More Common Questions Asked of Authors, with Phoenix Johnson

Another month is under way and we're back to me for Author Chat Friday. Last time I covered three of the most common questions asked of authors; "Will your book be in print?", "What happens in the next one?" and "Being an author must be so awesome, you get to stay at home all day!".
This week, I have another three doozies authors are asked or may overhear readers saying. What I'm aiming for with these posts is to let readers know that the obvious questions are questions we are tired of hearing, and there are some that are down-right rude and disrespectful. So please, next time you get the chance to talk to an author, be they friend, family, or your favourite author of all time, just stop and think before you speak. You'll be doing everyone involved a huge favour!

"I love *insert favourite character here* from your book. I'm thinking about writing my own novel, do you think I could use *aforementioned favourite character*?" 

Derek: please don't "borrow" him!

Yes. Sure. Because we love having the characters we worked so hard for to be "borrowed" and, in a lot of cases, not credited back to us. (Sarcasm, by the way) NO! Fan art can be great, I will admit, but when it starts to make money and become famous, then there could be a problem. Copyright. The author who originally wrote that character/storyline has legal ownership of that character/storyline, and if it can be proven that the now-famous-fan-art has indeed used said character/storyline without accrediting it to the original author, the fan-art author can find themselves on the wrong end of a law suit. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but when we're talking about intellectual property, then it's called theft. So please, if you're interested in writing your own story, put the same amount of hard work and thought in to creating something original, just like your favourite authors have done. Sure, the fan-art thing worked for some authors, but many others would face law suits. So play it safe, and create your own. You'll find more satisfaction from creating your own worlds, characters and stories anyway, believe me!

"What is the wildest/weirdest thing you've done in the name of research?"

I get that, with erotica especially, it's a natural reaction for a reader to be curious. Has the author tried those positions? Is this what the author enjoys sexually? Now, while the want to have those questions answered is natural, please, PLEASE do not ask us. What we write and what we do in private are often completely different. What we write is supposed to be fairly wild to get your attention; what we do in private... well, that's private. Think of it like this: would you ask your siblings what they're craziest sex-capade is? More than likely not. So please, when it comes to our sexual lives, think of us as a sibling; too much information! 
As for non-erotic... well, that comes down to the author, if they want to share or not. I know myself, after seeing the first Saw movie wondered what the heck made the writers think of those storylines. And I did wonder if they'd tried any of that for real... Then I thought I really don't want to know... So for the non-erotic authors, you could probably ask, but I wouldn't promise an answer. It's an irksome question!
Now, this leads on to the next question...

"Have you done everything your characters do in the story?"

Well for some stories, it's physically impossible. I mean, there are some characters that fly, for crying out loud, or, like in Wolf Smitten, there are werewolves or other paranormal creatures. Just not possible, though it can be fun to pretend. However a lot of authors live vicariously through their characters. What they write is what they'd love to do but don't have the courage or time to. Thinking that authors do everything that their characters do, out of research or just because authors write what they know, is a little naive. Some authors are able to actually live their books; most of us have to settle for less. Doesn't mean we're not happy, we just don't all have the crazy, dreamy lives that we give our characters. 

So hopefully I've helped enlighten you some more on what authors hate being asked or hate overhearing. We're people too, just like you. If that question might annoy you, then it will probably annoy an author, so think before you ask. I would also like to thank Delena Silverfox, Angela Castle and Imogen Nix for helping me with the questions this week!
Thank you!

Final Promo Monday of 2012: Naughty Nights Press

The one and only Naughty Nights Press, as you all know, gave this newbie author her first break. And I'm pleased to say that edits have just been completed on The Wolf in the Neighborhood, it has a cover, and now we're just waiting for final approval, so very exciting news! Anyway, here is a bit about this awesome publishing company that is rapidly taking the online book world by storm, and is taking many of us authors with for an exciting ride!

Pushing The Naughty Limits And Taking Our Readers To A New Level Of Eroticism! We don't promise to be good. In fact, we guarantee we will be naughty and it's gonna be great!

NNP is a small, independently owned, ePublisher of just over a year. As we continue to grow, adding more eBooks from our wonderfully talented authors each month, we are attempting to serve you, the readers, in the ways more important to you. 

Although we would not be able to respond to each and every email, we do appreciate feedback from our readers and we do take any/all comments and/or recommendations into consideration. If you would like to let us know how we are doing, or where you feel we could improve, please feel free to send us an email at feedback at naughtynightspress dot com

Naughty Nights Press's blog and site user friendly, and the authors are all friendly. So if you're a reader or an author looking for somewhere new, then head on over to the NNP blog and site and take a look for yourself. NNP books are available at all the usual spots, but the site also sells them directly. The great thing about that? No middle man, so the author gets more of THEIR hard earned money. So what are you waiting for? Go on, check them out!

And stay tuned for more promo in the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Promo Monday with Gemma Parkes and her Christmas Delights

Today, on the second last author Promo Monday for the year, I'm pleased to welcome back Gemma Parkes, this time to talk about her own Christmas anthology, Christmas Delights!

Thank you for having me over today!

I want to tell you about my new release ‘Christmas Delights’. As you know, l love to write Erotica and as Christmas is my favourite time of the year, it seemed a perfect opportunity to combine the two!

I have written five short stories with Christmas as a theme guaranteed to warm up the coldest of winter nights:

Synopsis:

Christmas is a time for giving. One of the most important things we can give is love, how we express that love is up to us. In this anthology, Christmas is expressed through erotic journeys of lust and discovery, making it a very special time of the year for all the characters within. Lie back and enjoy these five erotic tales of Christmas written from the naughty pen of Gemma Parkes: 

• Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wear lingerie that really made you feel beautiful? Danielle is reluctant until she feels super sexy in her present from Michael. A story bound to warm even the most reluctant of lovers.
• A Christmas shopping expedition to England’s capitol city ends up with a visit to a live sex show. An erotic author and her boyfriend are about to view the action from very close quarters. Will it be everything they expected, or more?
• Leanne is bored with the commercialism Christmas invariably brings. Will new employee Mike encourage her to get into the spirit of things by allowing him to spend the season with her?
• Adventurous couple Clare and Jake have wonderful imaginations that run riot around this time of year. Even the dullest of Christmas decorations can become erotic in the extreme. What else do they have hidden away in their ‘Naughty Box’?
• Penny is listening to Christmas Carol singers outside her window, when Jack arrives to spend the night. A lazy preparation of finger food won’t be enough to satisfy either of these passionate lovers.

Excerpt:

Penny sat beside the fire and muted the sound from the TV. She could just make out the faint voices singing ‘Good King Wenceslas’.

Jack would be calling round at 6pm. She could hardly wait and closed her eyes to think delicious thoughts about what the evening might entail.

Penny had prepared a meal of sorts, finger food her mother would call it whilst her best friend Zoe called it ‘lazy’. There were chicken wings, spicy and plain, sausage rolls and three different quiches, some breadsticks and dips and a few other nibbles, crisps mainly.

Anyway Penny didn’t want to spend the evening eating, it had been a difficult week at work and her stress levels were higher than usual. She was planning on an evening of unbridled passion and had prepared the bedroom accordingly with warm red sheets and scented Ylang Ylang candles waiting patiently to be lit. All there was left to do was immerse herself in a deep bath of softening, sensuous bubbles that would guarantee velvety skin just begging to be stroked.

At 6pm Jack arrived wearing a huge grin and holding out a bottle of chilled chardonnay.

He gathered her into his arms almost immediately, placing the bottle down on the nearest surface so that his hands were free to roam over Penny’s warm body through the silken robe she was wearing. Her curves yielded to his touch as his mouth found hers covering it with his full, soft lips and drawing from her a low groan when he eased his tongue inside her receptive mouth.

“I’ve waited all day for your body.” Jack muttered against her lips as he started to ease the robe from one of her silken shoulders.

“Good.” Penny murmured in response and her fingers set about undoing the buttons on his pale blue shirt.

They backed up into the room, their lips still searching and nibbling, Penny’s robe was left behind them in a pool on the floor as Jack’s hands explored every soft inch of her body with wide palms, stroking and squeezing her sensitized flesh.

Jack turned Penny around in one movement and bent her forward with her hands against the wall as he loosened his trousers, pulling them down to his knees along with his under shorts.

“I love your ass,” he breathed, “God I love your ass.”

Buy Links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK


Author Biography.

Gemma Parkes is a freelance writer from the UK who specializes mainly in Erotic fiction. Her writing covers a variety of sexual genres.

Previous publication credits:
Anthology inclusions:

Train Whore - Girl fever – Cleis Press
Access all Areas –Back Door Lover – Ravenous Romance
Cassandra – A Wicked and Wanton All Hallows Eve – Naughty Nights Press
Scarlet – Behind Stone Walls – Yellow Silk Dreams

Novellas:
Pleasing Mia – Rebel Ink Press

Plus many self published titles, including:
Making Waves
Park ‘n Ride
Submit to Me… and many more.
You can contact Gemma by visiting her blog, following her on Facebook or Twitter:

http://gemmaparkes.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/parkes.gemma

https://twitter.com/GemmaPar

Have a wonderful December everyone and a hot, hot Christmas!

It shall certainly be with this read!