Neil Gaiman

The moon is an egg in the pale blue sky,
floating low between glass bonded
buildings
a thousand year egg,
cracked and marked with
blackness -
it’s special, expensive, rotten,
and inedible.

Put it on the menu anyway.

Josee

I’ve been in the art business on and off for many years, have a minor in art history, have even tried painting myself (badly). And I often fall in love with paintings…

Sadly, they don’t inspire me to paint, at least not once I figured out I couldn’t paint. But they do inspire me to dream. And write.

I’ve written more than a few stories based on a painting or a sculpture. Sometimes it’s the title that grabs me, sometimes it’s the actual brushstrokes, sometimes it’s the subject matter or the painter. Sometimes, probably most of the time, I simply admire.

Looking at art is one of my favorite things to do and I often drop by the Vancouver Art Gallery or one of the many private galleries in Vancouver when I have a few minutes to spare. I always find something to inspire me.

Josee

My Assistant should be sending the prize out to you shortly!

My favorite love poem? I’m not sure I have one, but this one’s pretty close. I love haiku and Boncho – who was writing in the 18th century, seems to capture the essence of modern love… and cherry blossoms seem so very appropriate.

Love.
So many different ways
to have been in love.

Kate

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How does your day go? What keeps you writing?

I live in the South of England in a seaside town with my husband and two girl children. I have a regular 9-6 job as an Accounts Manager and I go to college too. My day starts early so that I can get the kids to school and it finishes late as I write most evenings. My family are used to me being behind on the laundry and the housework but I’m lucky that my husband helps out a lot. What keeps me writing even when I’m exhausted is that I love it so much. It’s a brilliant way to distress and I love where it takes me both in my head and in real life.

2. What brought you to writing erotica? What do you love about it?

I started writing when I was a teenager and my stories were always about love and romance, hot boys and sex. I always wanted someone gorgeous to fall desperately in love with me so I created lots of different boys on paper who would. I could create the perfect man with my writing, one who never cheated or lied or got bored of you, like the real ones did. I think that erotica was a natural progression from these first stories although I didn’t start to do it as more than a hobby until 2010 when I took the plunge and answered a call for submission by Lucy Felthouse

What I love about writing erotica is the raw human emotion you find in the stories. The images you can conjure up with descriptions of smells, sounds and tastes. I still create my fantasy man with every story and I love to get lost with my characters. It’s so much fun to create another world and another life where you control the outcome. Also I love that erotica covers every aspect of life; every situation can be turned into something naughty, so you don’t feel bound by any limits when you’re writing.

3. What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on a couple of things. The first is a novella involving two childhood friends and a girl they meet on a road trip which leads to a whole heap of trouble, supernatural goings on and some dark secrets coming out. The second is a story based loosely around a popular talent show and some cute boyband hotties. I’m also in the middle of a submission for “Smut by the Sea” a project that Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse are putting together. I tend to have several stories going on at once as I have a very short attention span!

4. What is your—or your character’s—favorite erotic book? Sexy movie? Sex toy?

My favourite erotic book so far has to be Control by Charlotte Stein. I could read that over and over again and it never stops being the hottest thing ever. Charlotte draws such a vivid picture and the characters are so human and flawed. I totally love it! Saying that I didn’t start reading erotica properly until recently so I am always open to suggestions of new authors to read and new stories to discover, so if anyone has any suggestions for me that would be great!

Favourite sexy movie is a bit harder. I adore True Romance, and while it’s not stereotypically sexy it’s such a wonderful love story. I also like Betty Blue, from the early eighties a film that I have watched over and over. These days I don’t watch as many films as I used to but I like sexy TV shows like True Blood.

Sex toy? I like anything that can add a fun element to a relationship, or that helps you step outside your normal life and enter into a fantasy world. I have to admit I would love to have my own dungeon but with two kids in the house it’s not very practical!

5. What’s the one thing you’ve always wanted to do? The top thing on your personal bucket list?

The one thing I’ve always wanted to do has to be to give up my day job and spend every day writing. I’d have a gorgeous cottage by the sea or on a lake and I’d have so much more time to spend with my family. Other than that a couple of things come to mind; I’d love to do a roller coaster tour of America and become a Burlesque dancer in Vegas!

6. What’s your personal romantic (or erotic) fantasy?

My romantic fantasy would have to involve angels and demons and a love that lasted through time. Maybe I’d spice it up a little with some light bondage and a threesome somewhere along the line but there would definitely be a tall, dark, handsome man (think Dean Winchester from Supernatural) who would sweep me off my feet, fight to the death for me and spend every waking minute wondering when he could get me back into bed!

Find Lexie At:

http://www.lexiebay.co.uk

http://www.twitter.com/Lexie_Bay

http://www.facebook.com/LexieBayAuthor

And I ran into an acquaintance, as I often do, because he’s at Tim Horton’s every single morning. He’s 86 years old. His hair is reddish-blond (I suppose you’d call it strawberry blond) and curly and he’s got lots of it. He’s German but has been in Canada over 60 years and he only stopped working as a barber 5 or 6 years ago. I see him in the neighborhood almost every day, walking, chatting with friends, stopping for coffee or a donut.

He has the energy of a man 20 years younger and he loves life. I can see (and he tells me) that he enjoys his days whether it’s sunny, rainy or cold, he takes full advantage of each moment, and in our neighborhood, a busy downtown hip neighborhood full of young single people, he stands out.

He inspires me, gives me hope for the future, and he’s got the most beautiful smile.

Josee

And be sure to check out all the other participating authors here.

Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, and Tonia, as always, was doing her best to ignore it. And her mother and grandmother. Their whinings about the holiday—and the way it screwed with their magic—made the top three of Tonia’s top ten reasons to hate Valentine’s Day.

Number One on the list was ex-husband Phil, who ran off with their dog, her jewelry, and the money in their joint bank account on the morning after the big day—taking with him the fake gold bracelet he’d given her for February 14 and as a much-belated birthday gift and the butter soft leather jacket she’d given him. Number Two was her high school boyfriend, who dumped her for the head cheerleader at the Sweetheart Dance.

Number Three with a bullet was the deadly duo of her mother, Delia, and grandmother, Deborah. They spent the month of February complaining about how the love hype, as they called it, made February the slowest month of the year for their business.

“Valentine’s Day is a crock,” her grandmother would say. “Everyone knows that chocolates and diamonds never won fair maiden. It’s all about passion.”

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Marianne wants to spice up her marriage. After twenty years, even though she and her husband are still young, things have gotten a little stale. She decides to check out Dreams Come True, a sexy little shop specializing in lingerie and toys of the adult variety.

When she touches the silky nightie, her visceral reaction to it is immediate and undeniable, and when the gypsy woman running the store says she’s found the daily special and it’s free, Marianne’s sure she’s won the jackpot. In the middle of the night, she finds out she definitely has.

www.AnnaLeighKeaton.com

My assistant should be sending the ebook over to you shortly.