November 5th, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I have to admit, whenever I think of co-authoring I think of this brilliant piece (which I thought was Dave Barry? but I couldn’t confirm that online):, from a supposed college writing assignment on collaborative short story writing:


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At first, Laurie couldn’t decide what kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much, her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon-4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie, with whom he’d spent one sweaty night over a year ago.

“A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,” he said into his trans-galactic communicator, “Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far….” but before he could sign off, a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship’s cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon-4.

“Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel,” Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her.

She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth– when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. “Why must one lose one’s innocence to become a woman?” she pondered wistfully.

Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu’udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race.

Within two hours after the passage of the treaty, the Anu’ udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the earth’s atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans.

The President slammed his fist on the conference table. “We can’t allow this! I’m going to veto that treaty! Let’s blow ’em out of the sky!”

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.

Yeah? Well you’re a self-centered, tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of valium.

Asshole.

Bitch.

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Ha ha ha. Right. But what’s it really like? Katie, One half of the hot new erotica-writin’ duo of Willsin Rowe and Katie Salidas, both firmly established authors in their own right, talks about co-authoring their new domination & submission series Submission Therapy:

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For me, writing is a powerful thing. I am the creator of a world and people that until that point had never existed. I rule over this world with a mighty pen and control the fate of the creations within the pages. But, along with great power comes great responsibility. It’s not enough to play god. I have to develop a story that is not only worthy of being read, but also able to be read (published). That often feels like a daunting task. Roadblocks of writer’s block and time constraints often have me feeling frantic that a story will never see itself to completion.

Even with the stress involved, the power of being “the creator” is nice little perk. I often find myself falling in love with the world I’ve created and using it as my escape from the everyday stresses in real life.

That escape element makes writing an intensely personal endeavor. The world I create is my world. It belongs to no one else. I spend a lot of time and energy into develop that vision as I work my world into a readable and enjoyable story. In that world, I grow my characters from seeds of inspiration, and watch them develop into actual entities. Their thoughts and feelings, their lives, their interactions, they all become real within the confines of that world.

Because of this intensely personal nature, Writing is not a craft that often lends itself to collaboration. Collaboration means giving up control, it means letting someone into my world and trusting that they will not abuse their power while in it.

In that respect, choosing to work with a partner is a lesson in Submission.

It’s not always an easy lesson. This world I’ve created is personal. It’s an extension of myself. Letting someone in is a deeply intimate act. Once inside, they will have the ability to manage and manipulate my characters. They can do so much damage.

Just as the Dom/Sub relationship relies on trust and faith, so too does the co-authoring partnership. You have to trust that the partner you are working with has a vision and goals that match your own. That both of you, no matter how you might differ on opinions, are working toward the best story possible.

It’s never easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it.

I’ve never been one to relinquish control of anything. I’m more than OCD in my writing. I don’t like having to listen to others opinions. I don’t like people telling me what I should and shouldn’t do with my characters.

Much like our character, Natasha, I like to control it all. And much like Natasha, I find myself feeling heartburn and stressed out over stories that I can’t seem to see to fruition.

But, as I have learned, there are some benefits to letting go of some control.

Writer’s block, being one of the biggest road blocks becomes much smaller an obstacle when there are two writers battling against it. When stalled on a story and I simply cannot find the solution, I’ve learned that if I let go of that control, that need to make this story 100% mine, and to trust in my writing partner, the answers become clear. Sometimes he might have the answer and next step in the vision, and sometimes, just through chatting about the story, the solution presents itself.

Does it always work smoothly, no, but having a partner I can trust, and letting go and trusting him has proven itself to be very beneficial. And at this point, we’ve put out 3 and we’re working on number 4 with many more stories to come.

* * *

Curious about the results? Submission Therapy currently has a 4.8-star rating on Amazon… check it out!

Billionaire CEO of Blakely Incorporated, Natasha runs her empire with an eagle eye for every detail. She’s an obsessive, compulsive, micromanaging hard-ass, consumed by the need to control every aspect of her life and her business.

But underneath that seemingly strong façade, Natasha is a swirling mess of anger, anxiety and sexual addiction. Only her therapist, Dr. Benson, knows how close she is to burning out…or exploding. He insists on a radical form of treatment – Submission Therapy – knowing that it’s her only hope.

Skeptical but intrigued, Natasha agrees to attend the first session. What she finds there is an erotically-charged environment that will forgive none of her habitual bad behavior. And a steely-eyed man who seems to read her every desire – even the ones she won’t admit to herself.

Will Natasha learn what it means to submit? Or will she allow her brittle pride to rob her of what she truly needs?

And then buy one here. Yes! Submit to Submission Therapy! You know you want to. And thank you, Katie Salidas, for guest blogging for me today.

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Katie Salidas is a Super Woman! Endowed with special powers and abilities, beyond those of mortal women, She can get the munchkins off to gymnastics, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons.  She can put hot food on the table for dinner while assisting with homework, baths, and bedtime… And, she still finds the time to keep the hubby happy (nudge nudge wink wink). She can do all of this and still have time to write.

And if you can believe all of those lies, there is some beautiful swamp land in Florida for sale…

Katie Salidas resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mother, wife, and author, she does try to do it all, often causing sleep deprivation and many nights passed out at the computer. Writing books is her passion, and she hopes that her passion will bring you hours of entertainment.

Blog  http://www.katiesalidas.com/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Salidas-Author/214780936916

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=58814031&trk=tab_pro

Twitter  http://twitter.com/QuixoticKatie

Publisher http://www.risingsignbooks.net

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October 22nd, 2010 | 2 Comments »

My publisher, Fanny Press, is seeking manuscripts for erotic literature and non-fiction. In their words:

EROTICA AUTHORS: Fanny Press wants to see your manuscripts! We consider all types of erotica: gay, straight or polyamorous, memoirs, BDSM … We’re fine with pushing boundaries, but we also consider the less edgy stuff, as long as you can keep the pages turning and the steam rising. Contact us at info@fannypress.com. Best length: between 35,000 and 70,000 words. Include a short bio and synopsis.

I’ve been very happy with them; specifically, I liked the attention my book got from the editor, and how easy it was to communicate with the editor. She was happy to go back and forth with me on this comma and that vocabulary until things were right. When the book first came out, there was a formatting error that took out the margin indents in the final story; when I let Fanny Press know, they updated the file on Amazon and the problem was fixed. It wasn’t a huge thing, but it mattered to me, and I was pleased that it mattered to them. As an author, I like a publisher who cares about my book!

Not only that, but they have a fun name. In American English, fanny is a slang term for one’s posterior, rear end, booty, ass. However, to speakers of British and Australian English, a fanny is a woman’s … lady business (a term that will always remind me of the hilarious Woomba commercial). For erotica, though, either meaning works, doesn’t it? I have no idea what it means to Canadians… can anyone enlighten me?

Posted in Uncategorized
September 17th, 2010 | 12 Comments »

NOTE: If I do not post anything new before November, this post explains why.

“Do you have any flash drives that don’t look like flash drives?” I asked the sales clerk.

“Um… what?”

I guess he was just stalling for time, to mentally run through his inventory, because the question seemed perfectly clear to me. I said it again anyway, though.

“Maybe… um… what do you want it for?”

“Smuggling porn,” I said, and then we both laughed.

Except I wasn’t kidding. Well, OK, except about the “smuggling” part. I’m not looking to sell anything, I just want to transport a few things, like e-books. Given that more countries, such as Australia, are now sometimes scanning laptops for “pornography,” I didn’t want to have to explain anything questionable. Would the cover of an erotica e-book be considered pornographic? Well, probably not in Australia. But how about in the Middle East? At the border is not the best time to find out!

For short trips, I’d just leave anything questionable at home. But for a longer stay, well… the e-books are ones I’ve promised to review. It’s work (albeit pleasurable work). And I would like to be able to take my work with me.

His selection of flash-drives-that-don’t-look-like-flash-drives was limited to skateboards and snowboards (and not in very “me” colors), and they were on the expensive side for the amount of storage space they were offering. In the end, I decided to use my Dropbox instead; that way, I’m not carrying anything on my person, and I can pick up my files anywhere I can get an Internet connection (which always sounds easy…). If I create new documents, I can post them there as well, and pick them up again at home on my return.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to access this blog while I’m away, especially since it’s tagged as containing mature content. If I can post, I will (with at least one review of a very interesting collection!). If I can’t, then you’ll just have to wait for November.

Traveling to places with very different cultures is a good time to think about abstract issues as well as very practical ones like carrying computer files. Is erotica “wrong”? Clearly I don’t think so, or I wouldn’t read it, write it, and write about it. But do I want to aggressively parade that stance around the world? Well, no, no I don’t. Certainly not on a personal level — I have no wish to be deported or jailed. Do I think though that some societies are too sexually repressed? Well… yes, I do (including my own). As to how that can change, and whether a non-member of that society has any part to play in such a change, that is a subject for a longer conversation, and my opinion on it shifts around all the time. For this trip, though, I know that any good I could do would be more than undone by my offending people around me. I write erotica to please and entertain, not to shock and upset.

The final thing I did here on this blog before leaving on my trip was to empty my spam folder. As usual, there were lists of links to pharmaceuticals and sexual aids; one to linoleum flooring; a few for meeting hot girls; a sprinkling of the kind that make me laugh the most, that say that they’ve found the article “very useful for my college class” (except they never manage to spell “college” correctly); and one that contained just this line, with a few links to shopping sites:

For me I am a fan of online shopping for the reason that we need not to go anywhere.

I like online shopping too — that’s the best way for me to buy only the item that I really need, and not get distracted by extraneous things on shelves. But! It doesn’t at all override my need to go anywhere. I love traveling. I travel mostly for work these days, yes, but I love it all the same. New people, unfamiliar languages, suspicious food, surprising schedule changes, breathtaking sights, shoddy facilities/palatial facilities, I love it all. My next collection of erotic stories will also be centered around a travel theme, but this time with more of a focus on settings.

So sucks to you, Mr. Online Shopper Spam Man, I deleted your comment with double the usual satisfaction!

Posted in Uncategorized
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