The Pillow Talk...Erotica Writers Talking Dirty logo: black and white image of a cartoon woman with bright red lips on a pillow

Pillow Talk Secrets — Mixing it Up!

The Pillow Talk...Erotica Writers Talking Dirty logo: black and white image of a cartoon woman with bright red lips on a pillowHello everyone, and welcome back for the newest edition of Pillow Talk Secrets! Today, Tamsin, Malin, and I—Jade, your host for the day—have merged our thoughts together to talk about…merging writing genres together! 🙂 We had a lot to say in regards to genre crossovers and stories that blend vastly contrasting elements together, both in our own writing experiences, and in our reading, too. As usual, I’ve posted a portion of the conversation here with a link to continue on our Pillow Talk site. Or, click right here to read the conversation in its entirety.

We hope you enjoy it!

XX,
Jade

Pillow Talk Secrets

Jade: Hello ladies! So nice to be back again. How are you both doing today?

Malin: Doing well! How about you, Jade? Tamsin?

Tamsin: Very well, thanks—and better for being here with you two! 🙂

J: Aw! I agree. And I’m well too, thank you. So…today we have a very interesting topic on hand—erotica crossovers and genre blending. Shall we get right to it?

T: Absolutely!

M: Sounds great. I suspect we’ll have a lot to say.

J: I agree. Initially, I’d thrown this topic out as an option during our first year recap. Then, by random happenstance, we all ended up getting asked to join in on a special anthology that I know we’re all excited about! We’ll get to that in a bit, but for now—let’s start with the idea of erotica crossovers. What styles have you both blended so far? And how did you find it went for you?

T: I think by now, nearly everyone knows that I’ve written zombie erotica—and it’s probably one the most fun projects I’ve worked on. The obvious challenge being how to make something so totally squicky even remotely sexy!

M: The fact that you did make a zombie apocalypse a believably sexy scenario is a testament to your talent. It’s a high bar and you hit it!

Sci Fi guy

Erotic and surreal…

J: I agree—and I think what was most interesting is that you really humanized a really inhuman being. Even though we wanted to squirm over the grotesqueness of the zombies, we ended up rooting for them in a few of those stories.

T: Wow! Thank you both. I think the challenge with any crossover is staying faithful to the essence of the two original genres but somehow making the sum even more than the two parts.

M: I agree. Most genres have a set of recognizable conventions. They’re sort of like markers for the reader. When you blend genres or write crossovers, you almost have to choose which conventions from each best serve the story you want to tell.

J: Right. And you also have to decide which convention needs to rule the tale. Is it more horror than erotica, or more erotica than horror, etc. For example, when we did the Coming Together: Among the Stars anthology, Malin, we did a merging of sci-fi and erotica in our stories. Did you feel you were writing more of a sci-fi story with erotic elements, or an erotic story with sci-fi elements? Or was the blend pretty equally split in your mind as you wrote it?

M: That’s an interesting question! To be honest, I’m not sure. I don’t tend to think in that way—I tend to have a story in mind and then I write it and see what it is. That story came out a pretty even mix of sci-fi and erotica. Weirdly, the elements that I consciously played with more than anything were the comedic ones. The sci-fi / erotic elements took care of themselves.

J: I would agree with that—there was some comedy that somehow needed to be added. I wonder if that’s sci-fi or just a coincidence that we both had the experience?

T: I’ve definitely found comedy to be useful in all the genre blending I’ve done. Maybe it acts like lube (snigger) in getting the two genres into bed with one another!

M: I like that idea of comedy acting as a kind of lube! For me, it depends on the genres being blended. When I blend literary and erotic, comedy doesn’t come out as much (unless it’s very black humor), but with sci-fi it was very natural. It may just depend on the story. Jeez. What an abstract answer!

Click here to read more!

Jade reads Coming Together in the SF Botanical Garden

Coming Together: Among the Stars…Goes Traveling!

Okay, everyone, confession time:

Rose Caraway, Malin James and I got sneaky!

Today we want to let you in on it.

See, the fabulous Lynn Townsend pulled together some kick ass stories for our recent release, Coming Together: Among the Stars. The book is a collection of sexy sci-fi erotica stories from fantastic authors, all of them curated in the name of charity—a good one, too, as proceeds for the book go to the International Still’s Disease Foundation.

What’s Still’s Disease, you ask? The disease is a more severe version of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and can affect both children and adults (though the disease is more prevalent in children under 16). It is characterized by, among other things, intermittent salmon-colored rashes, spiking fevers, and swelling of internal organs and arthritis. It also remains a bit of a mystery in terms of causes and risk factors. There is much more to learn about it, and if you would like to do so, please visit the International Still’s Disease Foundation website.

Among the Stars

We of the book believe this is a great cause, which is why we’re all thrilled to be included in its pages. Sex and space is already a stellar combo, but sex and space for Still’s? Superb!

But okay, seriously, alliteration aside—Rose, Malin and I believed this was such a big deal, we wanted to do a little something extra for the book and its cause. Rose, in her infinite wisdom, gathered the three of us together to surprise Lynn Townsend with a special traveling SIGNED edition of Coming Together: Among the Stars. That is, this lovely book has been bouncing between us in California at various locales. It’s been on the road, out to lunch, out to coffee, and, before its final trek home, it made a guest appearance at a picnic party in San Francisco!

I even have pics to prove it—here’s me reading the book right next to the entrance of the Moon-Viewing Garden at the San Francisco Botanical Garden Park (appropriate location for a book set in space, wouldn’t you say?):

Jade with Coming Together in the Moon Viewing Garden

To be honest, I didn’t get much reading in at this party—but I can definitely say the book got more viewing than the moon did in the middle of the day. 😉

So, there you have it: our big secret. The book is signed by all three of us, and Ms. Townsend, we’re tickled to tell you it’s on the next leg of its journey—in the mail to you!

Readers, if you haven’t already, please check out this fabulous anthology to support a wonderful cause. You can read an excerpt and the back story for my contribution to the collection (“The Joy Ride”) right here, and then we hope you’ll pick up your very own copy on Amazon.

Thanks for your support, everyone!

XX,
Jade

Cover for Among the Stars

Coming Together: Among the Stars—”The Joy Ride” Excerpt

Hurray! Coming Together: Among the Stars is officially out today!

I’m so thrilled “The Joy Ride” is a part of this anthology, both because I love a good venture into spec fic AND because this hot little collection is for a good cause—all proceeds benefit the International Still’s Disease Foundation. Fantastic!

Cover for Among the Stars

In honor of release day, I thought I’d share some backstory as well as an excerpt. Let’s start with the backstory—“The Joy Ride” is a particularly special piece for me. The original version was actually one I wrote while I was in the process of deciding to do this erotica thing for real. Sure, I’d penned a piece here and there, but it wasn’t clear to me—yet—that erotica was what really spoke to me.

So there it was 2012, and I’d ended up at a Fantasy and Sci-Fi writing conference where, during the course of the weekend, we were supposed to write a flash story inspired by the line, “On Thursday, she pressed the button.” I opted to write a story about a woman fed up with her ex-husband and job, who then spotted a button in her hotel room labeled Press for a good time. And when the woman pressed the button, two hot alien creatures arrived and took her away on their space ship. The story was sassy and silly, but somewhere in the course of it all, one of the aliens mentioned that usually only men press the button.

My critique group got a big kick out of this line, since I’d already written a rather titillating piece about a stripper werewolf. Someone asked about the lives of the aliens, and the next thing I knew, I was on the airplane flying home, drafting an early version of “The Joy Ride”—this time told from the alien captain’s point of view and, unbeknownst to me, lighting the first spark in my head toward taking my erotica writing more seriously.

Two years later, the wonderful Lynn Townsend had a call for Coming Together: Among the Stars. I dusted off the old story, changed a few [major] things, and poof! There it was: the little story that first kicked my naughty brain into full gear, revised and ready to jump aboard this fabulous charity anthology!

So, enough of the behind-the-scenes stuff. I’d say it’s time for an excerpt, wouldn’t you? “The Joy Ride” follows Captain Ronat and Co-Captain Loul, two alien creatures who have been orbiting the Earth as part of a 30-year penalty for galaxy back taxes, until one day they pick up an Earthling couple.

Excerpt:

The man cowered as Ronat walked to him. Ronat didn’t touch him, but he did lay his hand on the grey surface behind Bill’s head. The solid panel evaporated into one huge window, giving the man a close-up view of the Galaxy.

“What the fuck?”

“It’s exactly what you think it is.”

“But…we were just…how is this…?” Bill put his hands on the window and stuck his forehead so close against it his breath fogged the glass. The light of distant planets twinkled and blinked, brightening his face until his sharp frown began to dissolve. “Is it really…?”

Ronat nodded. “It is, my friend. Welcome to the Galaxy.”

Bill kept his palms on the window, mesmerized by the view. When Ronat placed his hand on Bill’s shoulder, he didn’t pull away. Instead, he met Ronat’s eyes with a flash of longing in his own. It didn’t hurt that the chemistry between humans and his kind created a state of heightened arousal for both parties, which is why the Earth leaders had allowed them to occupy the Galaxy in exchange for hotel service so long ago.

“I feel like I should tell you to take your hand off me, but it’s strange…I don’t want to,” Bill said.

“It’s okay. It’s natural between our kinds.”

He gulped. “What is your kind?”

“We’re from Tetro, part of an ancient race in the Galaxy.”

Bill drew his hand from the window. “Why are you here?”

“Long story,” Ronat said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to. All you need to know is that you’re here, in flight, and anything you want can be yours.”

Bill stared.

“Anything,” he repeated.

Bill raked his gaze over Ronat’s scaly flesh and crisscrossing straps, then down his silver pants. He seemed most captivated by his moon boots, and while he focused on them, Ronat moved closer. He could smell Bill’s sweat under his button-up shirt, a residual pungency of long hours at the office mixed with the essence of Earthling arousal.

“I don’t know that I’m into that,” Bill said. “I’m married.”

As if on cue, Andrea let out a moan that lasted for a solid minute.

Bill whispered, “Can I see her?”

“Sure. But you have to know that she’s in the middle of—”

“I want to see her. I want to see it.”

Well, well, well.

Ronat ran his pinky on the wall in the shape of a hexagon, then tapped three times. The eye scan appeared and he lined his retina up with the infrared beam, blinking fast so that his third lid retracted before the scan ray hit. A click sounded and the wall vanished, opening the hull of the ship to the room where Loul and Andrea fucked like Earth dogs.

Bill exhaled heavily. His wife was oblivious to his presence, but Loul glanced over. Naked and glistening, he pummeled Andrea from behind, bringing groans of pleasure from her throat as she clawed backward to reach his dark, scaled ass.

“Oh my gawd!” she cried. “Oh…my…gawwwwddddd.”

“Oh my,” Bill muttered. His eyes widened as he watched her, her tits bouncing all over the place. The smell of Andrea’s juices permeated the air and wafted into Ronat’s nose, sending a tingle through his body.

He crept behind Bill. “What do you think?”

Andrea answered for him “Yes, yes! Give it to me!”

Loul weaved his hands in Andrea’s tousled red hair, then angled back enough so both Ronat and Bill could see the flexing of his abs as he glided repeatedly inside her.

Bill gasped.

“It’s hot, isn’t it?” Ronat grasped Bill’s shoulders, massaging them while the man’s breath grew more ragged. His own cock lurched at the sight, making his silver pants incredibly uncomfortable. “Do you want to join?”

“I can’t. She’s obviously—”

“Oh, she wants it, Bill. Look at her.” Ronat leaned into his ear, his lips lightly grazing the man’s lobe. “Your wife is an animal.” When Bill didn’t speak, he shouted across the room. “Hey Loul! Can we join?”

Loul paused mid-thrust and Andrea tossed up her head, her face glistening with the sweat of wild sex. She registered the view of her husband for a second, her eyes spreading in surprise.

“Bill! Oh no, I didn’t know that you… I’m so sor—”

Loul drove himself all the way into her and she belted another cry. “Don’t you dare be sorry,” he said, pumping her a few times into incoherence. “You both came here for a good time!”

Bill’s face softened. There really was no way for this to go poorly. The only question was how Bill would insert himself into the scene.

With his next words, he made Ronat a proud accomplice.

“Don’t be sorry, sweetheart,” Bill said. “You are so hot right now. Can we join in?”

Loul threw back his head, gripping the sides of Andrea’s waist for one final shove inside her. “Fuck, yes!”

When Andrea wailed in pleasure, Bill stripped off his clothes in less than thirty seconds, piling his slacks, tie, button-up shirt, boxers and undershirt on the floor. Then, wearing nothing but his socks and a cock at full mast, he peered between Ronat and his spasming wife.

“Are you coming, too?” he said.

*

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt!

“The Joy Ride” is part of Coming Together: Among the Stars, edited by Lynn Townsend, and with so many other fabulous erotic sci-fi authors included in this one, I’m sure it’s going to be a treat.

Please pick up your copy on Amazon—every book purchased helps support the International Still’s Disease Foundation!

Thank you for reading and supporting the cause!

XX,
Jade

Cover for Among the Stars

Interviewed by Lynn Townsend!

Hi everyone!

I’ve hopped over to Lynn Townsend’s blog today! Ms. Townsend is the editor of the exciting and forthcoming Coming Together: Among the Stars, which is a charity anthology to benefit Still’s Disease. I’m so thrilled to be a part of this book, and I have more info plus an excerpt coming closer to its release in mid-December. But for now, the lovely Ms. Townsend was kind enough to invite me over to her place. Hurray!

Cover for Among the Stars

Ms. Townsend asked me all sorts of fun questions about my stories, my process, how I came to writing, and a few other details about me. Plus, she even got a picture of my desk…and a small confession about the origins of some of my stories. Hmmm… 😉

So, please join us over at her site. I had a fabulous time answering her questions, and I hope you enjoy finding out a little more about me!

Thanks for reading, and please pre-order your copy of this fabulous anthology to support a great cause. You can find it on Amazon or Smashwords!

XX,
Jade

Cover of Rose Caraway's Dirty Thirty Audiobook

Sexy Spec Fic Coming Soon!

Some of you may know I dabbled for almost two decades in the speculative fiction world before I officially realized I loved writing erotica. And while now I prefer this realm, I still enjoy the occasional opportunity to turn something naughty to something bizarre or surreal, or even to take it out to another planet.

Cover for Among the StarsSo…imagine my delight at having three Spec Fic erotica pieces coming out in two hot anthologies releasing in the next few months! Hurray!

The first is a charity anthology I briefly mentioned in my September Kicked My Ass post. It’s called Coming Together: Among the Stars, and is a sci-fi themed collection edited by Lynn Townsend to benefit International Still’s Disease Foundation. You can find out more about it here, as well as see all the other fabulous contributors I’m proud to join for this great cause! I’ll share some back story and an excerpt of my story, “The Joy Ride,” closer to the release date (late November), but for now let me offer you a brief preview: in my head, I subtitle this piece “Orgy In Space.”Cover of Rose Caraway's Dirty Thirty Audiobook

So…um…get the picture? 😉

Now, on to the next anthology—I’m also thrilled to announce that both “The Bells” and “The Doll” are going to be a part of Rose Caraway’s Dirty Thirty audiobook coming out later this year. If you didn’t already catch Ms. Caraway’s fabulous narration of my story “Soundscapes” on The Kiss Me Quick’s Erotica Podcast back in July, please do. Only then can you understand how ridiculously, giddily excited I am to be part of this sexy new audiobook. On top of that, Rose Caraway managed to summon crazy shit out of my head (no, really). “The Bells” is a super dark alternate history piece, and “The Doll”…well…I just can’t wait to tell you more about these pieces when we get nearer the release date! 🙂

For now, I encourage you to ogle these fabulous covers as many times as I am (lots)!

XX,
Jade

P.S. “The Match”—the last poem of my 7-Day Poem Challenge—is featured over at The Erotic Woman today! The site is full of steamy stories and poems, so please click on over and take a peek! (NSFW images.)