This, the fifth Friday of May, is a special Author Chat. I'm delighted to welcome special guest Angelica Dawson to The Naughty Pages with a very special message, a very important message for everyone; not just those who live the Naughty life.
Trust and BDSM
Jocelyn, the protagonist of Kitten, was a victim of gang rape. That event is never described in detail, but rather in bursts and flashes of memory. After the revelation, she is still handled roughly by men in the book, however, none of them rape her.
A line in BDSM, that is often drawn with smudging, is consent. She has given herself to me so I can do whatever I want with her. It’s a scary thought. It puts women back into a position they held years ago where they were victims of men, unable to stand up for themselves with any expectation of being respected in her wishes.
Done properly, a Master knows his partner’s limits and may press them but not pass them. It isn’t fair to take someone’s trust and betray it before they can have a chance to say no. Jocelyn comes to trust Will despite his violent nature and degrading language. It is made apparent to her that it is a game. He can say anything without really meaning it. He spreads his violence out, letting punishments be titillating instead of painful. Most importantly, when helping her move beyond her rape fears, he moves slowly.
He lets her know up front where it is headed and what she will do, “All of your holes can take me,” but he goes slow, using first fingers, then smaller men, and finally himself.
Jocelyn informs the vampires on her first encounter that she isn’t interested in rape play. She say, “I might be willing to be hurt, but I won’t be raped again.” This is a perfect instance of not establishing the trust and ground rules up front. Terrance, her first partner in Blue Moon House, isn’t playing hard, he isn’t going for broke, but even so, he discovers where her limits are and what is out of bounds.
I don’t claim my book is an excellent primer on BDSM. I know it’s not. However, I do hope to faithfully respect the wishes of my characters and portray a safe environment. There is another scene where Jocelyn thinks perhaps she has misplaced her trust and the thought is echoed by one of the vampires.
“You cannot truly be a part of this house unless you trust your master. We have no place for you otherwise.”
To completely surrender to another requires trust. I hate to think of that trust being betrayed by someone who selfishly seeks their own pleasure and assumes they know what is best for their partner.
Communication is the key to any relationship, and the reason why the vampires reveal themselves immediately after such trust is established. They are in as much danger as their partners. If they are discovered they risk being hunted and killed. The stakes for them are easily as high as the human partners who surrender to their bites as well as canes, paddles, chains and any other implements used to combine pain and pleasure.
Trust is the bottom line in Blue Moon House, and Kitten is no exception.
Angelica Dawson is the author of Blue Moon House, a vampire BDSM story, and its prequels. She’s no stranger to blood sucking hoards, but in her day job as an environmental consultant, they tend to be black flies and mosquitoes rather than vampires. She is constantly sharing flashfiction on her blog and can also be found on twitter and Facebook. Her books, including the newly released Kitten, can be purchased from her publisher, Amazon and All Romance Ebooks.
Ok, much like I began my first Author Chat with an apology, so too do I start this one. This time, due to unfortunate life circumstances, Delena Silverfox, who was scheduled to post today, will be unable to do so. And due to my own life circumstances, I lack time to write up an all new post.
So I'm once again sharing my post on the importance of a good relationship between publisher and author. I'm also including snippet and blurb of The Wolf in the Neighborhood, which you should all know by now has been released and has cracked Naughty Nights Press's BestSelling list after only 4 days, and remains there still!
To get on with the post, I'd love once more to discuss the important relationship between author and publisher. Something many people don't think about, either because they aren't one of either, or they are but just don't see it as quite as important. But I can tell you know, neither would be able to succeed without the other. So it's very important that an author and publisher see eye to eye, and are both willing to meet in the middle when there is an issue. If the author has an issue with the contract TALK ABOUT IT to the publisher BEFORE signing.
(Disclaimer: I might use a fair bit of capitalisation in this post, I'm just trying to really make a point here.)
Once the contract is signed, both author and publisher are bound to THAT EXACT contract. That's it. READ IT. Make sure you know what you're signing before you sign.
So now we've signed the contract, and maybe time is dragging a little. Keep in mind something before you go off the deep end: publishers look after MULTIPLE authors, editors, artists, and numerous other staff. Things come up (and no, they don't HAVE to tell you unless it directly involves you! Some do, though, out of COURTESY), and so instead of wasting their time with your petty tantrums, let them use that time to sort out the issues! They're humans just like you and me.
Now you're on to the editing process. They're not there to tell you what a great job you've done in writing the story. Their sole purpose: CLEANING IT UP. Any little error, big error, gaping plothole... any issue that might be in there, it's their job to point it out to you. If you don't like it, well that's pretty much too bad. If it's something, say, like capitalisation of a word that normally isn't, (for example, in certain scenes in my Wolf Smitten series, I capitalise Wolf when referring to Derek's Wolf), then don't get shitty if they request it changed. Just leave a comment stating that it's integral. If it's a legit grammatical error or plothole, or something that is just purely difficult to believe even given whatever strange circumstance your story might be set in, LISTEN TO THEM. They're trying to get YOUR story to the best state it can be so that the readers (who PAY YOU) don't feel that they've wasted their money. They aren't your friend, they are your editor. It is important to have a good working relationship and trust with them, yes, but FIRST AND FOREMOST: they are your EDITOR. LISTEN.
Cover artist has now done the cover. Maybe it's not quite what you thought it would be. Or maybe there's a small detail not quite right. Again: BEFORE going off the deep end, consider: is it INTEGRAL? Maybe the eye colour is wrong. In which case send a CALM message saying "whoops, Character A's eyes are actually red, not purple. Great job though!" If it's way off, for example wrong city skyline, and maybe some readers wouldn't notice but a lot would, again, send a CALM message pointing it out. If it's not absolutely integral, however (maybe the hero is standing when you wanted him to be sitting? Or he's facing left with hand on hip, but you wanted him facing right with his arms crossed), then just LEAVE IT. THEY know what sells and what doesn't. TRUST them.
All through the process, make sure you always take a breath and THINK before sending a message. Is it IMPORTANT? Can it wait? And ALWAYS make sure you're calm and respectful. Obviously if they aren't respectful when you genuinely have been, then you might get annoyed. But don't see that as an invitation to be disrespectful back. Maybe it was just a swamped day, and they didn't have time for the usual courtesies. You don't know. Unless there are serious red flags going up, then just bear with it. Publishing companies are looking after numerous other authors, all eagerly waiting to get their book out there. But they can't all go out at once. It just doesn't work like that.
My main points are to READ the contract, SHOW and EARN respect, BREATHE, THINK and TRUST. Not something that is easy these days, but without any trust, society is just going to go to hell. I trusted, respected and, I believe, have earned respect by breathing and thinking and not being a tantrumy, impatient toddler. And now, I am about to see that all pay off with my debut release next week. I can tell you, it is worth every single second of waiting!
Excerpt of The Wolf in the Neighborhood, get your copy HERE. And feel free to leave a review, every little bit helps!
After a few more moments of sniping from him, Krissy finally convinced Derek that a nap might help him feel better, so she helped him off the couch. He pushed away her efforts to help him to her room, stating, “I sure didn’t need the help last night; I think I can make it today,” with a wink that made her giggle. She was astounded at how well she had taken this new aspect of him in her stride. She guessed it was just the exposure to werewolf novels and movies that had her desensitized.
Once they reached her room, she directed Derek to lie on his stomach so she could try to massage out some of the knots in his shoulders, tense from the double transformation. His breath groaned out of his chest as her hands – delicate yet strong – worked out some of the bigger kinks and she felt the vibrations through his back, making her recall his groans of pleasure from last night when she clawed his back.
She frowned in silent thought, wondering whether that had been man or beast enjoying that bit of pain, before she realized Derek had fallen asleep with one last groaning sigh. Krissy smiled as she watched his face, finally peaceful and frown-free.
Firstly, I want to apologise for it being a little later than normal. Today ended up a little busier than intended, or expected. But I'm here now, posting up my first Author Chat.
To lead in to my first chat, I'd love to share some very exciting news: The Wolf in the Neighborhood has a release date! That's right, Tuesday 15th January, it will go live for purchase from Naughty Nights Press (where it's already available for pre-order!), All Romance eBooks, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo... I'm sure there are a few other places it'll be available from, but right now they're the ones I can remember off the top of my head in this stinking hot weather. Gold Coast summer!
So as part of that excitement, about the release date, not the summer bit, I'd love to discuss the important relationship between author and publisher. Something many people don't think about, either because they aren't one of either, or they are but just don't see it as quite as important. But I can tell you know, neither would be able to succeed without the other. So it's very important that an author and publisher see eye to eye, and are both willing to meet in the middle when there is an issue. If the author has an issue with the contract TALK ABOUT IT to the publisher BEFORE signing.
(Disclaimer: I might use a fair bit of capitalisation in this post, I'm just trying to really make a point here.)
Once the contract is signed, both author and publisher are bound to THAT EXACT contract. That's it. READ IT. Make sure you know what you're signing before you sign.
So now we've signed the contract, and maybe time is dragging a little. Keep in mind something before you go off the deep end: publishers look after MULTIPLE authors, editors, artists, and numerous other staff. Things come up (and no, they don't HAVE to tell you unless it directly involves you! Some do, though, out of COURTESY), and so instead of wasting their time with your petty tantrums, let them use that time to sort out the issues! They're humans just like you and me.
Now you're on to the editing process. They're not there to tell you what a great job you've done in writing the story. Their sole purpose: CLEANING IT UP. Any little error, big error, gaping plothole... any issue that might be in there, it's their job to point it out to you. If you don't like it, well that's pretty much too bad. If it's something, say, like capitalisation of a word that normally isn't, (for example, in certain scenes in my Wolf Smitten series, I capitalise Wolf when referring to Derek's Wolf), then don't get shitty if they request it changed. Just leave a comment stating that it's integral. If it's a legit grammatical error or plothole, or something that is just purely difficult to believe even given whatever strange circumstance your story might be set in, LISTEN TO THEM. They're trying to get YOUR story to the best state it can be so that the readers (who PAY YOU) don't feel that they've wasted their money. They aren't your friend, they are your editor. It is important to have a good working relationship and trust with them, yes, but FIRST AND FOREMOST: they are your EDITOR. LISTEN.
Cover artist has now done the cover. Maybe it's not quite what you thought it would be. Or maybe there's a small detail not quite right. Again: BEFORE going off the deep end, consider: is it INTEGRAL? Maybe the eye colour is wrong. In which case send a CALM message saying "whoops, Character A's eyes are actually red, not purple. Great job though!" If it's way off, for example wrong city skyline, and maybe some readers wouldn't notice but a lot would, again, send a CALM message pointing it out. If it's not absolutely integral, however (maybe the hero is standing when you wanted him to be sitting? Or he's facing left with hand on hip, but you wanted him facing right with his arms crossed), then just LEAVE IT. THEY know what sells and what doesn't. TRUST them.
All through the process, make sure you always take a breath and THINK before sending a message. Is it IMPORTANT? Can it wait? And ALWAYS make sure you're calm and respectful. Obviously if they aren't respectful when you genuinely have been, then you might get annoyed. But don't see that as an invitation to be disrespectful back. Maybe it was just a swamped day, and they didn't have time for the usual courtesies. You don't know. Unless there are serious red flags going up, then just bear with it. Publishing companies are looking after numerous other authors, all eagerly waiting to get their book out there. But they can't all go out at once. It just doesn't work like that.
My main points are to READ the contract, SHOW and EARN respect, BREATHE, THINK and TRUST. Not something that is easy these days, but without any trust, society is just going to go to hell. I trusted, respected and, I believe, have earned respect by breathing and thinking and not being a tantrumy, impatient toddler. And now, I am about to see that all pay off with my debut release next week. I can tell you, it is worth every single second of waiting!
Excerpt of The Wolf in the Neighborhood, RELEASE DAY 15 JANUARY 2013 Pre-order HERE
After a few more moments of sniping from him, Krissy finally convinced Derek that a nap might help him feel better, so she helped him off the couch. He pushed away her efforts to help him to her room, stating, “I sure didn’t need the help last night; I think I can make it today,” with a wink that made her giggle. She was astounded at how well she had taken this new aspect of him in her stride. She guessed it was just the exposure to werewolf novels and movies that had her desensitized.
Once they reached her room, she directed Derek to lie on his stomach so she could try to massage out some of the knots in his shoulders, tense from the double transformation. His breath groaned out of his chest as her hands – delicate yet strong – worked out some of the bigger kinks and she felt the vibrations through his back, making her recall his groans of pleasure from last night when she clawed his back.
She frowned in silent thought, wondering whether that had been man or beast enjoying that bit of pain, before she realized Derek had fallen asleep with one last groaning sigh. Krissy smiled as she watched his face, finally peaceful and frown-free.
A line in BDSM, that is often drawn with smudging, is consent. She has given herself to me so I can do whatever I want with her. It’s a scary thought. It puts women back into a position they held years ago where they were victims of men, unable to stand up for themselves with any expectation of being respected in her wishes. 
