Sex, Magic and Art

I'm one of those rogue creatures.

No I'm not a shapeshifter, or a sorceress or a blood-sucking or brain-eating creature of the night.

I'm an author who writes in multiple genres. And the book I have coming out tomorrow, February 25, boasts no fairies, monsters, pookas, Amazons, Egyptian gods or the various other paranormal creatures who usually prance about this blog.

Some of my other books do, but not this one. Platinum is a contemporary romance with a little art and a lot of kink.

This is not as much of a departure as you might anticipate. At least, not in my world.

See, in my mind, sex IS about magic. And kinky sex, in particular, is about breaking the false bonds that hold us locked into proper social roles and childhood attitudes. Unleashing the power of our true selves means breaking those bonds, shattering the taboos and exulting in all we can be.

One reviewer cited this line from the book:

Art grabbed you like lust—inexplicable and irresistible. You could deny it, but then the unfulfilled desire just ate you up. 

(It's a funny thing when other people quote from something you wrote - it no longer seems familiar. If she hadn't said, I wouldn't have recognized it as mine. Which is, I think, as it should be.)

Those thoughts belong to my heroine, Althea. She's grown up around art, owns an art gallery and longs to be an artist - but lacks the ability. She is bursting with unfulfilled desire. So when a bad boy metal artist offers to break a few of her taboos, guess what happens?

That's right.

Magic.

The Magic of Kink

WARNING: This post discusses both sex and kink. 

Don't read it if that sort of thing bothers you. Thanks!

I'm one of the contributing authors to Evernight Publishing's A Vanilla-Free Christmas anthology. Not all the stories are BDSM, but they are all kink of one variety or another. A strange choice for the holidays, you say? Maybe. But maybe not. The holiday season is all about magic whether from a religious or secular perspective. And kink is kind of magical too.

No, it's not for everyone, and I'd even say it's not magical for everyone, but for some people it is. The man who can't attain or maintain an erection normally suddenly discovers that when his woman wears stilettos that show off her pedicure, he doesn't need his little blue pill. The woman who has never had an orgasm until the day she agrees to let her guy tie her up. The stories go on and on. For a lot of people, kink isn't something that's just a fun part of their bedroom play, it's a requirement.

For me, that's one of the more fascinating aspects of kink. That it can often cure what doctors and modern medicine can't. Now, I'm not saying if you or your loved one have a problem you should go buy some rope and dive into shibari. Most people who are into kink have known long before they necessarily try it out. Those are the people who see a cop with handcuffs and the sight causes a sexual reaction (minor or major). The cop and what he or she represents feeds into roleplay kinks as well as Domination/submission. The handcuffs matter in a number of kinks, most notably bondage.

The funny thing about magic... as they say in Once Upon a Time and any number of books: "Magic comes with a price." In this case, there's the simple fact that kinksters are looked down upon by non-kink society (ie--the public). I won't bring up the-books-that-shall-not-be-named, but even their popularity isn't taking hard-core kink mainstream. Also? Kink can't save your marriage. It can, possibly (if both parties are into it), save your sex life, which is kind of the same thing sometimes. But the point is, kink isn't a cure-all.

But it does cure some things, and those things can have a powerful impact on people's lives. So when you find out that CEO of the fortune 500 company likes to have a woman tie him up and walk all over him (literally) in her five-inch heels, cut the guy some slack. That might be the only way he can let go of being in charge all the time. And alternatively, that woman? She's a soccer mom with a lot of bills and a dog that won't stop peeing in the house. Dominating that CEO is how she centers and remembers that she has control over something.

And when you find your significant other trying on your lingerie, let him. Or better yet buy him some of his own. Because everyone needs to feel pretty sometimes. And understanding is its own special kind of magic.

Vanilla-Free Christmas

This Christmas, the best gifts are waiting for those who have been naughty...

And the toys under the tree are not for children. Sexy Santas, naughty elves, and dominant shifters are ready to spread some very kinky Christmas cheer. It's a good thing the ladies in our stories are looking for anything but vanilla.

Be Warned: menage sex, anal sex, sex toys, BDSM, spanking

How Adult Is Too Adult?

I'm on vacation with the extended family and had an interesting talk with my (almost) thirteen-year-old niece today. She reads the YA novels I write under my other name, but tonight while we were talking books, she asked what my "Seleste deLaney" books were about.

Pretty sure I went deer in the headlights for a minute there.

You see, I'm the aunt who gets in trouble for answering questions because I believe in honesty. I strive for "age-appropriate honesty" but I don't believe in giving BS answers. For example, I took a different niece to a parent-approved movie, and the word fornication was used in a prayer. She asked me what it meant. Yeah. Rock meet hard place. Needless to say, I got in trouble over that one, even though it's what I would tell my son or daughter if they asked. Basically I said "it's something grown-ups do when they're alone" or something like that. To one parent that's perfectly acceptable. To another...not so much.

So when the thirteen-year-old asked about my "other" books, I was a little leery of answering. But I did it anyway. I didn't talk about the sex, but I did explain the plots. If her mother gets on me about it, so be it. I'll take my lumps, because I realized if I didn't answer her, the easiest way for her to find out would be to just read them.

Now, I'm all for family as fans, but if I thought explaining the plots would get me in trouble, it's nothing compared to the backlash if she read my sex scenes because I wouldn't answer. But the real question is when is a book too adult?

I read my first book with sex scenes in it (that I recognized as such) in sixth grade. Granted, it was much less descriptive than mine, but considering it was coerced sex with a teenaged prisoner for the purpose of impregnation (with an alien baby no less)...I like to think it was "worse" than the sex I write.

What about you? When did you first read books with sex and, if you are a parent, when do you expect your kids will? (And if you want, what is worse? Descriptive sex between consenting adults? Or something like I mentioned above?)