Our Grand Unveiling Contest

Welcome to our Tea Party! We're giving away great prizes this week, our first of pouring tea and offering crumpets, so click here to learn how you could win!

Past and Present, Hide and Seek

After posting my own face as avatar in my first responses to Celia's post, I’ve beaten a hasty retreat, back behind the ambiguous smile of my cover girl for The Slightest Provocation. Because I’ve rather belatedly realized that I’m the only author on this group blog to be posting under my erotic-romance-writing name, which is also my own, everyday name of Pam Rosenthal. All of which, in the context of this frank, clever, trash-talking blog, makes me want to reach for the nearest mask or figleaf.

Funny how all that works.

And, no - in case there might be any doubt - I didn’t choose to publish erotic romance as “Pam Rosenthal” because I thought the name conveyed that sexy Brit resonance so often coveted for romance writer pseuds.

The story's simpler. By the time I got published in writing erotic romance I’d been writing my down and dirty literate smut as Molly Weatherfield, and it felt like time to get a little credit under my own name. (Or, more correctly, the name I'd come by via Michael Rosenthal, after meeting several eons ago, during the summer of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde and the Grove Press translation of Story of O.)

I’m a slow reader, a slow writer, and a slow learner. Unlike some of you precocious young things, I was well past adolescence when I turned to erotic writing. In fact, by the time of my first story, Michael and I were ourselves the parents of an adolescent much given to rolling his eyes in extravagant, desperate humiliation whenever I'd sing along with the girl groups on oldies radio.

More than two decades had drifted or hurtled by since the hot Manhattan summer of Michael and I reading Story of O together in that hard single bed we found so roomy and comfy. By now we had a bigger bed, jobs, responsibilities, a big mortgage on a tiny San Francisco Victorian, and that eye-rolling offspring.

But that morning had been a particularly lazy, sexy, sunny Sunday. Michael hadn't gone off to work at his bookselling job until eleven. After which I had decided that it might be fun, interesting, at least therapeutic and certainly better than housework, to curl up in a chair in the bay window and jot down a few of the secret, outré, long-cherished S/M fantasies that had passed through my head in the prior hours.

Several hours passed, quite imperceptibly. Sunday morning became Sunday afternoon and I was still in my ratty old pink terrycloth bathrobe. The only time I’d gotten up was to consult the bookshelves, to check the punctuation of COMMA CLOSE QUOTE HE SAID PERIOD. Because there were real characters speaking real dialog on the page before me. I felt like God. There was no going back.

I finished the story and sent it to a local zine I admired, “Frighten the Horses,” which had recently published a hot and beautifully crafted poem by Kim Addonizio (check her out if you don’t know her work).

Maybe six months later I received what I now recognize as a wondrously generous, helpful, and encouraging page-long rejection letter from the zine’s editor, erotic writer Mark Pritchard (also a fine writer, and now a friend – check him out too). Mark wrote that while I’d produced an unusually well written first attempt at a story, I clearly didn't understand much about what a story actually was; patiently, he suggested that something - perhaps transformative or revelatory - usually happens in a story. I, of course, thought he was a fatuous idiot, cried a lot, and tried to forget the whole thing.

Except that I didn’t. Couldn’t. Partly because I was lucky enough to be living in San Francisco’s Mission District during a wonderfully creative queer and feminist-inspired efflorescence of erotic culture (this was the early 90s – more about all that in my next post). And partly, simply (simply!) because erotic fiction-writing had been so much fun (it was never very therapeutic; the first thing I learned is that it shouldn't be).

But the fun is what I hope will always remain. Which makes me think I’ve come to the right tea party. I like my tea green, by the way. As green as I was when I started that first story. May I always be able to find my way back to that moment of innocent bravery.

Later,
Pam

Hi there!
I am Lacy Danes. I’m not really sure how to intro myself here, so I guess I will just jump in with how I stated reading historical romance.

I have always loved books with really hot sex in them. I would go on Amazon and search for books that were historical romance that had a sensuality rating of 8 or 9 and I would buy any and all I could.

I started reading Lisa Kleypas that way. I loved her and then moved from her to Susan Enoch. My mom turned me on to Stephanie Laurens from there; I started reading Mary Balogh, Jo Beverly, Sabrina Jefferies and finally the classics like Jane Austin. I too have never read Heyer. In the classics, I really missed the steam… the sex…. so I ventured to classic erotica.

A few of my favorites are Fanny Hill, The Pearl, My Secret Life, The Romance Of Lust and most stories by the Marquis De Sade. What I love about them is the way there are social rules, yet none, or there are rules and they break them. I don’t know if you would agree with that statement about the above stories, but for me sexually doing what some feel is indecent, is incredibly hot and when these books were written the content was VERY naughty. Hell it still is viewed as naughty.

I just recently picked up a small book that made me laugh and laugh. It is called the Autobiography Of A Louse. I have not finished it yet, the language is purple prose-ish and that is what made me laugh but so far it has been quite entertaining.

For me the stories in the above books gave me a glimpse into the minds of the men of the times. They show what they thought about sex or at least what they fantasized about!

Most of the classic erotica I enjoy is from the Victorian times. I love history and especially history of social sexual behaviors.

So here I am… my book WHAT SHE CRAVES releases in March of 2007. WSC is my first book and I'm still in awe that I am published. My stories always seem to involve some sort of kink. Whether that is a light form of S&M or strong women who wish to submit and please a man.

I look forward to meeting and chatting with you all!

Hugs and Kisses,
Lacy.

Once upon a time...

I'd love to say that this picture is of me in a past life but it is, in fact, Caroline Murat and her children. I've always liked it because she has that look on her face I often have, (when surrounded by all four children), of 'take me away!'

Once upon a time I desperately wanted to be Jane Austen. Then it was Georgette Heyer. Finally I became Kate Pearce and I quite like her. She’s everything that attracted me to the two great ladies mentioned above and a lot lot more smutty.

Like dear Jane Lockwood, I’m an import to the USA from the Old Country where I grew up in the middle of a family of six sisters. Three of them got married in a fairly short period of time, echoing the Bennett sisters, leaving me with my own bedroom for the first time in my life.

I’ve always been fascinated by sex in all its amazing variety and detail. My historical romances kept getting turned down for being too unconventional, so I decided the best thing to do was be even more unconventional. Hence my first erotic Regency romance, “Eden’s Pleasure” was written six weeks after the birth of my 4th child. (I’m sure there’s some deep hidden meaning behind that inauspicious start but whatever). I sold it to Ellora’s Cave in Nov 2005 and I haven’t looked back.

The sequel to “Eden’s Pleasure” “Antonia’s Bargain” came out in January 07 from Ellora’s Cave but readers will have to wait a while for another Regency erotic romance as I just sold two (well, my agent did) to Kensington Aphrodisia (waving at Celia). I think they’ll be out in 2008. (lowers voice) In the meantime, I write in other erotic sub-genres as well, so please go and check out my website!

Some of the things I’m looking forward to discussing are historical attitudes toward contraception and the more ambiguous kind of happy ever after. I’m sure we’ll get around to those fascinating subjects soon! When I'm super famous, I'm also planning on 'improving' all the Georgette Heyer's with a bit of smut. Only problem is, I can't decide which book to start with...Damarel or the Duke of Avon? hmm...

Jane juggles.

How did I know I was a filthmonger? Well, I've always been interested in that sort of thing, and when I started writing romance, I found my characters were too. So, there I was with my new critique group, and they were letting me have it on my first attempt at writing a ... romance?... something. In chapter two, my heroine, an apprentice actress with an eighteenth-century theater company, had been propositioned by a young man at a party. Their assignment is in the orangerie, and the first thing she notices is that he's squeezed the huge spot on his chin as preparation. How sweet, I thought (they were both quite young).
They then proceed to have clumsy, fast, first-time sex, buttons flying, with the occasional cry of "Ouch!"
Question from critique partner: Is he the hero?
Me: I don't know yet. I think she might just be learning how to, uh, do it.
Critique partner (very firmly): If you're writing a romance, the hero gets the cherry.
Me: Why?
My heroine then picks oranges and juggles with them.
And that's pretty much the pattern of my writing: there are no rules and I and my characters can fool around in whatever way we choose.
My first book, like Celia's, was a traditional Regency, with no juggling but rather a lot of sex, and some quite grown up sex, too (mature protagonists who'd learned how to do it).
I have a book coming out in October, from Signet Eclipse, called Forbidden Shores. No juggling, but lots of the other. Lots. It's about a woman in 1800 who is in a triangle with two men, where each of them is in love with the wrong person--the one who can't possibly return their love. There are lots of references to The Tempest (it's set on a Caribbean island) and The Merchant of Venice.
First the sex, then the juggling.
I'm so glad to be here with everyone. Milk and sugar?
Jane

Night time sharpens...heightens each sensation...

by Colette Gale

I love Webber's Phantom of the Opera. It's rich, it's lush, it's sensual and erotic...but Christine ends up with the wrong guy!

After watching the play and movie umpteen times, I decided to take matters into my own...er, hands (considering the to-die-for appeal of Gerard Butler in the movie, however, I must admit there were other things I would have liked to take. In hand.).

It was obvious to me, and to every other woman I've talked to, that the passion, the attachment, the sex between Christine and Erik (the Phantom) is beyond belief--and how she could throw it away just because he has to hide half his face is beyond me!

(Well, okay, he might have accidentally killed a few people...but that was in a different version of the story. Definitely not mine.)

Plus, I couldn't stop wondering what actually happened during the "Music of the Night" scene. I mean, that bed!--not to mention the way Erik's hands were all over her body while he was seducing her with song. But, alas, it was a family production (or at least PG-13), so Webber had to close the door on that scene...

...but that didn't mean I had to leave it shut when I wrote my version.

So, by way of introduction (since this is supposed to be an introductory blog post, according to dear Jane Lockwood, the woman who really wields the whip around here--and quite handily, might I add), let me just say that, come August 2007, you'll be able to read my extremely hot, quite dirty version of The Phantom of the Opera...and, believe me, I leave nothing to the imagination. Even Madame Giry and the two managers get in on the act!

The book is titled Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of the Phantom of the Opera, and it will be published by Signet Eclipse.

As for me? Well, you'll get to know me a little better once I have my website up (in progress), and after a few posts here on Spiced Tea Party.

(Blog posts, Jane. Not...whippping posts. Okay?)

The First introduction

My name is Celia May Hart and I write Regency-set historical erotic romance.

Which is quite a mouthful, not to mention sounding like an AA meeting. Well, this is a tea party after all. We just won’t tell you what we’ve spiced the tea with *wink wink*

So as this is supposed to be an introduction post, I thought I would interview myself:

Q: Why did I choose to write erotic romance?

Oh, very good question, me. I didn’t always write smut.



My. I am such a liar.

I wrote smut (and let’s discuss terminology another day, shall we?) all through my last two years of high school (very PG), university (badly written but R-rated, but this time I knew exactly what I wasn’t getting, which um, might be TMI). My favorite sexy fanfic story that I wrote involved sex in zero-gravity. (Guess the fandom!)

And then I turned to romance. I wrote a beautiful, sweet, romantic Regency story that was eventually published under another name in 2005. But it got published without the heroine (disguised as a stable-boy) getting this close -} { - to being a rent-boy.

Of course, it was a sweet romance, so I knew it couldn’t have sex in it, but it turns out that overtly mentioning homosexuality, mollies and male brothels wasn’t kosher either for a first novel. (And I’ll readily admit, there was a LOT wrong with this book. Which explains the 7 major revisions over 10 years before I sold it.)

But I’ll write about rent boys another day.

Last year, my mum told me how proud she was that I’d been successful (i.e., published) in my career. (Yes, she’s read my books, in between lots of cold showers.) She said she should’ve known I’d grow up writing smut.

I don’t remember this at all but in the fifth grade, my mother was summoned to see my teacher. I had written a story about a prince and princess who got married “and mated”.

I guess this was destiny.

Stay tuned next time, when I ask myself: “If I could ‘do’ anyone during the Regency period, who would it be and why?”

PS. I have a book, MADE FOR SIN, that's out now!