Bad dreams & nightmares

by Becca Simone

(Note: this posting first appeared on Eternally Books. )

In my erotic novella, DEEP BLUE, my heroine is kidnapped by the hero and taken to his undersea lair. When he tells her this, she thinks she’s in the middle of a bad dream or a major mind-fuck. It takes her a while before she realizes she’s not having a nightmare but living one.

I thought it might be fun to check the dream dictionary at Dream Moods (http://dreammoods.com) to see what the images she is seeing could mean.

According to Dreammoods.com, dreaming about the ocean “...is indicative of spiritual refreshment, tranquility and renewal.” That makes sense. Kate’s life is about to change and renew, for the better.

She is under the sea: “To dream that you are lost at sea suggests that you are drifting around in life without any direction. You are feeling overwhelmed by emotions.” She feels her life has no direction other than her career. And now that she’s met the hero, she is confused and overwhelmed with her emotions and feelings toward him.

To read the rest of the post, please go here.

The beauty and the beast mythology

(This post originally appeared in Carly Fall's blog. See link below.) 

DEEP BLUE, my recently released erotica novella, is an erotic and paranormal twist to the classic Beauty and the Beast story. In my story, the hero is cursed to live under the sea as a half man, half sea monster, unless he can find his true love. He has 100 years to find her, or he’ll live the rest of his life in the deep blue. Alone. When the story opens, he has just three days left, so he’s a bit desperate.

When you think Beauty and the Beast, you think of the Disney movie, don’t you? No, it’s not a trick question. That’s what I think of, too. But the beauty and the beast story dates back to mythology in the second century.

You can read the rest of the post here.

When they're good, they're very very good...

But when they're bad...

Bad boyfriends. We’ve all had them. You know the ones. They come in many variations, from slightly bad to really bad. Maybe he never complimented you, or he belittled you in front of his friends. Or maybe he was nice to you in private, but a dick to you in public—or vice versa. Or maybe he made snide comments about your weight or appearance. Maybe he belittled your sexual skills, even if he was a lame-o in bed himself. Maybe he wasn’t faithful to you. Maybe he hit you.

This blog first appeared on Erotica For All. You can read the rest of it here.

Great review for DEEP BLUE

"This was a beautifully written and mysterious new story that will leave you wanting more."-- Katie from Curse of the Bibliophile blog. You can read the rest of her review here.


For the other stops on my blog tour, please check out CBLS Promotions.

Real orgasms with real men are better than the alternative

Welcome to Sunday Snippets, courtesy of the sexy and sinful Red Lipstick Journals. Last week, you read part of my opening and met my cursed and haunted hero, Thaddeus. Today, let's meet his heroine-to-be, Kate.

Kate Hargrove moaned as his tongue flicked across her clit and his fingers pinched her nipples. Ungodly pleasure radiated outward from her core, curling her toes under the sheets. Her body arched off the mattress as the orgasm ripped through her and a scream of ecstasy burst from her lips—

Dammit!
Her eyelids popped open. She was dreaming. Her studly lover wasn’t real. But her sated body told her the orgasm was real. Her pussy walls still throbbed in the aftermath.

"Holy shit," she muttered, scooting to a seated position in the bed, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist. Why couldn’t real orgasms with real live men be as good as that one?

Because great sex required meeting a man, which required dating or at least getting out more, neither of which she had time for.

Genre: Paranormal erotic romance
Length: 24k

Available now at Bookstrand

Coming soon to other online bookstores!

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Find other steamy Sunday Snippets here.

DEEP BLUE Sunday Snippets #1

Welcome to Sunday Snippets. This is my first time on The Red Lipstick Journals. I hope you enjoy this snippet from my newest release: Deep Blue, available now at Bookstrand, and coming soon from most online bookstores.


He lifted his nose and sniffed the air. Over the strong, oily smells of the ship’s engine, he breathed in her scent. Her light, floral perfume couldn’t mask the sweet, musky smell of her sex. He closed his eyes and inhaled, focusing his thoughts between her legs.

Her soft moan cut across the waves, over the ship’s engine, and her startled eyes widened. Her hips shifted slightly, and he knew she felt his desire.

He smiled. She was the one.

"Good night, Kate," a couple said as they passed her. They said something else to her, but he no longer listened.

Kate.

If he still had a human heart, he might feel guilty, knowing what he was about to do, realizing the woman’s fate.

Death, for her, would likely be a blessing.

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Genre: Paranormal erotic romance

Available now|Bookstrand

To read some more great snippets and excerpts, go here.

Dipping my toes in the indie waters...

So easy a caveman can do it? We'll see.

I've been following with interest the journeys of my friends and fellow authors as they've decided to try their hands at self-publishing. Some of them have published original works and some have re-released stories that were originally published elsewhere.

Well, it's finally my turn. I just got the rights back to my erotica novella/short story MIDNIGHT TREAT, originally out with The Wild Rose Press in 2008. At first, it sold pretty well and garnered some great reviews, but now it's just selling 2-3 copies a month. On a good month LOL. I still plan to write for TWRP as they're an awesome, author-friendly publisher, but this story is making neither of us any money right now, so why not try self-publishing it.

MIDNIGHT TREAT has a Halloween theme, but other indie authors convinced me to release it now. Even though it's nowhere near Halloween.

I know next to nothing about self-publishing, so I thought I'd journal about the process on my blog. You can learn with me as I go.

The first thing I did, as mentioned above, was ask for my rights back from my publisher. I looked in my contract and realized they owned my rights for two years. It's been almost three. Your contract should specify how to go about getting your rights back. In my case, I just sent a simple email to the editor-in-chief. No big deal at all. I had the rights back within about a week. I was a little concerned about asking for my rights back when I hope to continue publishing with them, and mentioned this in my email to them. They were very kind about it -- no bridges burned there. Whew!

Next, I want to hire a cover artist. I asked around for some names, and already knew of some myself. I checked out their websites and portfolios, then contacted my top three choices. One immediately wrote back and said she's booked out and isn't taking on new clients. One never wrote back. But the third is available--yay!

Tamra Westberry was actually my first choice, so I'm really excited to work with her. She sent me a cover art questionnaire, which I'll be filling out ASAP.

What are my next steps?

1. Choose some stock photography that might look nice on my cover. This is easier said than done. Any idea how many zillions of photos there are out there? Holy cow. Trying to find one that suits my story is going to be a challenge.

2. Find out if I can use the original blurb, or if I need to rewrite it. If I need to rewrite it, then...

3. Rewrite the blurb

4. Read over the manuscript and make any necessary changes. After it was originally published, there were a few things I wish I'd written differently. Well, here's my chance.

5. ???? I don't know enough about this process to know what comes next. So, I guess I'd better start asking around, eh?

Until next time...

:)Becca