IY: ‘Dead And Alive’ . . . An Explanation


I should spend some time talking about this. I want to explain exactly what I’m doing because I’m not sure that you know. I’m also very excited about it!

You may recall I wrote a novella at the beginning of the year, just before Easter. Called ‘Dead or Alive,’ it followed three characters: Diavian Hatara, Kailah Turner and Michael Garran over the course of one night as their lives clash in a big, violent way. These characters are roleplay characters of mine and I’ve wanted to write about them for so long, that a novella seemed a sneaky way to do it before working on ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge.’

From Friday 15 August I will be releasing the novella one ‘episode’ at a time, every other month. They will be easy to spot from my Amazon Author Page and anybody who subscribes to that page, or my newsletter will get automatic notification when they release (which is a good idea since I don’t plan to harp on about it here). I’ll then gauge the response to the novella and consider writing another, following the same characters and the events that follow (Season Two). Yes ^_^ I’ll be borrowing a well known formula from US and UK television and releasing each novella as a new season. ‘Dead And Alive’ is the name of the series as a whole (changed from ‘Dead or Alive).

I’ve never done something like this before. Not with such a tight schedule or with characters I know quite so well as these. Doing this while working on other bigger projects also seems nuts, but I can’t bare to wait.

The other big different about this project is that I’m designing all the cover art work myself. You may remember this video in which I asked for opinions on a set of mock ups.

I’d like to thank everyone who left comments for me in some way or another and tell you that everybody who gave me feedback will receive a teaser copy of episode one.

It’s just a small way of saying thank you because these comments were so very helpful in guiding me towards the finished product (which you will see on Friday).

The most helpful comment will receive a full copy of episode one on Friday and I’d like to personally thank Bill Treadwell for the depth of his comments of every single mock up!

For the rest of you, I’ll price these episodes as low as I can. You can find them for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords as of now! I do hope you’ll give the series a chance. There will be chances to win more copies of future episodes as they release.

As I finish up, I’d like to show you one of the teaser posters I created for the series. Some of these are already on Facebook so if you want to see those check them out on my fan page.

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RS: eBook Review – Hallow’s Eve, Pippa Jay


Hallow's Eve cover art

Credit: Pippa Jay

Author: Pippa Jay
Title: Hallow’s Eve
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ASIN: B00O4CRBYI
Length: ’49 pages’

Twelve months ago, Hal’s world crashed and burned, taking the love of his life with it. He’s waited all year for that one special night when the souls of the departed come home, hoping his candle will summon back one in particular to heal his broken heart. But the forbidden knowledge he’s learned could call something far worse, and put more than his own soul at risk . . .

A Paranormal Romance short story

line break, swirling graphics, from openclipart

Cover:

I think the Funk Master is leeching into me here as I’m unsure about the title text on this one. Something about the colour and/or the shading makes it a bit tricky to read against the background. Either that or my eyesight really is failing and DSB needs to get us some glasses double quick! That aside, the colours are nice, as are the images. Again, faces, but this is a thing in these sorts of books, so many I should stop whining about it (and remind myself of my own book covers every now and then *ahem*)

Story:

Hallow (Hal) lost his girlfriend in terribly circumstances and now, a year on from her death he has plans to bring her back. Of course there are all sorts of reasons why this is a bad idea and plenty of road blocks on the way, even in such a short span of words. ^_^

Characters:

Hal: . . . gotta keep it spoiler free(!). I like this guy. His background is simple enough for the story, but there are so many hints of a deeper history that he feels richly written and well rounded with only a few words to play with. It’s a talent I envy, that’s for sure.

Eroticism:

As with others of Pippa’s works I’ve read, not so much erotic as sensual. Gently so, with no actual explicit smexxy scenes at all. Funny, but this didn’t bother me in the slightest. In fact I didn’t even notice until I got to the end and then I was left thinking; ‘Oh, no sex? Okay!’ It didn’t bother me. In fact, trying to shoe-horn it in would have damaged the story.

Overall experience:

Cleanly formatted, well paced with a surprising climax. I didn’t see things panning out quite that way, though I did have suspicions about the outcome from Hal’s earlier interactions. But there was no ‘hand of god’ reaching down to give these guys their happy ending which I appreciate a great deal after gorging on tonnes of Cinema Sins episodes. Well rounded ending, with a future ahead that is both satisfying and pleasing to the hidden romantic in me. What I also particularly like is Pippa’s talent for story titles that play on content, character names and well known phrases. I’m starting to really get a feel for them.

Final score:

Average across all scores is 4.2, which rounds out to 4 fireballs.

Another sweet short story, that I read before going to bed one night. Not exactly a HEA or HFN but a kinda . . . I dunno . . . characters-figuring-out-for-themselves-how-to-get-their-preferred-ending-without-shoving-it-in-your-face (CFOFTHTGTPEWSIIYF).

Yeah.

I’m happy with that. ^_^

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RS: I Haz Planz 06/08/15 & July Round Up


Okay guys, no more Ed Sheeran videos. He’s there and he’s filling my mind, but I figure you need a break.

Actions Last Weekblank calendar from OpenClipArt

~Release the ‘Sugar Dust’ paperback (squeeeeee!)
Wooohoooo! Done! It’s so prettyful and it’s ready for you to buyyyyyyyy! Or not, as you please. 😉 But it’s now available here and here.

~Send x2 review requests for ‘Sugar Dust’ and/or ‘The Full Story’
Sorted though I am leaning towards getting reviews for ‘Sugar Dust’. The Full Story’ will get some attention, I just need to figure out how to do it in a sensible way.

July 2015 Round Up

little green tic~Order proofs for ‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’ and be happy enough with the result to okay sales
I think I’m getting better at this! It only took two proofs to ensure I was happy with what I could see. The novel(la) is fabulous and now (*fingers crossed*) error free! Wheeeeee! See above for buy links.

~Continue to push for exposure: complete at least x2 site questionnaires / interviews
Done. Goodreads and Smashwords now have fun, interview-style thingies up for your enjoyment. Now to push out across the wider web.

~Clean up the front and back data for the rest of the ‘Meeting Each Other’ series
Yup. Now these pieces all include references to ‘Sugar Dust’ along with The Full Story’ in eBook and paperback editions. *phew!* Hard, itty-bitty work, but done.

~Regain my Goodreads access
In the end, not that difficult. Now I’m able to regularly pop in to see what’s kicking.

Change That Shit Up!

checking off feedbackHmm. Completed tasks struck out, changes/clarifications in red and new tasks in green.

  1. Get ‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’ on sale as a paperback by end of July 2015
  2. Edit ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’ following comments from beta readers by the end of October (preferably by end of August).
  3. Draft ‘Slippers & Chains Three’ (and give it a damn title!) by end of November 2015 (during NaNoWriMo?)
  4. Publish ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’ by November 2015

Oh yeah. Haha, a publishing date for ‘Second Base’ isn’t a bad thing either! Let’s see what I can do about that going forward. ‘By November’ seems fine, but I should settle on an date so I know what to work towards.

Targets For August 2015

It’s my turn now—isn’t it, DSB? Ileandra can chill the hell out for a bit, right?—which means I can start to make some significant dents in my list for the rest of the year. Not that there’s loads to do. 😉

  1. Complete beta edit of ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’
  2. Format ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’ for paperback and ebook release
  3. Commission cover art for ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’
  4. Make list of who will receive ARC copies of ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’

Activities For This Week

  1. Decide how many changes need to be made to ‘Second Base’ and if the beta suggestions are better suited in this release than in ‘Slippers & Chains Three’
  2. Put together background data for KDP and Createspace and assign ISBNs accordingly.

Thoughts…

girl in purple asking questionsTruth be told, most of this week’s goals are already done. A bit of a cheat, but after making such a fuss about my turn, the fact remains that this week needs to be about thinking. I’ve already been through my beta comments and applied them to the ‘Second Base’ Scrivener file. I did it at the beginning of the week since Ileandra had already sent ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ to betas. But . . . there was one comment that I just can’t decide on and it’s preventing me saying ‘done!’

This reader pointed out that there are a number of secondary characters whose stories appear to be unresolved. She said that this isn’t a problem as such, so long as there are more stories to follow which will knot those loose threads.

‘Slippers & Chains’ was always intended to be a four part series; this is only the half way point. I’ve introduced Karen’s parents in ‘Second Base’ and I believe a huge part of this comment relates to that introduction. However, the core of this story is the relationship between Dan and Karen and I don’t want to dilute that too much detail of the family.

a familyWe already know what Dan’s parents are like from ‘Sugar Dust’ and my original plan was to make the third story about both families rather than the core D/s dynamic between Dan and Karen since that is settled by the end of ‘Second Base’.

Ugh! *head desk*

Basically I need to think about whether or not to stick with my original plan or tie up those loose threads in ‘Second Base’ for a more satisfying reader experience. Obviously I want to draw people into the next books with juicy hooks, but I don’t want to piss them off so much that they refuse to pick up those next books because the first two pissed them off so much.

Tough line to walk.

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RS: Tropes In Erotica – The ‘Hard’ Domme and The ‘Teasing’ Domme


In the erotica I’ve read to date, the Domme/Femdom/female dominant is a fun one to play with. The most recent example is the character in a wonderful novella by Eve Langlais named ‘My Secretary, My Mistress.’ I won’t say too much about it here as I’ve already written a review (which will post at some point!) but it is an excellent read, if you’re curious.

Anyway, there seems to be two distinct splinters in the case of female dominants and they are either the ‘hard’ Mistress or the ‘teasing’ Mistress.

The Hard Domme: Just Wants To Spank Folk

pair of shiny silver handcuffs

Credit: radacina

A lot. They enjoy the power and the rush they get from control over another and yes, while I can appreciate that this can be a great part of what the character is about, it just seems to be ‘for the hell of it’ which is rarely satisfying (to me, personally, as a reader).

These Dommes are also mean! It wavers between the teasing for the eventual satisfaction of both parties and teasing because she loves to hear a man (or woman, actually) shriek and scream.

There is a market for this sort of character – or else folk wouldn’t keep writing it! – but personally, this sort of Domme is not to my taste as much as:

The Teasing Domme: A Big, Fat Softy

black feather with shadow

Credit: beakman

I don’t see this one as much, though I remember her popping up in my early forays into the depths of Literotica . . . take from that what you will.

This Domme finds her pleasure in the tease and she is far more sensual and gentle than her sadistic counterpart. She’s the one that uses feathers and oils and silk scarves instead of handcuffs, whips and flogs.

She also doesn’t mind the occasional blow job, which is something the Hard Domme rarely ‘reduces’ herself to. The Teasing Domme knows that her pet (rarely slave!) will be far happier and willing to serve, if satisfied just as well as she is.

line break, swirling graphics, from openclipart

I find this interesting, not so much because the pair are so vastly different from each other, but because of the stories that grow around them. You’d think that characters as different as these would end up in utterly different places, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I see fewer examples of the ‘Teasing Domme’ than of the ‘Hard Domme’ but they are there, bringing their men to dizzying heights of pleasure while clinging to them for the ride.

It’s actually kinda sweet. ^_^

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IY: Mah Plans 03/08/15 & July Round Up


How fast did July go! I know there was a LARP in the middle of it, but I can hardly keep up with the time passing. It’s true what they say about being busy. 😉

Actions Last Week

~Complete deep edits on ‘Dead or Alive’ and leave to rest
Yup. To encourage myself to leave the piece alone for a bit I’ve sent what I have so far to four members of the PWG. Hopefully some comments from them will ensure I’m on the right track with my changes and tweaks.

checking off feedback~Transfer ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ to Kindle in preparation for full read through
. . .yeah, I read it all. I couldn’t help it. Something inside begged me to keep going so I did, slicing off another 3.5k words. The narrative was flabby despite cutting 20k during the deep edit. Now the novel sits at 79.3k which is closer to ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’. I could shave off more, but I’ll wait for betas.

~Finalise cover art for first instalment of ‘Dead or Alive.’
This was a daft goal. -_- I’m still collecting feedback from last week’s video, so I can’t complete it yet. Though the comments coming through are incredibly helpful, so keep them coming!

July 2015 Round Up

~Complete deep edits on secondary timeline of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ which ends the ‘deep edits’ process.
Sooorted! ^_^ See above. Only a month overdue. 😉

~Start and complete fine tuning of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’
Done.

~Edit first part of ‘Dead or Alive’ ready to gift with August’s newsletter
Deep edits done and the piece is with beta readers. Not bad going actually. I may even be ready to send it after all! Hmm . . . 12 days.

~Create cover art for ‘Dead or Alive’ that is suitable for all parts and all three characters
Got my mock ups and a much clearer idea of where I want to be. So . . . time to push on!

Changes To My Plans

blank calendar from OpenClipArt

Still doing well. Not much to change except for logistics. Completed tasks struck out, changes/clarifications in red and additional tasks in green:

  • Edit ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ to completion by end of September (including betas)
  • Publish ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ through Little Vamp Press by end of November in digital and paperback forms
  • Start deep edits on ‘On A Knife Point’ by end of December
  • Send two more newsletters to subscribers.
    • Send the first episode of ‘Dead or Alive’ as the freebie in August
    • Send a teaser of the second episode of ‘Dead or Alive’ in November
  • Publish Season One of ‘Dead or Alive’ episodically every two months (from August)

Okay, that was a lie. Significant changes, there. Ho hum. ^_^

Targets for August

  • Leave ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ alone while betas enjoy it
  • Publish ‘Episode One’ of ‘Dead or Alive’
  • Send x10 review requests for ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’

Activities For This Week

  • Finalise cover art for ‘Episode One’ of ‘Dead or Alive.’
  • Outline formatting for release of ‘Episode One’
  • Send x3 review requests for ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’

Thoughts…

I must be mad. I really must be, but I’m having so much fun with these different projects that I can’t stop. Also, given that following ‘Saar’s Legacy’ I’ll be shifting focus to shorter works, I think this is good practise for me.

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