Monday, December 31, 2012

Homosexuality in My PNRs

I've gotten quite a few emails since beginning the After the Reveal story arc (The Other Half and There's a Fine Line) questioning my "excessive" use of gay relationships amongst the vampires and elves. It was puzzling to me that, other than the insane amount of focus placed on first Kris and now Alicia to get pregnant, the sexual orientation of some of the tertiary characters was so upsetting to some readers. These stories were written for a (for want of a better term) porn site and I suppose I expected a bit more open-mindedness when it came to sexuality.

Yes, there is a category for gay males or females but I would never split the chapters into different categories as that makes it too damned hard to follow and find. I also wouldn't place the entire stories in the "gay" category as the underlying theme and motivating factor of both tales are the non-human aspects. The existence of these paranormal beings and how they've integrated into human society was the focus for The Other Half - not any of the characters' sexuality, primary or tertiary. The adjustment of a once-human girl to the discovery that she's not only the mate of a vampire but also more than human herself is the focus for There's a Fine Line. Again, the fact that there were a few same sex relationships in the story was just another glimpse of reality. I live in a small town (~35K) in the deep south and gay couples are fairly commonplace. The men catch more hell than the women though it's not always a walk in the park for anyone; however, it is reality as we know it today.

Johannes is bi-sexual with a preference for men though he prefers his female mate above all. He was a bi-sexual human and he turned into a bi-sexual vampire. Becoming a vampire didn't change who he was, simply gave him a bad case of the fangy nibbles. Francisco, too, was a bi-sexual human with little preference towards either sex though he preferred female Dominants. Devereux is a pure hedonist - he simply enjoys sex in all its many forms. He likes couples because that is the easiest way for him to experience a pleasurable sensory overload of sorts - hard male muscles, soft female curves, the welcome violation of a man's penis along with the welcoming heat of a woman's vagina are all a bit of heaven on earth for him.

I remember reading Anne Rice's vampire series not long after it first came out and, other than thinking that Louis was a bit of a whiny prick, one thing stood out to me. If you live forever, you will do one of two things: outgrow your prejudices or cling to them with vicious determination. I'd like to think that most people would see that love and beauty and the joy of a relationship isn't determined by your partner's genitals but by their hearts and minds and, if you believe in it, their souls. I'd think that most vampires (and elves and djinn and celestials) over the centuries would take some time for experimentation with a member of the same sex, or multiple partners, or different races because, eventually, the taboo will seem foolish or "human."

So, I suppose what I'm saying in this insanely long post is that, in a question about sexual preferences, most of my non-humans  would simply answer "as often as possible." :)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

TAFL Ch 14 is Live everywhere - wheee

Yup, what the title says. Chapter 14 is up this morning on Literotica as well as the Blog. It's not a nice chapter, but then again, few were in this story, it seems. I'm over halfway through Ch 15. Hurrah for not doing much for the holidays and having an entire day to goof off, write, play Facebook games, write, and oh yeah, write! It was great to spend so much time with my kid since her work schedule is a bit screwy.

In other news...

There is no other news. I just got up and my brain is mushy. Enjoy the story, folks lol

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Wednesday TaFL Teaser

It's Wednesday and I've been a good little girl, typing like mad on There's a Fine Line. Chapter 14 is back from my amazing beta readers - Mokkelke, Jaisen, and Mostera1 - and my wonderful "red pen of doom" editor - Archangel_M and is being prepped for submission to Lit on Saturday. If the world is still here because, you know...Mayans and stuff. But, in case the doomsayers are correct and the Mayans didn't just run out of rock or end the Seventh Cycle and we all go *poof* on Friday, at least you'll be happy in knowing that you've read a SNIPPET of the next chapter of There's a Fine Line.

I confess that this chapter will bear yet another Graphic Violence warning though it should be the last one for some time. Even with two major battles left, they won't contain the rather vivid imagery that these last few chapters have had. I'm even more confident now that the story will wrap up near the Chapter 20 mark (give or take a chapter or two) so there's not much left at all before everyone holds hands and rides off into the sunset singing Kumbaya. Can't picture Blake doing that? Yeah, neither can I but I bet Sapphire would try to make him!

In other news, I'll be launching a new website in the next month or two in preparation for publishing the NaNovel That Shouldn't Have Been - Embrace the Wolf - under a new pen name: Elaina M. Roberts. This blog will remain, along with this user name, for my racier stories while all of my published works (when there are some!) will be on the other site. I'll post links and beg and plead for you all to join me there as I prepare to embark on the terrifying journey of publishing my first book.

Thanks a lot to everyone!
Maz

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

TaFL Ch13 is Live!

I had thought it'd go live yesterday but it was as stubborn as a certain vampire and waited it out until today. There's a Fine Line, Chapter 13 has gone live on Lit and I encourage everyone to read, comment, and vote if you feel the urge. I've also published it to the blog where I also encourage reading and commenting. This is another rather gruesome chapter which deals with the aftermath of the attack on the Simons Enterprises building. One new character is introduced while others return from Hawaii where they attended the mating ceremony and ritual of the Ifrit Warlord, Micipsa Zakhara, to his human mate, Kristiana Latimer (as detailed in The Other Half).

Chapter 14 should be the last with such explicit blood and gore (I think...there are a few battles left but none that I can see requiring such vivid descriptions) and centers primarily around Alicia just as this one centers around Blake. We are steadily moving towards a conclusion which should fall somewhere near the 20 chapter mark, give or take. And yes, there are still some surprises left in store.

Story Links are

  • LITEROTICA (website not safe for work or browsing around small children or your mother-in-law)
  • BLOG (safer though my content doesn't change lol)
As you can see from the box to the right, I'm moving right along with the chapters. Almost finished with ch14 and then will start the next one immediately afterwards. I'll probably have to edit one while writing the other but I'm determined to get back on schedule! Thanks again to everyone for their patience during NaNo.

Maz

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Thursday TaFL Teaser!

Yup, you read correctly! I've spent the last few days busting my rear to get a new chapter of  Fine Line ready for submission and it's almost ready. The chapter itself is still with the editor but I've decided to post a partially edited snippet tonight. THIS is the very first bit of the chapter and Blake is a bit...um...peeved that his mate is missing. He also finds poor Francisco. This chapter is a bit of a roller coaster on emotions so be prepared. It's also graphically violent in parts (but that should be expected by now).

There's an introduction of a new character, a return of some older ones, and some planning made. The next chapter will focus primarily on Alicia and the conflicts she has to suffer through while in the hands of greater demons of Lust and Violence. There will be a happy ending through it all but that will be rather far down the line. Hang in there!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

TaFL - Update

As you might have noticed, there is now an actual word count in the Chapter 13 box of the Fine Line posting schedule. Yup, I've been working feverishly on it for the past few days in an effort to get back on track. This chapter is slightly shorter than some of my others but I did want to get something out there instead of leaving everyone hanging for even longer. There will be one new character introduced that I hope hasn't come across as too "out there." He is an important part of the story on many levels but I don't want him to become a caricature or comic bookish. I may need to add more to the chapter for it to make sense which may affect the proposed posting date. It's all dependent on how the beta readers feel about it as it now stands. I may do a teaser prior to editing if the beta readers' comments come back as favorable.

Chapter 14 is next on the agenda as some of it is already written (was going to use it in another chapter but it didn't fit - it totally fits now, though). I hope to complete three to four chapters fairly soon so that I can get another backlog of finished and edited chapters and thus avoid a second delay in posting. I'm still going to try to work on Embrace the Wolf, my NaNovel that wasn't supposed to be, during this but Fine Line will have priority until it's finished. Sitting at a revised 37.6K words and only four chapters in, it still has a long way to go before it's ready for release.

So, yeah, that's the update for the day. At least it's something, right? :)