GUEST POST Janine Ashbless: What's in a name?

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No smoking

“Anyone caught breaking the rules will be suitably admonished.”

There was something about the tone of his voice that gave me the creeps.

“It’s like being at school again,” joked Rebecca.

“Or prison,” I added.

“And anyone caught smoking will be severely punished,” he concluded with a rather self-satisfied smirk.

(extract from No Smoking, short story in collection Kissing Velvet)

Okay, so I have never smoked, apart from one brief puff in the back row of a cinema with teenage friends when I was a lot younger.  I choked when I inhaled and never tried again.   But I’ve had friends who have really struggled when they wanted to give it up, and this, combined with a stay at a healthy, veggie retreat in the middle of a remote forest inspired me to write this story as part of my Kissing Velvet collection (with an outrageous sexy twist, of course).  I don’t think Big Brother had hit our screens then, but the opportunities it offers for kinkiness need to be explored…..and who knows, despite it’s rather unorthodox techniques, maybe the clinic in my story would have great success rates helping people give up smoking . They would certainly have fun trying. 

The Emerald Room

I'm thrilled to be featuring Scarlett Knight's elegantly titled collection, The Emerald Room.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emerald-Room-Sexy-Erotica-ebook/dp/B0087QH46C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340663494&sr=8-1

The Emerald Room by Scarlett Knight

Experience the passion that ignites when handsome older men connect with young beautiful women. This steamy collection of four erotic short stories includes the kind of sexy encounters that only a blending of experience and youth can bring. Read how a composed college professor gives over to his lust for one of his faithful students, witness a seasoned theatre director succumbing to the stubborn wiles of a hot young actress in his play, and more....

The Emerald Room bar was one of the classier joints where Nate got paid to play these days. Every Friday for the past two months, he put on a jacket and bowtie and sat at their shiny baby grand, tickling the keys for his two-hour set. It was a hell of a lot better than some of the trashy spots he was forced to waste his talent in, places whose patrons were so noisy and crude, where his music drowned beneath the sound of shrill laughter and glass breaking.

But not this place.

Aside from the nice paycheck, and aside from the sleek marble-topped bar and tall cherry wood seats, and aside from the polite, well-dressed folks who not only listened to him but tipped as well, there was the goddess.

She always showed up when he was about thirty minutes into his set, usually around the time he was playing soundtrack tunes from movies like The Godfather. In she'd stride, wearing one of her killer dresses. Sometimes it was the little black one, her hair cascading like a golden wave down her bare back. Other times she wore the sparkling red number. Tonight she donned a silver gown with a slit all the way up to the top of her right leg, the lacy band of her stocking peeking out whenever she moved just right on the barstool.

God, did Nate have a thing for stockings.

Her black stilettos only made her heavenly legs even more mouthwatering, the way they caused the calf muscles to flex just right. In between songs he took a sip of his bourbon and loosened his tie. To imagine those legs wrapped around him…it was the fuel for many a fantasy after he went home, too chicken shit to talk to her.

The Emerald Room by Scarlett Knight.  Available from:

Amazon UK
Amazon US
All Romance eBooks
Barnes & Noble

And all other good eBook retailers.

Friend or foe?

"I always say yes.  I sometimes think that’s what gets me into trouble."

I think most women have worried about running out of petrol on a motorway, especially at night, making one feel very vulnerable – and not in a sexy way, either.  A lot of creative writing is about the “what ifs.”  We take a situation, real or hypothetical, and then ask the question: What if this happened next?  As writers, we use our imaginations and combine that with our own experiences to produce what we hope is good fiction. 

In this story in my collection, Kissing Velvet, I take that premise as the starting point after I ended up on the hard shoulder of the M20 on a dark and spooky night in my rather old Citroen XM.    

The male character in the tale is both powerful and strong with a gentle core, a combination I personally find irresistible.  These contrasts can be very sexy, especially if you are naturally submissive in the bedroom.  My female character, Laura, is suspicious that her mysterious new lover is hiding a secret.  And what woman hasn’t got the better of her curiosity and had a rummage through her man’s drawers when left alone in his apartment?  Just call me Pandora…..

Flesh Spills and Secret Thrills

I'm delighted to feature details of a hot new collection from writers Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse.  

House of Erotica brings you Flesh Spills and Secret Thrills, 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spills-Thrills-Rubenesque-Erotica-ebook/dp/B0087HBSNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340354954&sr=8-1
a collection of sexy rubenesque short stories, sensually written by Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse. This range of exciting stories will leave you desperately wanting to read on…

Stories include:-

Flesh Spills and Secret Thrills

When Lorella’s boyfriend Chris suggests that she’d look sexy in a corset, she finds the mere thought hilarious. A big girl like her would look ridiculous in such a thing! But as she’s always up for trying something new, she hits the online shops. When her new corset arrives, Lorella can’t wait to try it on and see how she looks, ready to surprise Chris when he gets home. But when she does, she gets a thrilling surprise of her own.

Miri on the Wall

Callum’s a prolific artist, with many beautiful models on his books. But there’s only one that stands out for him – Miri. He’s never had the courage to do anything about his feelings, though. When a client commissions a nude painting of a rubenesque woman, Callum has a dilemma. Miri is the only suitable model – but will she agree to the project? And how will Callum cope with the object of his love and lust being completely naked in front of him?

Carnal Praise

The Bishop is visiting and Caroline is practising her solo when her husband stops accompanying her on the piano and initiates a far more carnal kind of praise.

Down Amongst the Daffodils

Rachel bumps into an old crush from school, Stephen, who’s now a gardener at a local park. They get down and dirty in the grass beside the bright yellow daffodils.

Available from:

Amazon UK
Amazon US
All Romance eBooks
Barnes & Noble
1PlaceforRomance.com
iBooks

*****

More about the authors:

Victoria Blisse: http://www.victoriablisse.co.uk

Lucy Felthouse: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk

Hot Spanking Stories

Well, j*gger me, my story Hunger is also out in a new Xcite e-book, available from good old Amazon.
Hot Spanking Stories Volume 1, no less.  What jolly fun.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Spanking-Stories-collection-ebook/dp/B0089E3URO/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1339581661&sr=1-2

Lesbian Lovers

Well, I have just been browsing on Amazon and discovered that my story Dancing Queen is now in an Xcite e-anthology called Lesbian Lovers Volume 3.  What would we do without the internet?

If you fancied taking a peek, the link is 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lesbian-Lovers-Volume-stories-ebook/dp/B0088OLYS2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339579976&sr=8-1

Peacocks

Whilst on holiday in Dubrovnik, I was inspired to write a short story called Peacocks, which reaches a climax on the beautiful island of Lokrum. I'm so pleased that Xcite have published it in a new e-anthology called A Stranger in a Strange Land.

http://www.xcitebooks.co.uk/Book/7583/A-Stranger-in-a-Strange-Land.html

Read my lips

A recent story of mine, Read my Lips, appears in an e anthology by Xcite called Finger Music.  Do check it out and let me know what you think....

http://www.xcitebooks.co.uk/Book/7613/Finger-Music.html

Eating out

Eating out

I crouched down, hidden from view behind a thicket of undergrowth.  The man lifted himself up, almost pulling out of her, until only the glistening tip of his cock was inside her, tantalising her, before she begged him to push inside again.  I felt a trickle of excitement between my own legs…

This extract is from another story in my collection Kissing Velvet.  In my twenties, I worked in central London for a major publisher in the Sales Department and one of my tasks was to go out and get lunch and coffee for all the busy young sales reps.  I hated this job, because it made me feel a skivvy and I thought they should get their own lunch….I often got the orders wrong and used half my lunch break queuing to get theirs.  They were picky, too.  I may be sub in the bedroom, but not in any other situation…. 

The boss in the story is an amalgam of several female bosses I have worked for, most of whom had to be assertive, aggressive and workaholic to get on.  They could be a pain to work for but I’m grateful to all of them for teaching me loads about efficient organisation, dealing with hierarchies and a myriad of other skills that proved me in good stead in my career. The alfresco picnic and the erotic antics that follow in the woods were pure fantasy….but a lot of fun to write…..