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.

If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have said that bleeding isn’t sexy. It’s messy, makes me self conscious, moody, heavy and not interested. Or at least, that had been my experience. It’s a time a deep emotional awareness and fragility, but in a supportive, nurturing relationship with someone who understands, that ceases to be a problem, and becomes something interesting to explore.

 I gather that for some women, menstruation is a time of heightened sexual interest. That swelling of breasts, physical sensitivity, and emotionality can combine in heady ways, especially if you aren’t self conscious about the blood. It helps if your partner isn’t put off by blood either.

Red Tides of Desire began, as a story, a few months ago. I was bleeding, and the image popped into my head, of seeing my blood smeared on my lover’s skin. It struck me how intimate a thing that is, how bound up with trust. Bleeding is such a primal, female thing, and having that accepted, honoured, wanted, even, is very exciting. It makes for incredibly intimate possibilities.

I don’t write about my own life. I take moments, concepts, feelings and then mix them up with a heap of other things. Partly to avoid getting bored, partly because I LIKE making things up, partly to maintain both my own privacy and other people’s.

One or two other thoughts and influences came into play – pagan ideas about relationship with the land, spirits of place, returning blood to the soil, and blood magic. Because bleeding is a feminine thing, I wanted to write in an f/f context, but I think it’s a theme I’ll revisit in an m/f context as well.

Out of these threads and images came the story of Tabitha, a farmer who loves the land but has a lot of issues with her body and gender identity. Bleeding makes her a bit crazy, and opens the way to some wild and life changing experiences. It’s out now from www.loveyoudivine.com

Are you longing for a new, hot tale from Cheri Crystal? 

Get ready for Conventional Wisdom - releasing on Friday the fifth of February from   www.loveyoudivine.com 

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-60054-440-8

In Conventional Wisdom, a 25 year-old psychologist acts more like a kid with her first crush than a therapist attending a professional conference.  Dr. Janet Weiss, a psychologist at The Women’s Mood Disorder Clinic in Baltimore, Maryland, attends a professional convention in her hometown, New York City. Janet rooms with the noteworthy researcher, Dr. Olivia Chase (Chaz), and learns valuable lessons outside the program.

Janet Weiss, PhD., spends every waking moment between office hours and searching for the lifesaving tools that would become the gold standard in treating mood disorders in women. She’s too busy for a social life and takes great pleasure in writing erotica in her spare time. Up until recently, she’s avoided thoughts about her sexuality. Now she finds herself obsessing about women and concludes that her sexual identity needs defining. She’s headed to a professional convention in Manhattan and wonders if she should put her theory to the test. A nationally known researcher, Dr. Olivia Chase (Chaz), is a stunning woman, who happens to be smart, witty, and a lesbian. She’s also Janet’s roommate for the duration of the con. Janet develops a huge crush on Chaz and suspects the feeling may be mutual. Chaz may be too impossible to resist, but will Janet be able to go through with her personal quest?

 Excerpt:

Leaving a cluttered mess, I briefly checked the mirror, satisfied that I looked presentable enough. I tucked my sleeveless pastel print cotton shirt into my tan slacks and adjusted the belt. After rummaging in my bag and tossing out a few items, I located and switched my nylon knee-highs for cushiony socks and a pair of sneakers. I was anxious to see if the hotel amenities lived up to the ads.

With my nose a centimeter from the mirror, I removed my glasses and plucked a long errant eyelash. Next, I checked out my hair. Typically wispy and a flyaway mess, it had waves and bounce thanks to hair products. That done, I was ready to explore unchartered territory, going where no woman had gone before, conquering mental illness at a single bound. I was definitely overtired and giddy.

Just as I threw open the door to leave, I was face-to-breast with a solid, towering mass of sweat-soaked, human flesh wearing a sport bra and nylon shorts that sat just below her belly button. When I glanced up, her dimpled grin exposed even white teeth in a face that exuded the tomboyish charm of an athlete adorning a box of Wheaties cereal beneath the slogan, “The Breakfast of Champions.” I swallowed my gum.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.

Make it memorable. I hope this is the best one yet! I received a 5 heart review from The Romance Studio for my BDSM story, “The Ties That Bind.” http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/thatbindcrystal.htm My holidays couldn’t be more joyous! I HOPE YOURS WILL BE TOO. In a sequel to Does the Butch Come with the Recipe, softball captain, Cyndy Kaplan and her girlfriend, Tristan Rizzo, are back for a whole new adventure with much higher stakes. After Tristan’s prediction comes true and the Butch Cookbook earns enough money to subsidize a trip to Ft. Lauderdale for the whole team to attend the playoffs, she suggests another getaway, only without the softball league. Cyndy agrees to pop her Provincetown cherry in order to commemorate the 25th Annual Women’s Week. They end up renting a fantastic house in the fun-filled, estrogen-fest, with Tristan’s twin sister and her girlfriend to partake in the festivities. Cyndy has no idea what to expect, but Tristan is certain she’ll have Cyndy begging to come back for more.

Take a break from all the holiday rush and judge for yourself. Order “The Ties That Bind” today.

http://tiny.cc/ld44

Here’s a snippet from the review -

“This is truly an erotic romance, and I particularly liked that the descriptions of the sexual activity between the characters starts out slowly, while we get to know Cyndy and Tristan, and builds to a more intimate (and adventurous) level as the story progresses. I always like to read about people who truly care about each other, and it doesn’t hurt that they also majorly turn each other on.”

Read the whole thing here – http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/thatbindcrystal.htm

www.chericrystal.com

http://tiny.cc/cherihttp://blogspot.loveyoudivineinfo.com/?page_id=198

Author of Attractions of the Heart available in Paperback. Click on http://www.amazon.com/Attractions-Heart-Cheri-Crystal/dp/1600542980

Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek2gVsVT8b0