#dungeoncrawl ... What am I doing?

As I sat thinking of my Wednesday post, I considered all the books I have to review and then I wandered to rtkdungeoncrawl.com to see if there was a sign up before I got too thick into planning something that wouldn't work for the crawl. Well there was the sign up. In making up a draft post to sign up, I came up with the title "What am I doing?" With everything I've been thinking about the complex issues of sexuality in my life (including things like sexual, relationship, sexual practice orientations), that "doing" seemed so important to consider.

I was engaged in doing the laundry and thought "what am I do?" It was a generalized vent in that moment- being a lifestyle submissive to a Man who is currently too injured for much BDSM activity makes the serving the focus and serving becomes and/or feels like caregiving rather than serving too often. Of course this makes me think about how I stand in difference from much of the erotic romance I've read- so often the focus seems to be on new relationship, on figuring out those early things in a relationship... not more than a decade later when bodies have more fat on them, less health, when sometimes "how to pay the mortgage" becomes more important a question than "were you kneeling precisely the way you're supposed to when I get home."

To catch at something from my first paragraph, I want to talk about the complexity of my identity. After all, it led Jolynn Raymond to want me to guest on her blog to talk about being a queer woman married to a man- yeah, that's the next thing on my writing schedule if I can get over being pissed at my Master for trying to wake me at 4 am (again) because He was finally coming to bed (damn meds) and was interested in sex (like He hadn't been when I was awake and had asked Him if He'd like a BJ). When asked about my sexual identity, I use 3 words- queer, poly, and kinky. Yes, giving those words, I expect the next moment, I'll be engaged in educating the person to whom I'm talking.

Do come on to Jolynn's blog tomorrow- I'll be talking more about "queer" there. Here I'm going to summarize that heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual don't work for me. While atm I'm only involved intimately with my Master, I do identify as polyamorous because we do have a non-monogamous relationship. In fact, there's the household joke (my teen's included in this one) of "If Mom found 'Ms Right' then there'd be a second mom in the house.)

And finally kinky. I'm not sure quite when or how kinky started to be used as a word in place of BDSM practitioner or other such terms. Here seems to be a tricky spot for me- so many assumptions of what being a lifestyle submissive means. I still mean to answer the author's questions on an article I found on "Submissive Guide" about the "myth of mindset of a 24/7 submissive." I hope reading what I've written so far, you can deal I'm not a beaten down domestic abuse survivor nor the BDSM erotica paradigm of submission; although I will end the sentence with "Master," it may very well start with a "Fuck You," if He's being a child. I think I read something like this is Kate Bornstein's "Gender Outlaw," so consider this a paraphrase or condensing of her thoughts- but like a parent doesn't stop being a parent just because his/her/hir child is at school, I don't stop being a submissive just because I'm not kneeling naked beside my Master's recliner ( or whatever image of a female submissive a person has.)

So what am I doing? I'm not cleaning. I should be cleaning but reference the "pissed off at Master about lack of sex and BDSM when I'm awake." Teen's off at grandparents so there's no home education work for me to do. I should be getting "Out of the Night: Book One" up on Amazon, B&N, and ARe- even though I can't stand to think of all the steps for that work and my fear/assumption that eventually Amazon won't be an option, ARe and B&N probably too as I get into deeper fetishes and taboos in my stories and I'm just not willing to censor a story. There's posts/articles to write and I'm trying. I'm thinking I may have to go to the mall, sit in a massage chair (remember the "Massage Chair Beating" I shared on the crawl?) and buy myself something at Target because I plan to get yoga pants and a shirt to wash in my sun block detergent (among many chronic health issues, I include "allergy to the sun") so I can go to the beach down the street from my house... maybe, some day, I don't know because both teen and Master pissed me off in their own ways when I tried to talk to them.

Yeah, I'm thinking today that this lifestyle submissive may be doing for herself and telling the rest of the world to fuck off. Because I know what I want and right now, it's not to be pissed off.

An InLinkz Link-up

#Taboo2sday ... With the drugs rushing through her veins

Ah yes, Taboo Tuesday time again. So wonderful that we have this day to engage in things that might just be outside the pale of what's considered "normal." http://tdbloghop.blogspot.com/ 8-10 sentences from a taboo, dark, or edgy erotic work, or a 100-word blog post about a specific taboo, dark, or edgy erotic work- depending if a person is sharing from a WIP or a published book or is blogging educationally or a review. Please visit the main page or use the links at the bottom to get to the other hoppers.

Daniel has come to checking on a screaming Mearr, who has snorted a lot of cocaine. In a past snippet for Taboo Tuesday, I shared maybe a few paragraphs after this moment, looking at the taboo of public sex. Here however, it's the idea of wanting/having sex while intoxicated. I think Mearr has found a taboo Daniel won't touch.

"Okay! Daniel! I'm okay! Hug me!" Mearr threw herself at Daniel, just barely being caught by him.

Daniel held Mearr to him as he stroked her hair. He tilted her head up so she looked at him. "If you're okay why were you screaming?" he asked, his voice tight.

"Oh, nothing. I just wanna fuck! And nobody wants to fuck." Mearr stuck out her bottom lip.

Daniel snapped, "Go get a whore if you want to fuck!" With that, he dropped Mearr and returned to the front counter.

---

 Now if you haven't bought "Out of the Night: Book One" yet, you can pick it up here and get reading before I release "Gates of the Garden: Book Two" in the next month or so. Here are the buy links:

Smashwords
MyAwesomeFans fanstore
(multiple formats available at both sites)

If you'd prefer to wait for it to be available on Amazon, B&N, or AllRomanceEbooks, bookmark my "My Books" page and you can find out when they become available.

And if you'd like to rock a t-shirt that The Queen would approve of :D check out the "Behavior Doesn't Solely Determine Identity" t-shirt available for $20 at the MyAwesomeFans fanstore.

"Out of the Night: Book One" blurb

Restless and world-weary, Mearr isn't about to admit she needs anyone's help, even this gorgeous man who has taken her into his home. Well one of his homes and part of this huge family she's heard about but not met all of. She's young, looks young, and knows it but at least she's legal now so she can pick a new name to go with her new life...

The Queen knows he wants Mearr bad, ever since the first time he saw her in the window of the coffeehouse. He has his plan, but even a Dominant's plans don't always survive the unpredictability of the future. He struggles to figure out this temperamental woman he's brought home, how best to help her. Then he takes her to his mansion...

They wait patiently for The Queen to bring Mearr home. Well to the home they've been redecorating for Him and for the hopes that she'll become part of their family and be trained to please Him. Simon and Tommy have seen her, of course, being The Queen's right and left hands; they say she'll be a perfect addition...

Please come along with Joelle on this journey, shared with the readers in serial fashion. A multitude of "Happily-ever-afters" are waiting with the completion of book 9.

Author's Note: This novel is meant for open-minded adults. Activities described include a wide range of BDSM and sexual activities, some of which are male/male, male/female, consensual slavery, oral/anal/vaginal intercourse, bondage. The story also covers some sensitive topics in characters' back stories, such as drug abuse.

Making love to a story part 2

I'm all about experimenting with forms of sexuality, especially when the form embraces modalities that are unexpected, or maybe more correctly aren't expected to work, or be "enough." This is the finale of my experiment in what it might look like if I made love to a reader as she read a story of The Queen, Iona, and Vala, because while a think "female bodies" (including those who are cis female, trans female, and anywhere along the gender continuum that they don't embrace *male*) it is a certain femininity that I'm thinking of, that I want to picture holding me, making me orgasm. I wrote the "Vala piece" before writing the lovemaking between her and I. I wasn't sure I would, but I did wind up with a story too long for one blog post- if you haven't read the first part, start here please.

Iona broke the kiss just enough to whisper, "What do you need to come, my baby angel?"

...

"Just this closeness, just your permission, my Lady," Vala groaned. She gazed into Iona's eyes again, her breath catching. "But I want you to feel good too, my Lady. Want to enjoy the radiance in your eyes when you come, my Lady."

"I will, I do, sweet baby girl. You make me so happy." Iona pressed her leg harder between Vala's legs. Her hands slipped down to the sweetly submissive ass and moved her girl against her body. She sighed as Vala's shimmies stroked her own pleasure. Her head fell back against the pillows.

Wait. Hold it. I know you want to come, baby. It's been so very long, too long, hasn't it? You feel so sweet beneath me. Although if I press a finger up into you, you could come again and again, as long as you were allowed, as long as you're touched.

Yes, please. I can't help but pant. You have me so helplessly turned on. I imagine your finger sliding up into my cunt, another finger, but you haven't said I could come. Would you punish me if I didn't wait?

Yes, punish but not like in some erotic romance, no spanking to make you feel sorry since a spanking wouldn't make you feel sorry; it'd just make you come again and again. Not a punishment at all. But I'd like to make you come. To feel your body tremble as your mind, your body stop struggling against the pleasure I want you to feel, that I want to feel too.

Vala rained adoring kisses on Iona's vulnerable neck. She traced patterns with the tip of her tongue. "My perfect love. My Lady." The slipping skin against her thigh heightened her arousal just that much more, knowing that Iona basked in arousal too, found pleasure in her touch. She ventured back to her domme's teasing mouth with kisses. Her lips parted even as her eyes closed in response to the orgasm that waited close, dropping her into Iona's sweet embrace.

Iona kissed Vala hard, bodies hot and rubbing, hips pumping in time. "Come for me, baby?" With a hint of teasing pressure from tiny teeth, she tugged on Vala's lower lip. "Come for me. Come with me." She feverishly resumed the kiss, her hands clutching her sub.

May I please? Will you please? Please. We shouldn't waste this time; we should come so hard together, even as my fingers typed and I imagine holding the vibrator between my legs, or better imagine your long, pretty fingers stroking, pushing, sliding, pushing in. Please, please.

You want to feel me come against you, our legs twined, our bodies so close. Or is it that you really want to come but don't want to sound greedy?

Want us both to come, want to enjoy your body trembling as you enjoy me, enjoy that moment when my cunt tenses, my clit tightens, the pleasure becomes almost too much, and then releases through my ravaged body. I know you want to come as soon, as hard as I do.

Her sense attention everywhere and nowhere at the same time, Vala shuddered through the orgasm, moaned into Iona's mouth. Her shudders grew harder when her domme joined her in the release, their love and arousal filling the bed as they rolled. She froze, her legs pointed, when their writhings brought her back in contact with The Queen's strong chest. She sighed at his fingers moving into her hair, as always reminded of how the long red curls on her head pleased him so.

How gorgeous your Master looks as he enjoys our screams, the wetness of our orgasms audible even with your moans.

Thanks, thanks. I'm gasping, I'm coming so hard. I'm kissing you, want to kiss your breasts, feel them against my tongue as I shuddered in my helplessness, against you, beneath you. I feel my Master aroused pleasure at our orgasms, the first of many, I hope.

Iona buried her face against Vala's shoulder as the aftershocks of the amazing orgasm danced through them.

"Sweet baby girl. Love you, baby girl." She pressed a soft kiss to Vala's lips.

"Love you, my Lady. Thanks, my Lady." Vala sucked in a gasping breath.

"I do so love to watch my precious girls make love." The Queen kissed Iona's then Vala's foreheads. "It never fails to please and amaze you the many ways in which you please each other."

Can I get in on this now?

I study your face, wait for your answer.

You're open to virtual sex?

I'll try most anything once.

"Thanks, my Queen." Iona stretched over Vala to kiss The Queen's cheek. "It's good to please you in this way."

"Always good to please you, my Queen and my Lady." Vala relaxed into the dominant embrace. Safe in their love.

I'm not so worried about safety as Vala- I'd just like two warm bodies, my Master's handsomely, masculine and hairy body and your luxuriously feminine frame, your strength hidden to the casual glance under lithe muscles.

Safety comes in many forms.

Erik Schubach visits my blog with an excerpt from "Drakon: Awakening"

Yay for guests! Erik never fails to make me laugh and/or think. For the record, I love both platypuses (or is the plural something else? :D) and unicorns. And here is Erik!

I love trying to write in various genres to keep my storytelling fresh.  I previously dipped my toes into the paranormal arena with Fracture: Divergence.  This book smacked of the Dresden Files across parallel dimensions.  With magic, fay and epic witch battles.

I thought that was fun so I decided to try the shape shifter end of paranormal with Drakon: Awakening.  The story plays around with myths and legends.  It features a fiery redheaded Irish woman named Myra with a sharp wit.  She is researching myths and legends when she finds that she is actually one of the legends she is researching.

Agent Quinn Trask, finds her hands full trying to protect Myra and her team of researchers as they battle a magic wielding madman.  Only the dragons can stand against him.

The epic battle at the end and the blooming romance between Myra and Quinn will leave you wanting more.

http://www.amazon.com/Drakon-Awakening-Erik-Schubach-ebook/dp/B00J0RARTS/

Excerpt from Drakon: Awakening

It was so exciting as I crested the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and saw the ocean of lights of Denver, spreading out before me, and twinkling to the horizon.  I may have squeaked a little in my excitement.  Here I was, Myra O'Connell, going to Denver on my very first research grant.

I still couldn't fathom the fact, that at twenty-six, I had my Doctorate in Mythological Studies now!  It was a hell of a thing, handing in my dissertation on the Dublin Fire Stone and then waiting.  The waiting was the worst.  Finally I was awarded my doctorate, and I applied for a research grant to study shards of the Fire Stone and other associated scrolls and writings pertaining to medieval mythical creatures.

Now if only I had a fecking place to live until the grant money came through at the end of the month.  Ma and Da would tell me to suck it up and do what I must.  I patted the steering wheel of dependable ol' Maggie, my white Toyota Prius, a gift from my parents on my first day of college eight years ago.  “Looks like it's gonna be you and me for a stretch, all close and intimate like.  Us Betty's gotta stick together ya know?”

I descended into the city and pulled my thick glasses down to the end of my nose and looked over them at the GPS on my smart phone.  The museum should be the third exit.  It was past eight, and they would be closed, but I wanted to familiarize myself with the area ahead of time.

My unruly mass of curly red hair fell in front of my eyes as I looked back before getting onto the off ramp.  I indignantly tried to blow it off to the side but had to reach up and push it back over my shoulders.  Why couldn't I have straight hair like my Da?  'Twould be much easier to manage.  But noooo, it has to be this fiery mess like Ma.

I drove slowly past... the Denver Museum of Nature and Science twas huge.  I noticed the reserved lot for staff, that would be where I would park.  I glanced over at the parking permit sitting on the top of the packet I had received from the museum last week.

I smiled to myself, trying not to get excited again.  Come on Myra!  Get a hold of yourself you're supposed to be professional now, not a fecking archeology fan girl.  I snorted at the memory of the poster I had in the dorms in school, Indiana Jones.  He was what I envisioned myself to be, an adventurer sifting through the past and finding connections between myth and reality.  Plus ya know... yum!

I pulled over and looked over my glasses at my phone again and pulled up the location of the nearest YWCA, at least I could get a shower there in the mornings until the money came through.  I had to really ration what I had for the next few days.  I navigated the roads, which were surprisingly still quite busy as the rain started falling.

Well Denver is such a huge city, so I guess that makes sense a lot bigger than the tiny, in the pale, coastal town of Wicklow, Ireland.  We had moved to Seattle when I was seven.  Da was a tenured archeology professor at the University of Washington.  Ma used to run a bakery in Wicklow, and they fell for each other when he was in Ireland doing some research.  We'll that's Ma's story anyway, Da just agrees to keep her fire branded temper at ease. I grinned at that, besides my hair and the rake of freckles over my entire body, I got Ma's hair-trigger temper.

I drove past the Y and nodded to myself as I continued on down the lane until I came upon a park. I pulled into the lot to the farthest corner from the road and settled in as the rain started sheeting.  I ate a few snacks from my travel bag and reclined the chair as I removed my heavy glasses then set my alarm on my phone.  I really hated being nearsighted.  Once my research is done here I think I'll get that laser eye surgery everyone is always babbling about.

I took a minute to look over the packet the museum had sent and to run my finger over the picture of the Fire Stone shard in their collection.  This was a dream come true for me to actually see a piece of it.  Literally, the stuff of legends.  The shard and some associated scrolls were on loan from Dublin to the Denver museum.

It was unearthed in a dig near Dublin eighteen months ago.  A perfect orb of red crystal.  Some gobshite at the dig had dropped it, and it shattered into hundreds of pieces.  Analysis of the shards dated them to around 450 AD.  The most curious thing about them were that they glowed slightly at night, though compositional analysis showed them to have no impurities whatsoever.  They were pure silicate glass, there was no explanation as to how they glowed or why they appear red when there was nothing in them that would cause the effect.  Nor were there any explanation as to how the glass was so pure when it was beyond anything that the people in the middle ages could possibly produce.

My research for my dissertation actually lead me to an obscure writing about Saint George, the dragon slayer, that mentioned the Fire Stone that allowed him to trick and destroy the last of the dragons.  It was described as a red orb of fire.  Most scholars discounted that writing because it was not mentioned in any of the other Saint George tales.  But the discovery of the Dublin Fire Stone changed all of that.  And suddenly, wee Myra O'Connell is the leading “expert” on the stone.  I snorted at that,  like I knew anything more than the poor eejit that broke it.  There were some Gaelic scrolls that were unearthed along with it, that needed restoration.  They might shed more light on the artifact.  Those scrolls were what had my knickers all damp.

I grinned and looked into my rear view mirror.  I was knackered and weak as a kitten.  It was a very long drive, there was no way I'd chance one of those flying metal death traps!  My emerald eyes didn't have their normal sparkle.  They're my best feature if I didn't say so myself. I sighed and patted the steering wheel again.  “Well Mags, it's you 'n me now, ya know.”  I locked the doors and let myself drift off, wondering what mysteries would be revealed on the scrolls.  It was surely going to be an exciting new chapter in my life.

#SeductiveSnS ... A Bunch of Bisexuals?

Seductive Studs and Sirens... a blog hop for LGBT romance, erotica, and erotica romance... 150 words of love from a non-heterosexual perspective. Enjoy my post and then check out the other hoppers with the links below.

Questions of sexual and gender identity often plague- just look at my "The Way I See Things" in my right margin. The way Vala's story unfolds in her story, especially given that I'm not publishing it like a series, has an impact on these questions. As I can appear to be straight based on my primary relationship to a man (I'm not), so Vala can appear to be straight based on the majority of sexual encounters shown in "Out of the Night: Boon One."

Scene set up- The Queen gives Vala the chance to ask questions of his slaves after the formal introductions but before he actually collars her. Tommy and Vala haven't been very well behaved though and now Tommy's mouth is on The Queen's cock, rather than talking out of turn. Pay attention to Iona's response though.

(copyright Joelle Casteel, 2007-2014)

"Will you be able to continue asking your questions, Vala, with this is going on beside you?" The Queen asked through clenched teeth.

"Um... um... yeah, my Queen," Vala mumbled, her eyes glued to Tommy as she spoke. She looked away from The Queen so he couldn't see her grin. "Ah... is everyone here like bisexual or something?"

"To different degrees yes." Her expression coy, Iona smiled at Vala. "Sexuality isn't a fixed thing. We all have our varying preferences. In vanilla, I prefer women in exclusion to men. In BDSM I prefer being dommed by a man and domming women."

"Nice." Vala giggled. Her gaze wandered around the room. "So what's the most common BDSM activity here?"

Orlee smiled and licked her lips. "Bondage. The Queen loves to immobilize us, make us dependent on him."

Now if you haven't bought "Out of the Night: Book One" yet, you can pick it up here and get reading before I release "Gates of the Garden: Book Two" in the next month or so. Here are the buy links:

Smashwords
MyAwesomeFans fanstore
(multiple formats available at both sites)

If you'd prefer to wait for it to be available on Amazon, B&N, or AllRomanceEbooks, bookmark my "My Books" page and you can find out when they become available.

And if you'd like to rock a t-shirt that The Queen would approve of :D check out the "Behavior Doesn't Solely Determine Identity" t-shirt available for $20 at the MyAwesomeFans fanstore.

"Out of the Night: Book One" blurb

Restless and world-weary, Mearr isn't about to admit she needs anyone's help, even this gorgeous man who has taken her into his home. Well one of his homes and part of this huge family she's heard about but not met all of. She's young, looks young, and knows it but at least she's legal now so she can pick a new name to go with her new life...

The Queen knows he wants Mearr bad, ever since the first time he saw her in the window of the coffeehouse. He has his plan, but even a Dominant's plans don't always survive the unpredictability of the future. He struggles to figure out this temperamental woman he's brought home, how best to help her. Then he takes her to his mansion...

They wait patiently for The Queen to bring Mearr home. Well to the home they've been redecorating for Him and for the hopes that she'll become part of their family and be trained to please Him. Simon and Tommy have seen her, of course, being The Queen's right and left hands; they say she'll be a perfect addition...

Please come along with Joelle on this journey, shared with the readers in serial fashion. A multitude of "Happily-ever-afters" are waiting with the completion of book 9.

Author's Note: This novel is meant for open-minded adults. Activities described include a wide range of BDSM and sexual activities, some of which are male/male, male/female, consensual slavery, oral/anal/vaginal intercourse, bondage. The story also covers some sensitive topics in characters' backstories, such as drug abuse.

#SatSpanks ... treating his welts

8 or so sentences from writers who love to spank or be spanked. Please enjoy my snippet and then move onto the other hoppers- their links are at the bottom of this post.

I'm probably skirting the rules here, but I wanted to share something that came to me. At the end of "Out of the Night: Book One," we see The Queen giving Tommy quite a severe punishment. In the soon-to-be-released "Gates of the Garden: Book Two," an orgy breaks out. After the orgy, The Queen order Simon to take care of Tommy. This is what I picture of that care. Since Vala wasn't there to see it and the section is in her POV, these gotta be extra-novel lines :D But I'll share them with all you wonderful Saturday Spankers :D.

"I didn't want to leave it for today, my baby boy." Simon kissed the welts across Tommy's chest.

"You didn't have any choice, love." Tommy's head lolled onto their pillows.

"Go to sleep, my love. That's what The Queen and I want." Simon squeezed more Arnica ointment onto Tommy. His fingers worked it into every red, blue, and purple mark across his beloved's shivering body.

Let us look at Iona again

So I lightly edited the post :D I shared a snippet each from "Out of the Night: Book One" and "Gates of the Garden: Book Two" focusing on Iona. The small and beautiful Greek goddess with her amethyst eyes and "froth of hair" (as Vala says in part talking to The Queen about Iona) is Vala's major female love interested in the serial.

And before you take off to enjoy those snippets, let me share the cover art for "Gates of the Garden: Book Two" with you. I really hope to find its release happening in the next month or so.

http://joellecasteel.blogspot.com/2013/08/who-is-iona.html

Sometimes it's too hard to write the lesson...

I meant to talk about subspace and subdrop but the post simply isn't happening- hopefully I'll have it next Thursday. The scene that I hoped to teach with is sitting not being written because I look at what I'm writing and then I look at my Master and think dejectedly, "this won't ever happen. He'd have to get out of His chair and do something while I'm awake, not at fucking 4 in the morning." Nope, being a lifestyle submissive doesn't mean I don't ever get angry at my Master.

Instead I'm going to share a post about a happier time, when I first met my Master, when He didn't have a torn Achilles tendon or a blood clot, when He wasn't seeming beaten down by a work force that just doesn't give a fuck about anyone.

So... what once first notices about a dom... http://joellecasteel.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-one-notices-about-dom.html

#DungeonCrawl ... her place is where He pleases

Yay for Romancing the Kink! I'm so glad they host this Dungeon Crawl!

http://www.rtkdungeoncrawl.com

So I'm actually sharing a snippet from a WIP, not something specifically written for the crawl :D. This is from early in "Gates of the Garden: Book Two" of my Vala's Story serial. Just one piece from the chaos that fills Vala's first morning waking as The Queen's slave, here he is taking a moment to teach her even as he comforts here.

"Good morning, Vala." The Queen crawled across the carpet, Iona's gasps and moans following him. He moved into a cross-legged position next to her head. "Did you sleep well?"

Vala's face tight, she gazed in awe at The Queen's adoring expression. "No, my Queen." She bit her lip. "I missed being in bed with you, my Queen."

The Queen held Vala's chin. "My baby girl." His hand moved from her chin to caress her cheek. "You will sleep in bed with me again, but you must learn your proper place, which is wherever I please. Remember I do all this to you because I love you." He leaned over to kiss her trembling lips.

Vala nodded, tiny whimpers bouncing between them. Her arms pulled at the cuffs around her wrists.

"You will please me again soon with the touch of your hands." The Queen kissed each of Vala's fingers in turn. He covered her with his body. "My beautiful baby girl."

"Love you, my Queen," Vala whispered. She shuddered against the board.

"I know, sweet baby. I love you and every precious moment of your submission."

Now if you haven't bought "Out of the Night: Book One" yet, you can pick it up here and get reading before I release "Gates of the Garden: Book Two" in the next month or so. Here are the buy links:

Smashwords
MyAwesomeFans fanstore
(multiple formats available at both sites)

If you'd prefer to wait for it to be available on Amazon, B&N, or AllRomanceEbooks, bookmark my "My Books" page and you can find out when they become available.

And if you'd like to rock a t-shirt that The Queen would approve of :D check out the "Behavior Doesn't Solely Determine Identity" t-shirt available for $20 at the MyAwesomeFans fanstore.

"Out of the Night: Book One" blurb

Restless and world-weary, Mearr isn't about to admit she needs anyone's help, even this gorgeous man who has taken her into his home. Well one of his homes and part of this huge family she's heard about but not met all of. She's young, looks young, and knows it but at least she's legal now so she can pick a new name to go with her new life...

The Queen knows he wants Mearr bad, ever since the first time he saw her in the window of the coffeehouse. He has his plan, but even a Dominant's plans don't always survive the unpredictability of the future. He struggles to figure out this temperamental woman he's brought home, how best to help her. Then he takes her to his mansion...

They wait patiently for The Queen to bring Mearr home. Well to the home they've been redecorating for Him and for the hopes that she'll become part of their family and be trained to please Him. Simon and Tommy have seen her, of course, being The Queen's right and left hands; they say she'll be a perfect addition...

Please come along with Joelle on this journey, shared with the readers in serial fashion. A multitude of "Happily-ever-afters" are waiting with the completion of book 9.

Author's Note: This novel is meant for open-minded adults. Activities described include a wide range of BDSM and sexual activities, some of which are male/male, male/female, consensual slavery, oral/anal/vaginal intercourse, bondage. The story also covers some sensitive topics in characters' backstories, such as drug abuse.

An InLinkz Link-up

#taboo2sday ... This isn't a romance novel

Ah yes, Taboo Tuesday time again. So wonderful that we have this day to engage in things that might just be outside the pale of what's considered "normal." http://tdbloghop.blogspot.com/ 8-10 sentences from a taboo, dark, or edgy erotic work, or a 100-word blog post about a specific taboo, dark, or edgy erotic work- depending if a person is sharing from a WIP or a published book or is blogging educationally or a review.

I decided today to share from a Camp NaNoWriMo WIP- check out https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in if you're unfamiliar with this fun writing challenge. I wrote a spin-off of my Vala's Story serial. Psst- my BR hasn't even read most of this book, except for some snippets as I was writing and I asked for her help without telling her too very much :D . 5 hopefuls are brought to the mansion to see if The Queen wants them. This scene shows his slave Viviana and the nicknamed "Ms. Fifty Shades" Danielle, who did a lot of lying on her application. Viviana starts. Please forgive the few sentence too many- it was tricky to carve this right.

"Did you read some trashy erotic romance with a whip-wielding Master and decide you wanted that?"

"Why should I answer you?" You aren't the Master.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, this is not a romance novel. You aren't going to steal The Queen away from us. We're all one big family and if The Queen even decides to keep someone as dense as you, you have to learn to be kind to other fourth class slaves."

"I don't remember Simon saying anything about that." Danielle watched the Latina's expression change to anger. Fuck, did I just say something I shouldn't?

"That would be 'my Lord Simon' or 'our Lord Simon' coming out of your filthy mouth, but I'm sure he explained it to you. All the other hopefuls are working together with us fourth class slaves. Why aren't you? ..."

What do you think are the layers of taboo from this snippet?

Making love to a story part 1

I'm all about experimenting with forms of sexuality, especially when the form embraces modalities that are unexpected, or maybe more correctly aren't expected to work, or be "enough." This is an experiment in what it might look like if I made love to a reader as she read a story of The Queen, Iona, and Vala, because while I think "female bodies" (including those who are cis female, trans female, and anywhere along the gender continuum that they don't embrace *male*) it is a certain femininity that I'm thinking of, that I want to picture holding me, making me orgasm. I wrote the "Vala piece" before writing the lovemaking between her and I. I wasn't sure I would, but I did wind up with a story too long for one blog post- so please come back next week for the finale of the story.

Joelle, I have to tell you how I love your characters. Especially The Queen, Iona, and Vala. Whatever they may be doing in a snippet, a short story, a portion of Vala's serial, it's all good. I quickly move from wanting to fangirl to imagining you.

Vala studied The Queen, hoping for the moment to continue a bit longer, until she'd had her fill of his controlling beauty. His silky black hair hung down, although too far away for her to stroke it without permission to move. She was struck by how his gorgeously profuse body hair and pale skin contrasted with her Lady Iona's deep Grecian beauty.

The Queen lay back on his bed, his head supported by a lushly plump white-cased pillow on the far left side of his bed. "Show me your passion for each other, but do not act for me. Do not even acknowledge my presence unless I order you to do something."

When The Queen orders something like this, I picture on your bed, your Master beside us, ready to enjoy himself. He enjoys watching when you're intimate with a woman right?

Yes He does, although it's been far too long since I've loved, lusted after a woman the way Vala feels for Iona, to be able to be so wrapped up in her that my Master becomes "that man on the bed beside us, not noticed," as The Queen is here. But I'm sure your lips are as soft as Iona's, your body fitting against mine as perfectly. My toes curl against my ottoman as I feel the supple skin, the luscious weight of your breasts in my hand, even as my fingers move over the keyboard. I imagine our bodies pressed tight.

My hand moving under your loose skirt, yes. But then you're always wet, waiting for someone to make love to you, aren't you?

Yes, please, my beautiful feminine fan, with your long hair, so much longer than mine, yes? And ready to kiss me with passion only a woman can feel for another woman.

"Yes, my Queen," Vala and Iona murmured together as they gazed at The Queen's loving expression.

Vala knelt between Iona's legs and wrapped her arms around that beautifully feminine torso that she so loved. The tan skin, those soft breasts that she always wanted to stroke, kiss, the voluminous mahogany hair so much like wisps of cotton that it drove her crazy with lust. "I love to be close to you like this, my Lady. It feels so good to be in your arms, my Lady."

Iona lifted her chin, her amethyst eyes moist. She leaned into Vala's embrace as she held the girl tighter. "I love to hear my title from these beautiful lips." She kissed Vala, their lips caressing, yet still the motion full of claiming, a domme taking pleasure from her sub. She leaned the girl down onto the bed, onto their sides. 

"That's my girl." She eased her tongue into Vala's mouth as the kiss continued. She moaned as the shaking submissive hands moving to the back of her head.

We can make love, have sex, be close in your chair. The lovely brown chair- like Iona's hair maybe?- will hold our bodies, will keep us close. But we need to push this skirt up, need to give me access to your skin. Iona and Vala touching, their fingers gentle yet grasping. My fingers momentarily itch before the tips come into contact with your skin- pale like Vala? I love to feel your nipples growing hard against my hand.

Like that. Feels so good. My hands bury in your hair. Wanna be close to you, as close as we can be. Your arousal at Iona and Vala touches me, heightens the tense hotness that keeps dragging my attention back between my legs, to my pulsing clit, into my wet cunt, so ready for whatever you'll give me as we press together in this passionate embrace.

I can't get enough of your trembling body in moments like this, your arousal just for me now. I want to kiss up and down your body, to hold you as she cries out, moan, scream from the pleasure of it. I kiss your neck, your hair wrapped up in my fists as I enjoy your vulnerability, your submission.

Need to come, please, need to come.

Vala threw a leg over Iona as she sought to be closer to her beloved domme. She moaned at their skin sliding up and down, whimpered to imagine Iona's thoughts at her girl's wetness. Love you, my Lady. Her eyelashes fluttered with the growing hunger in her body, the pressure of Iona's thigh against her lips, her clit.

Iona broke the kiss just enough to whisper, "What do you need to come, my baby angel?"

---

How do you think Vala might answer Iona's question? What might the mystery woman do to me next? Next week, all will be revealed. :D
and for later readers, here's part 2 http://joellecasteel.blogspot.com/2014/04/making-love-to-story-part-2.html

Caitlin Ricci guests to talk about her book "Moon Chilled"

I was so glad when Caitlin accepted my offer to have an author of a female/female-focused book visit my blog. Reading about her book, "Moon Chilled," as I set up this post sent me off to add it to my TBR :D. Sometimes based on the fact of my male Master and some of what I share on my blog, it can look like my sexual orientation is other than it really is. So without further ado, please enjoy Caitlin's lovely blurb and excerpt.

Blurb:

When Shae was thirteen she ran away from a sexually and physically abusive alpha but getting to safety meant leaving her mate, Maiki, behind. Now that she's twenty-three Shae has made an isolated life for herself with only the wolf inside of herself for company.

Then Maiki calls her after a decade of silence, asking her to come back, and Shae cannot say no to her mate. Maiki is a seer and she's had a frightening dream of the pack being demolished and the old farmhouse the alpha lives in going up in flames...

Excerpt:

My life isn't the conventional type of thing you'd expect from someone my age. The twenty-three-year-old women on TV are nothing like me. I've never been to a party, don't know the first thing about getting an education of any type, and my cell phone is a cheap prepaid thing that has barely enough money on it for one phone call. No, my life may not be the expectation of many, but for a werewolf, it's just fine.

I stepped out of the small hunting cabin I was renting and into a chilly winter morning in the Colorado mountains. The cabin was barely big enough for the few pieces of furniture I had in it, none of which were mine. The human in me didn't mind the lack of space, and the wolf part of me had no use for material things. She could make do in most situations, and the small cabin was only of benefit to the human. My wolf would likely prefer it if we never stopped long enough to need a cabin in the first place. She was practical like that, often reminding me that clothes and other things humans seemed to hoard were of no importance to the likes of us. After all, we had our life, and anything else was just gravy.

As a human, I walked the mile into town with the night's frost clinging to my boots. They were worn, picked up in a back alley trashcan in one of the many towns I'd been visited during the last ten years of my life. They were a few sizes too big for me and likely belonged to a man at once point, but at least they weren't tight. And since I rarely wore them, or any other clothing for that matter, I figured I could put up with a bit of discomfort for the sake of looking like a human.

Buy Link:

This book is available for preorder. Releases about 8pm EST on 4/22. And the order page says that there is no explicit content.

http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=94&products_id=578

Bio:

Caitlin was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers that encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If she isn't writing, she can usually be found studying as she works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a military family and the men and women of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies where she calls home with her wonderful fiance and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.

www.CaitlinRicci.com

#Satspanks ... Easter shoe colored spankings

8 or so sentences from writers who love to spank or be spanked. Please enjoy my snippet and then move onto the other hoppers- their links are at the bottom of this post.

So you all have Joseph McNamara to thank for this bit of bratting :D- I couldn't help it after his promo post of the sign up for this week. Although I probably need a spanking because beyond the bratting and pouting, I did let Vala go a few sentences beyond 8. But darn it! A few of them are tiny sentences. But Vala agrees that I'm spending more time on hops and crawls so she did cooperate for this bratting.

Oh and Ostara is the Germanic Goddess from whom we get the word Easter- as a Norse pagan and a dominant, I'm sure The Queen is watching this unfold, trying not to laugh aloud at Vala's sauciness. Please enjoy the Easter shoe colored snippet- I'm not getting an Easter dress this year- I put on too much weight, not that I'm saying that aloud 'cause Master and teen would both lecture, but even UU atheists want pretty little Easter dresses sometimes :D

Vala pouts. "There're no Christians in the house! Why are we 'doing Easter'?"

Simon grabs Vala's posture collar and pulls her over his lap. "Are you being a good submissive or Unitarian Universalist sassing The Queen and I like that?"

"No, my Lord." Vala continues to pout.

"Count the slaps and be thankful."

Vala grunts at the first slap falling on her right asscheek. "One, thanks, Ostara."

Switching, not about underwear or teams :D An edited reblogging

hm switching underwear. I had to giggle at that when I put that into the title the first time. Anything about underwear in erotic romance tends to jolt me from the story. Especially pulling them down. Um. The only time I wear underwear is for specific costuming or if I'm on my period. So yes, there was some gentle editing that I wanted to do to this post and so if you haven't read it before, it's been made even better than the first time. My thoughts though as far as switching stand- if "Ms Right Domme" came into our lives, maybe, but caregiving for my injured Master is about as close to switching as I wanna come IRL :D. If you have or are going to be starting with Vala's Story in "Out of the Night: Book One" (available on Smashwords), understanding about the class system a bit will help in the formal introductions. And do give the TED talk a listen- I still say that the pizza metaphor works with myself and my writing much better than baseball.

Without further ado, the freshly edited "Switching, no not underwear or even teams"

http://joellecasteel.blogspot.com/2013/10/switching-no-not-underwear-or-even-teams.html

#SRR I love comforters

Thanks to Spanking Romance Reviews for hosting this conversation. See their page here: http://spankingromance.com/

When I saw that the round table topic was aftercare, I was excited. I've recently written two posts (one for the dungeon crawl & one talking about it). I won't link to either of them because there was quite a bit of promo in them. I will share a lightly edited portion about myself though.

For myself, I tend to be pretty stereotypical in my wants when my Master has taken me into sub-space; then I want blankets and cuddles. When the BDSM activity has been lighter though, the chance to serve Him (like get Him a rum-n-coke or food) that's what I want- although the drink thing is now an issue because with Him on blood thinners, there is no more alcohol. We're still trying to work out what thing mean in this new reality of ours. Part of reason behind aftercare is to limit "sub drop"- an almost depression like reaction many subs have after play. If you think on the endorphins often released by BDSM activities, this makes sense. There's also an intimacy that can be built, a time spent with the dom and sub connecting. Another important part of aftercare is for the Dom to make sure the sub is okay- check on marks, bruises, any bleeding, blood sugar (like feeding).

Now I both enjoy heavy play and am bipolar without being on medication. Even before my Master tore His Achilles tendon, formed a blood clot, just the mix of my issues meant for a need for aftercare. Oh and let's add the facts that I'm a recovering anorexic and hypoglycemic. Yeah, there's a lot my Master has to care for to keep me okay- we even break the BDSM erotica convention of "Master eats first." Nope, I do so my blood sugar doesn't crash dangerously. Well I'm supposed to, but I'm not always so good at obeying. :D

An aftercare fail- I'm not so much sure it's a fail as a peculiarity of how I function. Of course it took becoming 24/7 with a dominant to find this one out, but if I fall asleep in subspace, even with what I'd consider "appropriate aftercare," when I wake the next day, I struggle to function. I can't hold a thought, most certainly can't have any serious thoughts. Those also tend to be days I don't write, even if I'm in the middle of writing some "light." Sometimes putting together a written sentence, even when chatting with a friend, is tricky. I've tried to think on if maybe it's a need for longer aftercare, but I'm not sure. The last time I remember this happening badly was when my Master did what became the inspiration for my "pressure point massage" snippet- I forget when I shared that lol. But He'd used His knowledge of pressure points to pinch and poke me into an amazing orgasm and subspace without any genital contact or heavier BDSM activity. While I have no clue how long He spent with me, I know He did spend time. Cuddling, comforter pulled back up around my shoulders. I slipped into sleep and I don't quite remember Him getting out of bed, although I'm sure in the moment I knew- His sleep schedule was thrown off for one reason or another so He was just taking care of me before heading back out to get on His computer and enjoy some TV.

I was saying at this point to my BR that I didn't know what I was doing; it felt unfinished to me. Then I thought of a conversation my Master and I had on the way to His doctor's appointment today. I'd begged to go to our local munch- there's a "it's a new year, let's have a potluck at my place to get things started again" type event happening next month. My Master and I never participated in BDSM at our local munch in the past; strict rules against genital-based sexuality and an over-the-top theatrical nature expected of EVERYBODY turned us off. Missing from most of the people was a "my kink is okay, so is your kink" perspective. Now I tell you all that because parts of the conversation equaled to "they're over-thinking it in comparison to how we live our lives." In the aftercare I described above, I doubt my Master would think of it in such analytical, almost artificial terms as "I'm doing aftercare." He'd just do what it seemed like I needed. While yes words are good to talk about aftercare, I think too often what we see online, what we read in BDSM educational books, hear in workshops is unnecessarily thoughtful- the top does what the bottom needs after the scene. And it is need, in that moment, not what some book says it needed.

That leads me to think of something that happened the other day. I've been struggling wishing for more sex, more BDSM activity- my Master's health issues, duh! He was joking about using His cane (not a "made for BDSM" cane, but an actual cane meant to help a person walk- He was excited to find one that has an oversized 20 side-die for the hand hold) to beat me. Well I think I surprised Him 'cause I walked over to Him and leaned over Him and His chair :D. The bit of beating and some knife play (there's a dull knife inside the cane) was really good- I was definitely less tense than I had been. But it was only a few minutes, not even long enough or intense enough to get our dog wandering over to find out what was happening- dog is a big mood killer lol. I sat back down after that and got back to author work; spending some time with my characters was "aftercare"- although I'm not sure how many people would agree with that being enough or good. Shrugs. I liked it; tension relief and then I wrote a good sex scene.

Aftercare is what you make it :D And I love comforters.

And now that you've read my thoughts, please leave a comment and then continue on to the other participants to read their thoughts on aftercare.

#dungeoncrawl ... "How is The Queen Gorean?"

When a scheduling thing needed to be fixed, I decided this would be good for Romancing the Kink's Dungeon Crawl. Thanks as always to Romancing the Kink for hosting this.

When a scheduling change made some moving around necessary, I decided that this would be a good post for the Crawl.

The Turian style collar that my Master happily got me to wear. "Turian style" is a notion from the Gor books.

"The Chronicles of Gor" by John Norman- a series of about 30 books- we have quite a few on a book shelf. While it wasn't until after I was an adult into BDSM that I found them, my sci-fi loving Master found them as a teen. I have read that John Norman hadn’t intended to created a sub-culture, certainly not a piece of the BDSM sub-culture. So all of what you can find online about Gor- beyond direct quotes from the books- is a creation of someone other than the author (I have an idea to write about fanfic and what people do with an artist's output.)

In case you have no idea of the online world of Gor, let me explain some. First I'm going to share a funny- while my Master and I have been "quite Gorean" at times, I'm not allowed to go into Gorean chat rooms- the same holding for Vala, as is mentioned in a conversation between The Queen, Cara, and Vala in "book 4." My Master's chief complaint is how all "Free Men" must be called "Master" by all kajirae (IE slave girls)- this does come from the books. My Master is my only Master- He is understandably territorial when it comes to other males. Now I would further philosophize that, in the fictional world of Gor, Free Men have to do things, be strong in ways to remain free- there is male slavery in the world of Gor; it's just less common than female slavery. But basically, just because you can capitalize your name doesn't make you free.

Something I find interesting is that there are people who identify as Gorean, but don’t engage in much of the online stuff, preferring to bring as much of the philosophy or world view of Gorean culture into this world. In fact it was from such a friend that my Master was able to trade chainmaille work for the metal collar I know wear. I wish we could have continued living near enough for regular visits longer; sometimes I find the roleplay (online) too silly; IE paga doesn't exist. I serve my Master's preferred rum-and-cola.

I'm going to step into the story-world of The Queen and his slaves now. "But how is The Queen Gorean, my Lady?" Vala asks of Cara during the conversation that inspired this post. ( :D My Master said "It looks like you're thinking very hard" as I sat writing this). When you get to read book 4, I'm sure you'll enjoy how The Queen deals with her question. In many ways, "Gor" is a structure, a way of "doing things." There are lists of things expected, whether you identify as a Free Person (and do notice the capitalization) or a kajira/kajirus (female/male slave). Like it's expected a slave won't touch his/her Master/Mistress without permission- this is one place The Queen most definitely isn't Gorean. He enjoys his slaves' touch too much to wait on such ceremony.

One big way The Queen is Gorean is the lack of safe words. Now as a 36 year old woman having lived her whole life in Michigan, it's only been in the last years thanks to the Internet that I even came to know the term consensual non-consent; I thought BDSM properly meant safe words and had simply accepted the fact that I didn't want "proper" BDSM. There is also a certain level of ritual in Gorean interactions- as in The Queen's household. I've enjoyed these often by reading "Gorean serves" online. Whether it's paga, "black tea (IE coffee), or food, there is a specific way it *should* be served to a Gorean Free Person. The ritual shows in many ways in The Queen's household- casual or formal meal, a slave sent to fetch The Queen or an upper class slave a drink.

In pondering this topic, I want search for books about Old Guard BDSM culture, not just websites (something I've viewed quite a few of). It was frustrating- I finally found a book by Guy Baldwin ("Ties that Bind"); I actually really want to buy it. Sighs, it's only available in paperback. I enjoyed reading an article by him (shared with his permission on a website) and gave my BR the link too :D. I just can't help educating. I think sometimes in our "rugged individualism" that's esteemed in the US, we loose some of the benefits of "community" and "family" as it's visible in cultures like Japan, some African cultures. I like the concept of "Ubuntu"- "I am because we are." Whether we call it "Gor" or "Old Guard," I think the notion of Ubuntu is the biggest difference between Gor, US culture, and The Queen's family.

How is The Queen Gorean? He takes care of his property. He expects things to be the way he wants it, that his slaves will make it that way as much as possible.

How is The Queen not Gorean? Sometimes life just happens- like him and Iona having a kid (that wouldn't happen in Gor because kajirae are given a 100% effective birth control that requires a "releasing agent" for them to bred and that only happens with male slaves, under the Masters' control) or how The Queen loves his slaves (it's a notion in the Gor books that loving one's slave can reduce the effectiveness of a Master.) But in The Queen's very not caring about others' opinions of him as a dominant, he reconfirms his Gorean-ness.

An InLinkz Link-up