By Maggie Nash (Guest Blogger)
Thanks so
much for hosting me on your blog today, Lisabet. I thought I’d talk
about something very close to my heart – romance! Plus if you keep
reading, there’s a naughty excerpt from my new release Kinky
Bet!
You know
before I became a romance writer I used to be a closet romance
reader. There was no limit to the ends I would go to hide my secret
addiction. I would read my treasured books in the privacy of my own
bedroom. I would buy them from shops where no one I knew was likely
to see me. I even, and I am really embarrassed to admit, bought
birthday cards and mothers day cards along with the books and
pretended to by getting them as gifts. Can you believe that? I was
one sick puppy!
You know what
it's like. Those looks of amusement accompanied by those superior
attitudes.
"Oh,
you're reading one of those books are you?"
Then, the
heated blush would appear out of nowhere. My tongue would swell and
dry at the same time and conveniently stick to the roof of my mouth.
"Ahh...yes...well,
no...it's a gift for my motttherrrr."
Then came the
knowing grin.
"Of
course we all know those books are so degrading to women. And the
stories are all the same. You know they all follow a strict formula.
Anyone could knock one up on a weekend."
Yeah
right!
And so it
went for so many years. Holding magazines up over the book I was
reading in the train so no one would see the cover. Spending a
fortune on greeting cards I didn't need.
But one day
all that changed. I decided to write one of my own.
I found
kindred spirits. Hundreds upon hundreds of women (and men) worldwide
who shared my passion. They GOT me!
It was so
amazing and such a relief to find out that I could converse about my
favourite genre, or gorgeous hero in a safe environment where no one
would show me scorn. Yippee!
It was
empowering. And with power, came courage.
As my writing
became more serious and I started to think about getting published, I
found that I wanted to let people know.
"What do
you do for fun?" people would ask.
"I write
fiction stories," I would answer.
An interested
gaze would follow. "Really? That's great! What sort of
stories?"
This is when
I would gulp, take a deep breath, and think to myself - what the
heck..."I, er...I write romance fiction."
I would then
sit back and wait for the snarky remarks but guess what happened?
"You do?
That's great."
Then the
person would move closer to me and whisper, "I love reading
romances. They're so relaxing aren't they?"
And this was
not an isolated response. Even the men I confessed my secret to were
so very supportive. In fact one even asked me for help with his own
romance novel.
Who would
have thought?
These days I
don't hesitate at all. I tell everyone who asks (and many who don't
J) - I write hot
erotic novels, and steamy suspense.
And you know
what? I'm proud of it!
Here’s a
snippet from my latest romance, Kinky Bet!
Blurb
Who knew losing a bet could be this much fun?
Who knew losing a bet could be this much fun?
Erica
Nielsen agreed to a bet with her best friend, though she never
imagined that losing would involve a weekend of punishment at
Dangerous Liaison, a BSDM retreat. But is it really punishment being
trained by a sexy Irishman who takes her on a sexual journey of a
lifetime?
Conal
Brennan agrees to help a young woman find her submissive nature. He
always enjoys being the one in control, but one look at the Nordic
blonde he calls ‘Fire girl’ and he’s not sure who’s
controlling whom.
Excerpt
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNeRf6q69R2Q2YPP02Tnv5yJtzajV7FBLn8Pz5kIZTWXdBUsHefbEsbiZ1MF1FsYUYl0gyWg7GEL-QgSVw8kk8OiPfru712kOOUg3aIp7nZADT8lVMcRZhHlbhoMcnOs_i9zXZZes78U/s1600/kinkybetcover.jpg)
She
placed the folder back on the desk and the door opened. She turned to
see a young woman dressed in a short leather skirt and plain white
T-shirt enter the room. Her breasts showed through the transparent
material, reminding Erica that she might soon be similarly displayed
for all to see.
“Come
with me, Miss Neilson.”
Erica
rose and followed her out into the hallway and up the stairs. Conal’s
assistant walked quickly and Erica struggled to keep up with her
while she was led to a room on the second level of the house. The
girl opened the door and stood back, ushering her inside.
The
assistant followed her in and closed the door behind her. “You must
remove your clothes now.”
Erica’s
pulse kicked up several dozen notches. She’d never undressed in
front of another woman before. Not even her mother had seen her
without clothes since she’d started puberty and had begun the whole
poor body image thing, so this was new for her. This woman didn’t
seem to notice her reluctance because she walked past her to an
adjoining room. The sound of running water reminded her that she was
here to enjoy herself, so she might as well get into the spirit of
things.
She
almost lost her nerve, however, after she removed her dress and
placed it on a small padded cushion. At this moment in time she
couldn’t decide if she was going to kill Nicole or be forever in
her debt. Either way she’d committed to be here now so unless she
wanted to leave without having any fun at all she needed to
cooperate. It was now or never.
“Do
you require assistance?”
“Um,
no. I’m good.”
The
assistant waited patiently while Erica fumbled with the catch of her
black lace bra. She resisted the urge to cover herself when it was
taken from her. Before she could think too hard about it, she slid
her fingers under the elastic of the matching G-string and removed
the last scrap of covering from her body.
“I
guess if we’re getting acquainted I should know your name.”
The
girl lowered her head, her eyes to the floor. “My name is not
important.”
Erica
crossed her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as
a cool breeze tickled her skin. “Come on, I’m naked here. Surely
that qualifies as friendly.”
She
lifted her face, her eyes showing a hint of an apology. “My role
here does not require for my name to be used. I am here to serve
Master Conal.”
Erica
stood and stared for a few more seconds, pondering exactly what this
girl’s role was, and why she would want to be subjugated to a level
that took away her name. Apparently, since everyone was here by
choice, she must want it that way, so who was Erica to judge? “All
right, so I’m naked. What’s next?”
Maggie Nash
8 comments:
You should be proud to tell people Maggie, your books are awesome.
I remember covering a romance book with contact (like you use on school books)I was embarrassed by the cover.
Now I proudly display my own book cover on my phone case :)
Thanks Donna...I should pay you!
I reckon the more people are proud - the more people will admit that they actually love it! So many closet romance readers out there...they need to come out!
Hi, Maggie!
Welcome back to Beyond Romance, and congratulations on KINKY BET, which sounds like a very sexy book.
It's funny, I *never* read romance. And yet my first novel was a romance, more or less (if you make some allowances for multiple partners). I guess even I'm a sucker for the notion of true love.
Especially with a liberal quantity of D/S thrown in...
Just realized my comment was ambiguous. I meant, I never read romance in the past, before I started writing/publishing it.
Geez, English!
Hi girls! I just added Kinky Bet to my Kindle. Yay, can't wait to read.
That cracks me up that you hid your books and bought greeting cards. Only buying lube at the drugstore gets me slightly embarrassed. Lol. Everything else I'm good.
I can relate to Lisabet in that I started reading romance once I started writing it. Now I consume loads of it! I feel like I have years to "catch up" from when I was reading other things.
Best of luck with your book, Maggie. Looks like a winner!
LOL...I knew what you meant Lisabet :-) I think a lot of books are romantic. It's not the cover or the label that makes them romances. I think that's a lesson I learned when I started opening up and talking about my addiction to romance novels :-)
True love, multiple partners. D/s...Love takes many forms :-)
Thanks Normandie! Let me know what you think :-)
Yes, I was a closet romance reader for a long time! LOL...
Coming in here very late, Maggie, but I really enjoyed your post and I know that feeling of thinking I needed an excuse as to why I might be buying a particular book. My local librarian says in the past year there are heaps more women openly asking for romances of all heat levels. And this is at a small, country library. It's nice to see attitudes changing.
I loved your excerpt. Hope it does really well for you!
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