story so far and it’s only been out for a few months, go figure? Music or silence? Silence…definitely silence. Although music does influence my writing, metal mostly, but more than one of my stories has been inspired by an old school country song. Do you read much? I do…and I always have, but not the classics like most would think. I enjoy history when I’m looking to get away. I do tend to read a lot of other indie writers these days from both sides of the pond. There are some great writers out there that deserve to be read. If you could tell your younger (writer) self, anything—what would it be? Start sooner. Although I’ve always enjoyed writing, back as far as elementary school, I didn’t start into writing my own stories until ’99 or 2000. My original plan was to write for my own entertainment and the practice and pursue writing after retirement (which is only a decade away now?) Fortunately for me, I began to submit to small publications back in 2012 and haven’t stopped since. The million dollar question—are you working on anything at the moment? Of course, after this many years of writing, it seems that I always have a couple of irons in the fire. This year saw an even dozen stories get signed, everything from short stories to novellas to my first novel length story, so most of my time has been working with editors to get them sorted. Nine have been published with a short in an upcoming Halloween anthology out in a few days. The novel hasn’t made editing as of yet and one of my crime novellas will be paired with another central California writer to be out be years end? How can readers find out more about you? www.christopherdaviswrites.com for me and www.tjadamsfiction.weebly.com for stuff on the naughtier side. Connections by Steve Bederman FREE October 1st - 5th
https://www.amazon.com/Connections-Mitch-Jaco…/…/ref=sr_1_5… Even when he’s hidden away trouble inevitably finds Mitch Jacobs. In his life he has known incredible highs and demoralizing lows; those from his personal failings so evident in his life and while building his company. In spite of this, starting with a simple idea, he has grown Symbiotic Technologies to a position as a world leader. He believes that what he has gained versus what, and who, has been lost has been a poor trade. Mitch has become reclusive, living deep in the Colorado mountain backwoods with his wife who was the former President of Colombia. Since he handed over the company to his employees there has finally been relative peace and safety. In this, CONNECTIONS, the fourth book of the series, the reader travels from Colorado, to Quebec, Colombia, and to Washington DC; The White House. His beautiful wife, Pilar Reyes Cruz, finally goes home to the land where she once was elected as the first female president of this machismo country. She is still recognized throughout the world for the salvation of her troubled people and, as many believe, the future of all of Latin America. There is no running from lust, and love, and business, and negotiation. Terrorism can show its ugly face at any moment and in many forms. Seemingly disparate events are all connected. Whether Pilar regains her purpose and Mitch refocuses on running one of the most passionate and inventive technology corporations in the world, are but two of the many questions left to answer. The US President, the King of England, the President of Colombia, and the world’s back alley power brokers all converge into Mitch Jacob’s continuum of CONNECTIONS. After what turned out to be a long hot summer, we finally get a look at Pandora’s Box, the erotic crime novella from Solstice Publishing.
The story came up just shy of being long enough to find itself in print, so this one is e-book only. It’s funny really, how this one came about. I had written an untitled crime novella about a young woman who takes to the streets I search of answers as to the disappearance of a friend. The girl didn’t have a name, nor did the story. Last year, I had written a short zombie-apocalypse thing for the Undead War to be put out by Dead Guns Press. Dead Guns went belly up and I cannibalized the title, Pandora’s Box. Pandora was the perfect stripper name for the young woman and Pandora’s Box was the perfect title. Add to that, Solstice Publishing had already picked up my first (accidental) attempt at writing erotica. As a traditional crime story, Pandora would have never made it. I just couldn’t get the story right. It needed to be a little dirty to make it work. Knowing that I could submit the story as erotica helped and Pandora’s Box was born. I hope that you’ll read it and enjoy it if you do? I guess that I can call this week the calm before the storm?
Last week was spent in Tucson with a writer buddy and a short vacation of sorts. After taking the time off, I got a little behind with the publisher, but have went through final editing on two novella length stories this week with one other pending. The short story Cinnamon Girl is out Friday with the erotic/crime novella Pandora’s Box releasing next Thursday the 22nd. Final editing for the prohibition era crime novella Meet Me in Tulsa has been returned with a second prohibition era novella Going Back to Dallas to follow. I’ll give this one a read through over the next few nights. My first novel length story Walking to Babylon has been signed, but hasn’t moved into the editing stages as of yet. Of the stories above, I look forward to the release of Pandora’s Box the most. 10th Rule Books has picked me up for a hard-hitting crime novella Crossfire that should be out by years end and will see me paired up with crime writer Todd Morr. Two days until we see Cinnamon Girl and then it all starts rolling to the end of the year.
T.J. Adams Interview9/10/2016 The guest authors for September 10th on Interviews by Dante is T.J. Adams. He is a writer of Erotic Romance. The short story An Innocent Act is his first foray into the romance genre. Please tell us a little about yourself. Well, that one is kind of hard, as TJ Adams has only existed for six weeks at the most and only came about when my first (and very accidental) erotic short story came about. Under my name…I have had short crime, western and horror published in both the U.S. and England for a few years now. Tell us about your latest book. The latest (and first) story published in the erotic genre is a short story titled An Innocent Act. I’ve always struggled at times with wanting to walk a fine line between—let’s say—crime and romance. It’s just the way I see the world as a writer. I don’t outline much when starting into a new story and with this one, was feeling out ideas for where the story (planned to be a crime novella) would go. As the young man telling the story begins to meet his neighbors, I started to think, what if he gets the hots for this older gal? The story went downhill from there, but was well written (for me) and I subbed it to a mid-lever publisher of the genre. They were quick to turn me down (too short), but insisted that I keep trying with this story. So, I did and found a home with Solstice Publishing on the second try. An Innocent Act is the story of a young man living away from home for the first time and falling for an older gal just across the way. Over a Saturday morning breakfast in town, he finds out just how far Francine Carter is willing to go. What do you have coming out in the future? Under the TJ Adams name, I have an erotic / crime novella going through editing at the moment, Pandora’s Box. I had been working on the story as straight-up crime, when a small publisher folded…returning my submitted work. I didn’t have a name for the young woman in the story, nor did I have a title. Pandora was the perfect stripper/stage name for the gal, so I cannibalized the title and the rest is well… I’ve seen the cover for this one and I’m excited to see it coming out. Is your book a stand-alone or a series? Both are stand-alone stories. I’ve written in series in other genres, but am not sure that I could do it with erotica? Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special? Like I’ve said, the first story (An Innocent Act) wasn’t planned and just sort of came out. The second, longer story, (Pandora’s Box) was intended as crime. Being able to include a few steamier scenes brought the story to life, like it really should have been. Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in? As TJ Adams…yes. I think it will keep from confusing anyone that already reads my work. I’ve been published in crime, western and horror under my name. Amazon From where do you draw your inspiration? Life as it goes on around me. Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life? Yes and no. Not 100 %, but maybe something about someone I’ve known. What authors inspire your writing? Tough one as I don’t read a lot of mainstream fiction and nothing in the romance genre. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are two that I enjoy when I can find the time. Most of the last several years have seen me reading great stories from indie writers such as Aidan Thorn (gritty crime) and Chris Derrick (western) ((both are from England)) and a host of others. It was another British crime writer, Chris Leek, who inspired me to be OK with an element of romance in my writing after reading his East of Heaven, West of Texas. The story is crime with a touch of romance running through it. How have your real life experiences influenced your writing? I think most writers are perceptive and always watching the world going on around them, so yes, I’d have to say that real life experiences make their way into my stories. What was your road to publishing like? Tell us about it. I’ve been writing for years, but never submitted anything until 2012. The Mayan’s said that the world would end, OK? I subbed a crime novella in early 2012 and never heard back from the publisher. Hell, I’m still waiting for that rejection? A friend suggested that I try Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and I put up four (two of which I’ve taken down since). I’ll admit that I’m not the greatest editor and I just stuck to anthologies, small magazines and internet ‘zines from then on. I’ve always had a couple of novella’s and maybe a novel length story making the rounds though. When Solstice Publishing signed An Innocent Act, they were also willing to read other stories under both my name and TJ Adams. So for the time, I have three short stories and three novellas being published by Solstice. How did you come up with the title of your book? An Innocent Act is a line in the story. Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres? I prefer history really, although I don’t seem to have the time for it anymore? Indie crime seems to be what I read these days. I am reading Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz at the moment. What is your absolute favorite book or books and why is it special to you? My favorite book or books would be The Dark Tower Series from Stephen King. I’ve always enjoyed the western genre and King takes it to a whole new level. Have you joined any writer’s groups? I only know of two within a hundred miles of where I live. I was introduced to some of the folks at the more local group some years ago and they just seemed too stuffy for me? What is the hardest part of the writing process for you? The hardest part of writing for me, is finding the time to do it? As I write this, I’m waiting for one of my grandsons to arrive at any minute. What is the easiest part of the writing process for you? The easiest part of writing for me is coming up with the story. I enjoy running the characters around to see what they will do. Who or what are your inspirations/influences? A host of indie writers on the scene…Aidan Thorn, Chris Derrick and Chris Leek (England), Timothy Desmond, Matt Matila, Bill Baber and David Jaggers here in the US. What is your preferred writing environment? I can write anywhere, as long as I have my laptop and prefer to write distracted. How would you describe your writing style? By the seat of my pants…is that an answer? Although An Innocent Act is a kind of sweet romance thing as is Cinnamon Girl (out shortly), I like dark almost surreal crime stuff. Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow? It depends? I’ve painstakingly plotted out some stories, while just going along for the ride on others. An Innocent Act is one of the later. With many publishing routes available today, which felt the most reliable to you when it came to the many choices? Today, we have Amazon and Smashwords and a host of other platforms. I even looked into Wattpad for a short story some time back, but maybe due to my age, I just try to stick with the traditional route. When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot? I enjoyed writing as far back as elementary school. I didn’t mind the assignment and would get a good grade. Now getting up in front of the class and reading it? Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it? Just do it. Wait, that’s Nike, right? Read everything and write what you want. Somewhere out there is an editor willing to read your work…you just have to find them? If you could ask your readers anything, what would it be? Leave a review. A review for an indie writer is like winning the lottery. Most of us don’t make enough money to speak of and that little bit of feedback clues us in on whether we are firing on all cylinders or not. If you like a story, say so. It only takes a minute of your time. If the story sucks, say that also. What do you get out of writing? I really can’t answer that one? I don’t know why I write, it’s just a hobby that I have pursued for a good many of my years. Why do you write if you can’t make a living out of it? Again, I don’t know how to answer that one. I’ve always been an avid reader, even back in elementary school. Being just weeks away from 50, I’ve read a hell of a lot of stories in my lifetime. Writing just seems to be an extension of reading, I guess. Like most indie writers, I don’t entertain much thought of hundred thousand dollar advances. It would be great, but I don’t see it happening for me, anyway. If you published under a pen name, why did you use a pen name and is there anything special about the pen name you chose? I hope to make things less confusing this way. If someone stumbles across me on Amazon or my website, they will know from the story title what genre to expect. I would hate for someone to purchase a title expecting a crime story or western and get an opening scene of graphic sex? Why did you want to be a writer? I don’t think that I originally intended to be a writer. I just did it for my own enjoyment, just to see if I could. After enough time (years), it sort of became a habit. Once the first story was published, I wanted another. Wild Card Question. As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question? This question has been asked, but it’s a favorite of mine. “How in the Hell, do you come up with this stuff?” My answer: A youth of excessive drug use and a lifetime of whiskey as an adult. There’s a big world out there. There are a million stories there waiting to be told. Social Links Website 0 Comments Leave a Reply. September Blog Schedule
It’s kind of the summer doldrums around here today. No publishing winds blowing on my sea for the moment.
Ash from two fires burning nearby—one southeast and one west—is settling out, but no big deal, really. I’ve done a handful of interviews and returned the questionnaires. The first—with Margaret Hefferman—is up and can be read here. They say that you never forget the first? The others, I don’t know for sure when they’ll be out? Life was busy for me as a writer for a bit and I know that it will be again in a few days. I guess that it’s been seven weeks now, since my accidental erotic short ‘An Innocent Act’ was signed? After returning the contract, it was Katy-Bar-The-Door for me for a while. I had to scratch together a pen name, build a website, Facebook and Twitter profile, a blog, etc, etc… Rather than rush out to purchase another domain, I chose to go with one of the free website builders for the time. I tried Tumblr for a blog, but couldn’t get the feel of it. On that note—social media—I have to say that the friendship has been explosive, if nothing else. In six years on FB, I might have 200 friends and 300/200 on the pair of Twitter accounts that I use as Christopher Davis. Under TJ Adams, I’m within a stones-throw of 1500 FB friends and over 700 Twitter followers in six weeks? None of my writer buddies believe me when I tell them that maybe writing erotica isn’t such a bad thing? Anyway…the edits have all been done, the blurbs written and cover art together for a short surreal / tragic romance sort of thing Cinnamon Girl, which will be released under my name. I don’t for sure yet when we will see it, but it should be soon. One more round of editing will see Pandora’s Box--an erotic / crime novella—come to life under TJ Adams. I’ve seen the cover for this one and am really excited to see it come out. Again, I don’t have a date yet. By the way…I’ve taken to using the cover as my FB profile to keep the dirty old dudes from writing to tell me how beautiful that I am…fucking perverts! I honestly don’t know how any of you gals that write deal with this sort? A pair of 1930’s crime novellas--Meet Me in Tulsa and Going Back to Dallas—have been returned after final editing. Still no cover at this time, but I’m sure that it’s coming. These will be released under Christopher Davis. A short psychological thriller type of thing--A Murder of Crows--will come to life in a Halloween anthology—released by Solstice Publishing—just before that most creepy of holidays and I can’t wait to see what else they cook up for this one. This past week, I submitted a straight-up crime novella to a new publisher on the scene, 10th Rule Books. I’m hoping for good news in the next few weeks from these folks? Now this all sounds good as far as writing goes, but what I don’t spell out here, is that I’ve had a good-sized handful of longer stories rejected over the last few month and three of the small publishers that I’ve worked with in the past have closed up shop. So as I sit here with my feet hanging overboard—waiting for the winds of fortune to favor my sails—it’s business as usual for a small time writer. Struggle to keep posting something, anything and waiting…the Godawful, waiting! I hope those winds find your sails and move you a little closer to shore? Until next time… Interview with Author Christopher Davis Hi Christopher and welcome to my blog. Let’s learn a few things about you. Hi Margaret and thank you so much for having me this morning. I haven’t had much coffee yet, so please bear with me?
Erotica….the jury is still out on that one? I don’t outline very often and as I was feeling out characters, I let the young man telling the story meet one of his neighbors and thought,What if he kind of gets the hots for this older gal? The story went downhill from there, but it wasn’t a bad story. So I subbed it and got turned down (too short) right away. The editor that read the story insisted that I keep trying to find a home for the story and I did.
Although I do not have release dates as of yet, Cinnamon Girl (short story) and a pair of 1930’s prohibition crime novella’s Meet Me in Tulsa and Going Back to Dallas are in editing under my name. I’ve seen the cover for Cinnamon Girl, but am not sure if it’s OK to share as of yet? An erotic/crime novella Pandora’s Box is also undergoing editing under the name of TJ Adams. I’ve seen the cover for this one also and am really excited to see this one come out. All are with Solstice Publishing.
I grew up the son of a half-ass pro rodeo cowboy and like any good son…followed in dads footsteps for a good part of my misspent youth, up through high school anyway. I’ve always been an avid reader, even back in elementary school and I’ve always enjoyed history. When the other kids were reading Nancy Drew, I was searching out the stories of the Mexican bandits that frequented this part of central California and the lawmen who trailed them.
Somewhere in there will be an erotic/crime novella Pandora’s Box. The story is really more crime than erotica, but I think it will work out OK and I hope that readers of either genre will enjoy it. This one will also be under Solstice Publishing. A 100k + western, is being shopped around along with a 60k Las Vegas mob/crime story that I hope to see out next year? And I’m presently working on a 1930’s / 40’s Private Eye story. Thanks for joining us today Christopher and sharing a bit about yourself and your work. I wish you every success in your writing career and look forward to reading your work. Thanks again for having me Margaret and you can find out more at either www.christopherdaviswrites.com www.tjadamsfiction.weebly.com Francine Carter and An Innocent Act could use a couple of shares if you wouldn't mind?
Thanks everyone #erotic #fiction #aninnocentact #supportindiewriters |
TJ AdamsIs the pen name of a California author Archives
August 2018
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