Sharazade

Oh, this makes me smile! A review from Fulani at his blog site. For an author, there’s really nothing quite like… being read. I think that’s the nicest thing about a review, really — not that some nice things were said about you, but that you can tell that someone actually read your book (and ‘got’ it). This reviewer got it, I can tell, because he pulled out some commonalities in the stories that, when I read them, made me say, Oh, yes, that’s me, all right!

He got how I like to write, too:

While each of the stories involves sex, all of them build to it, with tensions between the characters and implicit in the situation, before the act takes place. You get the slow burn before the sudden flash.

That is how I like my erotica (as a reader as well as a writer): I want there to be a story, a reason for it all. Not just a scene report. A short story doesn’t deliver all the backstory or answer every “What happens next?”, but I do like a bit of plot, a bit of “why” along with the “how.”

He’s got an interesting blog, a perfect example of the word “eclectic.” From his index of topics, here is just the letter B:

• bdsm (11)
• beauty (1)
• bedtime (1)
• Bicycle (1)
• billboard (1)
• bondage (3)
• books (2)
• bookshelves (1)

(Hint: Check out “bicycle.” See? There ARE new things out there!)

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It’s an interview! It’s a giveaway! It’s a … a whole new word!

Is it, in fact… a whole new genre? It might be! If you google “erotocomedic,” the first 20 hits are all to Jeremy Edwards. Sex and humor are difficult to write about (or, perhaps it’s better to say, they’re difficult to write well about), so to find both done very well, and done together, is a treat.

I previously reviewed his erotocomedic novel Rock My Socks Off here. Now I have Mr. Edwards himself here for an interview about writing and his novel. At the end of the interview, please see details for how to enter yourself into a drawing to win an autographed copy of said novel.

But first, a formal introduction, of both Jeremy and his new novel:

Jeremy Edwards is the author of the erotocomedic novel Rock My Socks Off and the erotic story collection Spark My Moment (both published by Xcite Books). His libidinous tales have been widely published online, as well as in over fifty anthologies. His work was selected for The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, vols. 7, 8, and 9, and he has read at New York’s In the Flesh and Philadelphia’s Erotic Literary Salon. Jeremy’s greatest goal in life is to be sexy and witty at the same moment—ideally in lighting that flatters his profile. Readers can drop in on him unannounced (and thereby catch him in his underwear) at www.jeremyedwardserotica.com.

Writer Jacob Hastings is uninspired by his latest assignment: a museum full of hideous rocking horses. But his socks are rocked by Normandie Stephens, a mischievous astronomer who can match his dry wit, quip for quip, and his sexual appetite, frolic for frolic, with energy to spare.

Thanks to Jacob’s public relations and the machinations of a feisty and frisky mentor named Kate, an impasse in Normandie’s career promises to blossom into either glory or disaster—with enigmatic photographer Susan and obtuse clubber Brandon along for the wild rocking-horse ride. Between farcical talk show appearances, sensuous threesomes, horny little quickies, sex-drenched romantic getaways, and close calls with utter embarrassment, the pace never lets up in this smart erotic romp.

And now to my questions, and of course, his answers.

Until Rock My Socks Off, you’d published exclusively erotic short stories. Why the change to a novel?

Once I’d been active for a while as a short-story author, I became aware that writing an erotic novel was something I might undertake—though I wasn’t sure this was something I actually wanted to embark on. At a certain point I judged that if I were going to do it at all, the time was right: I seemed to be at the right place in my career, the market seemed to be inviting, and my schedule at that juncture could accommodate the task. I’d developed a rough idea of the type of book I’d write if I wrote one, and there really didn’t seem any reason not to give it a try. So I jumped!

How did the idea of rocking horses come to you?

I don’t have a clear memory of the moment I got the precise brainstorm (if you will); but I do know I’d mulled over the possibilities for an institution that could be dysfunctional in that special way some small organizations become, and whose mission could involve something that was prized by certain discriminating individuals but innocuously repulsive to other discrim. individs. Somehow a user-unfriendly museum of over-the-top Victorian-era rocking horses came to mind, and here we are.

Recently I’ve read in quite a few places some debates among authors about words—specifically, whether an author should take care to only use words he thinks his readers will understand, or whether he should actually endeavor to use “big words” and throw a little education in there, or whether he should just write as he pleases, and let the chips fall where they may. Where do you stand on this issue in regards to your own writing?

You would count me with the chips. (And I do hope there’s some smoky, garlic-heavy salsa on the table.) While I wouldn’t use a word strictly with a didactic intent, I also don’t hesitate to use words that some readers might have to look up. Personally, I enjoy learning new words when I read fiction. But hopefully I draw the line at using words so arcane or archaic that their use could feel forced. (I think writers need to keep in mind that an autolectic avoidance of kenspeckle terms, with a goal of venditating one’s vocabulary and metagrobolizing the reader, can reduce one’s prose to literose remplissage.)

Well, Jeremy, that’s easy for you to say. And metagrobolizing is illegal in six states now. Incidentally, I’ve noticed that your novel diverges a bit from the classic plotline of the two main characters having a conflict with each other; rather, they get along famously, and their challenges are with external things. Coincidence, or design?

Definitely design. I didn’t want my protagonists to have to navigate a wilderness of relationship uncertainties, obstacles, or complications, or to suffer through misunderstandings, interpersonal conflict, or heart-wrenching ambivalence. I wanted them to have fun together, damn it!

Would you write another novel? If you did, would you re-use any of the same characters, or would you write new ones?

I’m not sure yet if there’s another Jeremy novel to come. But I could see going either way as far as a fresh set of characters or a new adventure for these peeps.

If you do write about a new heroine, I hope you’ll name her Literose Remplissage. She’d be French, of course, and she could be “Rose” for short. Or “Lite,” for short and thin. So, what are some things that you like to hear from readers about what you’ve written?

Some of the most heartwarming feedback has involved people telling me how likable they found my characters to be; how my work made them laugh at certain moments while getting them seriously aroused at others; that they found it joyous and uplifting; or that they’d been inspired to take something I’d written and read it aloud to a lover.

Who is your “guilty pleasure” author? Someone that popular taste says you shouldn’t like, but you actually do?

I suppose I’m my own guilty pleasure: you can all-too-often catch me rereading my old work.

How can readers get their hands on this wonderful book?

To purchase the book in paperback or e-book form, visit the publisher’s website; or see Jeremy’s site for a voluminous list of other retailers.

Isn’t there another way, though? Mr. Edwards, isn’t there some sort of a book giveaway in conjunction with this interview? I know! Maybe readers could submit an erotocomedic novel of their own by email, and then —

Why yes, Ms. Sharazade, there is a book giveaway! I invite your blog readers to leave a comment on this post, anytime from now through your bedtime on Wednesday, November 24, for a chance to win an autographed paperback copy of Rock My Socks Off (or, if preferred by the winner, an e-book copy). Simply make sure you comment under a name or nickname that will differentiate you from other commenters (i.e., you can’t all be “Anonymous.”) I will draw the winner on Nov. 25, using a random-number generator.

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Well, there you have it! A chance to win a free book! And all you need to do is to leave a comment here. Well, almost all. You’ll need an identifying name (it needn’t be your legal one), and you’ll have to enter your email — this will be shared with Jeremy Edwards if you win (so he can arrange mailing of the book), and no one else. It will not be visible on this site.

Your comment can be about anything, and can be as simple as, “Yes, I’d like to enter this giveaway.” However, links to sketch online pharmaceutical companies are going to send your comment straight to my spam folder, and I might not check it before my bedtime on the 24th. I’m a busy girl! You may comment more than once, but that doesn’t enter you more than once. That would only encourage the desperate and obsessive, I’m afraid. (Needless to say, if Mr. Edwards also comments, he’s not going to put his own name into the drawing. So don’t fear him as competition!)

I suppose you’ll also have to guess my bedtime on the 24th… assuming I even go to bed then, and don’t stay up working till the 25th bears down on me, as could happen. This blog’s time stamp is from Seattle, Washington, in the U.S. Get a comment in before Seattle’s midnight, and I’ll throw your name into the metaphorical hat. And who knows? You might win something that will rock your socks off!

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I was recently traveling for work in Latin America. I had a few days off when my scheduled work was done, and I decided to take a short internal flight to see some sights — the land is large, time is short, was my thinking.

For some reason, we were required to be at the airport two hours early — for a flight that was on time and took about 10 minutes to board. Practically the full two hours then was spent in one small waiting room of a domestic airport, which did at least offer seats, some posters on the wall, and free coffee (seriously! free coffee! and it was good, too!).

For a long day of trekking, I hadn’t brought a laptop or reading material. Fortunately, a fellow passenger (I guess also without reading material) struck up a conversation. He was a doctor, from Germany, who’d been attending a medical conference and now was enjoying his few days off. We talked about a lot of things — health care systems in Germany and the US, travel, the country we were in, and so on, and at one point found ourselves on the subject of the US economy.

He said he could tell the effects of the US recession by the way Americans had become more “calculating.” Just as I was wondering if I’d gotten more sly and devious in recent years, he explained that by that he meant that when he saw Americans these days, either in Europe or when he traveled to the States, they were always calculating and figuring out the cost of things. How much would it cost to rent a car? What would that meal cost in dollars? How much to add a third night in the hotel? Which he said they didn’t use to do.

“For me,” he explained,” “when I’m on vacation, I don’t calculate. I’ve already made the decision to go. Like this tour. If something comes up that costs another 10 euros, I don’t think about that, I just pay it.”

Frantically, I calculated 10 euros — hey, that’s nearly 14 dollars! or 112 Local Currency Units, or twice what I paid for dinner last night. Must be nice being a doctor!

My first reaction was that I’ve always “calculated” costs, recession or no. But as I thought about our exchange later, I realized it’s not quite so simple. What “a lot” of money is depends so much on the situation. $50 is an outrageous price for a dinner entrée (in my world); I’d consider it for a dress for a close friend’s wedding; it’s a hell of a deal on an iPad. I’d just paid $300 without hesitation for a plane flight and transportation to one of the most amazing sites on the continent, while feeling grateful for the free coffee that would save me, what, 50 cents because now I wouldn’t have to buy my own. Context is everything.

One thing authors and publishers talk about with each other, and with readers, is book prices. With the boom of self-publishing, many authors are now put in the position of choosing their own prices for their books. Publishers and editors have to make those decisions for their authors.

Now, how do you set a book price? It’s not just a question of what it’s “worth.” You need to recoup your expenses (the time spent writing, the cost of an editor and a copy editor / proofreader, a typesetter, a cover designer, the cover art and any internal art, the paper, the salaries of the people in marketing, and so on), and you need to make enough of a profit for everyone that it’s worth it to continue the process. Retailers and online stores will take their cut. Typically, the author makes a royalty from each copy sold, a percentage of the book’s sale price, which can range from 10% to 40%, depending on the publisher and whether it’s a print book or an e-book and where it’s sold.

If you price a book too high, no one will buy it, and you make nothing. If you price it too low, unless you have a ton of sales, the money brought in is too low to be worth much. So really, you want the book to be priced at the highest amount that still seems fair and attractive to the reader.

But how much is that?

Let’s take a paperback novel of, oh, 200 pages. We’ll assume too that it’s a good book; one that you would be happy to have read, and one that you would be happy to own, at least for several months until your family complains that you have too many darn books all over the place and for heaven’s sake can’t we take some of these things to the thrift store because it’s not like you’re ever going to read them again, not when you keep getting more all the time (not that that ever happens in my house). Not a classic book, not one that you’re going to have dipped in bronze, but one that you’d truly enjoy, even if you only read it once.

How much would you pay?

(I’m going to give everyone a few moments to jot down their answers.)

Retailers are guessing that you’d spend around $5-$15 on a paperback from an unknown author, and less on an ebook. Maybe $9 for an ebook. Maybe $2. Nobody really knows! And it’s a different answer for every person, so that adds to the complexity too.

But I have another question. Not just “how much” would you pay, but “would” you pay anything at all? Do you buy books?

I assume that everyone still reading this blog post is interested in reading books (anyone who got here just by googling, hoping for hot S & M photos of my naked ass being whipped with a riding crop will have realized that there aren’t any here today) (because how would I hold the camera, people?). So, OK, how many of us buy books? How about new books?

I’ll confess that most of my books come from the library, and then after that, the used bookstore. I read a book, or at least part of one, every day of my life; I’ve worked in publishing and writing for years; but I still treat books to some extent as a luxury. I’d buy a crappy meal in an airport because “I have to eat” — but I wander through the bookstores in airports, thinking how much I’d like this or that one, and then (probably with that German guy watching), I calculate the price… oh, plus tax… and it seems self-indulgent.

In the US, at least, the “holiday season” is upon us. It’s being shoved down our throats, and has been since before Halloween. I don’t mind buying people gifts — honestly, I quite enjoy it, “commercialism” or no. But I remember that my favorite gifts to receive when I was growing up were books. So I’ve decided. That’s what I’m giving this year — books. Physical books for people who’d want them, ebooks for my green friends, maybe gift certificates for people whose tastes I just can’t fathom.

And at the risk of sounding obnoxious or even self-serving, I’m going to urge others to buy books too. They’re great value! $5 of $10 or $15 is not “too much” for something that brings such pleasure, and lasts for so long (books can be re-read, and loaned or given to friends). If you support your favorite authors, they will write more! I know I’m sounding a bit like Pledge Week on NPR, but it’s true. They’re not all just writing books for their health, you know. (OK, maybe they are for their mental health. But you know what I mean.) You don’t have to buy my book. I’ve reviewed several great ones here on this site. You don’t have to buy erotica, or even fiction. Buy whatever you please, and whatever pleases you. But no more complaining about how “kids today” don’t read, can’t think, can’t communicate, don’t know anything, if we don’t give them books and let them see us reading. We either value it or we don’t, and if we do, we should support it. And do it!

However, as a self-confessed “calculator,” I have sympathy too for those who find purchasing anything hard to rationalize at the moment. So… I will announce my first-ever book giveaway! Yes! Just like some of those other cool bloggers, I’m going to give away a book on this site. Signed, even (if you choose the hard copy and not the e-book). Not my book, but a novel by Jeremy Edwards (so, signed by him, obviously, and not by me). I’ve read it, and I approve of this book!

The giveaway will be held November 18 – 24. I’m going to be interviewing Jeremy here, posted November 18, and details of the giveaway will follow the interview. Check back!

Wow, October must be “Reviews Month” or something! Reminding me that I have a hot book to review as well, though I’ll have to post it in November. Check back!

Some flaming of the cheeks at this lovely review of Transported: Erotic Travel Tales from Coffee-Fueled Erotica. Some excerpts:

Within the first pages of this anthology it also becomes clear that Sharazade has travelled. Really travelled. Cold airports take on the qualities of landscapes. Details, some large, some almost infinitesimal, permeate every page of every story, giving this entire collection a sharp and sculpted feel.

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To me, sublime navigation and fluent control of language is so, soooooo sexy. And Sharazade has it in spades.

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In my opening paragraph I alluded to this book being all about sex and travel. That’s actually misleading. In truth, the sex and the travel frame these stories and this collection. What it’s truly about is characters. Relationships. And Sharazade paints these with enviable dexterity.

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Throughout the anthology, the characters and situations come across not just as real, but also as realistic. It’s to be expected that bodies would grind against each other, and they do so with heart, passion and often a degree of restriction. What elevates this book even more are the moments when the characters grate against each other. Travel is a stressful undertaking. The world is variegated and confusing. Anger is a passion.

Read the entire review here, she said, linking it a second time.

What I also liked about this review is just that it happened at all! It’s a nice example of something I talked about here earlier, in my post on Who Are a Writer’s Friends? I “met” the author of this review, Willsin Rowe, here on this blog site. He showed up one day (I really have no idea how he found his way here in the first place), left some amusing comments, so I responded, and he responded, and so on, and eventually we went to email, and I met a smart, funny, experienced erotic writer.

That’s really what blogs are for, isn’t it? Not just posting one’s blather every week, but communicating and interacting and discovering connections (and books!). Think about that as you navigate through the blogosphere — when you find a piece of writing or a piece of person (which is, really, what pieces of writing are) that moves you, then respond. The Internet lifts the borders of geography and time for us, for which I am continually grateful.

Ooooh…. I got reviewed! Or rather, my book Transported: Erotic Travel Tales did, by the awesome review site BookWenches.

A few snippets:

Sharazade gives her readers nine hot stories that are so well written that you almost forget that it is erotica. She does a great job setting the scene for seduction.

When reading about the couples in the stories, you get an inside look as to what the dynamics of their relationships are like. The encounters are so hot because they know how to push each other to the limits.

These stories aren’t about doing the deed and getting it done. They are all about seduction, the build-up, the sensual ride and then the mind blowing release.

Read the full review here (scroll down to the 6th entry for mine) and also check out the other books on their October shelf. Heck, look around the whole site. It’s a good one. They have guest bloggers and author interviews and a large archive of book reviews.