Torquere Press is Giving Away a Nook!

Torquere Press is celebrating seven years of publishing by giving the readers gifts! Head on over to their contest page to check out the Lucky 7 Contest! As the press release says:

"Seven years?! No, we can hardly believe it either. Seven years of bringing readers the best, the sexiest, the most romantic GLBT fiction. And to celebrate, we're giving away prizes -- great themed gift baskets, gift certificates for free books every day, and a scavenger hunt that will give readers a chance to collect a deck of cards that will win big - -a Nook from Barnes & Noble!

Readers will get the chance to "collect cards" by visiting each participating author's website, blog, or Facebook page. By collecting all the cards and filling in the form, players have the chance to win free books daily, a gift basket once each week, (including BDSM, werewolf and ménage themed baskets), and be entered in the grand prize drawing for the Nook."

And yes, I'm one of those authors! So hie on over to www.mercyloomis.com and get looking!

Tuesday Tip: Find the Right Frame

A story is more than a string of events. Yes, plot is crucial, but another crucial aspect of good story-telling is how you frame the story.

The frame involves a lot of things, but to me the three most important are point-of-view, voice, and starting point. You may have an idea of what the plot is, but without the right frame the story will not take. Sometimes finding the right frame is the hardest part of getting started.

As an example, take my story "The Power That Dreams Have." This is the sequel to my story "Empusa," which was written specifically for Torquere Press's Bite Me anthology (m/m/f ménage with biting). Torquere already had the lesbian anthology Vamps on the schedule, and I wrote "Empusa" with a lead-in to a lesbian story between her and another character, Sophia. When Torquere agreed to publish "Empusa" (my first sale!), I started work on the sequel.

Now, Empusa is one of my favorite characters to write. She's just tons of fun for me. "Empusa" was written in first person from Empusa's point of view, and I had assumed that the sequel would work the same way. I'd set the first story a few years before Xerxes invaded Greece so that I could use the invasion in the sequel. Here, I thought, would be a fairly simple but hot story of abduction and rescue.

I'd been playing around with several angles. First I figured Sophia would be kidnapped or captured. Then, as I was reading some books on ancient Athens and the various cults, I had ideas of it being Sophia's daughter instead. Sophia gets Empusa to help rescue the girl, but at a price (of course!). I liked this idea. It had more meat than my original simple plot.

To my surprise, when I sat down to try and write it, I couldn't get the story to work. It stalled out before I'd finished the second page. I took a break and mulled over what had gone wrong.

First, the plot was more complex than it needed to be. I realized half the reason I wanted to use the daughter plot device was to use the research I'd been doing. Bad motive. That research could be part of a future story, certainly, but it had no place in this story.

Second, I needed a reason for Empusa to get involved. She really had little interest in Sophia's daughter, and getting summoned kinda made her cranky and disinclined to be helpful. This had to be a somewhat romantic story, and Empusa is not a romantic character. She actually has very little attachment to Sophia or Kleon or Bennu, although it's certainly more attachment than she has to any other humans at that point. They're sort of a novelty, but at most she is playfully possessive of them, and maybe distantly fond of them.

I realized if I needed an emotional tie for this story--which I did--the emotions were going to have to come from Sophia. Sophia needed to be the point of view character. And since the action was going to be centered on the abduction/rescue, I needed to scrap the daughter storyline and go back to my original idea.

Great! So I had the point of view. I knew I wanted the story to start at the point where Xerxes had already started the invasion of Attica and the residents of Athens were getting ready to abandon the city. But how to introduce the characters and the backstory without going into a huge infodump? Just what was Sophia and Empusa's relationship at this point? Had they had any contact in the two years between the first story and the second? It was in answering those questions that the rest of the frame fell into place. I started off with an encounter between the two women, but one that left more questions than answers. The answers got sprinkled in amongst the action. It was the relationship, extremely unhealthy as it was, that was the real story, not the abduction/rescue; and with the relationship being so unhealthy (obsession versus predation, really) using first person would give the most intimacy, allow it to make the most sense.

With the new frame the piece came together quite nicely. Since I love writing and reading about just those kinds of relationships, it's still one of my favorites.

You can read the beginning of the first draft with the original frame over at my website.

Have any of you run into this problem in your writing? How did you solve it? Have you read stories that would have benefited from different framing? Leave a comment and discuss!

The Release of Taste Test: Rainy Days and Mondays

I'm pleased to announce the release of Taste Test: Rainy Days and Mondays from Torquere Press! This mini-anthology includes my short story, "Encore." In this story, all Derrick wants is a nice subby roadie girl, but when bandmate Nate is willing to give BDSM a try, the guys discover a new favorite rainy-day activity.

Read an excerpt below!

Derrick tried to rein in his frustration, but an edge crept into his voice. "You can be a moody bastard, but this is bad even for you." He got up and went to stand next to Nate, arms crossed over his chest, wearing his best not-putting-up-with-your-shit face. "What. The fuck. Is wrong?"

Nate spun around and kissed him.

Nate never did anything by half measures. He grabbed Derrick's face with both hands and all but attacked him, forcing Derrick to back up a step or fall over.

Derrick caught his balance, hands out to the sides halfway between a placating gesture and the first phase of an open-handed defense. His brain seemed frozen, spinning its wheels on a sheet of ice and getting nowhere. His lips parted out of sheer shock, but Nate took it as an invitation, kissing him deeper.

For one long, shocked moment Derrick couldn't think at all. Then he wondered what the hell his tongue was doing in Nate's mouth.

A Review, Love for Zombies, and a New Sale

Lots of exciting things going on! First, the anthology Bedknobs and Beanstalks was voted Book of the Week over at Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews! We got four and a half cherries out of five.

Next up, author Lois Gresh has a zombie love-fest over at her blog for the anthology Hungry For Your Love, which features short blurbs from the authors about how they came up with their stories. And OMG we have endorsements from S.G. Browne and Christopher Golden!

And last but not least, I'm pleased to announce that my short story "Encore" will be appearing in the upcoming anthology Taste Test: Rainy Days and Mondays from Torquere Press.

Taste Test: Welcome to the Jungle Releases!

Taste Test: Welcome to the Jungle releases today from the good folks at Torquere Press! It includes my story "Set in Stone," as well as "The Pale Ape" by Sean Michaels and "Bringing the Back Alive" by the ever-fabulous Kiernan Kelly. Hot steamy men in hot steamy locations! Adventure! Danger! Excitement! Gargoyles!

Ok, that last one is just in my story.

In "Set in Stone," Jon's dreams are taking over his life, each night an exhilarating fight for survival in primordial landscapes filled with strange, dangerous creatures. And that was before he met Tamal, a gargoyle who wants nothing more than to keep Jon safe, because these dreams aren't dreams at all, and could well kill him. But Jon is determined to find a way to stay--with Tamal's help, or without it.

Taste Test: Welcome to the Jungle

My short story "Set in Stone" will be appearing in Torquere Press's March Taste Test anthology, Welcome to the Jungle. This is my second Taste Test appearance, and I'm very excited about it! Lorna and the folks at Torquere are always great to work with.

I'm also very excited because this story explores a new setting in the Mercyverse (and no, I'm not really calling it that, but hey, it beats "my story universe"), a setting which I fully expect to return to in later stories. I spend way too much time world-building...but it's so much fun!

I don't have a set release date yet, updates when available!

The October Roundup: Publications, Reviews, a Sale, and an Excerpt

Wow, October was a fabulous month for me, but also very busy! I had a great time at the wedding of two of my good friends last night, a perfect cap to a great month.

First up, Hungry For Your Love released on Thursday, and is already up to #1 on Ravenous Romance's website. This anthology has generated a ton of buzz already, including a quiz to find out if your boyfriend is a zombie, and even a mention in Publisher's Weekly, and the print rights have been sold to St. Martin's Press! The print version is scheduled to be out next year for Halloween.

I am incredibly excited about the print sale. St. Martin's is a big name imprint of Macmillan, and publishes books from such authors as Sherrilyn Kenyon and Sue Grafton. Not that I don't love the other anthologies I'm in, and Bite Me was available in print from the first, but it is going to be so freaking cool to be able to walk into my local Barnes & Noble and pick up a copy of a book that I'm in. Squee! Not to mention getting my name out there, which is half the point of writing the short stories, honestly.

Next up, we've gotten a couple of reviews over at GoodReads for Bedknobs and Beanstalks. Of the anthology as a whole, Carole says "It's always hard to rate an anthology because the writing skill and enjoyment potential is different for each story, but here the stories are of uniformly high quality. All of the stories are cleverly fleshed out, using the original tale as a skeleton and branching out into new and imaginative territory." And Kathy says "I love anthologies, but I've learned to expect that not all the stories in it are going to appeal to me. Well, this anthology threw that assumption out the window! There are nine very different stories and each one of them, in my opinion, is a winner." I'm told there will also be a review posted sometime today over at Rainbow Reviews.

Last week also saw two great reviews for Taste Test: Scared Stiff. The first review is over at Well Read. For the anthology as a whole, the reviewer says: "This trio of mini ghost stories may be perfect for Halloween, but don’t worry you are more likely feel amused and heartened by these romantic stories than scared out of your wits...I had a great deal of fun reading these stories which are perfect Halloween reads." And of my story, "The House That Pip Built By Mercy Loomis was a tongue in cheek look at a haunted house where the ghost is very friendly indeed." This is the second time a reviewer has commented on my tongue-in-cheek humor, which amuses me because that's not something I actually try to do on purpose. (I suppose that's why it apparently works!) There's a link to a longer review over at Reviews by Jesse Wave, but right now the page is not coming up. I'll post snippets from that later.

Two more reviews for Like a Thorn. Dark Diva Reviews says "This is a variation on The Princess and The Pea, and was a nice tale. I enjoyed the interaction between the Princess and her part-time maid/full-time lover. I enjoyed the role changes, in which the maid is the Mistress and the Princess is the submissive. There is a twist at the end that just makes this story." She also calls the story a "charming romp," and gives the anthology as a whole 4.5 out of 5 divas. After reviewing "Skin Deep" and "Last Mistress of the Chatelaine," Lisabet Sarai over at the ERWA website comments "The other three stories in the anthology offer somewhat lighter fare. The brightest is "The Princess and the Peony" by Mercy Loomis." And of the anthology as a whole, she says "The stories in this collection more or less fulfill the promise of the introduction. They are original, well-crafted, and varied. All are laced with at least a bit of darkness. My biggest criticism of this collection is that it is too short."

I also found out that my story "The Sub Fairy" will be published in May 2010 by Cleis Press as part of the Please, Sir anthology edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel. Woot! I've been wanting to work with them for awhile now so it's exciting to finally get into one of their anthologies. "The Sub Fairy" is about a married vanilla couple and how they discover a wonderful D/s relationship.

And last but not least, here is an excerpt from Hungry For Your Love. This is the very beginning, because frankly without the beginning I couldn't think of an excerpt that would still make sense... This will also give you a little insight into Dave from "A Wild Hunt," although Dave and Joseph are different people. Enjoy!

"White Knight, Black Horse"
by Mercy Loomis

I don't know if I can rightly describe it to you, what it's like. When you are seized by the loa there is no memory, no knowledge of what passes. The loa, the voodoo spirits that act as intermediaries between God and men, are fond of using humans as their horses when they wish to pass on a message or join in a celebration. It's said that the loa displace their horse's ti bon ange, the little good angel, the spark of their host's personality. Either they hold it safe in their keeping, or no one has been stupid enough to try to steal the soul of a loa's horse.

I would imagine the loa would take a dim view of such a thing.

But God knows, I had been ridden before, and coming out of the ground was nothing like it.

The bokor, the sorcerer, called me from the earth, and I came.

I was bound. I was beaten.

And the bokor stole my ti bon ange.

I can tell you all this, for I remember it. It is not the same as being ridden, not at all.

Win a Free Copy of Bedknobs and Beanstalks

Hey folks, just wanted to point out that you can leave a comment in this link to enter to win a free copy of Bedknobs and Beanstalks! Thanks to editor EM Lynley and www.reviewsbyjessewave.com!

In other news, I had a lot of fun yesterday over at the Torquere LiveJournal Community! Thanks to everyone who posted, especially kinky_kneazle, aishabintjamil, and twillery for the microfiction prompts! The microfiction prompt thread is available here.

New Sale, New Review, and a Reminder!

It's been a heck of a week!

First, I'm pleased to announce that my short story "White Knight, Black Horse" will be published next week (I believe) in Hungry For Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance from Ravenous Romance. I haven't had a chance to read the other stories yet, but this looks like an absolutely fabulous anthology. Twenty-one stories of zombie love, just in time for Halloween!


Second, here's a review of Torquere Press's Bite Me anthology, from the folks at Night Owl Romance. The reviewer doesn't comment on the stories individually, but as a whole we got five hearts out of five, to make us a Night Owl Romance Top Pick! Here's what they had to say about it:

Bite me is an Anthology of books written by ten authors. It encompasses romance, love, mythology, magic, mystery, paranormal and sexy love making all in one. Each author brings to the table their own style of writing that transitions into the next story cleanly. From Sean Michael’s When Needed to BA Tortuga’s A Family Business each story gives you their own vision of love with a bit of the paranormal. I found this book to be delightful and will read it over and over...Overall, this is a real winner of an anthology. There is something for everyone.


And last but not least, a reminder to stop on over to Torquere Press's LiveJournal Community and hang out with JL Merrow, Sunny Moraine, and me as we pimp our newly released anthology Taste Test: Scared Stiff.

New Release from Torquere Press

Today is the release date for Taste Test: Scared Stiff from Torquere Press.

This anthology features just three authors: myself, JL Merrow, and Sunny Moraine. The three of us will be hanging out over at Torquere's LiveJournal all day tomorrow, so stop on by!

In my story, "The House that Pip Built," Caleb wants desperately to be in the same fraternity as his longtime crush, Evan. Will he be able to spend enough time in a haunted house to get his wish?

Here's an excerpt:

Mickey had climbed the steps and was just now laying his hand on the knob. Caleb watched him impatiently. Caleb’s name had come up second, so once Mickey was done it would be his turn. He schooled himself to patience, knowing the other boy had to spend at least five minutes in the house, and might stay longer to prove his courage.

The house pulsed.

That was the only way Caleb could think of it. For a brief moment it was as if the whole building swam in his vision. A sound like a breath came from it, quickly followed by Mickey’s yelp as he stumbled back from the door, nearly falling down the steps.

It was like the house was staring at the boy.

“Fuck this noise,” Mickey said, and bolted for the street.

The other pledges had gone absolutely still. Caleb jumped when Evan’s hand came down on his shoulder.

“You’re up,” Evan said.

Caleb nodded, little tingles of attraction running through him from the older boy’s touch, distracting him from his fear. He could stand a little staring at for Evan’s sake. Squaring his shoulders, he marched up the steps and took hold of the doorknob.

Two New Stories Getting Published Next Week

Two new short stories are getting published next week! First up, on October 20th is "Cry Wolf" in the Bedknobs and Beanstalks anthology of m/m erotic fairy tales from Ravenous Romance. No one in the village believes Wil’s stories about the wolf, except the girl he’s being forced to marry. But the wolf has other plans for Wil – and troubles of his own.

Then, on October 21st comes "The House That Pip Built" in the Taste Test: Scared Stiff anthology from Torquere Press. In this story, college freshman Caleb agrees to enter a haunted house in order to get into the frat of his long-time crush, Evan, but the entity in the house has plans of its own.

Also on the 21st will be the third free installment of "A Wild Hunt" here on the blog.

In other news, I finally got a new day job, so I will be working full time again, at least for a few months. However, you'll still be able to find the same bloggy goodness on Tuesdays and Fridays, and any other day I have something to say!

New Sale

Hi folks. Just a quick update.

I'm pleased to announce that my short story "The House that Pip Built" will be appearing in Torquere Press's upcoming Taste Test anthology "Scared Stiff" and should be available around Halloween. In this story, college freshman Caleb agrees to enter a haunted house in order to get into the frat of his long-time crush, Evan, but the entity in the house has plans of its own.

In other news, I'm still sick. Blah. I won't bore you with the details, but I will admit that it's making me a lot less inclined to write. I'm at least getting some good research time in, and I did do about a thousand words of summary writing on Friday. I'm hoping to finish the summary this week and start digging in to the novel prequel, as well as finish revising 1794 and get that sent out. I'm also poking at a few other ideas to figure out what word range they are likely to be, and I'll probably start fleshing out one of those too in the hopes of doing another mid-length piece in the 10k to 20k word range.

First Publication!

Exciting news! My very first piece of published fiction is now available! Torquere Press's anthology Bite Me, which includes my short story "Empusa" is now available for purchase!

I'm glad this one made it out first, as it was my first fiction sale. I actually had been out that morning with my husband visiting the dog we would later decide to adopt, and came home to find an email asking if the story was still available and offering to send a contract. That was a damn good day.

"Empusa" follows the vampiric Greek daimon Empusa, whose lovers usually don't live to tell the tale. She makes an exception for a trio of humans caught in a tangle of love spells, but there is always a price to be paid...

Empusa is one of my favorite characters, and you'll see more of her in the future - most immediately in "The Power That Dreams Have," the follow-up story to "Empusa," which will be in Torquere's December Vamps anthology.

August Publications

A couple of updates.

Two stories are slated for publication this month. Circlet Press's "Like a Thorn" anthology of BDSM fairy tales is scheduled for release on August 31, and features my story "The Princess and Peony." I got my advance copy of the pdf last night and those are some really good stories! (Some are really really good!) I can't post the cover art until the 31st, but stay tuned.

Torquere Press's "Bite Me" anthology featuring my story "Empusa" is also scheduled for an August release, although I don't know the day yet. However, I do have cover art for that one. Isn't that tasty?

I'm very excited about both stories! Would love to hear your thoughts on them once they are available, so please leave a comment!

You can also now become a fan on Facebook. I'll post links to blog updates there and other news. Pictures coming soon, hopefully, if I can find the back of my camera...

Story Time

So the first of my short stories should be appearing in print at the end of August. I'm really excited! I'll post links as soon as I have them. The story is called "Empusa" and it will be in Torquere Press 's upcoming "Bite Me" anthology.

My next short story, a follow-up to "Empusa" titled "The Power That Dreams Have" will be in Torquere Press 's upcoming "Vamps" anthology, and I don't have an estimate for that one yet.

A third story, unrelated, called "A Kiss Before Coffee" is (pending receipt of contract) scheduled for an erotic anthology in early 2010.

Can't complain about that!

I have one or two more short stories I want to finish up before I start on my next big project. The hard thing is deciding which big project to work on. I've never had much luck working on more than one large project - but then, I haven't tried it in a long time. Of the two projects most likely to be complete-able, one is paranormal and one is cyberpunk, so they are different enough that I might be able to switch back and forth. Now if I can just bring myself to finish outlining. Ugh!