Hidden Treasure

This is a post about both my "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories: the one you probably already own, and the one in production now.

I'll start with the one in production, "Transfixed." As you know, the first half of the story is already on sale as an independent ebook with a semi-cliffhanger ending. But the thing about the cliffhanger is that you already know you can resolve it in whatever way you please, because the sequel is a "Choose Your Own Adventure." If you want to save Character A, who got enslaved in Part 1, you can save them - and you can also save Characters B, C, D, and so on. You can save everybody, if you do it right. Or if you prefer, you can doom everybody to a life of blissful slavery. Whatever floats your boat. My point here is that you shouldn't be afraid to buy Part 1 before Part 2 comes out. You can already imagine whatever finale you like and know that you can make it happen. Meanwhile, you've got a 77-page all-new story with lots of hot sex and creepy brainwashing bugs.

You'll also be pleased to know that I have an enthusiastic new volunteer (in additional to my usual cohorts) helping me brainstorm plot threads for the "Transfixed" CYOA. That means I'll be able to get up and running pretty fast. At this point I have a clear idea of the overall picture and several interesting story paths, and I'm just working out the fine details before I start writing. I think I'll be able to put this one together much faster than What Do You Give the Alien Who Has Everything?, partly because of my volunteers and partly because this time I know what the hell I'm doing.

So, moving on to "Alien," it has come to my attention that some readers who think they've read the book pretty thoroughly still haven't found the game-changing hidden plot line; and that makes me wonder what else readers might have missed. Well, the book's been out for over a year now, so I thought I'd give you a few helpful hints. Only the last one is a real spoiler, so I'll put it in spoiler text. You can read the other bullets points freely - and refer to the map above to refresh your memory of what's where.

• I intentionally built this story in a way that forces you to follow many paths and interview many people to get the whole story about the Imperators. 
• Visit each location more than once and make different choices each time. There's no way you can gather all the important information in one walk-through; and aside from the statuary, every location has at least one "lesson" you can't get anywhere else.
• You can interview the Imperators in detail if you can make it into the observatory, but you have to ask the right questions before they'll let you even start to interview them, and you can't trust everything they tell you. To get the true story in all its dirty details, you'll have to find that hidden thread.
• There's no advantage to choosing one reporter or orientation over another, but there's exactly one choice where the guide you picked could make a difference.
•  No doubt you'll make a lot of bad choices and end up getting sent to the brainwashing chamber a lot. When this happens, don't skip past the text without reading it each time. There are lots of different ways you can be transformed in those chambers, and everything depends on who sent you there and why. My personal favorite result is getting turned into a mer-person.
• And now here, in spoiler text, are the directions for finding the secret story line. Just be warned: it's a game-changer, but it's also a game in itself, and it's not easy to win. All I'm telling you here is how to start playing. Highlight the next bit to find out: [Go to the lily pond, let the mer-people grab you and take you under, but don't fight them a second time. Instead, look for a hatch in the pond wall.]

Updates, answers, questions, and maybe a way for you to make money

Best wishes to all of you out there celebrating whatever holiday(s) you celebrate. I hope you get to be with the people who make you happy and to do things you enjoy.

I see that a lot of folks have already downloaded Transfixed at Smashwords, but for those of you who were meaning to do it and didn't get around to it yet, I've extended the coupon's expiration date to December 25. So if you want it for 25% off, just go here and enter coupon code ZG53J.

If you have any questions about the story, I do hereby declare the comment section of this post a spoiler-friendly zone. Ask whatever you like, and I'll answer it as long as it doesn't give away any secrets from Part 2.

But I'll keep spoilers out of this post itself. Here's what I can tell you about what's next for the "Transfixed" storyverse without spoiling anything for those of you who haven't read the first book yet. You can read Part 1 alone, but if you do, you'll be left with a cliffhanger that's larger than (just as a random example) the one at the end of the first Matrix movie but smaller than (again, just an example) the cliffhanger at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It's my hope that you'll leave Part 1 knowing that this time it's the good guys who'll be striking back; and because of the nature of the CYOA, they can win. If you figure out all the secrets, you can not only rescue everybody who was enslaved in Part 1 but also put an end to the tick menace once and for all.

Also, Part 2 will give you the option of following the story from a second point of view: the crazy Swede from the fridge in Part 1 (His name is Nils). If you "play" him, you'll find out his backstory and motivations, and you'll see how his goals dovetail a lot with the goals of the better know "good guys." That means Nils can win the big prize just like they can, but he can also get into some pretty nutty situations.

Now, about that ship hanging around at the top of this post. For the cover of the "Transfixed" CYOA, I need three realistic-looking ships depicted at angles that will allow for me to fuse them the way the Ajisashi and Myrddin were fused in Part 1. I've found lots of great spaceship art on Dollar Photo Club, including the above, which might work nicely for the Ajisashi if I tweak it a little. The problem is that I don't play video games, and I discovered entirely by accident that a lot of the best-looking ships I've found on Dollar Photo Club are close reproductions of ships from famous games and movies (Even the USS Enterprise is in there. I can't believe no one's been sued yet.). Obviously I can't use one of those ships for my cover, but how can I be sure I get something original? I'm going to need your help. Here are a couple of ways you can assist me:
1. Does anyone out there have the expertise to look at my potential choices and tell me whether they're ripoffs or true originals? If you can help, I'll give you full acknowledgment in the book and a cameo if you want one.
2. Does anyone out there have the skill to make three spaceships for my story from scratch? I would pay you for that, and we can work out the details of the payment in private. Email me if interested.


Sorry to anyone hoping to make money. ;-) I've got a couple of volunteers now, checking my sample pictures.

You don't mind if I titillate you, do you?

This is a passage from my new book, "Transfixed" (available on Smashwords and Amazon, but you
have a few more days to get 25% off at Smashwords with the coupon code ZG53J).

---

"Alec?" said Michiko. He was standing right in front of her, nude aside from patches of silvery gel. His was thinner than the armor she'd seen on the soldiers who stormed the bridge, and it didn't look like it was meant to protect him so much as to arouse him. Every strip covered an erogenous zone: his chest and shoulders, his navel, a broad diamond that stretched from his navel to somewhere behind his balls, and the inside of his thighs. The gel rippled almost imperceptibly, massaged by starfish-like creatures not much larger than a pinhead.  Alec's cock was at half-mast, his body trembled, and she recognized his smile from more than a decade of foreplay.

But she couldn't look at that for very long, because the real horrors lurked above the gel. Her husband's eyes had rolled up so far that she could see only the barest blue sliver of iris; and a…a monster…had spread itself across his head and forehead. The thing's body was white, chitinous, and divided into eight narrow segments. Its scorpion-like tail curled backwards over the top of Alec's head and seemed (Michiko prayed she was wrong) to be buried in his skull, while its head was level with Alec's nose. Its multi-jointed legs – sixteen in all – pressed against, or possibly through, Alec's temples and other sensitive spots around his face.

The creature raised its head on a narrow stalk-like neck and looked at Michiko. Its eyes were blue-black and fathomless.

Hatred welled up in her. She'd never been a violent person, but seeing this…thing attached to her husband, she wanted to rip it off his head and tear it apart with her teeth.

But Michiko couldn't move. She was standing motionless, just like Alec; and looking down at herself, she saw a pattern of silvery marks across her own erogenous zones. Thankfully, her starfish weren't massaging her into unwanted arousal. That would have been too disgusting to bear.

She looked at his face again, and a sudden, horrible though struck her. Although she couldn't raise her arms, she could blink and frown, and by doing so she was able to confirm that there was an alien like Alec's on her own head. "Alec," she said tightly, "get this thing off me."

He flashed his most charming smile, but it didn't work without his eyes, and she sensed that he wasn't really the one smiling anyway. "Sorry, sweetheart," He said. "We can't resist our owners." His voice was softer than usual, but the ecstasy she heard in it sounded all too real.

Michiko ground her teeth. "These things are not our owners. They're aliens – enemies – slavers!"

"Poor Michiko," said Alec. He still hadn't lowered his eyes, but she could swear he was looking at her. Maybe the alien was looking at her for him. "I know you're scared, but don't worry. You'll feel better just as soon as your owner connects to you."

She could guess what that meant. "Look at me, Alec! Do I look like I want to feel better? Look at me!"

His upturned eyes didn't waver. "I can't, darling. I'm in such ecstasy that it's all I can do just to stay my feet. But that's all right because my owner keeps me focused. It even sees the things I can't and feeds the images into my brain, so there's nothing to worry about. Really, sweetie, it's okay. You're going to feel just as good as I do before long."

Pre-Christmas specials

Just a quickie here.

I've made "Willing Subject" free on Smashwords through December 24, and I'm having a Kindle Countdown Deal Dark Spaces and Sleepwalkers from December 11-18. On December 11 the price of these two books will be $0.99, and then they'll edge back up to the original prices by December 18.

Also, I've permanently dropped the price of Slave-Bride of the Sidhe to $0.99.

This is a great time to pick up some of my books for yourself or as holiday gifts for your friends.

"Transfixed, Stage 1" is now available for purchase

I've just posted "Transfixed, Stage 1" at Smashwords, and as usual I'm giving you a coupon (good for one week) to get your copy at 25% off. Here's your code: ZG53J. You can also buy it at Amazon here.

This story turned out to be pretty long and lots of fun to write. As I told you, I developed such a fondness for one character that I changed the whole ending to accommodate them. I also had fun learning Swedish curse words, and I tossed in a bunch of clues that will make you go "hmm" now and "aha!" when you read the eventual Choose Your Own Adventure.

Here's the synopsis. I hope you'll enjoy the story. :-)

Captain Michiko Sato is quite literally in an impossible situation. Her ship has been attacked by another vessel under the command of mind-controlling alien “ticks,” and now their human slaves are after her crew. Still worse, those slaves came from her husband’s ship, and he’s at the head of the brainwashed attack force. It’s not that slavery has turned Alec into her enemy; he still loves her. He just wants her to join him in the bliss of thralldom.

Before long Michiko is separated from her crew and held captive aboard Alec’s ship, where he tempts her to submit and unwittingly tortures her with memories of the man he used to be. Meanwhile, the crew on Michiko’s ship are no match for the invaders, and everyone’s on the lookout for a wet-behind-the-ears assessor who could be the key to breaking Michiko’s will. Then the crazy Swede in the refrigerator….

This ebook is not only a story in itself, but it’s also prelude to a “Plot Your Own Adventure.” In Stage 2 of “Transfixed,” you’ll be able to play some of these characters, rescue others, and (if you’re clever enough) stop the tick invasion for good.

Mozart, Mesmer, and Me

About a week ago, I found an article that claimed Mozart had written his opera Cosi fan tutte entirely in a state of mesmeric trance. Franz Mesmer, in case you don't know (although you probably do know if you're into EMC) created an early form of hypnosis and was very popular in his day. If' you want to know more about him, here's his Wikipedia page.

Now, Mesmer was a patron of Mozart, and as I said, this article implied that Mozart wrote a whole opera in a state of trance. I thought about linking to the article here until I actually read it. Then I discovered it was really just a discussion of Mozart's weirdness in general, and it didn't have much to say about mesmerism. The most interesting detail, apart from the above, was that Mozart once wrote a little ditty called "Lick Me in the Ass."

Anyway, the article is still worth mentioning because it makes me wonder whether Mozart could have written coherently while in trance. I sure can't. Writing under post-hypnotic suggestion is definitely possible, but while you're deeply hypnotized, you're clumsy - and you enjoy the clumsiness because it's a sign of how deep you are. Of course, it's possible that the right hypnotist could get you to write neatly and clearly while in deep trance. I just haven't experienced that.

But by now you're probably asking what this has to do with "Transfixed," the story I've been talking about for a few weeks, and which will go to press on or around December 8 (That's an in-progress cover above. I'd love some feedback on it). Well, I came up with most of the plot for "Transfixed" while I was in trance. I didn't write it that way, but that's where the ideas began: in my subconscious mind. I just kept them in my head until I had time to write.

Here's how it came about. If you've been reading my blog long enough, you know that I have trouble with insomnia and developed a Virtual Hypnotist program designed to help me relax and get to sleep. I still use it every night, and it still works very well; but I'm so familiar with it now that my mind wanders a good bit while I'm using it (To those of you who've never been hypnotized: yes, your mind can wander while you're in trance). Since I've been so focused on this story, even writing right up until bedtime, my mind often wandered over to "Transfixed" while I doing my nighttime trance thing.

I've also written before about how some of my best ideas come to me in dreams, or while I'm lazing in bed on a Saturday morning, half awake but too lazy to get up. I guess all three states are similar, in that they allow me to tap into my subconscious - and my subconscious is usually more creative than my conscious mind. I've been wondering whether anybody will notice anything different about "Transfixed," or whether it will read pretty much like the rest of my stuff. Again, I'd love some feedback once the book comes out.

In the meantime, I can tell you some places in "Transfixed" where I've noticed contributions from my subconscious mind. The subconscious communicates in symbols, sometimes but not always sexual in nature; and since I'm writing erotica, my thoughts are headed in a sexy direction right from the start. Now, "Transfixed" begins with one ship getting run through by another ship. The second ship has been taken over by mind-controlling aliens (but of course!), and now they're invading the first ship as well. I explained in a previous post how that part of the story grew out of a failed collaboration between myself and several other EMCSA authors, so you can't blame trance-plotting for that. But now let me throw out a new non-spoilery details regarding the finished story. See if you can work out all the Freudian references:

• The ship which gets pierced has a female captain (Michiko), and the ship doing the piercing is captained by Michiko's husband Alec.
• Alec, under the influence of MC, constantly tempts Michiko to give in to the aliens' control and he tells her how hot it feels.
• Part of the alien MC process involves piercing the skull of the victim - in a way that causes orgasm rather than pain.
• When Alec's ship first appears, it emerges from a wormhole; and it carries Michiko's ship into another wormhole - which is where the piercing occurs.
• The guns fire darts instead of lasers or bullets. This actually makes sense from a "preventing hull breach" standpoint, but darts are still more phallic than lasers or bullets.
• At one point a character on the run hides inside a large egg-shaped object.
• In two other scenes, crucial information is shared by two people talking inside small, enclosed spaces.
• And as a bonus for you Jungian fans, a white man* receives help from a black woman who is his opposite in almost every way.

*Actually, you don't have to assume he's white; I often leave characters' races unspecified so that readers can imagine people who look like them, and I encourage you to do that with this guy. But in my mind, he has pale hair and skin.

Your feedback, please?

May I have your input, please? Below are comps of some images I'm considering using for the "Transfixed" book cover (The book itself will be out in roughly three weeks). Please note that some of these are in iffy shape because I didn't take much time correcting them, and I'll probably add a background to whichever one I pick. These are just rough ideas of things I might use. I'd really love some feedback on what people think about the different images. Which one(s) do you love? Which one(s) do you hate? Thanks!

Here's an ethnic group that recognizes five genders

I know a lot of my readers are genderqueer. I hope you'll find this story encouraging - and I hope my cisgender readers will find their minds pleasantly blown by the idea of an ancient culture that has accepted a wide variety of genders for centuries.

I don't suppose anyone who watches this video will find themselves into total agreement with the Bugis' system, but it makes me happy to know they're out there - and that today their ethnic group is a powerful political force in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Paris, my heart goes out to you

I don't have anything else to say this weekend.

This, that and the other

Here's what I've been up to lately.

As I said last week, I am now taking story commissions. I should have added that I'm also taking commissions for creating ebook covers, proofreading/copy editing other people's stories, and photo restoration/colorization. So far I've had takers on the first three of those four options, and while I can't share the clients' names, I can tell you they've all been very happy with my work. I'm especially surprised that the story commission came off well, since what the client asked for was waaaaay outside my wheelhouse. It's nice to know that I can take someone else's ideas, which are very unlike my own, and turn them into a full-fledged story that the pleases the person who asked for the story. And writing it went very quickly, too. I'm normally a slow writer, but I turned out this commission in less than a week.

I'm more than halfway through the first draft of "Transfixed," and it's coming along very well. I'm in the zone and writing fast. I've also decided to follow it up with a "Choose Your Own Adventure" that will be set after the events of "Transfixed"and will allow you to [spoilers ahead, so highlight the text if you really want to know]save some or all of the characters who've been brainwashed and even stop the alien invasion[/spoilers]. Of course, writing a CYOA takes a lot more time than writing a straightforward story, but I'm going to try to zip through this one pretty quickly. I learned a lot from writing What Do You Give the Alien Who Has Everything?, and I think I'll be able to turn this one out a lost faster. I might also take suggestions from fans of the "Transfixed" short story as to what I should include in the CYOA. If I go that route, I'll be sure to give credit to anyone whose ideas I use. There will also be opportunities for several beta readers, who'll get cameos in the story as a reward.

I also have an idea for updating and sexing-up a lesbian vampire story called "Christabel." The original version is by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whom some of you might remember as the opium addict who got interrupted in the middle of writing his best poem ever ("Kubla Khan"), lost his high, and was unable to recover the dream. Well, "Christabel" is a lot longer and sexier than "Kubla Khan," and I've already figured out how to turn it into the kind of fetish-filled EMC story you've grown to know and love (I hope) from me. I plan on writing "Christabel" and the CYOA at the same time so I can get the former on the market quickly while still working on the latter.

Finally, speaking of markets, here's something I threw together that you might or might not be interested in. I've been keeping track of all my sales over time, and I wanted to see which books were most profitable and why. The chart below includes everything I've written except Slave-Bride of the Sidhe, which hasn't been out long enough to take a proper measurement, and the two anthologies I took part in. For those of you who publish your own ebooks, or who are thinking of getting into publication, here are my biggest takeaways: 1) CYOA's sell like hot cakes, and 2) sexy covers make all the difference in the world (Colonized has only been out since August, and it's already in third place, beating out books that have been on the market since 2013; and Willing Subject is still raking in the money after three years on the market - thanks, as always, to Callidus, who is also taking commissions BTW). I can't help wishing Sleepwalkers was higher up the list since it's my baby, my epic, and the story that got me into self-publishing. But what can I do besides encourage you to buy it if you haven't already? If you like my stuff, Sleepwalkers is quintessential thrall.

I don't know if this info or the pie chart will interest anyone besides me, but I'm throwing it in here just for the hell of it.

Slave-Bride of the Sidhe is now available for purchase!

I've just uploaded the book to Smashwords, and as a thanks to those of you who read my blog, here's your coupon code to get 25% off: ZL39Z. The code is only good for one week, so hurry if you want to use it. Here's the Amazon link if you'd like to buy from there.

Here's the synopsis:

There’s something different about Ethna. She’s fond of her husband but she doesn’t crave his touch, and what she does crave is so strange and powerful that she can’t explain it even to herself. She seems to find an answer when she’s kidnaped by a fairy king and plunged into a world of supernatural submission, but then her husband rescues her, and she realizes King Finvarra was nothing like her heart’s desire. But she still desires something, and her experience with Finvarra has somehow brought her closer to the truth. She’ll just have to patient, and to explore her innermost depths, before she can find her true calling. Then she’ll know exactly what – and whom – she really wants.

This story is a sexed-up retelling of an ancient Celtic folk tale with an all-new second act that’s twice as titillating as the first.

Enjoy!

Just a little something I found by accident

via LXXT on Deviant Art

This and that

My postings might be irregular lately, but don't worry: I've been very busy behind the scenes. I told you recently that I was working on a new story called "Transfixed," which began life in 2009 as a collaboration that fizzled and was recently resurrected by me as a solo effort. I'm still working on it, and I'm having great ideas; but I'm putting it on hold for about a week. I decided that it would be a good move to publish something quick during the layover before "Transfixed" lands. So I've polished up "Ethna Redux," retitled it "Slave-Bride to the Sidhe" (total clickbait, I know), and am preparing to release it on or about November 2. Be on the lookout, as I'll be offering my usual 25% off coupon here.

On a different subject, I was recently pointed toward a collection of Lovecraft audiobooks adapted and narrated by a professional named Julie Hoverson. I've heard her narration, and she's excellent; I've read her writing, and it's also excellent; and I've spoken with her about her take on the Lovecraft stories, which is pretty brilliant. For instance, as much as I love HPL's stories, I can't get past his racism or his ignorance of the fact that women exist; and one of his best stories, "The Rats in the Walls," has a (very) offensively named cat in a critical role. Well, Julie found a very interesting way around both problems. If this piques your interest, and if you want to hear some great free narration of Lovecraft stories and other interesting stuff, click here.

Finally, on a third subject, Callidus has shared a clip from a video game featuring sexy drone women wearing half-Borg/half-bikini outfits. It's cool, but it's also kind of hilarious the way the "camera" zooms in on their tits and asses. Their armor is anything but practical...but since they're lightning fast and seem to be able to teleport or something, I suppose they'd be just as safe if they were naked. Anyway, here's the clip. Enjoy.

hot sex

That's not just a click-bait title. I'm about to share with you a magma-hot sex scene, one of the best I've ever read - even though it doesn't involve any MC and the couple are hetero. But don't worry; this scene is in no way vanilla. The man, Boone, is dead. He's been resurrected as a monster and it sickens him; but his girlfriend isn't bothered by something as unimportant as the lack of a pulse, and she wants him off his mopey ass. You see, Boone's in jail, surrounded by a lynch mob, and he has to break out before the humans finish him. Then they have to save the necropolis of Midian that made Boone what he is. It seems like a tall order, but Boone has plenty of power. He just needs someone with power over him - the merely human Lori - to bring him back to pseudo-life.

This is an excerpt from the novella Cabal, by Clive Barker - for my money, the best erotica writer outside of the erotica genre.

---

"They have to finish me, Lori. Put me out of my misery."

"I don't want you out of your misery," she said.

"But I do!" he replied, looking up at her for the first time. Seeing his face, she remembered how many had doted on him, and understood why. Pain could have no more persuasive apologists than his bones, his eyes.

"I want out," he said. "Out of this body. Out of this life."

"You can't. Midian needs you. It's being destroyed, Boone."

"Let it go! Let it all go. Midian's just a hole in the ground, full of things that should lie down and be dead. They know that, all of 'em. They just haven't got the balls to do what's right."

"Nothing's right," she found herself saying (how far she'd come to this bleak relativity), "except what you feel and know."

His small fury abated. The sadness that replaced it was more profound than ever.

"I feel dead," he said. "I know nothing."

"That's not true," she replied, taking the first steps toward him she'd taken since entering the cell. He flinched as if he expected her to strike him.

"You know me. You feel me."

She took hold of his arm and pulled it up toward her. He didn't have time to make a fist. She laid his palm on her stomach.

"You think you disgust me, Boone? You think you horrify me? You don't."

She drew his hand up toward her breasts.

"I still want you, Boone. Midian wants you too, but I want you more. I want you cold, if that's the way you are. I want you dead, if that's the way you are. And I'll come to you if you won't come to me. I'll let them shoot me down."

"No," he said.

Her grip on his hand was light now. He could have slipped it, but he chose to leave his touch upon her, with only the thin fabric of her blouse intervening. She wished she could dissolve it at will, have his hand stroking the skin between her breasts.

"They're going to come for us sooner or later," she said.

Nor was she bluffing. There were voices from outside. A lynch mob gathering. Maybe the monsters were forever. But so were their persecutors.

"They'll destroy us both, Boone. You for what you are. Me for loving you. And I'll never hold you again. I don't want that, Boone. I don't want us dust in the same wind. I want us flesh."

Her tongue had outstripped her intention. She hadn't meant to say it so plainly. But it was said now, and true. She wasn't ashamed of it.

"I won't let you deny me, Boone," she told him. The words were their own engine. They drove her hand to Boone's cold scalp. She snatched a fist of his thick black hair.

He didn't resist her. Instead the hand on her chest closed on the blouse, and he went down onto his knees in front of her, pressing his face to her crotch, licking at it as if to tongue her clean of clothes and enter her with spit and spirit all in one.

She was wet beneath the fabric. He smelled her heat for him. Knew what she's said was no lie. He kissed her cunt, or the cloth that hid her cunt, over and over and over.

"Forgive yourself, Boone," she said. He nodded.

She took tighter hold on his hair, and pulled him away from the bliss of her scent.

"Say it," she told him. "Say you forgive yourself."

He looked up from his pleasure, and she could see before he spoke the weight of shame had gone from his face. Behind his sudden smile she met the monster's eyes, dark, and darkening still as he delved for it. The look made her ache.

"Please..." she murmured, "love me."

He pulled at her blouse. It tore. His hand went through the gap in one smooth motion, and beneath her bra to her breast. This was madness, of course. The mob would be upon them if they didn't get out quickly. But then madness had drawn her into this circle of dust and flies in the first place; why be surprised her journey had brought her round to this new insanity? Better this than life without him. Better this than practically anything.

He was getting to his feet, teasing her tit from hiding, putting his cold mouth to her hot nipple, flicking it, licking it, tongue and teeth in perfect play. Death had made a lover of him. Given him knowledge of flesh and how to rouse it, made him easy with the body's mysteries. He was everywhere about her, working his hips against hers in slow grinding circles - trailing his tongue from her breasts to the sweet bowl between her clavicles, and up along the ridge of her throat to her chin, thence to her mouth.

Only once in her life had there been such wrenching hunger in her. In New York, years before, she'd met and fucked with a man whose name she'd never known, but whose hands and lips seemed to know her better than herself.

"Have a drink with me?" she'd said, when they'd unglued themselves.

He'd told her no almost pityingly, as though someone so ignorant of the rules was bound for grief. So she'd watched him dress and leave, angry with herself for asking, and with him for such practiced detachment. But she'd dreamt of him a dozen times in the weeks after, revisiting their squalid moments together, hungry for them again.

She had them here. Boone was the lover of that dark corner, perfected. Cool and feverish, urgent and studied. She knew his name this time, but he was still strange to her. And in the fervor of his possession, and in her heat for him, she felt that other lover, and all the lovers who'd come and gone before him, burned up. It was only their ash in her now, where their tongues and necks and cocks had been, and she had power over them completely.

Boone was unzipping himself. She took his length in her hand. Now it was his turn to sigh as she ran her fingers along the underside of his erection, up from his balls to where the ring of his circumcision scar bore a nugget of tender flesh. She stroked him there, tiny movements to match the measure of his tongue back and forth between her lips. Then, on the same sudden impulse, the teasing time was over. He was lifting her skirt, tearing at her underwear, his fingers going where only hers had been for too long. She pushed him back against the wall, pulled his jeans down to midthigh. Then, one arm hooked around his shoulders, the other hand enjoying the silk of his cock before it was out of sight, she took him inside. He resisted her speed, a delicious war of want which had her at screaming pitch in seconds. She was never so open, nor had ever needed to be. He filled her to overflowing.

Then it really began. After the promises, the proof. Bracing his upper back against the wall he angled himself so as to throw his fuck up into her, her weight its own insistence. She licked his face. He grinned. She spat in it. He laughed and spat back.

"Yes," she said. "Yes. Go on. Yes."

All she could manage was affirmatives. Yes to his spittle, yes to his cock, yes to this life in death, and joy in life and death forever and ever.

His answer was honey-hipped, wordless labor, teeth clenched, brow plowed. The expression on his face made her cunt spasm. To see him shut his eyes against her pleasure, to know that the sight of her bliss took him too close to be countenanced. They had such power each over each. She demanded his motion with motion of her own, one hand gripping the brick beside his head so she could raise herself along his length and then impale herself again. There was no finer hurt. She wished it could never stop.

But there was a voice at the door. She could hear it through her whining head.

"Quickly."

It was Narcisse.

"Quickly." Boone heard him too, and the din behind his voice as the lynchers gathered. He matched her new rhythm, up to meet her descent.

"Open your eyes," she said.

He obeyed, grinning at the command. It was too much for him, meeting her eyes. Too much for her, meeting his. The pact struck, they parted till her cunt only sucked at the head of his cock - so slicked it might slip from her - then closed on each other for one final stroke.

The joy of it made her cry out, but he choked her yell with his tongue, sealing their eruption inside their mouths. Not so below. Undammed after months, his come overflowed and ran down her legs, its course colder than his scalp or his kisses.

It was Narcisse who brought them back from their world of two into that of many. The door was now open. He was watching them without embarrassment.

"Finished?" he wanted to know.

Boone wiped his lips back and forth on Lori's, spreading their saliva from cheek to cheek.

"For now," he said, looking only at her.

"So can we get going?" Narcisse said.

"Whenever. Wherever."

"Midian," came the instant reply.

"Midian, then."

What's up next

My posting schedule might be a little irregular for a while, but don't worry; I haven't forgotten you. Life is complicated right now, but one part of it involves a brand new story that I'm just about ready to start writing. It took me quite a while to work out the details of this one because of its origin.

Some of my long-time blog readers will remember that a few years ago, I was planning a second collaboration (after publishing the Quick and Dirty Anthology) with trilby else, Tabico, Iago, and some others; but our lineup was constantly in flux, and ultimately we had to drop the project. But I can tell you more about it now, because I've gotten permission to write up my part of the story, with some changes, as an independent piece.

In the epic we originally envisioned, a human spaceship had been invaded by insectile aliens that attached to and enslaved its crew, and they'd forced this ship to ram into another one for the purpose of taking it over. Each of us was going to follow a few characters aboard the second ship as they scrambled to hide and/or escape into space. We were going to call the story "Transfixed" because it made a nice triple entendre (The two ships are literally transfixed, the victims are transfixed by MC, and "transfixed" is a play on "trance-fixed." Don't say I never gave you anything).

My part of the story had the captain of the second ship being captured and tempted by the captain of the first ship, a woman who had once been her lover and was now the aliens' eager puppet. Then I had a third character, an innocent peon with a crush on my heroine, whom she was trying to protect while he tried to avoid capture. Never mind the "whys" of all that, because the situation has changed a bit, and I don't want to spoil the parts that haven't changed. I'll just tell you this: the aliens are still somewhat insectile, although not what we originally envisioned; and  my three characters still exist, though in altered form. The biggest difference is that the ex-lover is now a man. I decided to change his gender as a way to stretch myself. It'll be fun to write a different kind of seduction scene (For the record, this will be nothing like the Paolo/Shara scene in Sleepwalkers. It'll be sexy rather than horrific.).

I'll admit I'm curious to know how my longtime fans will react to the new direction. You wouldn't keep reading my stuff if you weren't into lesbian sex; but judging by the comments and emails you send me, you're evenly divided between genders, and a lot of my male fans are subs. That being the case, I hope you'll like seeing an MC'ed man tempting a free woman to give in.

As always, feel free to leave comments below. I've set up my blog so that you can comment in total anonymity, and I never delete anything but spam and troll posts. Let me know what you think.

Honey wine

I hear there's a perfect wine for every entree. It might be true, although I can think of several dishes that could only be served with wine from a box. Thankfully, tonight's vintage is so fine that I had to match entrees to it rather than vice-versa. I think you'll like my choices.

 Last week I posted about Carmilla, the mother of all lesbian vampire stories. One of the commenters who replied to my post, Fax Paladin, mentioned the transformation scene in Invasion of the Bee Girls as being a touchstone of his fetish. I'd heard of the movie before but had never seen it, and I had no idea whether it would do anything for me; but after reading Fax Paladin's comment I had to look it up on YouTube. You can find the whole movie there, but I don't recommend trying to watch it all the way through. It's not worth much overall except when Anitra Ford is onscreen. I'd submit to any transformation she demanded, just for a single kiss. But the scene that cemented Fax Paladin's fetish would have cemented mine as well, if I'd only had the chance to see it before other sources made me a permanent EMC slave girl.

Really, though, how could I have lived this long without having seen the Bee Girls transformation clip? Most movies featuring MC and/or transformation scenes stint on what we fetishists consider the good stuff, but not the team behind Invasion of the Bee Girls. They milked this scene for every drop of fetish it was worth. Have a look, and once you've pulled yourself together again afterwards, scroll down a little further to see my recommendations for entrees to accompany this fine honeyed wine.



The first story I was reminded of, after viewing this scene, was Tabico's A Scent of Malt and Flesh. Here, women on a camping trip are transformed into meta-humans in a burgeoning hive, with the strongest two eventually engaging a telepathic showdown for the title of Queen Bee. Meanwhile the male characters are reduced to drones who are simultaneously luckier and unluckier than the men in Anitra Ford's movie (Don't pretend it isn't her movie). These guys aren't fucked to death, but they're not fucked, period. The bee-women just don't have much use for them anymore.

Actually, I don't know if it's fair to use that term for the women in Tabico's story. She does love women with bee eyes, and I have no doubt she's already seen Invasion of the Bee Women, but the parallels aren't as clear in her story as they are in Honey Chile by Libertine. In this one, the protagonist is quite literally turned into a black-eyed bee-woman, and part of the process involves being slathered head-to-toe in honey. It's ridiculously easy to imagine Anitra Ford playing the Queen Bee in this story.

Anitra Ford. Anitra Ford. Anitra Ford. Go on: you know you want to chant it too.

The mother of all lesbian vampire movies

Have you heard of Carmilla? In its first life it was a vampire novel that predated Bram Stoker's Dracula by 26 years, but even in that incarnation, Carmilla was quite clearly a lesbian. It's almost comical how the heroine, Laura, fails to notice what her strange new friend is up to. Carmilla is constantly stroking Laura and declaring her quite literally undying love for the girl. She even says she wants Laura to die and be resurrected so they can be together forever. But as smart as Laura is - and she is very smart - she's lived such a sheltered life that she thinks Carmilla is just a little flaky. It's funny and scary all at once, since Laura has no clue that her "friend" is a supernatural stalker who's killing her a sip at a time.

In 1970 Hammer Films turned Carmilla into a movie called The Vampire Lovers, and they actually made the lesbianism of the story even more explicit. Then they cast two incredibly hot leads (the dewy innocent Pippa Steel as Laura and the irresistibly sultry Ingrid Pitt as Carmilla) and gave them a love scene that, even though it's softcore, must have shocked the hell out of 1970 audiences who thought they were in for a mere horror movie. But I can't imagine they were unhappy for very long. The sight of Pippa's perfect breasts would cure any ailment. Let me share that love scene with you - and then the seduction/betrayal scene that comes right afterwards.

Carmilla works her mind control on Laura first, with nothing more than a kiss, and before long Laura is naked and rolling wide, glazed eyes as the vampire teases her nipples and then bites her just above the areola. No necks for this lesbian vamp! She's after sweeter prizes. And yes, the breast bite is in the original story too. Read it, if you're interested. You can find it free here.

Then in comes the governess, who until now has been a kindly, protective figure; but before long she's fallen even deeper than Laura under Carmilla's control. Watch her face as she slides from groggy compliance to surprised arousal and finally outright lust when Carmilla lures her into another room and undresses. You won't have any doubts about what happens next, even though it's not shown. You just see the governess looking very satisfied the next morning, and after that she's become a perfect Renfield.

Unfortunately, there's no way to embed a video on Blogger in such a way that it starts at the point you want, so I'll have to give you the whole movie here and tell you to skip forward to 44:58. That's where the Laura/Carmilla scene starts, and the governess scene comes just afterward. Oh, and here's a tip to help you enjoy the scenes even more: pay close attention to the details of Laura's dream. It's chock full of lesbian innuendo.

Colonized is now available for your reading pleasure

And, as usual, I'm giving my blog readers a discount for your continued support. I've gone back to publishing my ebooks dually on Amazon and Smashwords, so this coupon code is for Smashwords: YZ46W. Note: The coupon expires after one week, so if you're planning on using it, get on over to Smashwords now. Here's the link.

The book is also available on Amazon here.

I'll put the story synopsis at the bottom of this post, but before I do, here's a tragic little tale for anyone wondering why I started using Smashwords again.  Kindle Unlimited was a goldmine for a little while because its illogical borrowing policy meant writers got paid more for a $.99 ebook someone borrowed than for a $.99 ebook someone bought. We all loved the system while it lasted, but we knew it couldn't last, and it didn't. Kindle revised its policy in June, and now we get almost nothing from borrows unless they're for novel-length books. That being the case, I've pulled almost all my stuff out of KU and am now selling it in two places at once again. The only exceptions are my novel-length Sleepwalkers, What Do You Give the Alien Who Has Everything? and Dark Spaces. Those will stay in Kindle Unlimited because they're long enough to make the exclusivity worth it.

Speaking of which, I'd encourage any of you enrolled in Kindle Prime to borrow those three books and just flip through them, even if you don't read them. It's an easy way to help me out, and you don't have to spend a cent to do it. ;-)

Now here's the synopsis for Colonized:

After a raid destroys their colony, a small ship of humans flees into space, desperately searching for a new world to replace their stolen one. Just as their supplies are running out, they find what seems like paradise: a lush green planet with a breathable atmosphere and no natural predators. Well, there is one predator, but the humans don't notice Her because She's as large as the planet itself.

The Queen is over two million years old, and after such a long and varied existence, She's too refined to eat Her prey. That would be a waste of entertainment. She'd rather play with them; and in the end they're happy to be played with. In fact, they want nothing more.

As always, the game begins when the Queen chooses an Avatar, a victim through whom She can play the game up close. But making Her newest proxy leads to an unexpected complication. Another human, one slated to serve as a pawn, proves worthy of a greater role. Now the Queen must make a second choice: stick to Her original plan or change the rules of the game.

Cover reveal

"Colonized" is coming very soon, possibly as early as Monday night. In the meantime, I've finished the cover and am sharing it now for your viewing pleasure. If you're interested, here's the image I started with. I touched up the woman and then dropped her into a background by a different artist, and I'm ridiculously pleased with the color combination. I had no idea it would work so well.

Anyway, I'm using Smashwords again and will give you a coupon code that's good for just one week, so watch this space and don't miss your chance to get 25% off.

Part 2 of my interview with Callidus

And here it is, folks: the conclusion to my epic live interview with Callidus.

We start out talking about MC (and the surprising lack thereof) in the various Marvel franchises. This section includes an impromptu visualization of a scene I'd like to have seen played out on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Listening to the audio again, I realize I actually left Callidus speechless for a couple of seconds. I'm proud of that. ;-) From there we move on to a debate about how to fit MC into the Matrix storyverse, we reminisce about the better plot for Alien 3 that we came up with together, and we gradually veer off into hilarious full-on geekery. I think you'll enjoy it all.

a perfect trance

In case you've been living under a rock and hadn't noticed, YouTube is stuffed with snippets from TV shows and movies of people getting MC'ed. I have no idea who most of the posters are, although I have a hunch many of them are the same person. You don't come up with a nickname like "jbvljkvwlfh" unless you're tapping random keys on your keyboard to create one of many disposable accounts. The snippets themselves have random titles too, things like "Mind Control 37" or an all-caps abbreviation of a TV show/movie title, anything to throw production studios off the scent. Well, hell, I don't mind!

Unfortunately, most of these videos don't do anything for me. I don't like bimbofication, I don't think possession counts as mind control, and I don't like it when I can't can't tell the character is being controlled (i.e., when a good character I'm not familiar with suddenly turns evil. How am I supposed to know they're not always evil?).

On the other side of the coin there are excellent MC videos like the one I'm linking to below. It's not embeddable, but I promise you it's worth clicking. This clip hits almost all my fetish buttons: total destruction of personality and will; a slow, dazed walk with the woman's hands flat at her sides; deep trance in public with no one noticing or helping her; robotic responses in public with people still not noticing or helping her; and as the coup de grace, betrayal of the heroes to their enemies.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Best brainwashing helmet ever

I fell down a rabbit hole on YouTube last night, rummaging through clips of characters on TV shows and in movies being brainwashed. Most of it didn't satisfy my picky tastes, but the one I'm sharing here rocked my socks off.

The first link at the bottom of this post goes to a HD video of the whole movie. This video was only recently uploaded, and I don't expect it to stay put long; so if you like what you see, you'd better download it as quickly as you can. But just in case the full movie disappears, I'll give you a second link to a low-quality clip of the brainwashing scene by itself.

Here's the setup. The main character here is a corporate spy who goes to conventions and secretly records presentations. But during this particular presentation, he realizes the people around him are falling into trance. He's wide awake, but he has to pretend that he's hypnotized too in order to avoid detection. The problem is that once the bad guys activate the helmet, it might not matter that he was awake. That thing is a really powerful, scary brainwashing device.

I deliberately chose a screen grab that doesn't show the whole device in action, or the whole room of zombified convention-goers. To see that, you'll have to follow one of the links below. Trust me, it's worth it:

Link to the whole movie in HD, beginning at the start of the brainwashing scene

Link to the brainwashing scene by itself, in low quality

In the pipeline

Just a short one today since I know a lot of my readers are vacationing this weekend. I'm currently working on my next ebook, which will be a rewrite of "Avatar" - a name I can no longer use, for obvious reasons. It will now be called "Colonized," and the whole second half will be brand spanking new. I was never happy with the old ending, and now I have a chance to change it.

At left is the comp version of the image I'll be using to make my cover. Tell me what you think of it.