New release... Smut by the Sea 3

Smut by the Sea Volume 3 is with us just in time for summer holiday season! The perfect companion to lazy days on the beach...

Here's the blurb:

Light-hearted, sexy fun by the sea is the theme of this erotic anthology, edited by Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse.

From exotic locales such as Croatia and Australia to the coastal caves of England, Smut by the Sea Volume 3 has it all. Whatever your interpretation of naughty seaside fun, there’s something nestling between the covers for you. Kinky role play, gorgeous artists, bobbing boats, sexy cougars, hunky hermits and more abound in this exciting collection of stories from erotica’s finest authors.

Did someone say kinky role play? Here's an excerpt from my story, A Hint of Piracy.

Smut by the Sea Volume 3, published by House of Erotica, is available at:

Amazon UK
Amazon.com
All Romance eBooks

Chocolate V Cheese

So it seems that while we like to fantasise about stuffing our faces full of an endless supply of chocolate, if that was all we could eat the appeal would soon wear off. What we need here is a proper system of rankings. I asked our More Smut for Chocoholics authors:

How would you rate chocolate against a) cheese, b) red wine, c) bacon.

Victoria Blisse: I love my cheese, I have to say but I’m not a bacon fan and I don’t drink wine so it’s down to a fight between cheese and chocolate. Hmmm, not sure I could pick between the two!

Slave Nano: Oh, that’s cruel! Do I have to choose? Can I have a cheese and bacon toastie followed by a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk all washed down with a glass (no, bottle!) of red wine? (TH: No, that's against the rules!)

Anna Sky: Chocolate vs. mature cheddar, baked Brie or Camembert? No contest – CHEESE!

Chocolate vs. red wine? Sorry chocolate, have you not read my Twitter profile?

Chocolate vs. bacon? If it’s really crispy bacon when hungover then bacon otherwise chocolate, you stand a chance!

Jillian Boyd: a) Depending on which kind of cheese. b) I don't drink alcohol any more, so I definitely prefer chocolate. c) I'd say about 50/50 either way. 

Vanessa de Sade: Cheese: no contest

Red wine: never drink the stuff, who cares!

Bacon: oh, that's a hard one, but I think chocolate still wins, but only just!

Lucy Felthouse: Slightly higher

Massively higher – I hate wine!

Probably about the same, providing the bacon is crispy and you’ve cut the fat off.

Wendi Zwaduk: Wow. Tough question. I like cheese, but I’d take chocolate over cheese. Red wine gives me the worst headache, so definitely chocolate over red wine...but bacon. There’s the rub. I’m a bacon girl, too. I think it’s a toss-up between the two. :-)

Aurelia T Evans: I’m not a huge red wine or bacon fan, but cheese is another vice of mine, go figure. I love cheese almost as much as I love chocolate. For different reasons, of course. Cheese can be melted between two slices of grilled bread. Nutella spread is awesome on bagels. Both can be put in fondue pots. But they hit very different emotional strings.

Nicole Gestalt: Cheese – Okay I love cheese, especially the chilli cheese. Now if someone could put together cheese, chocolate and chilli together I would be in heaven!

Red wine – I don't like wine so chocolate wins that one hands down.

Chocolate and bacon....hmmm I think I'd have them together on top of a pancake stack with maple syrup.

Annabeth Leong:I feel guilty for admitting this in this context, but my ratings would be 1) cheese 2) bacon 3) red wine and 4) chocolate.

Tilly Hunter: I think all three win over chocolate. Just.

On Monday, I asked: What is your favourite kind of chocolate and why?
And on Tuesday, I asked: Why did you want to write for More Smut for Chocoholics?
On Wednesday, I asked: How would you cope in a world without chocolate?

You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics at Amazon, Amazon UK, All Romance and other online book shops.

Chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner...

Maybe a world without chocolate is not your worst nightmare after all. I mean, not everyone’s a chocoholic. So what if you had to give up everything else and live in a world in which all you could eat was chocolate? Let’s see what our More Smut for Chocoholics authors think. And come back tomorrow for the final interview question: How does chocolate rate against a) cheese, b) red wine, c) bacon?

How would you cope in a world in which all you could eat was chocolate?

Victoria Blisse: There’s all kinds of chocolate, so you could probably have quite a varied diet. I’d survive happily!

Slave Nano: I suppose you ought to be careful what you wish for. Is this a King Midas question? Imagine if everything you touched turned to chocolate!

Anna Sky: Ah well. Chocolate doesn’t have to be sweet, there’s lots of ways to eat it. Think venison in chocolate sauce…oh hang on, all I could eat was chocolate? That would make for an unhappy Anna very quickly.

Jillian Boyd: That would be tough, because in the end you'd get so sick of eating chocolate all the time, you'd stop eating all together, which is not at all good. 

Vanessa de Sade: Oh, I'd so love it, but I suspect that I might become a clandestine sneaker of contraband bacon rolls.

Lucy Felthouse: I’m not sure. I think I’d probably miss chips, cheese and meat.

Wendi Zwaduk: I’d definitely have to pace myself. I assume after a while I might get tired of it, but if there’s enough I wonder if I wouldn’t. Hmm. I know I would be a happy girl.

Aurelia T Evans: I don’t think I could handle it. As I get older, I’m more and more fascinated with variety. Even though I like a food routine (that includes chocolate in it, because reasons), I break from that routine every so often and rarely regret it. (There was this one Hawaiian barbecue place, but we will never speak of it again.) I think my appreciation for chocolate would be greatly reduced if it was all I had to eat. It’s more meaningful to me as a treat.

Nicole Gestalt: Well chocolate is good for you! So I think I'd be totally fine although I can imagine trying to come up with creative ways to eat the chocolate!

Annabeth Leong:This would be much harder for me. I'd have to find something bitter and not too sweet, or I'd be loopy from the sugar rush all the time.

Tilly Hunter: That would totally spoil my occasional urges to indulge. I would be seriously craving a slice of hot buttered toast.

On Monday, I asked: What is your favourite kind of chocolate and why?
And on Tuesday, I asked: Why did you want to write for More Smut for Chocoholics?
On Wednesday, I asked: How would you cope in a world without chocolate?

You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics at Amazon, Amazon UK, All Romance and other online book shops.

A world without chocolate?!

A world without chocolate? Your worst nightmare? Or would you tuck into a slice of Victoria sponge, snarf a custard cream, or opt for the cheeseboard instead? I asked our More Smut for Chocoholics authors what they thought. Tomorrow, I turn the tables and ask them how they’d cope in a world in which all they could eat was chocolate....

How would you cope in a world without chocolate?

Victoria Blisse: I’ve given up chocolate for Lent before now, I think I could cope…just.

Slave Nano: The question you should really pose is – how would other people cope with me if I didn’t have chocolate?

Anna Sky: To be honest, I am more of a savoury girl, so it would be hard but not impossible. If I had to choose to save either chips or chocolate, I’m afraid that chips would win and I’d have to find something else for my breakfast. Of everyone that I’ve ever polled with this question (it’s a drunken pub conversation), I’m the only one not to side with chocolate.

Jillian Boyd: A world... without chocolate? *sobs quietly to herself*

Vanessa de Sade: I wouldn't. Life would not be worth living. Or maybe I could just have more sex! Hmmm…

Lucy Felthouse: I’d be a lot grumpier, for sure. Possibly thinner, though. But I’m sure I’d find something else to eat instead, so maybe not. I have a real sweet tooth! I hope I never have to find out.

Wendi Zwaduk: I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to function. Grin.

Aurelia T Evans: I’d probably eat a lot of glazed doughnuts, but it wouldn’t be the same.

Nicole Gestalt: I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that.

Annabeth Leong: I've heard that this is really going to happen, all too soon! Honestly, much as I love chocolate, I think I'd be all right. It's an indulgence because it isn't actually necessary for life, no matter how much it may seem to be that way. I'd switch to berries and cream, and pray those didn't disappear, too.

Tilly Hunter: As long as I could still have the occasional stroopwafel, I’d probably get by fine most of the time. But every now and again I might turn into something resembling the Incredible Hulk.

On Monday, I asked: What is your favourite kind of chocolate and why?
And on Tuesday, I asked: Why did you want to write for More Smut for Chocoholics?

You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics at Amazon, Amazon UK, All Romance and other online book shops.

Why would anyone want to write about chocolate and sex?

It's Day Two of my interviews with the More Smut for Chocoholics authors and today they're talking about why they wanted to write for the anthology. Yeah, yeah, I know, why wouldn't you want to? Tomorrow, I'll be turning really mean and asking them how they'd cope in a world without chocolate. Catch up on yesterday's post here.

What made you want to write for More Smut for Chocoholics?

Victoria Blisse: My husband made me. Heh, no, not really. He is one of the editors and he might have reminded me a time or two about the call but I love smut and chocolate so I didn’t need much persuading to get one written.

Slave Nano: Love of chocolate + Pagan Goddess = story. I just couldn’t miss the opportunity of putting Ixcacao, the Aztec Goddess of Chocolate, into a sexy story.

Anna Sky: Chocolate and sex, what could be better?! I had a few ideas but really needed to get a spanking in there, to stay true to my writing form. A friendly dom teasing his girlfriend seemed the perfect way to do it.

Jillian Boyd: I'd missed out on writing for the first Smut for Chocoholics and felt a bit bummed out about it. So when this call came around, I jumped on it and wrote my story.

Vanessa de Sade: The combination of my two passions. Sex and chocolate, with the added bonus of being able to indulge in a voluptuous Victorian setting complete with Rubenesque ladies being very naughty…

Lucy Felthouse: Because I love chocolate—simple as that. I’m definitely a chocoholic!

Wendi Zwaduk: Easy! I love chocolate and adding play to having chocolate equals YUM! Plus I love working with Mitnik and Tilly. They are awesome. (Aww, thanks Wendi.)

Aurelia T Evans: I think playing with chocolate and whipped cream might have been one of my first sexual fantasies. I’m glad I was finally able to use that in one of my stories. In addition, I’m fascinated by fairy tales. “Crumbs” is loosely based on the “Hansel & Gretel” story, because who doesn’t like a gingerbread house full of desserts that they’re compelled to eat?

Nicole Gestalt: I have a story in Smut for Chocoholics and, well, I love chocolate! I'd had the idea for The Competition for a while and was just looking for a reason to get down to writing it, the submission call for More Smut for Chocoholics was the perfect excuse.

Annabeth Leong: I'd written for the original Smut for Chocoholics and had a great time (and loved reading the resulting book)! When I heard there was a follow-up planned, I knew I had to be in on it.

Tilly Hunter: I like to approach a theme like this from unexpected angles (so to speak). So Chocoholics gave me the chance to think about some unusual aspects – like the fact that Aztec women were forbidden from consuming cacao, and, in my other story, the development of a chocolate beer (not so unexpected for anyone who knows me, I guess!).

You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics at Amazon, Amazon UK, All Romance and other online book shops.

Chocoholic authors share their sweet secrets...

Feeling a bit peckish? How about a couple of squares of deliciously velvety dark chocolate? Or maybe you prefer the melt-in-the-mouth feel of something creamier and packed with sugar? I asked our More Smut for Chocoholics authors what they thought, and the answers made me, well, hungry. Tomorrow, they'll be sharing all about why they wanted to write for the anthology.

What is your favourite kind of chocolate and why?

Victoria Blisse: The chocolate in my hand…no, seriously now. I am a complete sucker for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Oh, they are my sweet, sweet downfall.

Slave Nano: Cadbury’s flake. I love collecting all the bits in the wrapper and shovelling them into my mouth. And they’re so crumbly and sensuous (influenced by TV advertising – me? No!).

Anna Sky: Fairtrade, organic, dark as possible. I let it melt on my tongue, and savour it for as long as possible. Otherwise, I’m a fan of “peanutella” – a crazy concoction of chocolate spread and peanut butter on my toast in the mornings!

Jillian Boyd: Green & Black’s milk chocolate with sea salt. Because it never fails to make me feel better when I'm down in the dumps. 

Vanessa de Sade: The blackest, darkest chocolate there is, as untainted by sugar as possible and potent and deadly.  I prefer pure chocolate but if it must be filled I go for pralines and Gianduja, whole nuts and dried fruits soaked in liqueurs.  (Hotel Chocolat Rum-Soaked Raisins, for example!)

Lucy Felthouse: Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, just because I love the taste. If you want more in depth information than that, I’m afraid you’ll have to ask my taste buds ;)

Wendi Zwaduk: Hmm... This is tough. I’d say either the chocolate from Grandpa’s Cheese Barn in Ashland, Ohio, Suzin L Chocolates out of Elyria, Ohio. or Daffin’s Chocolates in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Daffin’s was actually my inspiration for the original Smut story, Drizzle Me in Chocolate.

Aurelia T Evans: I am in total love with dark chocolate. It’s my not so secret vice to have three or four of the little wrapped chocolates every day. I also love hot chocolate in wintertime and truffles at Valentine’s Day. Chocolate with hazelnut is also love.

Nicole Gestalt: I go through phases of what chocolate I enjoy. This Christmas just gone I found myself in London and managed to get to Hotel Chocolat and ended up with a large bag of them! After rationing them I'm still left with a few (just).

Annabeth Leong: I like chocolate infused with other things. My favorite things for it to be mixed with are salt, orange, and cardamom.

Tilly Hunter: I actually bought a bag of cacao bean nibs as research for my story, A Steamy Brew. They were truly disgusting. Give me a Cadbury's Dairy Milk any day (preferably every day).

You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics at Amazon, Amazon UK, All Romance and other online book shops.

Big Book of Submission news

It's nearly time... for The Big Book of Submission: 69 Kinky Tales. This Cleis Press offering, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, is out next month and is already getting some fab reviews. Check out the book's Tumblr page for links to those, along with news, dates of readings, excerpts and pre-order information. It has one hell of a line-up of authors, with fellow Brits including Kay Jaybee, Lucy Felthouse and Nicole Gestalt. 

Here are two little extracts from my stories in the book. Check out this post for a taste of all 69.

Training My Dom

So there we were, isolated in the middle of nowhere. Where no one could hear me scream, as he put it. I was standing naked on a hard slate floor beneath the mezzanine bedroom, arms high up my back in a box tie, rope wrapping them tight against my torso. More rope strung up from there to the bars of the balcony above, pulling me onto my toes. Ball gag, silk blindfold and silver bar nipple clamps screwed tight—and then screwed some more.

Toasted Marshmallows

I stare at my best friend’s cock. I’ve never seen it before. But from this position—on my knees—I’m getting a close-up view. It’s around the same erect length as my own, but a little thicker. Its head is darker.

“I said, suck it.” Karen repeats the order. She doesn’t like having to repeat an order and I don’t like letting her down. I stick my tongue out, shape it around Nathan’s head and guide it into my mouth. I’d use my hands, but she’s cuffed them behind me—and linked them to my ankle restraints for good measure.

New release! More Smut for Chocoholics

It's here! More Smut for Chocoholics, published by House of Erotica and edited by yours truly and Kev 'Mitnik' Blisse has hit the virtual bookshelves. 

Here's the blurb:

Yet more Tales of Sensual, Sinful Chocolaty Indulgence is the theme of this erotic anthology, edited by Tilly Hunter with assistance from Kev “Mitnik” Blisse.

More Smut for Chocoholics is all about over-indulgence, taking wicked delight in the erotic consumption and use of chocolate, with tales from some of erotica’s finest authors... Whatever your relationship with the seductive cocoa, there’s something nestling between the covers for you.

More Smut for Chocoholics contains tales from Tilly Hunter, Victoria Blisse, Aurelia T Evans, Lucy Felthouse, Ruby Madsen, Jacqueline Brocker, Vanessa de Sade, Wendi Zwaduk, Jillian Boyd, Nicole Gestalt, Slave Nano, Annabeth Leong and Anna Sky.

For an excerpt from my m/m story, A Steamy Brew, see my earlier post. I'll bring you a teaser of my femdom story, Forbidden Pleasures, soon.

You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics at Amazon, Amazon UK and All Romance.

It's nearly here... Smut by the Sea

Hello, long time no see and all that (the joys of holidays without internet access). I'm bringing you some info from Victoria Blisse today all about the Smut by the Sea event in Scarborough on June 14. I'll be there, I've agreed to do a reading (eek) and I'll post again soon about what I plan to get up to. But for now, over to Victoria:

Smutty fun by the Sea in Scarborough.

Smut by the Sea on the 14^th June is the second time the smutters have taken over Scarborough library. Last summer we had a fabulous time check out the photos and blogs here and this year we’ve got even more for you to enjoy.

Sessions from  bestselling authors Victoria Blisse, KD Grace and Lucy Felthouse on different aspects of erotic writing set you up in the morning. Start with inspiration with Victoria, then KD Grace helps you write better erotica by finessing sex. The last workshop of the day gives you the tools you need to wow editors and get your stories accepted and will be led by Lucy Felthouse.

After a free lunch (oh yes, such a thing exists!) we’ll be enjoying the Reading Slam, short, sexy snippets from some of the smutty authors in attendance.

You’ll get tasters of some of the best erotica and erotic romance in the country and their books will be available to purchase at the book stall too.

All day you’ll be able to browse the stalls in the side room, check out Steph’s Ann Summer’s goodies, hot books from attending authors or pick something unique up from our craft stall. Then of course you’ll want to have a go on our unique erotic tombola –  the prizes are truly thrilling! 

Tickets are selling fast, but there are some left. So what are you waiting for? Join us for lots of smut and laughter at Scarborough library on the 14^th June from 9.30am.

Quotes from last year’s Smut by the Sea Attendees:

“In between the readings there was another key component that made SBTS such a fantastic experience, and that was the chance to chat, to share ideas, to meet people face-to-face who we had only ever talked to online before and to discover that they were just as amazing face-to-face as they are on social media.” KD Grace

“For an amateur erotica author and long-time consumer of smut, the day was a perfect mix of readings, more formal Q&A but also the chance to mingle with all the participants and ask questions. I was blown away by how friendly everyone was, and how much advice I was given.” Anna Sky

“So, lovely people, smut, PVC, fish and chips and ice cream – how good a day is that?!!” Slave Nano

News: More Smut for Chocoholics

It's almost here! It seems like a long time ago that Kev 'Mitnik' Blisse said to me: "Do you fancy editing an anthology of chocolate-based erotica with me?" and I thought, Hmm, chocolate and sex, what's not to like?

Now, the stories have been picked, polished and primped and sent off to publisher House of Erotica to be turned into a smutty little ebook. I think we've come up with something that has a nice variety of partnerings, a balance of contemporary and historical backdrops and a tasty range of settings from bedroom to brewery, Victorian train carriage to Aztec temple. Here's the line-up:

Chocolate Massage, Victoria Blisse

The Perfect Taste, Annabeth Leong

Eclair, Jacqueline Brocker

Dip it Low, Lucy Felthouse

A Steamy Brew, Tilly Hunter

How the Sisterhood of Sin Came To Be, Vanessa de Sade

Forbidden Pleasures, Tilly Hunter

Three Tastes, Anna Sky

Crumbs, Aurelia T Evans

Les Delices Parisiens, Jillian Boyd

Los Conquistadores and the Goddess of Chocolate, Slave Nano

Eat Me, Ruby Madsen

Indulge Me in Chocolate, Wendi Zwaduk

The Competition, Nicole Gestalt

"It left me wanting more"

I've had what I believe is my first proper review, for my ebook Miranda's Tempest, published earlier this year by House of Erotica. I'm not counting the two that show up on Amazon for Xcite anthologies I'm in. One of them says "it's just a collection of pornographic short stories" as if that's a bad thing (Cherry Ripe: 5 historical erotic romance stories). The other admits the stories are sexy, but the reader is glad they got the book as a freebie (Miss Pemberton's Drawers: 6 erotic short stories)! 

Anyway, John D of the blog John D Stories is posting a series of reviews of books by authors he's interacted with online. And that's the thing about being a writer or reviewer in the age of social networking - you can't hide from each other! But fortunately, in this case, that hasn't stopped John giving an honest appraisal of the book, with good points and bad. I'd much rather have that than have my ego massaged, when it really comes down to it. No really. Honest. I think. 

But, since I'm only human, I'm going to share some of the good things he said... and leave it up to you to go and read the rest of it over at his place. Incidentally, you'll also find reviews of Banging Rebecca by Alison Tyler and Xcite collections A Victorian Seasonal Spanking, featuring a tale by Victoria Blisse, and Deliberate Display, featuring one by Lucy Felthouse. 

Here's my favourite bit of the review of Miranda's Tempest; it's about the final story of the trio in the book, Penelope's Odyssey, which takes Homer's The Odyssey as its starting point but looks at it from his wife, Penelope's, perspective: 

The story lends itself perfectly to an erotic tale, and Tilly Hunter has, in my opinion, saved her best story until last. The text ebbs and flows effortlessly, drawing in a fantastic little story that moves at pace, with a great sex scene of female domination. It left me wanting more, which is no bad thing.

So there you go. I should warn you that if you visit John's blog you might get distracted by his own fiction, and the stories and pictures of his real-life antics...

The long and the short of it: Part 2

Okay, I give up. 

Last September, I wrote about a novel I'd started work on but was struggling to progress because of all the short stories I was writing. I now have another novel and novella started, but, guess what, I'm struggling to make any progress because of all the short stories I'm writing. 

So, I've decided to stop worrying about it, admit that I actually love doing the shorts and let the longer stories sit. I'm going go all taoist on this one and just go with the flow. I'm sure there'll come a point at some time in the future when I look at my list of stories and realise there are no current calls for submissions that have tickled my fancy. And in that natural lull, I will sit down and concentrate on something longer. Honest. 

The thing is, short stories are great for trying out new things, playing around and having fun. (Which sounds like a recipe for a good night in, too...) These are the calls I have been unable to ignore at the moment, although meeting some of the looming deadlines is going to be a close one while that thing some people call real life (not to mention the odd good night in) keeps getting in the way:

Men of the Manor (Cleis Press, ed Rob Rosen) August 1st.
Romance between wealthy aristocrats and their hard-working estate staff with a pre-WWI backdrop. I have a kitchen garden in mind.

The Big Book of Domination (Cleis Press, ed DL King) August 1st.
I need to explain? I reckon the title says it all. And it says: 'Get writing - now!'

Locked Up (Storm Moon Press) August 31st
Men. And chastity devices. What's not to like? Scroll down through the calls to find this one.

Sapphic Smut in the City (House of Erotica, ed Lucy Felthouse and Kev Mitnik) January 1st
I'm not really a city kinda girl. But I have a great idea from a visit to Paris years ago, that gives a very different view of life in the city of love.

Smut by the Sea vol 3 (House of Erotica, ed Lucy Felthouse and Victoria Blisse) March 31st
I am, however, a seaside kind of woman. And my writer's brain is brimming with ideas for coastal fun. 

And if you're very quick, there's still time to get a short in to Alison Tyler's call for bondage stories. She wants 500 to 1,000-word pieces and has extended the deadline to July 25th.

Smut by (and in) the Sea

I read from one of my stories on Saturday evening. Out loud. To actual, real people, right there in the same room as me. And it was fun. People even sniggered in the right places. I’d do it again (something I’ll probably regret saying at some point in the future). It was probably a good job, though, that my story was one of my milder offerings. 

I was at Smut by the Sea in sunny Scarborough, the first event of its kind that I’ve attended and I read from my story in SbtS volume 2. Fortunately, I work in a politically incorrect environment which makes me perfectly happy to utter four-letter words out loud without embarrassment.

A fair few people know that I write smut. Very few know about it in any more detail. A colleague who I asked to do a wee proofread of my mini short story collection, Miranda’s Tempest (blatant plug alert), for me is probably still recovering from the experience. So it was fabulous to be in an environment in which people could talk about their work openly and with pride. It was good to actually meet people I’ve chatted to on Facebook or Twitter. I even eventually won something on the tombola.

And in honour of the theme of the event, and of my story in the anthology, Tabitha Rayne and I did take a dip in the sea, although she looked far more glamorous than me in her itsy bitsy polka dot bikini. I felt more like one of those stoutly built ladies who swim the channel clad in granny cossies and smeared in grease. The lifeguards stood watch, with a somewhat incredulous look on their faces, after telling us it would be freezing. ‘It’s not that cold,’ I said as we emerged from the waves like Bond babes.

‘That’s because you’ve gone numb,’ one replied. And he was right. But it didn’t stop me joining a local group of sea swimmers the next morning. The hardy folk at Sea Swim go out every Saturday and Sunday from May to September for a good long swim. With them, I got a different view of Scarborough and the neighbouring coastline, literally from sea level. They were even literary and artistic – reading poetry and viewing Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus before the dip and penning their own poems or snippets about a Yorkshire Venus afterwards. To be honest, by then my numb hands were shaking a bit too much for legible handwriting. But there’s got to be a smutty story out there about The Venus of Scarborough.

The mock pirate ship that took holidaymakers up and down the bay also made me think of Odysseus’ travels by sea, particularly the brave hero lashed to the mast so he can hear the song of the Sirens without being lured to his death on the rocks. I wrote about his wife Penelope and her 108 annoying suitors in the final story in Miranda’s Tempest (blatant plug alert), but maybe it’s time to turn my attention to her husband...

A big thank you to Victoria and Kev Blisse for all their hard work in organising the event and to all those who helped on the day.

Read Your Smut However You Want! by Lucy Felthouse

Lucy Felthouse is visiting today with some great news about Smut by the Sea Volume 2. Over to you, Lucy...

Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to Tilly for letting me loose on her site today. Thanks, Tilly!

So, Smut by the Sea Volume 2 has been out for a little while now, so I apologise for being so slow in getting this guest post out, but things have been incredibly busy – but I’m not complaining. I’d rather be busy than bored!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you can now read your Smut by the Sea Volume 2 however you want to—i.e. eBook or print. Yes, I said print! :D Most of the eBook sites now have the anthology available, but what’s even more exciting is that if you want a delicious print copy  in your hand (I’ve got ten here ready for Smut by the Sea the event on 22nd June—they’re gorgeous), you can bag one, or two, or fifty... we really don’t mind. Just head on over to Amazon UK or Amazon US (links here: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/smut-by-the-sea-volume-2/) and grab your copy for an absolute bargain price.

And don’t forget to let us know what you think—us authors and editors thrive on feedback, you know...

Happy Reading!

Lucy x

*****

Excerpt from On the Big Wheel by Lucy Felthouse

Brigit loved the seaside. She always had, probably because visiting it was a rarity. Living in the centre of England meant that even the nearest seaside town was over an hour and a half away—and the nice resorts even further.

Which was why her boyfriend, Allen, proposed a long weekend in Brighton. He knew how fond she was of the seaside. Unsurprisingly, she agreed delightedly.

“It’s a long way,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter. We’d never go anywhere if we lamented the length of the journey.”

As it happened, the travelling wasn’t too bad. Miraculously the M1 was clear all the way down to the M25—and even that notorious motorway wasn’t experiencing its usual havoc. A straight shot south on the M23, then the A23 took them towards Brighton, and they navigated the one-way systems and lack of road signs and—eventually—found their hotel.

“Wow,” Brigit said, stretching luxuriously after getting out of the car, “that didn’t take as long as I thought. Shall we check in, dump our bags and go and explore?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Allen replied with a grin.

They slammed their respective car doors, grabbed the bags from the boot and headed into the hotel. Fifteen minutes later, after using the toilet and freshening up, they were back outside.

“Nice choice of hotel, babe. I like it.” Brigit said.

“I’m glad. I researched it well,” Allen replied.

“The bed looks nice and comfy.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll be able to give it a decent road test later.” He winked at her, and got a slap on the arm for his trouble.

“You’ve got a one-track mind, you have.”

“Well, what do you expect when I’ve got a girlfriend that looks like you?”

She giggled. “Charmer.”

“That’s me. Okay, now I’m back in good books,” Allen said, “what do you want to do? Now, I mean. Not at bedtime.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Brigit stuck her tongue out at him before replying. “I dunno. Just look around I guess. Get our bearings. See what there is to do around here.”

They walked hand-in-hand towards the seafront, then along it in the direction of the pier. They passed the burnt out shell of the West Pier, and Brigit wondered aloud whether it would ever be rebuilt or demolished. Or would the blackened skeleton be left there forevermore, a reminder of what once was.

Soon, they drew close to Brighton Pier. Brigit turned to Allen with a grin.

“What?” he said, then followed her almost manic gaze down the length of the pier, towards a building with fake turret-type things and some very real flags. He sighed. He couldn’t be sure from here, but he thought it was bound to be the amusement arcade. “Oh, you want to go in there, do you? I wonder why?” His voice was laden with sarcasm in his last sentence.

“You know damn well why. Come on!” Brigit tugged him along the last few metres of the pavement and onto the wooden slats of the pier. “Ooh, we can have fish and chips when we come out, if you want.”

*****

Light hearted, sexy fun by the sea is the theme of this erotic anthology, edited by Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse.

From the sun soaked beaches of Brazil to the altogether cooler coastal towns of England, Smut by the Sea Volume 2 has it all. Whatever your interpretation of naughty seaside fun, there’s something nestling between the covers for you. Amusement arcades, beach houses, mermaids, honeymooners, shipwrecks, sex toys and more abound in this exciting collection of stories from erotica’s finest authors.

Contains stories from Victoria Blisse, Tilly Hunter, Rachel Randall, Giselle Renarde, Tamsin Flowers, Lucy Felthouse, Kate Britton, Jillian Boyd, Bel Anderson, Cass Peterson, Delyth Angharad, T C Mill, Erzabet Bishop, Tenille Brown and Annabeth Leong.

Buy links: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/smut-by-the-sea-volume-2/

*****

Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over seventy publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include Best Bondage Erotica 2012 and 2013, and Best Women's Erotica 2013. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies. She owns Erotica For All, and is book editor for Cliterati. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9

On Curves

‘More than half of women hate the sight of their naked bodies.’ ‘The secrets of losing belly fat.’ ‘Sex moves that burn 400 calories.’ ‘By age 6, girls start to express concerns about their own weight or shape.’ ‘Only four per cent of women globally consider themselves beautiful.’ ‘By adolescence, studies show that young people are receiving an estimated 5,260 “attractiveness messages” per year from television commercials.’

These are just a few snippets of the headlines, adverts and news articles I found within minutes on the web about women’s bodies and how they feel about them. I actually live in a cosy little cocoon in which I see a lot less of this than most people; I long ago stopped reading the women’s magazines that are really just a marketing vehicle to get you to buy stuff, I don’t watch telly (I mean it, I can play a DVD but have no TV services) and I don’t do a lot of recreational shopping. I'm also wary of taking information from magazine surveys and beauty company research at face value. But there's no escaping the fact that there is enormous pressure on women to look a certain way. And mostly that way is thin.

Now, I don’t have the time to produce an academic treatise on all of this. But I do write smutty stories. And when I saw the call for submissions to Coming Together: With Curves, I thought I could do a little tiny something to help redress the balance. To present a character who is both curvy and confident. Because there’s one thing I know for sure - that self-consciousness about your flabby bits does not make for enjoyment of sex. It’s unusual for me to even describe a character’s physical appearance in any great depth; I usually leave that up to the reader. But given the prevalence of Photoshopped images of size zero models, I think there’s a need to show that women – and men – come in all shapes and sizes. And that their size does not define them, their appearance does not tell you who they are, the number on their clothing labels does not make them good or bad or healthy or lazy or ugly or sexy or kind or mean or... you get the message. 

If you’re interested, I read a blog post recently by Hanne Blank entitled Real Women, in which she points out that ‘Real women do not look like just one thing.’

All the buy links for Coming Together with Curves are here and profits go to the charity Parkinsons UK.