New and Naughty

“Anybody know of any blog hops?”

My friend and fellow author Jen Wright asked this question on one of my author lists about a week ago. Actually, I'd just finished participating in a great hop (Nicole Morgan's Hot Winter Nights), but I hadn't heard about any that were coming up.

“Nah, sorry.” I wrote back. “But we could create one. My mother always told me 'If you want something done, do it yourself.”

“Why not?” she replied. “My dad says the same thing.”

From these humble beginnings rose our New Year's blog hop extravaganza, “Something New, Something Naughty”.

It was Jen who came up with the title. Meanwhile, I wanted to offer a grand prize that would be a bit different, something more unusual than a bookstore voucher. “How about a gift certificate from EdenFantasys?,” I suggested. “That seems appropriate to the 'new and naughty' theme.”

What's EdenFantasys? My very favorite adult emporium. EdenFantasys has every sort of erotic product you can imagine – not just sex toys (though their variety in this realm is impressive – maybe even a bit scary!) but also bath, beauty and massage products, lingerie and fetish wear (many available in plus sizes), hilarious adult games and party favors, and erotic books (including lots of collections that include my stories, I'm pleased to note!). After Jen and I decided to do the hop, I spent some time (way too much time, actually) browsing at edenfantasys.com, drooling over the corsets and the restraints, reading the contributor profiles, and wondering whether I might incorporate some of the more exotic devices on offer into the BDSM steampunk novel I'm currently working on.

The site is more than a on-line store, though. EF is a community of everyday people who are interested in all things sexual - sort of a sexual social network. There are forums, videos, and an online magazine. The product reviews seem to be written by real customers, not sales folk. You can tell because sometimes the comments are not 100% positive. (“I can't really figure out how to use this...”, began one post that I read!)

One feature I just noticed on this visit is the interview section (many with authors and editors I know personally). EF has adopted an unusual format in which different members of the EF community each ask one question of the interview subject – similar to a chat or a press conference. Normally I find interviews a bit boring, but this is a new twist on a well-trod idea.

Anyway...trust me, if you win the grand prize in our blog hop – a $50 gift voucher - you will not be disappointed! Fifty bucks goes quite a long way at EF. In addition, we're giving away two $25 bookstore gift certificates, to your choice of Amazon, B&N, All Romance Ebooks, or Total-E-Bound (a publisher Jen and I share). Plus every single author participating in the hop will be giving away his or her own prize to someone who comments on that individual post.

So when is all this happening? January 10^th through 13^th of next year. We wanted to give you something to look forward to, after all the parties and celebrations were over.

If you're an author and you want to participate, click here to sign up. Registration will close on the 3^rd of January, so you have a bit of time to think about whether you really want to get involved in this madness. (You do! Believe me, you do!) Jen has a more detailed instructions over at her blog.

If you're a reader, keep your eyes and ears open. We'll be posting reminders on our blogs, on readers loops, and anywhere else we can think of.

Come join in the fun! If being naughty is new to you – try it. You'll like it!

Cat Shifters and Sunbathers - My July Newsletter!

Welcome! Thanks for taking time off from your sun-bathing, swimming, barbecues and other summer fun to check out my latest news. With free reads, contests and lots more, I hope you'll find it's worth a few minutes.

New and Upcoming Releases

No new releases this month, but I've gotten word that Total-E-Bound has accepted my paranormal novella Hot Spell for release in November. By that time, we'll need a sizzling story set during a heat wave! I'll be posting a blurb and excerpt soon.

Probably my biggest news this month is the fact that my extra-terrestrial ménage tale, Bodies of Light got a five cherryreview from Whipped Cream and then was voted Book of the Week. Part of the prize was a free book video from GoddessFish Promotions. Check it out! I really love the music.

In her review, Clematis wrote:

What a wonderfully refreshing and original sci-fi erotic romance. My only complaint would be that I finished it -- I wanted to keep on reading!...New to Lisabet Sarai's work, I was pleasantly surprised and am full of nothing but praise for Bodies of Light.

You can read the whole review here

I've been working on the edits for my novella Wild About That Thing, which will be released in September as part of the Treble anthology. This is a realistic contemporary tale about a single mother struggling against the odds to fulfill her dream. Have you read the excerpt yet? The story's full of my favorite blues tunes -- not to mention some of my favorite sexual fantasies.

Last, but hardly least, I recently learned that my story "Clean Slate" will be included in the anthology Best Lesbian Romance 2012, put together by awarding winning author and editor Radclyffe. I think this will be coming out in November of 2011.

Other News

I'm blogging on July 20th at K.D. Grace's place, talking about "the story behind the story" of my BDSM romance The Understudy. It's not exactly a true tale, but it borrows a good deal from my own history. I'm also blogging today as usual at Hitting the Hot Spot on the topic of naked recreation. Seems like a good topic for summer! Drop by and say hello!

I've put my article from Savvy Authors up in the For Authors section of my website. If you missed my essay "What Comes Next? Building Suspense and Avoiding Predictability", you can find it here.

Your wish is my command. Last month, in an entry to my "Story Suggestions" contest, one reader asked for a cat shifter story. You'll find the result, "Cat Toy", up on my free reads page. This is the first chapter of what will probably be a longer work. I hope you like it. I'm centering my contest this month on the story. You have a chance to win your own toy - or something else sexy and sensual!

"Quarantine" is up to about 35K. Unfortunately, my evil day job has been stealing a lot of my writing time. Actually, that's not fair - I love my day job. But I am getting a bit frustrated that it's taking me so long to tell Dylan's and Rafe's story.

Contests!

Thanks to everyone who entered my Bodies contest. Most respondents had fairly specific preferences when it came to male characters, but quite a few told me that the body type of the female character didn't matter nearly as much. One person wrote "It's refreshing to read of women who are curvy". Another commented "The women I'm not as picky about because I usually replace her with myself anyway in my mind." "Variety" and "please, not perfect" were other common sentiments. Since I rarely write unbelievably gorgeous characters, I was reassured!

Congratulations to Melissa, who was my randomly selected winner! She won a copy of my "Best Book of the Week" Bodies of Light.

My contest this month is a bit different. The prize is a $25 gift certificate from sex toy emporium EdenFantasys. If you're not into sex toys, EdenFantasys also sells lingerie, videos and DVDs, and lots of sexy books, including many of written by or including stories by me.

Kayla from EdenFantasys contacted me a few weeks ago, offering to sponsor my monthly contest, if I'd say a few words about their site. When I asked Kayla what she wanted me to write, she left that totally up to me. So I spent some time browsing around - more time than I'd planned, in fact, because, to be honest, I was having a great time.

I discovered that EdenFantasys is not just a woman-friendly, sex-positive adult products vendor. It seems to be a true community. They have an active set of forums (I had to tear myself away from the BDSM topics!), reviews by real people offering honest opinions, member workshops (I saw one listed on cake-decorating!), an interactive book club (who just happened to be discussing a book that includes one of my stories - obviously they have excellent taste!), and much more. My sampling suggested that the community is large, active, knowledgeable and generally articulate. After half an hour or so exploring, my reaction was, "Wow! A place to connect with kindred spirits. I've got to join!" My second reaction was, "Oh no, another Internet venue to suck up my scarce time!"

I decided to join anyway.

So - what do you need to do in order to win this gift certificate? First, read my new story, "Cat Toy". Then send me an email, to contest [at] lisabetsarai.com, with the subject line "Toys". In your email, tell me what you think should happen in the next chapter. That's all there is to it! Around August 15th, I'll randomly pick one email to receive the prize. And a hearty thanks to EdenFantasys for their generosity!

Lisabet's Pick of the Month

My Pick for July is Amy Valenti's blog. Amy's newly pubbed with Total-E-Bound, and judging by her fast but frequent posts, seems to have boundless energy. Check out her bizarre burlesque image posted a few days ago!