While at first glance risk taking may seem a milder kink than voyeurism or exhibitionism, it’s also a more complicated one. The voyeur consciously enjoys looking. The exhibitionist takes a knowing delight in showing off. The risk taker gets kicks from uncertainty, possibility and getting away with it.

 Risk takers have sex in situations where they might get caught and get a kick out of doing so. That is, I think, the difference between people who are kinky about possibly being caught, and people who are horny and get it on despite the risk.

Dalia Craig’s Weathering The Storm offers a perfect example of the latter – two women who are so into each other they can’t wait, but who are very nearly caught by some passersby. The scene mixes excitement with a fear of humiliation and there’s a mixed emotional response – relief in having got away with it, and self consciousness because it could have gone very wrong.

 My tale Tight, Dark Places includes two guys having sex on a balcony – one of whom is a deliberate risk taker, getting a kick out of possibly being caught. They are visible, but it’s not obvious that they’re fucking. Remaining in control enough not to let on what’s happening can be part of the thrill and the danger of such a scene.

 Cheri Crystal has a number of stories about risk takers. Risky Pursuit offers a scenario where two women go climbing in order to have sex in a rather public and hazardous place. Here the risk of discovery blends with the physical danger to create an adrenaline high. Mile High Dare, as the title suggests, involves the possibility of sex on a plane – a fantasy for many people. The risk is deliberately sought, but the audience is not. It’s an interesting blend of wanting, and not wanting to be seen.

So what is risk taking about? It’s clearly not about showing off and being seen. Risk takers often make efforts not to be caught. Is it the sense of getting away with it? The thrill of doing something a bit taboo without getting caught? For people who get a kick out of being humiliated, the risk/possibility of humiliation adds spice to an encounter. Imagined shame that does not actually occur, has its own peculiar allure.

 Risk taking comes in many shapes and forms. How risky an activity seems depends on how private you are. I’ve encountered guys who claim they can’t get it up at all with someone aside from their partner in the house. You might risk being overheard and disturbed, or having the neighbours know what you are doing (approximately). Some people get a kick out of suspecting that others can hear them.

 It might be about finding a secret place where you hope not to be interrupted. As someone who likes to play outside, I’ve a fair amount of experience of that. There, the pleasure lies entirely in getting away with it. Then there are those who court risk, barely hidden – like a rather startled couple I encountered in a Birmingham park one day who clearly hadn’t expected a whole grove of druids to come ambling out of the trees… but who carried on regardless! Some people get more thrills for being closer to getting caught. It’s all about what happens inside your head – the fantasy of a sexy voyeur, or a public humiliation without the reality of dealing with any real complications. It puts an edge on things, an urgency that gets the blood pumping, and for some people that’s a real turn on.

When the kink is all about watching, it doesn’t always matter if the people having sex know they are being watched. For some, the fun lies in the transgression of watching people who haven’t volunteered for it. With exhibitionism, the kink belongs to the one on display, and accidental or intentional watchers are going to know exactly what’s going on.

 For some characters, like Lilith and Will in Heaven and Hell, sex is very much about being watched, and the pair actively seek and invite audiences. Melisand (same series) has just one person she likes to have watch her, and that’s because she can’t get him to do much else. The only sexual contact she has with the bloke she longs for, is him watching her with others.

 Exhibitionism can be about showing off, the thrill of an audience, the kick of having power over others through expressions of sexual confidence. It can also be an act of submission, relinquishing privacy and self control by making your pleasure public. Requiring another to exhibit themselves can be a way of humiliating a slave. Voyeurism puts control in the hands of the watcher, but exhibitionism can change that, making the performer in charge, or giving the power to the one who directs the performer. Where exactly the lines get drawn between displaying a submissive as an expression of the Dom’s control, or as a consequence of the sub’s desire for attention, is hard to say.

 Alex Morgan’s Breathless takes place around a fetish event, which gives characters every opportunity to show off. Laszlow in M. Kings Devil & the Deep Blue Sea is an absolute exhibitionist, taking joy in showing off his body and sexual prowess, while my Eliot’s Hero features another guy in the adult entertainment industry who isn’t averse to being looked at either.

 Exhibitionism can easily be a part of ménage scenarios, when two end up performing for the third. Here the lines between watching and participating frequently blur. Dalia Craig’s Hold Me Tight and my Living Dangerously tread into that territory. Moving into group activities and sharing, Sarah Masters’ Secret Society features a scoeity gathering in the wood, who watch each other and get a kick out of being watched.

 There’s a case for saying that there’s a voyeuristic streak in anyone who reads erotica. If that’s so, it’s probably also the case that there’s an exhibitionist streak in most erotic authors. Oh, we don’t necessarily want you watching us in person (that’s an individual thing, some might…) but part of what we do is show off – what we know, what we can imagine. Readers of erotic stories will sometimes ask how much of the content comes from firsthand experience. Some authors will smile and leave you to guess, others may let on, but either way, we get a kick out of making you wonder if our sex lives really are that good.

We all like to look, to some degree. How far do you go? Anyone who is sighted probably spends some time eyeing up potential partners. No shortage of people appreciate barely clad models on book covers. The internet is full of erotic images, easily found at no cost. There are plenty of films out there, catering to all the kinks you can think of (and probably a few that most of us would never imagine). Do you like to watch your partner doing sexy things? How about professional striptease or lapdancing? If you stumbled on a couple having sex, would you be embarrassed, or turned on? Would you actively seek scenarios in which you could watch other people expressing themselves erotically?

Somewhere, there is a line to cross that moves a person out of the realms of ‘normal’ visual interest and into the world of voyeurism. I once read that the definition of a perversion is something that you do instead of having sex. For some, watching can indeed be a viable substitute. In many ways it seems safer, being outside of the action, not being asked to perform, respond, or feel. You don’t have to engage. You don’t even have to come. Those on display do not even, necessarily, need to know you are there. And at that point I think it gets a little bit sinister, and has the potential to become more like stalking than sex. Voyeurism as part of an active sex life can be a lot of fun. For people uncomfortable with relationship, it can offer alternative ways to find satisfaction. As with many kinks, taken to unhealthy extremes, it can get messy.

 The darker aspects of voyeurism are something I’ve explored a bit in Heaven and Hell, where the possibilities of cameras and short circuit television for illicit watching come into play. It’s also a theme Jon Michaelsen took up in his short story Voyeur, where watching has dangerous consequences. The story explores obsession, and has some great twists. Talking about this subject, Jon told me, “The idea for the story actually came to me when I used to travel a lot for business, and while in New York one evening and staying in a high-rise hotel, I happened upon a couple having wild, passionate sex while looking out my window and seeing their shadowy images in the highrise across the street.” Accidental seeing can so easily lead into intentional watching. We can impose our needs, desires, fantasies on the people we watch.

 New lyd author Barry Lowe also has a voyeuristic tale coming out soon – he told me, “My next story in the queue (I think) is Four on the Floor which is a voyeurism story (as well as cuckold and gangbang). Concerns a couple whose relationship has gone stale to the extent that one partner, Steve, spends more time jerking off while watching a neighbour through binoculars than he does he does with his lover, Billy.” Like Jon, Barry has considered the more troubling possibilities around voyeurism. He describes this tale as ‘taking an ominous turn’ in a direction that moves his character out of the relative safety of just looking.

 I think there’s an escapist element to voyeurism, getting away from yourself, and your own limitations. Friends who are actively into porn tell me that part of the kick is imagining yourself in the scenario. It allows a person to explore things they might be unwilling, or unable to do in person. It’s also a scenario on which the watcher can feel that they are totally in control of themselves. A feeling that proves illusionary in some of our stories. Consequently, voyeuristic kicks may seem a lot safer than they really are – both physically and emotionally. But, if things were always smooth, easy and happy, we wouldn’t have any stories to tell!

While I don’t always indicate that my settings are real places, usually I’ll have somewhere real in my head as I write. It helps me keep the details coherent, and gives me a sense of location. Places I’ve visited, and lived in, frequently inspire bits of story.

When I was working on ‘Dreams Come True,’ the setting in my head was Gloucester (UK). It’s a place I know well, having lived about 15 miles down the road as a child, clubbed there in my teens, and spent time visiting my father there as well. I like the city, it’s small, full of old architecture, history and atmosphere. I especially love the cathedral (which was used a lot in the Harry Potter films). My great grandmother once saw a ghost there!

The place isn’t mentioned by name in the story, and although the cathedral features, I hadn’t mentioned much that would absolutely pin it down as this location. Imagine my absolute surprise when I saw the cover Dalia designed for me! I know Gloucester cathedral well, and was sure that was a picture of it.

Startled, I emailed Dalia to check, and she said it had seemed like the right place to use!

It goes to prove that odd, psychic moments, strange insights and experiences of weird coincidence do happen in real life.

 Dreams Come True is a sweet, contemporary lesbian romance involving two buskers. It’s the first story of mine in a while not to have a paranormal element, which is some ways makes the business with the cover even funnier, I think.

I thought it might to be fun to share some histories of where my characters come from – some of them having enough story to be entities in their own right.

Jade, from Heaven and Hell, has been with me for quite some time. She first arrived in my life when I was about 17, via a magazine image of a blonde woman in a dark green velvet suit. Jade as a name, was there from the start. I tried writing her in a number of ways. I have embarrassing recollections of an angsty, bloodsucking vampire thing that I ditched very early.

Then there was a novel that never saw the light of day – Dragon Dreaming – urban fantasy. I put Jade in there, partnered by a sword wielding nutter called Richard. She was an anti-heroine, of sorts, appearing to be the bad guy until the actual plot became visible. During this phase, she acquired her amoral outlook and predatory inclinations. I did have a few goes at getting this one published, but it’s an odd sort of tale, and eventually I gave up, and re-homed some of the characters.

When I started playing with Heaven and Hell as a concept (quite some years ago) Jade seemed a natural addition. Along with her came Juliette, who had also been part of Dragon Dreaming, and the dynamic between the pair remained as it had been there – a mix of aggression and lust. I took it further than I had before, turning tension into full on fighting and fucking. I think it suits them well. They’re a wild pair, operating by totally different rules.

Jade is probably the most selfish character I’ve ever created. She does things because they amuse her, and her sense of humour is dark to say the least. She has almost no capacity for empathy, making her a sociopath at best. Causing chaos and fear is a turn-on for her, and she likes to make others suffer. She’s sadistic, and frequently psychotic, driven by powerful obsessions, jealousies and hungers. Werewolf Juliette is about the only being who stands a chance of keeping up with her and not getting torn apart.

Every so often, Jade bothers me. I find it too easy writing her, in all her cruel, psychotic glory. I made her up. She comes from somewhere deep in my own psyche, where the monsters live. It’s not something I feel easy about. Heartless and violent as she is, I can’t help but like her, and I get a kick out of the things she does. I suppose it’s better that I vent these things on paper than let them out by other means. We all have our darker sides, our inner villain. Jade is mine. She’s cool, like an ice storm is cool.

All six parts of Heaven and Hell are available from www.loveyoudivine.com

I love gothic, erotic horror, sensual nightmares and weirdness. I’m also fascinated by monsters.

Add in a taste for ménage and orgy scenarios and a love of things paranormal, shake for some years… pour. The result is Heaven and Hell, and it is the baring of the darker, nastier elements of my psyche.

Most of my erotic writing focuses on relationship rather than casual lays. Most of the time, it’s the emotional entanglements that fascinate me. Usually the character perspectives I write from are sympathetic. I don’t always write happily ever after, but most of the tales I have to my name are love stories.

 Heaven and Hell is a total break with that. It’s full of casual sex, friends with benefits arrangements, one night stands, and hook-ups with strangers. There’s lots of kink, even by my usual happy standards. I did a lot of research for this one!

 Perhaps most importantly, neither of the main characters are very honourable, ethical, morally acceptable people. One is a hedonist, intent on pleasure at all costs. One is a psychopath whose idea of a good party is a mix of death and debauchery. They were both disturbingly easy to write.

 The Heaven and Hell series runs to six instalments, each publication offering three tales of decadence and misdemeanour. It’s smut, and erotica. Darker, nastier and more depraved than much of my writing. So if you like warm and gentle, stay away from this series, because you aren’t going to like it. If the idea of getting very up close and personal with the monsters in my head, appeals to you, then come on in.

 Heaven and Hell is the kinkiest, most dangerous night spot in town. Many of the staff and clients aren’t human. It throbs with lust and unleashed possibilities. Tonight, there may be blood on the dance floor.

For sale now at Exotica

Much of the writing at loveyoudivine is cross genre. We do red hot erotica, but it frequently turns up in the context of murder mysteries, historicals, paranormals, science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror and soap opera!

Many of our regular authors dabble toes, if not more interesting body parts, into the strange, swirling waters of speculative fiction. Talking amongst ourselves, we felt it would be an interesting thing to explore. And this is what happened.

First I interviewed Max Griffin    - http://blogs.myspace.com/brynneth_n_colvin then he interviewed M. King - 

http://maxgriffin.blogspot.com/

At this point in the process it gets a wee bit complicated! M King interviewed Alex Morgan 

http://lavengra.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/alex-morgan/ and Nix Winter - 

http://lavengra.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/nix-winter/

Nix then wet on to interview Jon Michaelsen - 

http://www.jewlsthelucky.com/2010/02/interview-with-jon-michaelsen.html?zx=6fc015dc7cef3dc1

and he interviewed Adrianne Brennan – http://www.jonmichaelsen.net/?p=467

Now we get a bit of a hop, and we pick up with Melissa el-Hajjar who interviewed Dawne Dominique - http://blogspot.loveyoudivineinfo.com/?p=288 (which you may have spotted already as we put that one on this blog!)

Dawne interviews Jaime Samms – http://dawnedominique.blogspot.com  and then Jaime interviewed Crymsyn Hart -  http://dontkickmycane.livejournal.com/138383.html

This is not an exhaustive list of speculative ficiton writers at loveyoudivine, and it may in fact grow if more interviews are sparked. Do wander about a bit and have a read!

On Friday the 26^th February, Dalia Craig’s  latest story – Weathering the Storm – releases from www.loveyoudivine.com

It’s the third of her tales I’ve had the pleasure of editing. Hold Me Tight introduced me to her work, with a dramatic m/m/f scenario and a woman in serious trouble. Loving Ellie is hot f/f and a beautiful expression of hunger.

 Weathering the Storm takes you into one of those erotically charged scenarios when everything just fits together. There’s barely time to think, or breathe, you just have to go with it. As in life, such encounters on paper are wild, intense things and this is a story to take your breath away. Weathering the Storm is an emotional whirlwind, with all the energy (and wetness) of a summer downpour.  It’s also an age gap story, and I have a huge weak spot for those. There’s the spice of an outdoor tryst, and the sheer delight of two women connecting with each other, both mentally and physically.

 I recently interviewed Dalia for the blog, so if you want to find out more about her, have a read here – http://blogspot.loveyoudivineinfo.com/?p=282 She’s a very interesting person (and I am envious of her badgers!)

Kissa Starling is a new arrival at lyd, and part of the To Love and To Cherish project.

Bryn: Hi Kissa! What have you got coming out with lyd?

Kissa: I have a short story, Vegas Vixens 4Ever, in the To Love and To Cherish anthology.

Bryn: It’s an intriguing title, the sort to draw you in without giving much away… can you give much away about the story without spoiling it?

Kissa: Eboni and her roommate Tami have been friends forever. They’ve never connected sexually or spiritually until one cold, winter day when they both get dumped. After too many drinks and late night television they make the impulsive decision to fly to Vegas. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but that doesn’t prove to be true with these two vixens. Wrong after wrong finally turns into something right.

Bryn:  What made you pick Vegas? Is it a place you have a personal connection with?

Kissa: I’ve always wanted to visit Vegas but never have. I’m a night owl by nature and the idea of a place that never sleeps appeals to me. I really chose Vegas because of the mass of weddings that take place there and it seemed like a great impulse place for two characters to get married. 

Bryn: I can see how that works! Do you write mostly at night then?

Kissa: Definitely. I love the night time. I do most of my writing when everyone else is asleep and everything else in the house has been cleaned, washed and picked up! It’s the mom syndrome. I’ve learned to live with less sleep and still fit most things in that I love. Family first, then friends and writing. Sometimes I actually find time for myself too.

Bryn: Are your family supportive of your writing?

Kissa: Great question. I may have to take them one by one to answer that. My husband is very supportive in his own way. He doesn’t read my work but then again it isn’t Consumer’s Digest. He does brainstorm titles with me once in a while. My son shakes his head and walks the other way when I mention my writing. I convinced my daughter in law to write a short story and she loved doing it but my son thinks I brainwashed her! haha My mother has read a few of my stories and even asked for an autographed book. She frequently asks for updates about my writing and loves hearing about how I come up with ideas. As far as pushing for time- hmm, time is a huge factor for me. I work full time, I write full time and take care of my family full time. That equals way too many ‘full times’. Writing has become my ‘me’ time. It’s when I relax and have fun. I hope to make more time for writing in the future but for now it’s vacations and evenings.

Bryn: That sounds familiar on the time front. What are you working on at the moment?

Kissa: I just finished the first draft of Chalan’s Story. It will, hopefully, be book #4 in the Lifestyle Series at Red Rose Publishing. Each of the Lifestyle books are written from the male point of view and they all feature a couple who is married and participates in the BDSM lifestyle in one way or another. A different fetish is touched upon in each story and they run about 5-7K words. Chalan’s Story delves into the art of pony play. I think it’s important for readers to realize that lifestyle couples have relationship problems just like any other couple. 

Bryn: Yeah, I’d agree with that, the people with fetishes need to be portrayed as people, first and foremost. Do you have a homepage people can browse? Or a blog?

 Kissa: I do have a website that I’m currently working on updating or should I say getting someone else to update. I so wish I knew more about how to do some of those technical things! My website is www.kissastarling.com and my blog is on my website. I’m all over the web at different sites and love to get mail; I think it may be a fetish of mine.

The Marked One is a new m/m series from Sarah Masters. It’s contemporary paranormal and will be coming out in fortnightly instalments.

Coming out of an abusive relationship, Jerry clearly thinks of himself as a bit of a loser. His self esteem is in tatters and he has no awareness of his own strength, courage or potential. Chance meetings with a hot and mysterious guy called Zeb start him off down a new path. Zeb isn’t like normal folk. But then, neither is Jerry, he just doesn’t know it yet.

This is a sexy, fast paced tale that takes you from the normal world into different realms and magical possibilities. There’s intrigue, betrayal, murder, and shape shifting along the way. It’s a story I’ve really enjoyed. (One of the perks of working at lyd is that I get to read things before they are generally available, sometimes.)

The instalments are: In His Arms,  Secrets Revealed, Promises Kept, Another Realm, and Fate Unwinds. They will be coming out fortnightly, and it’s well worth picking them up in order and following the tale through to its nail biting conclusion.

This is Sarah Master’s second series with lyd – the first, The Masters series is available in its entirety from the website – The Devil’s Spawn, Le Frai De Demon, Devil’s Return, Devil’s Torment,  and Devil’s Revelation. This series is historical m/m, which is a fascinating sub genre, I think. The tensions between what people did, what they were supposed to do, what they would admit to and so forth are fascinating.

Sarah Masters’ standalone m/m tale Vampiric Desire is at lyd too, and there’s several more short stories in the offing in the next few months.