Today, I turn over the blog to Kay Berrisford - enjoy her blog and excerpt.
When I was writing ‘Bound for the Forest,’ I sat down for a session of brainstorming with a sheet of paper entitled: how the hell am I going to get these two to shag?
As a newbie writing my first erotic novel, it was a very real issue. I’d piled up so many reasons that my MCs, Scarlet and Brien, shouldn’t have sex that there was a danger the story wasn’t going to be very erotic at all! First I scribbled down how some of the couples in books I’d recently read first got it on, and ended up with a long list including everything from ‘sleepwalking’ and ‘won her in an auction,’ to ‘post-shifted comfort sex.’ Then I consulted a few textbooks and wrote some rather dry notes about ‘heated arguments leading to heated sensuality,’ and all that whatnot. Because he wandered in to be nosy, I also consulted my ‘other half.’ He suggested ‘just get them drunk.’ I rolled my eyes and told him to bugger off (okay, I might have scribbled his idea down first, but I didn’t tell him that.)
Eventually, I lost my brainstorming sheet within the mess that is my office. So I just got on with the book, tempting my MCs with a little bondage, a little magic, a large dose of sizzling mutual attraction…and hell, the sex games started sooner than I intended! I couldn’t keep them apart.
Although my research was no doubt nudging me from the back of my mind, I didn’t find my list again until just a few days ago. It made me grin madly. Had I used any of the ideas on it? Surprisingly, only one of them, and even that was a tiny, subsidiary factor in Brien and Scarlet’s getting together. But, damn it, it was the liquor. Don’t tell my ‘other half’!
Thank you so much to Jianne Carlo for letting me guest at her blog. I’m really excited to be here!
Bound for the Forest, by Kay Berrisford.
Genres: LGBT, nontraditional sexuality, historical, fantasy, paranormal, BDSM. Novel, 68000 words.
Blurb: Ex-soldier Brien forces Scarlet, a sexy young thief, to lead him into a forest realm of magic, sex, bondage and blood. Can they discover their true feelings for each other before the forest spirits enslave them both?
Art by Anne Cain.
Excerpt:
Scarlet located a dusty green bottle and then grabbed two pottery goblets from the dresser, only one of which was chipped. “This stuff’s made from dewberries and gillyflower,” he explained as he poured. “Old Brigit used to swear by it. She said it kept her alive for at least an extra ten years. I think it tastes like shit, but…”
“…but it’s got a kick like a donkey?”
“Yes, I believe it has.” Scarlet’s laugh sounded inappropriately deep and dirty, so he cut it off short. He handed one of the goblets to Brien, who took it without ripping his gaze from Scarlet’s. His long, dexterous fingers wrapped right about the vessel.
“Cheers.” Brien took a sip and then hissed between his teeth. “Blimey! That doesn’t kick like a donkey—more like a mule in labor!”
Scarlet giggled but then bit hard into his bottom lip. He had just knelt down at Brien’s knee and already regretted it. The stance felt too natural, and Brien started tipping himself back and forth on the chair to a steady rhythm, making Scarlet acutely aware of the very manly bulge in his tight breeches. He’d been here before. “Hope I don’t poison you,” he muttered, shifting back onto his haunches.
“If I fall dead where I stand, I doubt this book is going to be pointing the finger solely at you,” said Brien. “I’m supposing that everything that crawls or slithers in this forest is intent on my destruction.”
“I bloody well wish that it was! It might make my life a bit simpler.”
Brien’s noncommittal grunt made Scarlet wish he would just come straight out and mock him like before. What the hell was Brien’s agenda now? Scarlet knew he was hovering on the precipice, his breath bated, just waiting for the man to make his move. But he’d resolved to fight, hadn’t he?
Yes, came that whisper, niggling in the back of his mind. You want to fight him, Scarlet. You want him to be rough because you know you can never beat him. You want to bite and kick as he overpowers you, and then…
Scarlet gulped down his liquor—and abruptly choked, spitting half of it back out again. “Agh!”
It kicked, all right. He’d forgotten just how much. Brien patted his back as he coughed, and Scarlet’s muscles tightened at the impact. He stilled himself with another, more cautious sip.
They were silent for a moment. Brien gently rubbed across Scarlet’s shoulders, melting a little of the tension away. Then Brien asked, “Will you show me what has been written about the bloodline?”
But it now link: http://www.loose-id.com/Bound-for-the-Forest.aspx
http://twitter.com/#!/KayBerrisford